221 My brothers and fathers, give ear to the story of my life which I now put before you. 2 And, hearing him talking in the Hebrew language, they became the more quiet, and he said,

3 I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia by birth, but I had my education in this town at the feet of Gamaliel, being trained in the keeping of every detail of the law of our fathers; given up to the cause of God with all my heart, as you are today. 4 And I made attacks on this Way, even to death, taking men and women and putting them in prison. 5 Of which the high priest will be a witness, and all the rulers, from whom I had letters to the brothers; and I went into Damascus, to take those who were there as prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

6 And it came about that while I was on my journey, coming near to Damascus, about the middle of the day, suddenly I saw a great light from heaven shining round me. 7 And when I went down on the earth, a voice came to my ears saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly? 8 And I, answering, said, Who are you; Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are attacking. 9 And those who were with me saw the light, but the voice of him who was talking to me came not to their ears. 10 And I said, What have I to do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Get up, and go into Damascus; and it will be made clear to you what you have to do. 11 And because I was unable to see because of the glory of that light, those who were with me took me by the hand, and so I came to Damascus. 12 And one Ananias, a God-fearing man, who kept the law, and of whom all the Jews in that place had a high opinion, 13 Came to my side and said, Brother Saul, let your eyes be open. And in that very hour I was able to see him. 14 And he said, You have been marked out by the God of our fathers to have knowledge of his purpose, and to see the Upright One and to give ear to the words of his mouth. 15 For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and of what has come to your ears. 16 And now, why are you waiting? get up, and have baptism, for the washing away of your sins, giving worship to his name.

Paul's Call to the Gentiles

17 And it came about that when I had come back to Jerusalem, while I was at prayer in the Temple, my senses became more than naturally clear, 18 And I saw him saying to me, Go out of Jerusalem straight away because they will not give hearing to your witness about me. 19 And I said, Lord, they themselves have knowledge that I went through the Synagogues putting in prison and whipping all those who had faith in you: 20 And when Stephen your witness was put to death, I was there, giving approval, and looking after the clothing of those who put him to death. 21 And he said to me, Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.

Paul in the Custody of the Chief Captain

22 And they gave him a hearing as far as this word; then with loud voices they said, Away with this man from the earth; it is not right for him to be living. 23 And while they were crying out, and pulling off their clothing, and sending dust into the air, 24 The chief captain gave orders for him to be taken into the army building, saying that he would put him to the test by whipping, so that he might have knowledge of the reason why they were crying out so violently against him. 25 And when they had put leather bands round him, Paul said to the captain who was present, Is it the law for you to give blows to a man who is a Roman and has not been judged? 26 And hearing this, the man went to the chief captain and gave him an account of it, saying, What are you about to do? for this man is a Roman. 27 And the chief captain came to him and said, Give me an answer, are you a Roman? And he said, Yes. 28 And the chief captain said, I got Roman rights for myself at a great price. And Paul said, But I had them by birth. 29 Then those who were about to put him to the test went away: and the chief captain was in fear, seeing that he was a Roman, and that he had put chains on him.

Paul before the Council

30 But on the day after, desiring to have certain knowledge of what the Jews had to say against him, he made him free, and gave orders for the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to come together, and he took Paul and put him before them.

A Lame Man Healed at the Gate of the Temple

31 Now Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer; 2 And a certain man who from birth had had no power in his legs, was taken there every day, and put down at the door of the Temple which is named Beautiful, requesting money from those who went into the Temple; 3 He then, seeing Peter and John going into the Temple, made a request to them. 4 And Peter, looking at him, with John, said, Keep your eyes on us. 5 And he gave attention to them, hoping to get something from them. 6 But Peter said, I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up on your feet. 7 And he took him by his right hand, lifting him up; and straight away his feet and the bones of his legs became strong, 8 And, jumping up, he got on to his feet and went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and giving praise to God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God: 10 And they saw that it was the man who made requests for money at the door of the Temple, and they were full of wonder and surprise at what had taken place.

Peter's Address in Solomon's Porch

11 And while he kept his hands on Peter and John, all the people came running together to the covered way which is named Solomon's, full of wonder.

12 And when Peter saw it he said to the people, You men of Israel, why are you so greatly surprised at this man? or why are you looking at us as if by our power or virtue we had given him the use of his legs? 13 The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has given glory to his servant Jesus; whom you gave up, turning your backs on him, when Pilate had made the decision to let him go free. 14 But you would have nothing to do with the Holy and Upright One, and made request for a man of blood to be given to you, 15 And put to death the Lord of life; whom God gave back from the dead; of which fact we are witnesses. 16 And his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and have knowledge of: yes, the faith which is through him has made him well, before you all. 17 And now, my brothers, I am conscious that you did this, as did your rulers, without knowledge. 18 But the things which God had made clear before, by the mouth of all the prophets, that the Christ would have to undergo, he has put into effect in this way. 19 So then, let your hearts be changed and be turned to God, so that your sins may be completely taken away, and times of blessing may come from the Lord; 20 And that he may send the Christ who was marked out for you from the first, even Jesus: 21 Who is to be kept in heaven till the time when all things are put right, of which God has given word by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been from the earliest times. 22 For Moses said, The Lord will give you a prophet from among your people, like me; you will give ear to everything which he will say to you. 23 And every soul who does not give attention to that prophet, will be cut off from among the people. 24 And all the prophets from Samuel and those who came after, every one of them, gave word of these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets, and of the agreement which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, Through your seed a blessing will come on all the families of the earth. 26 To you, first, God sent his servant, blessing you by turning every one of you from his sins.