Acts 26:9Plain English VersionPaul kept on talking. He said, “You know, at one time I thought I had to stop people from following Jesus, the man from Nazareth. I did a lot of things to try to stop them. See the chapter |
“I am a Jew, just like you. I was born in Tarsus, in Cilicia country, but I grew up here in Jerusalem. I was a young man here, and I learned all our laws. You know Gamaliyel. You know he is a really good teacher, right? Well, he taught me all the laws that Moses gave to our grand-fathers. And I wanted to always do everything God says, so I never broke any of those laws. I’m sure that all you mob properly follow those laws too.
At that time, Saul was still making trouble for Jesus’s followers. He was telling them, “I’m going to hurt you and kill you.” He went to the big boss of the Jewish ceremonies and said, “I want to go to the city called Damascus and grab the followers of Jesus there. Will you write letters for me to take to the people in the Jewish meeting houses there? Tell them that you want me to grab anyone that belongs to that mob called the Jesus Way mob. I will grab those men and women, and tie them up, and I will bring them back to Jerusalem for you to punish them.” So that big boss wrote letters like that, and he gave them to Saul to take to Damascus.
I used to be really cheeky to Jesus Christ before I ever believed in him. I used to say bad things about Jesus, and I used to make trouble for anybody that believed in Jesus. I didn’t know the true story about Jesus at that time, so I didn’t believe in him. But God felt sorry for me, and he was really good to me. He let me turn around and join up with Jesus Christ, and now Jesus helps me to trust God, and he helps me to love everybody.