English Standard Version

Acts 26:14-20 English Standard Version (ESV)

14. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘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 Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

16. But rise and stand 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—to whom I am sending you

18. to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light 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 first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.