Acts 9

₁Saul continued to try to kill the believers. He went to the high-priest ₂and asked him to write letters to the leaders of the synagogues in the city of Damascus to say that he could arrest the believers, men and women, and bring them to Jerusalem. They named the believers: ‘The Way_of_the_Lord’. ₃While Saul was walking on the road near the city of Damascus, a bright light started to shine around him from heaven. ₄Saul fell to the ground and he heard Someone say: ‘Saul, Saul, why do you fight against Me?’

₅Saul asked: ‘Sir, who are You?’

The Person said: ‘I am Jesus and you are fighting against Me. ₆Now get up and go into the city, and someone will tell you what to do.’

₇The men who were with Saul were so afraid that they stood still. They did not speak because they heard the voice of the Person who talked, but they did not see anything. ₈Saul got up from the ground. His eyes were open but he could not see anything. The people who were with him took his hand and led him into the city of Damascus. ₉Saul was blind for 3 days and he did not eat or drink anything.

₁₀There was a believer in the city of Damascus. His name was Ananias. The Lord talked to Ananias in a vision and He said to him: ‘Ananias.’

Ananias answered: ‘Here I am, Lord. I am listening to You.’

₁₁The Lord said to Ananias: ‘Get up and go to the house of Judas in Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. You will see he is praying. ₁₂While Saul was praying, he saw in a vision that a man would come to him and put his hands on him so that he could see again. Ananias, you are that man.’

₁₃But Ananias said to the Lord: ‘Lord, a lot of people have talked to me about this man. He has done very bad things to the believers in Jerusalem. ₁₄Saul came here to arrest the people who worship and serve You. The high-priest gave him letters to do that.’

₁₅The Lord said to Ananias: ‘You must go to Saul. I have chosen him to work for Me, to tell my message to Gentiles and their kings and to the Israelites. ₁₆I will show him how much he will suffer because he works for Me.’

₁₇Ananias went and he came into the house of Judas and he put his hands on Saul and said: ‘Saul, my friend, you have seen the Lord Jesus on the road to this city and it was the Lord who sent me to you so that you can see and so that the Holy_Spirit can come into you.’

₁₈Immediately something fell from Saul's eyes. It looked like scales. Then Saul could see again. He got up and Ananias baptised him. ₁₉Then Saul ate some food and he felt strong again.

Saul stayed with the believers in the city of Damascus for a few days. ₂₀Then he started to preach about Jesus in the synagogues. He said: ‘This Jesus is the Son of God.’

₂₁All the people who heard what Saul said were surprised. They said: ‘Is Saul the man who tried to kill the people who worship Jesus in Jerusalem? Is he the man who came here to arrest the people who worship Jesus and take them to the chief_priests? Yes, he is.’

₂₂Saul started to preach more powerfully and he proved to the Jews in the city of Damascus that Jesus is the Christ, and they could not answer him.

₂₃After a long time the Jews made plans to kill Saul, ₂₄but someone told Saul about their plans. The Jews guarded the gates of the city all day and night. They wanted to get Saul and kill him. ₂₅But some of the followers of Saul helped him to get away in the night. They put Saul in a basket and they put the basket through a hole in the city wall. Then they slowly let the basket down to the ground.

₂₆When Saul came into Jerusalem he tried very hard to make friends with the believers, but they did not believe that he was a believer and that was why they were all afraid of Saul. ₂₇But Barnabas helped Saul. He took Saul to the apostles and he told them that Saul had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to Saul on the road to Damascus. Barnabas also told them that Saul was not afraid to tell the people in Damascus about Jesus.

₂₈Saul went with the believers in Jerusalem and he was not afraid. He told everyone about the Lord. ₂₉Saul also talked and argued with the Jews who spoke the Greek language, but then they tried to kill him. ₃₀When they told the believers about this, they took Saul to the city of Caesarea and from there they sent him to the town of Tarsus.

₃₁Then the church in Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace for some time. The Holy_Spirit helped the church to become strong and more people became believers. They worshipped the Lord and obeyed Him.

₃₂Peter went to a lot of places to visit the believers and he came to the town of Lydda. ₃₃There was a man whose name was Aeneas. He had been sick for 8 years. He could not move or get up from his bed. ₃₄Peter said to him: ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ has healed you. Get up, take your sleeping-mat and go.’ Immediately Aeneas got up.

₃₅All the people in the towns of Lydda and Sharon who saw Aeneas turned their lives to the Lord and started to live as He wanted.

₃₆In the town of Joppa there was a believer. Her name was Tabitha and her Greek name was Dorcas. She was always doing good things for people and helped the poor people. ₃₇But then she got sick and she died. They washed her body and put it in a room on the roof of the house. ₃₈The town of Joppa was not far from the town of Lydda and they told the believers that Peter was in Lydda. They sent 2 men who asked him: ‘Please come with us. Come quickly.’

₃₉Peter went with them and the men took him into the room. A lot of widows were crying over her. They showed Peter the clothes and cloaks that Dorcas had made for them before she died.

₄₀Peter told everyone to go out of the room. He knelt down and he prayed to God. Then he turned to the body of Dorcas and he said: ‘Tabitha, get up.’

Tabitha opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. ₄₁Peter took her by the hand and he helped her to stand on her feet. Then Peter called in the widows and the other believers and showed them that Dorcas was alive again. ₄₂They told the people in the town of Joppa what had happened and many of them started to believe in the Lord. ₄₃Peter stayed in Joppa for many days in the house of Simon, a man who worked with leather.