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Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
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This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
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And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
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"While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
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at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.
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And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
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So I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
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But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
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I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,
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to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.'
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"Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,