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¹ Now Saul, still breathing threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest[xr] ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem. ³ As he traveled along and was approaching Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.[xr] ⁴ He dropped to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"[xr] ⁵ He asked, "Who are you, Lord?"[fn] He said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.[xr] ⁶ But get up and go into the city, and it will be told you what you are to do."[xr] ⁷ Meanwhile, the men who were traveling with him were standing speechless, for they heard the voice but didn't see anyone.[xr] ⁸ When Saul got up off the ground, he couldn't see anything, even though his eyes were open. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he couldn't see, and he didn't eat or drink anything.

¹⁰ Now in Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" He answered, "Here I am, Lord."[xr] ¹¹ The Lord said to him, "Get up, go to the street called Straight, and in the home of Judas look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. At this very moment he is praying.[xr] ¹² He has seen in a vision[fn] a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so he would see again." ¹³ But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard many people tell how much evil this man has done to your saints in Jerusalem.[xr] ¹⁴ He is here with authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call on your name."[xr] ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the descendants of Israel.[xr] ¹⁶ For I am going to show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake."[xr] ¹⁷ So Ananias left and went to that house. He laid his hands on Saul[fn] and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were traveling, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."[xr] ¹⁸ All at once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹ and after taking some food he felt strong again. For several days he stayed with the disciples in Damascus.[xr] ²⁰ He immediately started to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "This is the Son of God."[xr] ²¹ All who heard him were astonished and said, "This is the man who harassed those who called on his name in Jerusalem, isn't it? Didn't he come here to bring them in chains to the high priests?"[xr] ²² But Saul grew more and more powerful and continued to confound the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this man was the Christ.[fn][xr]

²³ After several days had gone by, the Jews plotted to murder him,[xr] ²⁴ but their plot became known to Saul. They were even watching the gates day and night to murder him,[xr] ²⁵ but his disciples took him one night and let him down through the wall by lowering him in a basket.[xr] ²⁶ When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they all were afraid of him because they wouldn't believe he was a disciple.[xr] ²⁷ Barnabas, however, took him and presented him to the apostles, telling them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how courageously he had spoken in the name of Jesus in Damascus.[xr] ²⁸ So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking courageously in the name of the Lord.[xr] ²⁹ He kept talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, but they were bent on murdering him.[xr] ³⁰ When the brothers found out about it, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. ³¹ So the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace. As it continued to be built up and to live in the fear of the Lord, it kept increasing in numbers through the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.[xr]

³² Now when Peter was going around among all of the disciples,[fn] he also came down to the saints living in Lydda.[xr] ³³ There he found a man named Aeneas who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. ³⁴ Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ is healing you. Get up and put away your bed!" At once he got up,[xr] ³⁵ and all the people who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.[xr]

³⁶ In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha,[fn] which in Greek is Dorcas.[fn] She was full of good works and acts of charity, which she was always doing.[xr] ³⁷ At that time she got sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upstairs room.[xr] ³⁸ As Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there and sent two men to him and begged him, "Come to us without delay!" ³⁹ So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him upstairs. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him all the shirts and coats Dorcas made while she was still with them. ⁴⁰ But Peter made them all go outside. After he knelt down and prayed, he turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up!" She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.[xr] ⁴¹ He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called the saints and widows and gave her back to them alive. ⁴² This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.[xr] ⁴³ Meanwhile, Peter[fn] stayed in Joppa for several days with Simon, a leatherworker.[xr]