Acts 22:3–16

^3*“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in Jerusalem as a student of Gamaliel. I received strict instruction in the Law of our ancestors and was just as dedicated to God as are all of you who are here today. ^4*I persecuted to the death the people who followed this Way. I arrested men and women and threw them into prison. ^5*The High Priest and the whole Council can prove that I am telling the truth. I received from them letters written to fellow-Jews in Damascus, so I went there to arrest these people and bring them back in chains to Jerusalem to be punished.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

⁶“As I was travelling and coming near Damascus, about midday a bright light from the sky flashed suddenly round me. ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ ⁸‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute,’ he said to me. ⁹The men with me saw the light, but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰I asked, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ and the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that God has determined for you to do.’ ¹¹I was blind because of the bright light, and so my companions took me by the hand and led me into Damascus.

¹²“In that city was a man named Ananias, a religious man who obeyed our Law and was highly respected by all the Jews living there. ¹³He came to me, stood by me, and said, ‘Brother Saul, see again!’ At that very moment I saw again and looked at him. ¹⁴He said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see his righteous Servant, and to hear him speaking with his own voice. ¹⁵For you will be a witness for him to tell everyone what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now, why wait any longer? Get up and be baptized and have your sins washed away by praying to him.’