The Conversion of Saul
Acts 9Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest and requested letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them to Jerusalem bound in chains. As he traveled and was approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
He said, “Who are you, Lord?”
The Lord said, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Nevertheless, get up and go into the city. Then you will be told what you must do.”
The men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but not seeing anyone. Saul got from the ground, and though his eyes were opened, he couldn’t see anything. So they led him by the hand and took him to Damascus. For three days, he could not see, and he didn’t eat or drink.
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Here I am, Lord,” he answered.
The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to Straight street, and at the house of Judah ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying, and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him so that his sight would be restored.”
“Lord” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the ethnic groups, the kings, and the children of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer on behalf of my name.”
So Ananias departed and entered the house. He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. After taking some food, he regained his strength.
For several days Saul stayed with the disciples in Damascus.
Saul Begins to Preach about Jesus
Immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed that Jesus is the Son of God. All who heard him were amazed and said, “Isn’t this the man who was ravaging those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and who came here intending to chain them and bring them before the chief priests?”
But Saul grew more and more powerful, and he confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. After many days had passed, the Jews conspired together to kill him, but Saul learned of their plot. They were watching the gates day and night so that they could kill him, but his disciples took him by night and lowering him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He recounted how Saul had seen the Lord on the road, and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. So he stayed with them, moving about Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He was speaking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the siblings learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
Then the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was being built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, the church increased in number.
Peter Heals and Resurrects
As Peter travelled all about, he came down to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!” Immediately he arose. All who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
In Joppa, there was disciple named Tabitha (which translated means Dorcas). She was always doing good works and acts of compassion. About that time, she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Lydda was near Joppa, so when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to urge him, “Don’t delay in coming to us.” Peter got up and went with them, and when he arrived, they brought him to the upper room. All the widows stood around him, weeping and showing the robes and other garments that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter sent them all out. Then he knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her stand her up. Then he called the saints and widows, and he presented her alive. This became known all throughout Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.