Portion of the Levites

18 “^(A)The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the Lord’s offerings by fire and His ^[a]portion. ^2 (B)They shall have no inheritance among their ^[b]countrymen; the Lord is their inheritance, as He ^[c]promised them.

³ “^(C)Now this shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep, of which they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. ⁴ You shall give him the ^(D)first fruits of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the first shearing of your sheep. ^5 (E)For the Lord your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes, to ^(F)stand ^[d]and serve in the name of the Lord forever.

⁶ “Now if a Levite comes from any of your ^[e]towns throughout Israel where he ^(G)resides, and comes ^[f]whenever he desires to the place which the Lord chooses, ⁷ then he shall serve in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord. ^8 (H)They shall eat ^[g]equal portions, except what they receive from the sale of their fathers’ estates.

Spiritism Forbidden

⁹ “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to ^[h](I)imitate the detestable things of those nations. ¹⁰ There shall not be found among you anyone ^(J)who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one ^(K)who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, ¹¹ or one who casts a spell, ^(L)or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. ¹² For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and ^(M)because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you. ^13 (N)You shall be ^[i]blameless before the Lord your God. ¹⁴ For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who ^(O)practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.

¹⁵ “^(P)The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your ^[j]countrymen, you shall listen to him. ¹⁶ This is ^(Q)according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ ^17 (R)The Lord said to me, ‘They have ^[k]spoken well. ¹⁸ I will raise up a prophet from among their ^[l]countrymen like you, and ^(S)I will put My words in his mouth, and ^(T)he shall speak to them all that I command him. ^19 (U)It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. ²⁰ But the prophet who speaks a word ^(V)presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or ^(W)which he speaks in the name of other gods, ^[m]that prophet shall die.’ ^21 [n]You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ ^22 (X)When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it ^(Y)presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

The Conversion of Saul

9 ^(A)Now ^[a]Saul, still ^(B)breathing ^[b]threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ² and asked for ^(C)letters from him to ^(D)the synagogues at ^(E)Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^(F)the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³ As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and ^(G)suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and ^(H)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 ^(I)it will be told you what you must do.” ⁷ The men who traveled with him ^(J)stood speechless, ^(K)hearing the ^[c]voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and ^(L)though his eyes were open, he ^[d]could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into ^(M)Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple at ^(N)Damascus named ^(O)Ananias; and the Lord said to him in ^(P)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 ^(Q)Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, ¹² and he has seen ^[e]in a vision a man named Ananias come in and ^(R)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, ^(S)how much harm he did to ^(T)Your ^[f]saints at Jerusalem; ¹⁴ and here he ^(U)has authority from the chief priests to bind all who ^(V)call on Your name.” ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(W)he is a chosen ^[g]instrument of Mine, to bear My name before ^(X)the Gentiles and ^(Y)kings and the sons of Israel; ¹⁶ for ^(Z)I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after ^(AA)laying his hands on him said, “^(AB)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 ^(AC)filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, 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 ^(AD)for several days he was with ^(AE)the disciples who were at Damascus, ²⁰ and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus ^(AF)in the synagogues, ^[h]saying, “He is ^(AG)the Son of God.” ²¹ All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem ^(AH)destroyed those who ^(AI)called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” ²² But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the ^[i]Christ.

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

^26 (AN)When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; ^[j]but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. ²⁷ But ^(AO)Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had ^(AP)seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how ^(AQ)at Damascus he had ^(AR)spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ And he was with them, ^[k]moving about freely in Jerusalem, ^(AS)speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ And he was talking and arguing with the ^[l](AT)Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. ³⁰ But when ^(AU)the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to ^(AV)Caesarea and ^(AW)sent him away to ^(AX)Tarsus.

³¹ So ^(AY)the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria ^[m]enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

Peter’s Ministry

³² Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to ^(AZ)the ^[n]saints who lived at ^[o](BA)Lydda. ³³ There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. ³⁴ Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up. ³⁵ And all who lived at ^[p](BB)Lydda and ^(BC)Sharon saw him, and they ^(BD)turned to the Lord.

³⁶ Now in ^(BE)Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called ^[q]Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did. ³⁷ And it happened ^[r]at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an ^(BF)upper room. ³⁸ Since Lydda was near ^(BG)Joppa, ^(BH)the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” ³⁹ So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the ^(BI)upper room; and all the ^(BJ)widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the ^[s]tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. ⁴⁰ But Peter ^(BK)sent them all out and ^(BL)knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “^(BM)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 ^(BN)the ^[t]saints and ^(BO)widows, he presented her alive. ⁴² It became known all over ^(BP)Joppa, and ^(BQ)many believed in the Lord. ⁴³ And Peter stayed many days in ^(BR)Joppa with ^(BS)a tanner named Simon.