15. “Then I said, ‘Who are You, Lord? ’“And the Lord replied: ‘I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting.
16. But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and of what I will reveal to you.
17. I will rescue you from the people and from the Gentiles. I now send you to them
18. to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that by faith in Me they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified.’
19. “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
20. Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.
21. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple complex and were trying to kill me.
22. To this very day, I have obtained help that comes from God, and I stand and testify to both small and great, saying nothing else than what the prophets and Moses said would take place —
23. that the Messiah must suffer, and that as the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”
24. As he was making his defense this way, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You’re out of your mind, Paul! Too much study is driving you mad! ”