1
“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”
2
When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said:
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“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.
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I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,
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as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
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“About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.
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I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me,
‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’
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“ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. “
‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied.
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My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.