4 The Jewish people all know about me. They know the way that I have lived among them since I was a child. They knew me in the region where I was born. When I came to Jerusalem, they also know how I lived there. 5 So they have known me for a long time. They could tell you that I always obeyed our Jewish laws. They know that I was a Pharisee. I carefully obeyed God's Law, as a Pharisee does. But maybe they do not want to tell you all that.
6 Now I stand here today for you to judge me. This has happened because I believe in God's promise to our ancestors. 7 He promised a great thing to our 12 Israelite tribes. We Jews all expect to receive what God has promised to us. That is why we Jews always worship God, in the day and in the night. Like these Jews here, I believe in God's great promise. But that is the reason that they speak against me, sir. 8 God can surely cause dead people to become alive again! Why do you people refuse to believe that?
9 I myself wanted to work against Jesus, the man from Nazareth. I did everything that I could do to destroy his message. 10 That is what I was doing in Jerusalem. The leaders of the priests gave me authority to put many of the believers in prison. I agreed with our leaders when they said, “These people must die.”
11 I went to our Jewish meeting places to take hold of believers. I told my men to punish them. I tried to make the believers say bad things against God. I was very angry with them. So I even travelled to cities in other countries to punish them.
12 For that reason, one day I was travelling to Damascus. The leaders of the priests in Jerusalem had sent me there. They had given me authority to take hold of the believers there. 13 Listen to this, King Agrippa! I was travelling along the road at midday. Suddenly I saw a very bright light in the sky. It was much brighter than the sun. It shone all around me and also around the men who were with me. 14 All of us fell down to the ground. I heard a voice that spoke to me in my own language, Aramaic. He said “Saul, Saul, why do you fight against me? You are like an ox that kicks against its master's stick. So you are hurting yourself.”
26:14See Acts 9:4-5. A farmer used a sharp stick to make his ox walk where he wanted it to go. The stick hurt the ox if it tried to kick the stick away. 15 “ Lord, who are you?” I asked.
He replied, “I am Jesus. And you are fighting against me. 16 Now you must get up. Stand on your feet. I have chosen you to be my servant. That is why I have appeared to you today. You must tell other people about what you have seen. After that, I will show you other things that you must tell people. 17 I will send you to speak about me to Jews and to Gentiles. Some of them will want to hurt you. But I will keep you safe. 18 You will help them to understand what is true. They are like people who live in the dark. Teach them what is true about me. Then they will be like people who live in the light. Now Satan has power over them. Lead them from there into God's kingdom. Then God will forgive them for the wrong things that they have done. Because they believe in me, God will accept them as his own people.” ’
26:18In the Bible, when people do not know the truth about God, it is like they are living in a dark place. God gives light so that people know the truth.
