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Men,brethren,andfathers, hear yemydefence which I make nowuntoyou.
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(And when they heardthat he spake in the Hebrewtongue to them, they kept the moresilence:and he saith,)
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Iamverily a man which am a Jew,borninTarsus, a city in Cilicia,yet brought upinthiscityat the feet of Gamaliel, and taughtaccording to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and waszealous toward God,asyeallare this day.
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And Ipersecutedthiswayunto the death,bindinganddeliveringintoprisonsbothmenandwomen.
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Asalso the high priest doth bearmewitness, andall the estate of the elders:fromwhomalso I receivedlettersunto the brethren,andwenttoDamascus, to bring them which weretherebound untoJerusalem, for to be punished.
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And it came to pass, that, as I mademyjourney, and was come nigh unto Damascusaboutnoon,suddenly there shonefromheaven a greatlightroundaboutme.
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And I fellunto the ground,andheard a voicesaying unto me,Saul,Saul,why persecutest thoume?
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AndIanswered, Who art thou, Lord?And he saiduntome,IamJesus of Nazareth,whomthoupersecutest.