Acts 22:6–21

⁶“About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.^{m 7}I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

⁸“ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,ⁿ whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ⁹My companions saw the light,^o but they did not understand the voice^p of him who was speaking to me.

¹⁰“ ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’^{q 11}My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.^r

¹²“A man named Ananias came to see me.^s He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.^{t 13}He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴“Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors^u has chosen you to know his will and to see^v the Righteous One^w and to hear words from his mouth. ¹⁵You will be his witness^x to all people of what you have seen^y and heard. ¹⁶And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized^z and wash your sins away,^a calling on his name.’^b

¹⁷“When I returned to Jerusalem^c and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance^{d 18}and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹“ ‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison^e and beat^f those who believe in you. ²⁰And when the blood of your martyr^a Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’^g

²¹“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”^h