1
"Men--brothers and fathers--listen to my defense to you now!"
2
And [when they] heard that he was addressing them in the Aramaic language, {they became even more silent}. And he said,
3
"I am a Jewish man born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated according to the exactness of the law received from our fathers, being zealous for God, just as all [of] you are today.
4
{I} persecuted this Way to the death, tying up and delivering to prison both men and women,
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as indeed the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me, from whom also I received letters to the brothers in Damascus, [and] was traveling [there] to lead away those who were there also tied up to Jerusalem so that they could be punished.
Paul Tells of His Conversion on the Damascus Road
6 "And it happened that [as] I was traveling and approaching Damascus around noon, suddenly a very bright light from heaven flashed 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.'