1. “My fellow-Jews, listen to me as I make my defence before you!”
2. When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even quieter; and Paul went on:
3. “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in Jerusalem as a student of Gamaliel. I received strict instruction in the Law of our ancestors and was just as dedicated to God as are all of you who are here today.
4. I persecuted to the death the people who followed this Way. I arrested men and women and threw them into prison.
5. The High Priest and the whole Council can prove that I am telling the truth. I received from them letters written to fellow-Jews in Damascus, so I went there to arrest these people and bring them back in chains to Jerusalem to be punished.
6. “As I was travelling and coming near Damascus, about midday a bright light from the sky flashed suddenly round me.