Saul Persecutes the Church

8 ^(A)Now Saul approved of putting ^[a]Stephen to death.

And on that day a great persecution ^[b]began against ^(B)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^(C)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^(D)Samaria, except for the apostles. ² Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him. ³ But ^(E)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would ^(F)drag away men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

⁴ Therefore, those ^(G)who had been scattered went through places ^[c](H)preaching the word. ^5 (I)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the ^[d]Christ to them. ⁶ The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ^[e]signs which he was performing. ⁷ For in the case of many who had ^(J)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^(K)paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed. ⁸ So there was ^(L)much rejoicing in that city.

⁹ Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing ^(M)magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, ^(N)claiming to be someone great; ¹⁰ and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “^(O)This man is the Power of God that is called Great.” ¹¹ And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his ^(P)magic arts. ¹² But when they believed Philip ^(Q)as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being ^(R)baptized. ¹³ Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^(S)signs and ^(T)great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

¹⁴ Now when ^(U)the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^(V)Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(W)that they would receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ (For He had ^(X)not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^(Y)baptized ^[f]in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ¹⁷ Then they ^(Z)began laying their hands on them, and they were ^(AA)receiving the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could ^(AB)acquire the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have ^(AC)no part or share in this ^[g]matter, for your heart is not ^(AD)right before God. ²² Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(AE)if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are ^[h]in the gall of bitterness and in ^(AF)the ^[i]bondage of unrighteousness.” ²⁴ But Simon answered and said, “^(AG)Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

²⁵ So, when they had solemnly ^(AH)testified and spoken ^(AI)the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^(AJ)preaching the gospel to many villages of the ^(AK)Samaritans.

²⁶ But ^(AL)an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(AM)Philip, saying, “Get ready and go ^[j]south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^(AN)Gaza.” (^[k]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got ready and went; and ^[l](AO)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of ^[m]Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^(AP)had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his ^[n]chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ Then ^(AQ)the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this ^[o]chariot.” ³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

³⁴ The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip ^(AT)opened his mouth, and ^(AU)beginning from this Scripture he ^(AV)preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^(AW)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[r] 38} And he ordered that the ^[s]chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, ^(AX)the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, ^[t]but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip ^[u]found himself at ^[v](AY)Azotus, and as he passed through he ^(AZ)kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to ^(BA)Caesarea.

The Conversion of Saul

9 ^(BB)Now ^[w]Saul, still ^(BC)breathing ^[x]threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ² and asked for ^(BD)letters from him to ^(BE)the synagogues in ^(BF)Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^[y](BG)the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them in shackles to Jerusalem. ³ Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and ^(BH)suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and ^(BI)he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but get up and enter the city, and ^(BJ)it will be told to you what you must do.” ⁷ The men who traveled with him ^(BK)stood speechless, ^(BL)hearing the ^[z]voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and ^(BM)though his eyes were open, he ^[aa]could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into ^(BN)Damascus. ⁹ And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple in ^(BO)Damascus named ^(BP)Ananias; and the Lord said to him in ^(BQ)a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from ^(BR)Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, ¹² and he has seen ^[ab]in a vision a man named Ananias come in and ^(BS)lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, ^(BT)how much harm he did to ^(BU)Your ^[ac]saints in Jerusalem; ¹⁴ and here he ^(BV)has authority from the chief priests to ^[ad]arrest all who ^(BW)call on Your name.” ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(BX)he is a chosen ^[ae]instrument of Mine, to bear My name before ^(BY)the Gentiles and ^(BZ)kings and the sons of Israel; ¹⁶ for ^(CA)I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.” ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after ^(CB)laying his hands on him said, “^(CC)Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be ^(CD)filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ And immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; ¹⁹ and he took food and was strengthened.

Saul Begins to Preach Christ

Now ^(CE)for several days he was with ^(CF)the disciples who were in Damascus, ²⁰ and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus ^(CG)in the synagogues, ^[af]saying, “He is ^(CH)the Son of God.” ²¹ All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem ^(CI)destroyed those who ^(CJ)called on this name, and had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” ²² But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the ^[ag]Christ.

²³ When ^(CK)many days had elapsed, ^(CL)the Jews plotted together to do away with him, ²⁴ but ^(CM)their plot became known to Saul. ^(CN)They were also closely watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; ²⁵ but his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

^26 (CO)When he came to Jerusalem, he tried repeatedly to associate with the disciples; and yet they were all afraid of him, as they did not believe that he was a disciple. ²⁷ But ^(CP)Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had ^(CQ)seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how ^(CR)he had ^(CS)spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus at Damascus. ²⁸ And he was with them, ^[ah]moving about freely in Jerusalem, ^(CT)speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ And he was talking and arguing with the ^[ai](CU)Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. ³⁰ Now when ^(CV)the ^[aj]brothers learned of it, they brought him down to ^(CW)Caesarea and ^(CX)sent him away to ^(CY)Tarsus.

³¹ So ^(CZ)the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria ^[ak]enjoyed peace, as it was being built up; and as it ^[al]continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it kept increasing.

Peter’s Ministry

³² Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he also came down to ^(DA)the ^[am]saints who lived at ^[an](DB)Lydda. ³³ There he found a man named Aeneas who had been bedridden for eight years, ^[ao]because he was paralyzed. ³⁴ Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your own bed.” Immediately he got up. ³⁵ And all who lived at ^[ap](DC)Lydda and ^(DD)Sharon saw him, and they ^(DE)turned to the Lord.

³⁶ Now in ^(DF)Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means ^[aq]Dorcas); this woman was ^[ar]excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually. ³⁷ But it happened ^[as]at that time that she became sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an ^(DG)upstairs room. ³⁸ Since Lydda was near ^(DH)Joppa, ^(DI)the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” ³⁹ So Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the ^(DJ)room upstairs; and all the ^(DK)widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the ^[at]tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. ⁴⁰ But Peter ^(DL)sent them all out and ^(DM)knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “^(DN)Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹ And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling ^(DO)the ^[au]saints and ^(DP)widows, he presented her alive. ⁴² It became known all over ^(DQ)Joppa, and ^(DR)many believed in the Lord. ⁴³ And Peter stayed in ^(DS)Joppa many days with ^(DT)a tanner named Simon.