11. In one synagogue after another—indeed, in all the synagogues—I would often torture them, compelling them to slander God. My rage bordered on the hysterical as I pursued them, even to foreign cities.
12. “On one such journey, I was going to Damascus with the full authority of the chief priests.
13. While on the road at midday, King Agrippa, I saw a light from heaven shining around me and my traveling companions. That light was brighter than the sun.
14. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice that said to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me? It’s hard for you to kick against a spear.’
15. Then I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are harassing.
16. Get up! Stand on your feet! I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you as my servant and witness of what you have seen and what I will show you.
17. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you
18. to open their eyes. Then they can turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, and receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are made holy by faith in me.’
19. "So, King Agrippa, I wasn’t disobedient to that heavenly vision.
20. Instead, I proclaimed first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to the whole region of Judea and to the Gentiles. My message was that they should change their hearts and lives and turn to God, and that they should demonstrate this change in their behavior.
21. Because of this, some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to murder me.
22. God has helped me up to this very day. Therefore, I stand here and bear witness to the lowly and the great. I’m saying nothing more than what the Prophets and Moses declared would happen:
23. that the Christ would suffer and that, as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to my people and to the Gentiles."
24. At this point in Paul’s defense, Festus declared with a loud voice, "You’ve lost your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you mad!"
25. But Paul replied, "I’m not mad, most honorable Festus! I’m speaking what is sound and true.
26. King Agrippa knows about these things, and I have been speaking openly to him. I’m certain that none of these things have escaped his attention. This didn’t happen secretly or in some out-of-the-way place.