¹⁴ “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors^(A) has chosen you to know his will and to see^(B) the Righteous One^(C) and to hear words from his mouth. ¹⁵ You will be his witness^(D) to all people of what you have seen^(E) and heard. ¹⁶ And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized^(F) and wash your sins away,^(G) calling on his name.’^(H)

¹⁷ “When I returned to Jerusalem^(I) and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance^{(J) 18} and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹ “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison^(K) and beat^(L) those who believe in you. ²⁰ And when the blood of your martyr^[a] Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’^(M)

²¹ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”^(N)

¹⁶ ‘Now get up and stand on your feet.^(A) I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.^{(B) 17} I will rescue you^(C) from your own people and from the Gentiles.^(D) I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes^(E) and turn them from darkness to light,^(F) and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins^(G) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’^(H)

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle^(A) and set apart^(B) for the gospel of God^(C)—

1 Paul, called to be an apostle^(A) of Christ Jesus by the will of God,^(B) and our brother Sosthenes,^(C)

Paul’s Rights as an Apostle

9 Am I not free?^(A) Am I not an apostle?^(B) Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?^(C) Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?^(D)

² Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal^(A) of my apostleship in the Lord.