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And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
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But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,
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delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles--to whom I send you
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to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
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"Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
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but declared first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and perform deeds worthy of their repentance.
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For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
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To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass:
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that the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles."
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And as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are mad; your great learning is turning you mad."
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But Paul said, "I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth.