11
And throughout all the synagogues I punished them often [and] tried to force [them] to blaspheme, and [because I] was enraged at them beyond measure, I was pursuing [them] even as far as to foreign cities.
12
In {this activity} I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and full power of the chief priests.
13
In the middle of the day along the road, O king, I saw a light from heaven, more than the brightness of the sun, shining around me and those who were traveling with me.
14
And [when] we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Aramaic language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? [It is] hard for you to kick against the goads!'
15
So I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
16
But get up and stand on your feet, because for this [reason] I have appeared to you, to appoint you a servant and witness both [to the things] in which you saw me and [to the things] in which I will appear to you,
17
rescuing you from the people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you,
18
to open their eyes [so that they] may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, [so that] they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
19
"Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
20
but to those in Damascus first, and in Jerusalem and all the region of Judea and to the Gentiles, I proclaimed [that they should] repent and turn to God, doing deeds worthy of repentance.
21
On account of these [things] the Jews seized me in the temple [courts] [and] were attempting to kill [me].