Mine brødre og fedre, hør på beretningen om mitt liv som jeg nå legger frem for dere.

My brothers and fathers, give ear to the story of my life which I now put before you.

Da de hørte ham tale på hebraisk, ble de enda roligere, og han sa,

And, hearing him talking in the Hebrew language, they became the more quiet, and he said,

Jeg er en jøde født i Tarsus i Kilikia, men fikk min utdannelse i denne byen hos Gamaliel, opplært i å følge alle lovens regler etter våre fedres tradisjon; jeg var helhjertet i Guds sak, slik dere er i dag.

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.

Jeg forfulgte denne Veien, til og med til døden, og fengslet både menn og kvinner.

And I made attacks on this Way, even to death, taking men and women and putting them in prison.

Det kan ypperstepresten bevitne, sammen med alle rådsmedlemmene, fra hvem jeg fikk brev til brødrene; og jeg dro til Damaskus for å ta dem der som fanger til Jerusalem for å straffe dem.

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.

Og mens jeg var på vei, nærmet jeg meg Damaskus da det plutselig midt på dagen lyste et sterkt lys fra himmelen rundt meg.

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.

Og da jeg falt til jorden, hørte jeg en stemme si til meg: Saulus, Saulus, hvorfor forfølger du meg?

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?

Jeg svarte: Hvem er du, Herre? Og han sa til meg: Jeg er Jesus fra Nasaret, som du forfølger.

And I, answering, said, Who are you; Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are attacking.

De som var med meg så lyset, men de hørte ikke stemmen til den som snakket med meg.

And those who were with me saw the light, but the voice of him who was talking to me came not to their ears.

Jeg spurte: Hva skal jeg gjøre, Herre? Og Herren sa til meg: Reis deg, gå inn i Damaskus; der vil det bli fortalt deg hva du skal gjøre.

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.

Og fordi jeg ikke kunne se på grunn av lysets stråleglans, ble jeg ledet av dem som var med meg, og kom slik til Damaskus.

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.

En mann ved navn Ananias, en gudfryktig mann som levde etter loven og hadde godt omdømme blant alle jødene der,

And one Ananias, a God-fearing man, who kept the law, and of whom all the Jews in that place had a high opinion,

kom til meg og sa: Bror Saulus, få synet ditt tilbake. Og i samme øyeblikk kunne jeg se ham.

Came to my side and said, Brother Saul, let your eyes be open. And in that very hour I was able to see him.

Han sa: Våre forfedres Gud har utvalgt deg til å kjenne hans vilje, å se Den Rettferdige og høre stemmen fra hans munn.

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.

For du skal være hans vitne for alle mennesker om det du har sett og hørt.

For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and of what has come to your ears.

Og nå, hvorfor venter du? Stå opp, bli døpt, og få tilgivelse for dine synder ved å påkalle hans navn.

And now, why are you waiting? get up, and have baptism, for the washing away of your sins, giving worship to his name.

Da jeg kom tilbake til Jerusalem og ba i templet, fikk jeg et syn,

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,

og jeg så ham si til meg: Skynd deg å forlate Jerusalem, for de vil ikke høre ditt vitnesbyrd om meg.

And I saw him saying to me, Go out of Jerusalem straight away because they will not give hearing to your witness about me.

Og jeg sa: Herre, de vet jo at jeg fengslet og pisket de som trodde på deg i synagogene.

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:

Og da Stefanus, ditt vitne, ble drept, var jeg der og ga min støtte, og passet på klærne deres som steinet ham.

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.

Og han sa til meg: Gå, for jeg vil sende deg langt bort til hedningene.

And he said to me, Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.

De hørte på ham inntil dette ordet, men da ropte de høyt og sa: Bort med denne mannen fra jorden; han fortjener ikke å leve.

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.

Mens de ropte, rev de av seg klærne og kastet støv i luften.

And while they were crying out, and pulling off their clothing, and sending dust into the air,

Da befalte kommandanten at han skulle bringes inn i kasernen og forhøres under pisking, for å finne ut hvorfor de ropte så voldsomt mot ham.

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.

Da de hadde bundet ham med remmer, sa Paulus til den tilstedeværende offiseren: Er det tillatt å piske en romersk borger som ikke har blitt dømt?

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?

Når offiseren hørte dette, gikk han til kommandanten og sa: Hva har du tenkt å gjøre? Denne mannen er en romer.

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.

Kommandanten kom til ham og sa: Si meg, er du en romer? Og han svarte: Ja.

And the chief captain came to him and said, Give me an answer, are you a Roman? And he said, Yes.

Kommandanten sa: Jeg kjøpte romersk borgerskap for en stor sum. Paulus svarte: Men jeg er født med det.

And the chief captain said, I got Roman rights for myself at a great price. And Paul said, But I had them by birth.

De som skulle forhøre ham trakk seg straks unna, og kommandanten ble redd da han forsto at han hadde lagt lenker på en romersk borger.

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.

Dagen etter ville han få klarhet i hva jødene anklaget ham for. Derfor løslot han Paulus og befalte at yppersteprestene og hele Rådet skulle samles, og han førte Paulus frem for dem.

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.