Among all those who had embraced the faith there was but one heart and soul, so that none of them claimed any of his possessions as his own, but everything they had was common property;

dragged him out of the city, and stoned him, the witnesses throwing off their outer garments and giving them into the care of a young man called Saul.

And Saul fully approved of his murder. At this time a great persecution broke out against the Church in Jerusalem, and all except the Apostles were scattered throughout Judaea and Samaria.

But Saul cruelly harassed the Church. He went into house after house, and, dragging off both men and women, threw them into prison.

Now Saul, whose every breath was a threat of destruction for the disciples of the Lord,

and falling to the ground he heard a voice which said to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

Meanwhile the men who travelled with Saul were standing dumb with amazement, hearing a sound, but seeing no one.

"Rise," said the Lord, "and go to Straight Street, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man called Saul, from Tarsus, for he is actually praying.

So Ananias went and entered the house; and, laying his two hands upon Saul, said, "Saul, brother, the Lord--even Jesus who appeared to you on your journey--has sent me, that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

Saul, however, gained more and more influence, and as for the Jews living in Damascus, he bewildered them with his proofs that Jesus is the Christ.

At length the Jews plotted to kill Saul;

Barnabas, however, came to his assistance. He brought Saul to the Apostles, and related to them how, on his journey, he had seen the Lord, and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had fearlessly taught in the name of Jesus.

Henceforth Saul was one of them, going in and out of the city,

The sky had opened to his view, and what seemed to be an enormous sail was descending, being let down to the earth by ropes at the four corners.

This was said three times, and immediately the sail was drawn up out of sight.

"While I was in the town of Jaffa, offering prayer," he said, "in a trance I saw a vision. There descended what seemed to be an enormous sail, being let down from the sky by ropes at the four corners, and it came close to me.

Then Barnabas paid a visit to Tarsus to try to find Saul.

This they did, forwarding their contributions to the Elders by Barnabas and Saul.

Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell; and, striking Peter on the side, he woke him and said, "Rise quickly." Instantly the chains dropped off his wrists.

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, having discharged their mission, and they brought with them John, surnamed Mark.

While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me, now at once, Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them."

who was a friend of the Proconsul Sergius Paulus. The Proconsul was a man of keen intelligence. He sent for Barnabas and Saul, and asked to be told God's Message.

Then Saul, who is also called Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and, fixing his eyes on Elymas,

Next they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who reigned forty years.

So there arose a serious disagreement between them, which resulted in their parting from one another, Barnabas taking Mark and setting sail for Cyprus.

After remaining a considerable time longer in Corinth, Paul took leave of the brethren and set sail for Syria; and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had shaved his head at Cenchreae, because he was bound by a vow.

but took leave of them with the promise, "I will return to you, God willing." So he set sail from Ephesus.

He had been instructed by word of mouth in the way of the Lord, and, being full of burning zeal, he used to speak and teach accurately the facts about Jesus, though he knew of no baptism but John's.

The rest of us had already gone on board a ship, and now we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for so he had arranged, he himself intending to go by land.

For Paul's plan was to sail past Ephesus, so as not to spend much time in the province of Asia; since he was very desirous of being in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of the Harvest Festival.

When, at last, we had torn ourselves away and had set sail, we ran in a straight course to Cos; the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, "'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'

came to me and standing at my side said, "'Brother Saul, recover your sight.' "I instantly regained my sight and looked up at him.

We all fell to the ground; and I heard a voice which said to me in Hebrew, "'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? You are finding it painful to kick against the ox-goad.'

Now when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they handed over Paul and a few other prisoners into the custody of Julius, a Captain of the Augustan battalion;

and going on board a ship of Adramyttium which was about to sail to the ports of the province of Asia, we put to sea; Aristarchus, the Macedonian, from Thessalonica, forming one of our party.

It took several days of slow sailing for us to come with difficulty off Cnidus; from which point, as the wind did not allow us to get on in the direct course, we ran under the lee of Crete by Salmone.

They expected him soon to swell with inflammation or suddenly fall down dead; but, after waiting a long time and seeing no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

Three months passed before we set sail in an Alexandrian vessel, called the 'Twin Brothers,' which had wintered at the island.