Jesus Appears to Saul on the Road to Damascus

9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he might bring them to Jerusalem as prisoners.

³ As he went on his way and was approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

⁵ He asked, “Who are you, Lord?”

He replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ⁶ But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you need to do.”

⁷ The men traveling with him stood there speechless. They heard the voice but did not see anyone.

⁸ They raised Saul up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he could not see anything. They took him by the hand and led him into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he could not see, and he did not eat or drink.

Ananias Is Sent to Saul

¹⁰ There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹ The Lord told him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. In fact, at this very moment he is praying. ¹² In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he can regain his sight.”

¹³ Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man and how much harm he did to your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. ¹⁶ Indeed, I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

¹⁷ Ananias left and entered the house. Laying his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, whom you saw on your way here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸ Immediately 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 regained his strength.

Saul (Paul) Proclaims Jesus

Saul stayed with the disciples in Damascus for several days. ²⁰ 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, “Isn’t this the one who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? Didn’t he come here for this very purpose: to bring them as prisoners to the chief priests?” ²² But Saul continued to get stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

¹¹ Great fear gripped the whole church and all who heard about these things.

Many Miracles

¹² Many signs and wonders were done among the people through the hands of the apostles. With one mind, they all continued meeting in Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ No one else dared to join them, but the people held them in high regard. ¹⁴ More and more believers in the Lord were added to their group, large numbers of both men and women.

Breakfast With the Lord Jesus

21 After this, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is how he showed himself: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I’m going fishing.”

They replied, “We’ll go with you.”

They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. ⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus was standing on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus.

⁵ Jesus called to them, “Boys, don’t you have any fish?”

“No!” they answered.

⁶ He told them, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” So they cast the net out. Then they were not able to haul it in because of the large number of fish.

⁷ The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard, “It is the Lord!” he tied his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the sea. ⁸ But the other disciples came in the little boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about one hundred yards. ⁹ When they stepped out on land, they saw some bread and a charcoal fire with fish on it. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”

¹¹ So Simon Peter climbed aboard and hauled the net to land, full of large fish, 153 of them. Yet even with so many, the net was not torn.

¹² Jesus said to them, “Come, eat breakfast.”

None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord.

¹³ Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them, and also the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.