8 ¹ And Saul approved of their killing him.

Saul Persecutes the Church

That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.^{(A) 2} Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him.^{(B) 3} But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.^(C)

The Conversion of Saul

9 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest^{(A) 2} and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³ Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.^{(B) 4} He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”^{(C) 5} He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ⁶ But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” ⁷ The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.^{(D) 8} Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing;^[a] so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”^{(E) 11} The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying,^{(F) 12} and he has seen in a vision^[b] a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, ¹⁴ and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.”^{(G) 15} But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel;^{(H) 16} I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”^{(I) 17} So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul^[c] and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”^{(J) 18} And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, ¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul Preaches in Damascus

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,^{(K) 20} and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” ²¹ All who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”^{(L) 22} Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus^[d] was the Messiah.^[e](M)

Saul Escapes from the Jews

²³ After some time had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,^{(N) 24} but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night so that they might kill him,^{(O) 25} but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,^[f] lowering him in a basket.

Saul in Jerusalem

²⁶ When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.^{(P) 27} But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.^{(Q) 28} So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ He spoke and argued with the Hellenists, but they were attempting to kill him.^{(R) 30} When the brothers and sisters learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

The Apostles Preach in Cyprus

⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.^{(A) 5} When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. And they had John also to assist them.^{(B) 6} When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus.^{(C) 7} He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.^{(D) 8} But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.^{(E) 9} But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him^{(F) 10} and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?^{(G) 11} And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he fumbled about for someone to lead him by the hand.^{(H) 12} When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.