5
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.
6
“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.
9
My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
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“ ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. “
‘Get up,’ the Lord said,
‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’
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My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.
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“A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.
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He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.
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“Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.
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You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.
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And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’
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“When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance
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and saw the Lord speaking to me.
‘Quick!’ he said.
‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’
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“ ‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you.
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And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’
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“Then the Lord said to me,
‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”