18 And we all, with unveiled face, ⁿbeholding ^othe glory of the Lord,¹ are being ^ptransformed ^qinto the same image from one degree of glory to another.² For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

The Light of the Gospel

1 Therefore, having this ministry ^rby the mercy of God,³ we do not ^slose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. ^tWe refuse to practice⁴ cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth ^uwe would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even ^vif our gospel is veiled, it is veiled ^wto those who are perishing. 4 In their case the ^xgod of this world has ^yblinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the ^zimage of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but ^aJesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your ^bservants⁵ for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, ^c“Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts ^dto give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The Stoning of Stephen

54 Now when they heard these things they were ^penraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and ^qsaw the ^rglory of God, and Jesus ^sstanding at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see ^tthe heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the ^uright hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and ^vstopped their ears and rushed together¹ at him. 58 Then they cast him ^wout of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, ^xreceive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ^y“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell ^zasleep.

Saul Ravages the Church

1 And Saul approved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great ^apersecution against the church in ^bJerusalem, and they were all ^cscattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ^dravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

The Conversion of Saul

1 ^cBut Saul, still ^dbreathing ^ethreats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the ^fWay, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a ^glight from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, ^h“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice ⁱbut seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, ^j“Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a ^kchosen instrument of mine to carry my name ^lbefore the Gentiles and ^mkings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will ⁿshow him how much he must ^osuffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And ^playing his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened.

Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues

For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he ^qproclaimed Jesus in the ^rsynagogues, saying, “He is the ^sSon of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and ^tconfounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was ^uthe Christ.

9 ^d“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the ^ename of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in ^fraging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a ^glight from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,¹ ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the ^hLord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and ⁱstand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—^jto whom I am sending you 18 to ^kopen their eyes, so that they may turn from ^ldarkness to ^mlight and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared ⁿfirst to those in Damascus, ^othen in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and ^palso to the Gentiles, that they should ^qrepent and ^rturn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason ^sthe Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but ^twhat the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being ^uthe first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim ^vlight both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.”