Beginning

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 And as he was traveling, it happened that when he was approaching Damascus, ^(G)suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and ^(H)falling to the ground, he 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 rise up and enter the city, and ^(I)it will be told you what you must do.” ⁷ And the men who traveled with him ^(J)stood speechless, ^(K)hearing the ^[c]voice but seeing no one. ⁸ And Saul got up from the ground, and ^(L)though his eyes were open, he ^[d]could see nothing. 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, “Rise up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from ^(Q)Tarsus named Saul, for behold, 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.” ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house. And he ^(AA)laid his hands on him and said, “^(AB)Brother Saul, the Lord sent me—that is Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming—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 rose 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 And all those hearing him continued to be astounded, and were saying, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem ^(AH)destroyed those that ^(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 One is the ^[i]Christ.

²³ And when ^(AJ)many days had elapsed, ^(AK)the Jews plotted together to put him to death, 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 the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

^26 (AN)And 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 him and brought him to the apostles and recounted 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 So 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 brothers 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 was having peace, being built up. And going on in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it continued to multiply.

Peter Heals Aeneas

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

Peter Raises Tabitha to Life

³⁶ Now in ^(BE)Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated is called ^[p]Dorcas). This woman was full of good works and charity which she continually did. ³⁷ And it happened ^[q]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 Now since Lydda was near ^(BG)Joppa, ^(BH)the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, pleading with 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, crying and showing all the ^[r]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 ^[s]saints and ^(BO)widows, he presented her alive. ⁴² And it became known all over ^(BP)Joppa, and ^(BQ)many believed in the Lord. ⁴³ And it happened that he stayed many days in ^(BR)Joppa with ^(BS)a tanner named Simon.

Cornelius’ and Peter’s Visions

10 Now there was a man at ^(BT)Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ^(BU)called the Italian ^[t]cohort, ² a devout man and ^(BV)one who feared God with all his household, and ^(BW)gave many ^[u]alms to the people and prayed to God continually. ³ About ^(BX)the ^[v]ninth hour of the day he clearly saw ^(BY)in a vision ^(BZ)an angel of God who had come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴ And ^(CA)looking intently on him and becoming afraid, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and ^[w]alms ^(CB)have ascended ^(CC)as a memorial before God. ⁵ Now send some men to ^(CD)Joppa and summon a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶ he is lodging with a tanner named ^(CE)Simon, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷ And when the angel who was speaking to him had left, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, ⁸ and after he explained everything to them, he sent them to ^(CF)Joppa.

⁹ And on the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ^(CG)Peter went up on ^(CH)the housetop about ^(CI)the ^[x]sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰ But he became hungry and was desiring to eat. And while they were making preparations, he ^(CJ)fell into a trance ¹¹ and *saw ^(CK)heaven opened up, and ^[y]an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹² and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the ^[z]sky. ¹³ And a voice came to him, “Rise up, Peter, ^[aa]slaughter and eat!” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, ^(CL)Lord, for ^(CM)I have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.” ¹⁵ Again a voice came to him a second time, “^(CN)What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.” ¹⁶ And this happened three times and immediately the ^[ab]object was taken up into heaven.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ^[ac]mind as to what ^(CO)the vision which he had seen might be, behold, ^(CP)the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; ¹⁸ and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was lodging there. ¹⁹ And while Peter was reflecting on ^(CQ)the vision, ^(CR)the Spirit said to him, “Behold, ^[ad]three men are looking for you. ²⁰ But rise up, go down and ^(CS)accompany them without taking issue at all, for I have sent them Myself.” ²¹ And Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” ²² And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^(CT)God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^(CU)was directed by a ^(CV)holy angel to summon you to his house and hear ^[ae](CW)a message from you.” ²³ So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

Peter at Caesarea

And on the next day he rose up and went away with them, and ^(CX)some of ^(CY)the brothers from ^(CZ)Joppa went with him. ²⁴ And on the following day he entered ^(DA)Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ And when Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ^[af](DB)worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter raised him up, saying, “^(DC)Stand up; I too am just a man.” ²⁷ As he talked with him, he entered and *found ^(DD)many people assembled. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know how ^(DE)unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet ^(DF)God has shown me that I should not call any man defiled or unclean. ²⁹ That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was summoned. So I ask for what reason you have summoned me.”

³⁰ And Cornelius said, “^(DG)Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^(DH)the ^[ag]ninth hour; and behold, ^(DI)a man stood before me in shining garments, ³¹ and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your ^[ah]alms have been remembered before God. ³² Therefore send to ^(DJ)Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is lodging at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent for you immediately, and you have ^[ai]been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been ordered by the Lord.”

The Holy Spirit Poured Out on the Gentiles

^34 (DK)And opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most truly comprehend now that ^(DL)God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but ^(DM)in every nation the one who ^[aj](DN)fears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him. ³⁶ As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^(DO)proclaiming the good news of ^(DP)peace through Jesus Christ—He is ^(DQ)Lord of all— ³⁷ you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. ^38 [ak]You know of ^(DR)Jesus of Nazareth, how God ^(DS)anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, ^[al](DT)and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for ^(DU)God was with Him. ³⁹ And we are ^(DV)witnesses of all the things He did both in the ^[am]land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also ^(DW)put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. ^40 (DX)God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear, ^41 (DY)not to all the people, but to ^(DZ)witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us ^(EA)who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴² And He ^(EB)commanded us to ^[an]preach to the people, and solemnly to ^(EC)bear witness that this is the One who has been ^(ED)designated by God as ^(EE)Judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ Of Him ^(EF)all the prophets bear witness that through ^(EG)His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these things, ^(EH)the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word. ^45 (EI)And all the ^[ao]circumcised believers who came with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been ^(EJ)poured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them ^(EK)speaking with tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered, ⁴⁷ “^(EL)Can anyone refuse water for these to be baptized who ^(EM)have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” ⁴⁸ And he ^(EN)ordered them to be baptized ^(EO)in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for a few days.