Acts 22:10–21

¹⁰So I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and^* proceed to Damascus, and there it will be told to you about all the things that have been appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹And as I could not see as a result of the brightness of that light, I arrived in Damascus led by the hand of those who were with me. ¹²And a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who live there, ¹³came to me and stood by me^* and^* said to me, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ And at that same time I looked up at him and saw him.^{* 14}And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth, ¹⁵because you will be a witness for him^c to all people of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now why are you delaying? Get up, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name!’

¹⁷“And it happened that when^* I returned to Jerusalem and I was praying in the temple courts,^* I was in a trance, ¹⁸and saw him saying to me, ‘Hurry and depart quickly^d from Jerusalem, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that from synagogue to synagogue I was imprisoning and beating those who believed in you. ²⁰And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I myself also was standing near and was approving, and was guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ ²¹And he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’ ”