Acts 22:1-11 ▼

1 "Brethren and fathers," he said, "listen to my defence which I now make before you."

2 And on hearing him address them in Hebrew, they kept all the more quiet; and he said,

3 "I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I was carefully trained at the feet of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers, and, like all of you to-day, was zealous for God.

4 I persecuted to death this new faith, continually binding both men and women and throwing them into prison;

5 as the High Priest also and all the Elders can bear me witness. It was, too, from them that I received letters to the brethren in Damascus, and I was already on my way to Damascus, intending to bring those also who had fled there, in chains to Jerusalem, to be punished.

6 "But on my way, when I was now not far from Damascus, about noon a sudden blaze of light from Heaven shone round me.

7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, "'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'

8 "'Who art thou, Lord?' I asked. "'I am Jesus, the Nazarene,' He replied, 'whom you are persecuting.'

9 "Now the men who were with me, though they saw the light, did not hear the words of Him who spoke to me.

10 And I asked, "'What am I to do, Lord?' "And the Lord said to me, "'Rise, and go into Damascus. There you shall be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.'

11 "And as I could not see because the light had been so dazzling, those who were with me had to lead me by the arm, and so I came to Damascus.