They threw him out of the city and stoned him [to death]. Those who witnessed [the incident] placed their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

And Saul was in full agreement with Stephen being put to death. And a great persecution broke out against the Jerusalem church, and all the disciples, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the districts of Judea and Samaria.

But Saul brought devastation to the church by entering everyone's house and dragging men and women off to jail.

With every breath [it seemed], Saul [expressed his desire to] threaten and murder the Lord's disciples and [even] went to the head priest

He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"

Saul replied, "Who are you, sir?" And the voice said, "It is I, Jesus, whom you are persecuting,

And the men who were traveling with Saul were speechless, having heard the sound, but not seeing anyone.

Saul got up from the ground and opened his eyes but could not see anything, so had to be led by the hand into Damascus.

The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to Straight Street and ask for a person named Saul, from Tarsus, at the home of Judas; you will find him [there] praying."

(Now Saul had seen [in a vision] a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him, restoring his sight).

But the Lord replied to him, "Go on your way, for Saul is someone I have especially chosen to carry my name to the [unconverted] Gentiles, kings and the Israelites.

So, Ananias left and went to Judas' house and placed his hands on Saul saying, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you as you were traveling on the road [to Damascus] sent me so you could receive your sight [back] and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

And suddenly, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and his sight was [immediately] restored. So, he got up and was immersed [See 22:16];

And so Saul began proclaiming that Jesus was the Son of God in the synagogues [of the Damascus area].

But Saul was strengthened [spiritually] and proceeded to confound the Jews living [there] in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

And after a number of days had passed [these] Jews conspired together to kill Saul,

And when he came [back] to Jerusalem, Saul attempted to associate himself with the disciples but they were afraid of him [because of his past], and could not believe that he was a [true] disciple.

Saul then traveled in and out of Jerusalem with the apostles,

Then he went on to Tarsus to look for Saul [Note: Tarsus was the home town of Saul, who was later called Paul],

and when he found him, he brought him [back] to Antioch. So, for an entire year Saul and Barnabas gathered the church together and taught many people. [It was] here in Antioch that the disciples were first [divinely] called Christians.

So, they sent [what was donated] to the elders [of the Judean churches] by Barnabas and Saul.

Barnabas and Saul returned [to Antioch] from Jerusalem after they had fulfilled their mission [i.e., of taking the contribution for the famine-stricken people of Judea. See 11:27-30]. They took John Mark [back to Antioch with them].

Now in the church at Antioch there were [these] prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon, called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, the foster-brother of Herod the Tetrarch [i.e., governor of Galilee], and Saul.

As these men were ministering to the Lord [i.e., this probably means worshiping] and fasting, the Holy Spirit said [to one of them by way of inspiration]: "Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me, [commissioning them] to do the work for which I have called them."

He was with a very intelligent magistrate, [a Roman official named] Sergius Paulus. This man called for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the message of God.

But Saul, [now] also called Paul, being filled with [the power of] the Holy Spirit, looked at him intently

And after that the people asked for a king [to rule their nation] so God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, from the [Israelite] tribe of Benjamin, who ruled as king for forty years.

I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'

came and stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, regain your sight.' And at that very moment I looked at him [fully able to see again].

When we all fell to the ground I heard a voice speaking in the Hebrew [i.e., Aramaic] language. [It said], 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are only hurting yourself by kicking against the spurs [i.e., opposing the work of God].'