1 Now Saul, as he was still breathing threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that if he found any men or women belonging to The Way he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem.
3 As he traveled on he finally approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
4 He dropped to the ground; then he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
5 He asked, "Who are you, sir?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
6 But get up and go into the city, and there it will be told you what you ought to do."
7 His fellow-travelers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could not see anyone.
8 Then Saul got up off the ground, but he could not see anything, although his eyes were wide open. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus,
9 and for three days he could not see, and he did not eat or drink anything.
10 Now there was in Damascus a disciple named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" And he answered, "Yes, Lord, I am here."
11 And the Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for one named Saul, from Tarsus, for he is now praying there.
12 He has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, to restore his sight."
13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard many people tell of this man, especially the great sufferings he has brought on your people in Jerusalem.
14 Now he is here and has authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call upon your name."
15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name to the heathen and their kings, and to the descendants of Israel.
16 For I am going to show him how great are the sufferings he must endure for my name's sake."
17 So Ananias left and went to that house, and there he laid his hands upon Saul, and said, "Saul, my. brother, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road on which you were coming here, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
18 And all at once something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized,
19 and after taking some food he felt strong again. For several days he stayed with the disciples at Damascus,
20 and at once he began to preach in their synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
21 And all who heard him were astounded and said, "Is not this the man who harassed those who called upon this name in Jerusalem, and has come here expressly for the purpose of putting them in chains and taking them back to the high priests?"
22 But Saul grew stronger and stronger and continued to put to utter confusion the Jews who lived in Damascus, by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
23 After several days had gone by, the Jews laid a plot to murder him,
24 but their plot was found out by Saul. Day and night they kept guarding the city gates, to murder him,
25 but his disciples took him one night and let him down through the city wall, by lowering him in a hamper-basket.
26 Now when Saul arrived at Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples there, but they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was really a disciple.
27 Barnabas, however, took him up and presented him to the apostles, and he told them how on the road he had seen the Lord, and how the Lord had spoken to him, and how courageously he had spoken in the name of Jesus at Damascus.
28 So he was one of them, going in and out constantly at Jerusalem,
29 and he continued to speak courageously in the name of the Lord, and to speak and debate with the Greek-speaking Jews. But they kept trying to murder him.
30 So when the brothers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and from there sent him back to Tarsus.
31 So the church all over Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, and as it continued to be built up spiritually and to live in reverence for the Lord, it continued to increase in numbers through the encouragement that the Holy Spirit gave.
32 Now, as Peter was going here and there among them all, he finally went down to God's people who lived at Lydda.
33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years as a paralytic.
34 So Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ now cures you! Get up and make your bed!" And at once he got up.
35 Then all the people who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and so they turned to the Lord.
36 At Joppa there was a woman, a disciple, whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek means Dorcas, that is, Gazelle. She had filled her life with good deeds and works of charity, which she was always doing.
37 Just at that time it happened that she had been taken ill and had died. They washed her body and laid her out in a room upstairs.
38 As Joppa was near Lydda, the disciples heard that Peter was there, and sent two men to him, begging him to come to them without delay.
39 So Peter at once got up and went with them. When he reached there, they took him to the room upstairs, and all the widows took their stand around him, crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
40 Then Peter put them all out of the room, knelt down and prayed, and, turning to the body, said, "Tabitha, get up!" Then she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
41 He gave her his hand and lifted her to her feet, and calling in the Lord's people and the widows, he gave her back to them alive.
42 This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord.
43 So it came about that Peter stayed in Joppa several days, at the house of a tanner named Simon.