26:12 “While doing this very thing, 1 as I was going 2 to Damascus with authority and complete power 3 from the chief priests, 26:13 about noon along the road, Your Majesty, 4 I saw a light from heaven, 5 brighter than the sun, shining everywhere around 6 me and those traveling with me. 26:14 When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 7 ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself 8 by kicking against the goads.’ 9 26:15 So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord replied, 10 ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 26:16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance 11 as a servant and witness 12 to the things 13 you have seen 14 and to the things in which I will appear to you. 26:17 I will rescue 15 you from your own people 16 and from the Gentiles, to whom 17 I am sending you 26:18 to open their eyes so that they turn 18 from darkness to light and from the power 19 of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share 20 among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
26:19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, 21 I was not disobedient 22 to the heavenly 23 vision, 26:20 but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, 24 and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, 25 performing deeds consistent with 26 repentance. 26:21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts 27 and were trying to kill me. 26:22 I have experienced 28 help from God to this day, and so I stand testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except 29 what the prophets and Moses said 30 was going to happen: 26:23 that 31 the Christ 32 was to suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, to proclaim light both to our people 33 and to the Gentiles.” 34
26:24 As Paul 35 was saying these things in his defense, Festus 36 exclaimed loudly, “You have lost your mind, 37 Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!” 26:25 But Paul replied, 38 “I have not lost my mind, most excellent Festus, 39 but am speaking 40 true and rational 41 words. 26:26 For the king knows about these things, and I am speaking freely 42 to him, 43 because I cannot believe 44 that any of these things has escaped his notice, 45 for this was not done in a corner. 46 26:27 Do you believe the prophets, 47 King Agrippa? 48 I know that you believe.” 26:28 Agrippa 49 said to Paul, “In such a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?” 50 26:29 Paul replied, “I pray to God that whether in a short or a long time 51 not only you but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains.” 52