9 "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. |
10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. |
11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them. |
12 "On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. |
13 About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. |
14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,1 26:14 Or Hebrew 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' |
15 "Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' |
16 " 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. |
17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them |
18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' |
