22 “^[a]Brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

² And when they heard that he was addressing them in the ^[b]Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,

³ “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated ^[c]under Gamaliel, ^[d]strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today. ⁴ I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, ⁵ as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders ^[e]can testify. From them I also received letters to the brothers, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem ^[f]as prisoners to be punished.

⁶ “But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, ⁷ and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹ And those who were with me saw the light, but did not ^[g]understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that has been appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹ But since I could not see because of the ^[h]brightness of that light, I came into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me.

¹² “Now a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³ came to me, and standing nearby he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And ^[i]at that very moment I looked up at 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 ^[j]message from His mouth. ¹⁵ For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins by calling on His name.’

¹⁷ “It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance, ¹⁸ and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ ¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You. ²⁰ And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ ²¹ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”