11 And in every synagogue, frequently while punishing them, I compelled them to blaspheme. And being all the more maddened against them, I persecuted them, even to foreign cities.
12 Thereafter, as I was going to Damascus, with authority and permission from the high priest,
13 at midday, O king, I and those who were also with me, saw along the way a light from heaven shining around me with a splendor greater than that of the sun.
14 And when we had all fallen down to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language: 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goad.'
15 Then I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
16 But rise up and stand on your feet. For I appeared to you for this reason: so that I may establish you as a minister and a witness concerning the things that you have seen, and concerning the things that I will show to you:
17 rescuing you from the people and the nations to which I am now sending you,