9 ^[a]Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom^(A) for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,^(B) but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

¹³ About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice^(A) saying to me in Aramaic,^[a](B) ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ¹⁶ ‘Now get up and stand on your feet.^(C) 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.^{(D) 17} I will rescue you^(E) from your own people and from the Gentiles.^(F) I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes^(G) and turn them from darkness to light,^(H) and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins^(I) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’^(J)

¹⁹ “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient^(K) to the vision from heaven. ²⁰ First to those in Damascus,^(L) then to those in Jerusalem^(M) and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles,^(N) I preached that they should repent^(O) and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.^{(P) 21} That is why some Jews seized me^(Q) in the temple courts and tried to kill me.^{(R) 22} But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen^(S)— ²³ that the Messiah would suffer^(T) and, as the first to rise from the dead,^(U) would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”^(V)

¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb^(A) and called me^(B) by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles,^(C) my immediate response was not to consult any human being.^(D)

Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am^(A) the light of the world.^(B) Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”^(C)

³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory^(A) and the exact representation of his being,^(B) sustaining all things^(C) by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins,^(D) he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.^(E)