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And I punished them often in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly maddened against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities.
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"Thereupon, as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
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at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, brighter than the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and those who journeyed with me.
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And when we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, `Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.'
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And I said, `Who art Thou, Lord?' And He said, `I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
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But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose: to make thee a minister and a witness, both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in which I will appear unto thee,
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delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee,
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to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith that is in Me.'
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"Thereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision,
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but showed first unto those at Damascus and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
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For these causes the Jews seized me in the temple and went about to kill me.