1 “My brothers and fathers, listen to what I am about to say to you in my defense.”
2 When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew they became all the more quiet. And he continued,
3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
4 I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
5 Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf. For from them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment those there as well.
6 “On that journey as I drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.