Acts 26:12-23 - Paul's Account Of His Conversion And Commission
12 "That is how I happened to be traveling to Damascus with authority based on a commission from the high priests. 13 On the road at noon, O King, I saw a light from heaven that was brighter than the sun. It flashed around me and those who were traveling with me. 14 "All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice asking me in the Hebrew language, "Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me? It is hurting you to keep on kicking against the cattle prods.'
15 "I asked, "Who are you, Lord?' 16 "The Lord answered, "I'm Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet, because I've appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you to be my servant and witness of what you've seen and of what I'll show you. 17 I'll continue to rescue you from your people and from the gentiles to whom I'm sending you. 18 You will help them understand and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's control to God, so that their sins will be forgiven and they will receive a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
19 "And so, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. 20 Instead, I first told the people in Damascus and Jerusalem, then all the people in Judea and after that the gentiles to repent, turn to God, and perform deeds that are consistent with such repentance. 21 For this reason the Jewish leaders grabbed me in the Temple and kept trying to kill me. 22 I've had help from God to this day, and so I stand here to testify to both the powerful and the lowly alike, stating only what the prophets and Moses said would happen 23 that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead and would bring light both to our people and to the gentiles."