6 “I’m on trial now because I expect God to keep the promise that he made to our ancestors.
7 Our twelve tribes expect this promise to be kept as they worship with intense devotion day and night. Your Majesty, the Jews are making accusations against me because I expect God to keep his promise.
8 Why do all of you refuse to believe that God can bring dead people back to life?
9 “I used to think that I had to do a lot of things to oppose the one named Jesus of Nazareth.
10 That is what I did in Jerusalem. By the authority I received from the chief priests, I locked many Christians in prison. I voted to have them killed every time a vote was taken.
11 I even went to each synagogue, punished believers, and forced them to curse ⌊the name of Jesus⌋. In my furious rage against them, I hunted them down in cities outside ⌊Jerusalem⌋.
12 “I was carrying out these activities when I went to the city of Damascus. I had the power and authority of the chief priests.