Jesus meets with Saul

9 All this time, Saul was still speaking strongly against the disciples of the Lord Jesus. He wanted to kill all the believers. So he went to see the most important priest in Jerusalem. ² Saul asked him, ‘Please will you write some letters for me?^[a] Then I can give one of these letters to the leader of each Jewish group in Damascus.^[b] That will give me authority to take hold of any believers that I find there.’

Saul wanted to find anyone who agreed with the Way of the Lord Jesus.^[c] Then he would tie them and bring them back to Jerusalem, whether they were men or they were women. ³ He travelled towards Damascus. He was very near the city when a bright light suddenly appeared. The light came from the sky, and it shone all around him. ⁴ Saul fell down onto the ground. He heard a voice which said to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you fight against me?’

⁵ Saul asked, ‘Lord, who are you?’ He said, ‘I am Jesus. And you are fighting against me. ⁶ Now you must get up and go into the city. Someone there will tell you what you must do.’

⁷ The men who were travelling with Saul stood still. They could not say anything. They could hear that someone was speaking. But they could not see anyone. ⁸ Saul stood up. He opened his eyes, but he could not see anything. So the men who were with Saul held his hand. They led him into Damascus. ⁹ For three days, Saul could not see anything. During that time, he did not eat any food or drink anything.

¹⁰ There was a believer who lived in Damascus. His name was Ananias. God gave him a message in a vision. The Lord Jesus said to him, ‘Ananias!’ Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I am here.’

¹¹ Jesus said to Ananias, ‘Prepare yourself and go to Straight Street. A man called Judas lives on that street. Go to his house. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus who is called Saul. He is praying to God. ¹² He has had a message from God in a vision. In his vision, he saw a man who is called Ananias come to him. He saw you put your hands on him so that he could see again.’

¹³ Ananias replied, ‘Lord, many people have told me about this man. He has done very bad things to your own people, the believers in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Now he has come here to Damascus, and he has brought letters with him from the leaders of the priests. They have given him authority, so that he will take hold of everyone who believes in you. He will tie them and put them in prison.’

¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go now to Saul! I have chosen him to work for me. He will go to those who are not Jews and to their rulers. He will tell them about me. He will also tell the people of Israel about me. ¹⁶ I myself will tell him about the many troubles that he will have. He will have much pain on my behalf.’

¹⁷ So Ananias went to Judas's house and he went inside. He put his hands on Saul and he said to him, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus himself has sent me here to you.^[d] It was Jesus that you saw on the road when you were coming here to Damascus. He has sent me to you so that you will be able to see again. God will also fill you with his Holy Spirit.’

¹⁸ When Ananias said that, immediately something like bits of fish skin fell from Saul's eyes. Then Saul could see again. So he stood up and Ananias baptized him. ¹⁹ Then Saul ate some food and he became strong again.

Saul teaches people about Jesus

Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. ²⁰ He immediately went to the Jewish meeting places and he taught people about Jesus. He told them that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹ All the people who heard what Saul said were very surprised. They said to each other, ‘This is the same man who caused much pain to the believers in Jerusalem. We are sure it is him! Now he has come here to Damascus to take hold of the believers and take them away to Jerusalem. He wants to make them stand in front of the leaders of the priests.’

²² But Saul became even more powerful when he taught the people. He showed very clearly that Jesus is God's Messiah. So the Jews who lived there in Damascus could not answer him.

²³ After many days, the Jews met together. They decided that they would kill Saul. ²⁴ But someone told Saul about this. The Jews carefully watched the gates of the city all day and all night. They wanted to catch Saul and to kill him. ²⁵ But one night, Saul's friends helped him to leave the city secretly. They put him in a basket. Then they put him through a hole in the city wall. Then they let the basket go slowly down to the ground outside the city.^[e]

Saul returns to Jerusalem

²⁶ Saul returned to Jerusalem. He wanted to join the group of believers there. But they were all afraid of him. They did not believe that he had really become a disciple of Jesus. ²⁷ But one of the believers who was called Barnabas helped Saul. He took Saul to meet the apostles. Barnabas then explained to the apostles what had happened to Saul. Barnabas said to them, ‘Saul saw the Lord when he was on his way to Damascus. The Lord spoke to him there. Then, while Saul was in Damascus, he bravely told people the message about Jesus.’

²⁸ After that, Saul stayed with the apostles. He went everywhere in Jerusalem and he bravely taught people the message about the Lord Jesus. ²⁹ Saul also talked with the Jews who spoke the Greek language.^[f] He argued with them about Jesus. As a result, they wanted to kill him.

³⁰ The other believers heard about this. So they took Saul away to Caesarea. From there, they sent him to Tarsus.

³¹ By this time there were believers everywhere in Judea, Galilee and Samaria. For some time they had no troubles. The Holy Spirit helped them to become strong. So more people became believers, and they obeyed God in everything that they did.

Peter travels to Lydda and Joppa

³² Peter often travelled to many different places. One day he travelled to Lydda, and he went to see the believers there. ³³ In Lydda, he met a man called Aeneas. Aeneas could not move his arms or his legs. He lay on his mat all the time. He had been on his mat for eight years.

³⁴ Peter said to Aeneas, ‘Jesus Christ now makes you well again! So stand up and put away your mat.’ Immediately Aeneas stood up. ³⁵ Many people who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas. They saw that he was now well and they believed in the Lord Jesus.

³⁶ There was a woman called Tabitha who lived in Joppa.^[g] She was a believer. In the Greek language, her name was Dorcas, which means ‘deer’.^[h] She was always doing good things to help people. She gave poor people the things that they needed.

³⁷ Dorcas became very ill and then she died. Women washed her body and they put it in a room upstairs. ³⁸ Joppa was not very far from Lydda. The believers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda. So they sent two men to go and to tell him, ‘Please hurry and come to Joppa.’

³⁹ Peter then returned to Joppa with the two men. When he arrived at Dorcas's house, some women took him upstairs. Many widows were there and they were crying. They all stood there, near to Peter. They showed him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

⁴⁰ Peter sent all these women out of the room. He went down on his knees and he prayed to God. Then he turned his head towards the dead woman and he said, ‘Tabitha, stand up!’ She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹ Peter held her hand and he helped her to stand up. Then he told the widows and all the believers to come into the room. He showed them that Dorcas was alive again.

⁴² People everywhere in Joppa heard what had happened. As a result, many more people believed in the Lord Jesus. ⁴³ Peter stayed in Joppa for many days. He stayed with a man called Simon, who was a tanner.^[i]