Act 22:1-21, 26:4-29 | ESV | STEP | Brothers and fathers , hear the defense that I now make before you .

Acts 22:1-21

1 ^a“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”

2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in ^bthe Hebrew language, ^{▼▼Or the Hebrew dialect (probably Aramaic)} they became even more quiet. And he said:

3 ^d“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated ^eat the feet of ^fGamaliel ^{▼▼Or city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated} ^haccording to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, ⁱbeing zealous for God ^jas all of you are this day. 4 ^kI persecuted ^lthis Way ^mto the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as ⁿthe high priest and ^othe whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to ^pthe brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

6 ^q“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am ^rJesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 ^sNow those who were with me saw the light but did not understand ^{▼▼Or hear with understanding} the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ^u‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

12 “And ^vone Ananias, a devout man ^waccording to the law, ^xwell spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 ^ycame to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And ^zat that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 14 And he said, ^aa‘The God of our fathers ^abappointed you to know his will, ^acto see ^adthe Righteous One and ^aeto hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for ^afyou will be a witness for him to everyone of what ^agyou have seen and heard. 16 And now why do you wait? ^ahRise and be baptized and ^aiwash away your sins, ^ajcalling on his name.’

17 ^ak“When I had returned to Jerusalem and ^alwas praying in the temple, I fell into ^ama trance 18 and saw him saying to me, ^an‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another ^aoI imprisoned and ^apbeat those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen ^aqyour witness was being shed, ^arI myself was standing by and ^asapproving and ^atwatching over the garments of those who killed him.’ 21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you ^aufar away to the Gentiles.’”

Acts 26:4-29

4 ^av“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among ^awmy own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that ^axaccording to the strictest ^ayparty of our ^azreligion I have lived as ^baa Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in ^bbthe promise made by God to our fathers, 7 ^bcto which ^bdour twelve tribes hope to ^beattain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope ^bfI am accused by Jews, O king! 8 Why is it thought ^bgincredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

9 ^bh“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of ^biJesus of Nazareth. 10 ^bjAnd I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority ^bkfrom the chief priests, but ^blwhen they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And ^bmI punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them ^bnblaspheme, and ^boin raging fury against them I ^bppersecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

12 “In this connection ^bqI journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me ^brin the Hebrew language, ^{▼▼Or the Hebrew dialect (probably Aramaic)} ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and ^btstand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^buto appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 ^bvdelivering you from your people and from the Gentiles— ^bwto whom I ^bxam sending you 18 ^byto open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^bzthe power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^caforgiveness of sins and ^cba place among those who are sanctified ^ccby faith in me.’

19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^cdthe heavenly vision, 20 but declared first ^ceto those in Damascus, ^cfthen in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^cgto the Gentiles, that they should ^chrepent and ^citurn to God, performing deeds ^cjin keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason ^ckthe Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 ^clTo this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^cmI stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^cnthe prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 ^cothat the Christ ^cpmust suffer and that, ^cqby being the first ^crto rise from the dead, ^cshe would proclaim ^ctlight both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ^cuyou are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, ^cvmost excellent Festus, but I am speaking ^cwtrue and ^cxrational words. 26 For ^cythe king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be ^cza Christian?” ^{▼▼Or In a short time you would persuade me to act like a Christian!} 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day ^dbmight become such as I am—except for ^dcthese chains.”