¹Meanwhile, Saul kept saying he was going to kill the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest

²and asked him to write letters to the synagogues in Damascus. If he found any men and women there who belonged to the Way of Jesus, the letters would allow him to take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

³On his journey, as Saul approached Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.

⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

⁵“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I’m Jesus,” he replied, “the one you’ve been attacking.

⁶Now get up and go into the city. You’ll be told there what you must do.”

⁷The men who were traveling with Saul stood there speechless. They heard the sound of the voice, but they didn’t see anyone.

⁸Saul got up from the ground, and when he opened his eyes, he couldn’t see. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.

⁹For three days he was blind. He didn’t eat or drink anything.

¹⁰In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called out to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

¹¹The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street. Ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He’s been praying,

¹²and in a vision he’s seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him so he can see again.”

¹³“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I’ve heard many reports about this man. They say he’s done great harm to your holy people in Jerusalem.

¹⁴Now he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all those who worship you.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! I’ve chosen this man to do a special work for me. He will announce my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.

¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for me.”

¹⁷So Ananias went over to the house and went in. He placed his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here has sent me. He wants you to see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸Just then something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,

¹⁹and after eating some food he regained his strength.

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

²⁰He began right away to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

²¹Everyone who heard him was amazed. They asked, “Isn’t this the man who caused so much trouble in Jerusalem for those who worship Jesus? Didn’t he come here to take them as prisoners back to the chief priests?”

²²But Saul got better and better at proving that Jesus is the Messiah, and none of the Jews living in Damascus could answer his arguments.

²³After many days, some of the Jews agreed secretly that they would kill Saul.

²⁴But he learned about their plan. Day and night they watched the city gates closely in order to kill him,

²⁵but his followers helped him escape by night. They lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

²⁶When Saul came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn’t believe he really was one of Jesus’ disciples.

²⁷But Barnabas brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul had seen the Lord while on his journey and how the Lord had spoken to him. Barnabas also explained that in Damascus Saul had preached without fear in Jesus’ name.

²⁸So Saul stayed with the believers, moving about freely in Jerusalem and speaking boldly in the Lord’s name.

²⁹But when he talked and argued with the Greek Jews, they decided to kill him.

³⁰When the other believers found out about this, they took Saul down to Caesarea, and from there they sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. The church respected and obeyed the Lord and was encouraged by the Holy Spirit, and it grew even larger.

³²As Peter traveled around the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda.

³³There he found a man named Aeneas who was paralyzed. He had spent the last eight years in bed.

³⁴“Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up! Roll up your mat!” And Aeneas got up right away.

³⁵When those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw this, they turned to the Lord.

³⁶In Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, or Dorcas in Greek. She was always doing good and helping the poor.

³⁷About that time she became sick and died. Her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.

³⁸The disciples heard that Peter was nearby in Lydda. So they sent two men to beg him, “Please come at once!”

³⁹Peter came with them and when he arrived, he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothes Dorcas had made for them while she was alive.

⁴⁰Peter sent them all out of the room, and then he got down on his knees and prayed. He turned toward the dead woman and said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

⁴¹He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers, especially the widows, and showed them that she was alive.

⁴²This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

⁴³Peter stayed in Joppa for some time, in the home of a man named Simon who worked with leather.