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:
3. "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.
4. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,
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.
7. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'
8. "'Who are you, Lord?' I asked."'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied.