5
If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion.
6
Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors.
7
In fact, that is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having this hope!
8
Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?
9
“I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.
10
Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death.
11
Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.
12
“One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests.
13
About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions.
14
We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will. ’
15
“‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.