Bible Reading Plan – Day 302

₁And Saul approved of his murder.

That very day the church in Jerusalem began to suffer cruel persecution. All the believers, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the provinces of Judea and Samaria. ₂Some devout men buried Stephen, mourning for him with loud cries.

₃But Saul tried to destroy the church; going from house to house, he dragged out the believers, both men and women, and threw them into jail.

₄The believers who were scattered went everywhere, preaching the message. ₅Philip went to the principal city in Samaria and preached the Messiah to the people there. ₆The crowds paid close attention to what Philip said, as they listened to him and saw the miracles that he performed. ₇Evil spirits came out from many people with a loud cry, and many paralysed and lame people were healed. ₈So there was great joy in that city.

₉A man named Simon lived there, who for some time had astounded the Samaritans with his magic. He claimed that he was someone great, ₁₀and everyone in the city, from all classes of society, paid close attention to him. “He is that power of God known as ‘The Great Power’,” they said. ₁₁They paid this attention to him because for such a long time he had astonished them with his magic. ₁₂But when they believed Philip's message about the good news of the Kingdom of God and about Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. ₁₃Simon himself also believed; and after being baptized, he stayed close to Philip and was astounded when he saw the great wonders and miracles that were being performed.

₁₄The apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had received the word of God, so they sent Peter and John to them. ₁₅When they arrived, they prayed for the believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ₁₆For the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ₁₇Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

₁₈Simon saw that the Spirit had been given to the believers when the apostles placed their hands on them. So he offered money to Peter and John, ₁₉and said, “Give this power to me too, so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.”

₂₀But Peter answered him, “May you and your money go to hell, for thinking that you can buy God's gift with money! ₂₁You have no part or share in our work, because your heart is not right in God's sight. ₂₂Repent, then, of this evil plan of yours, and pray to the Lord that he will forgive you for thinking such a thing as this. ₂₃For I see that you are full of bitter envy and are a prisoner of sin.”

₂₄Simon said to Peter and John, “Please pray to the Lord for me, so that none of these things you spoke of will happen to me.”

₂₅After they had given their testimony and proclaimed the Lord's message, Peter and John went back to Jerusalem. On their way they preached the Good News in many villages of Samaria.

₂₆An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get ready and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This road is not used nowadays.) _27-28So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. ₂₉The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it.” ₃₀Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

₃₁The official replied, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit in the carriage with him. ₃₂The passage of scripture which he was reading was this:

₃₄The official asked Philip, “Tell me, of whom is the prophet saying this? Of himself or of someone else?” ₃₅Then Philip began to speak; starting from this passage of scripture, he told him the Good News about Jesus. ₃₆As they travelled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water, and the official said, “Here is some water. What is to keep me from being baptized?”

₃₈The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. ₃₉When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but continued on his way, full of joy. ₄₀Philip found himself in Azotus; he went on to Caesarea, and on the way he preached the Good News in every town.

₁In the meantime Saul kept up his violent threats of murder against the followers of the Lord. He went to the High Priest ₂and asked for letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he should find there any followers of the Way of the Lord, he would be able to arrest them, both men and women, and bring them back to Jerusalem.

₃As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky flashed round him. ₄He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?”

₅“Who are you, Lord?” he asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you persecute,” the voice said. ₆“But get up and go into the city, where you will be told what you must do.”

₇The men who were travelling with Saul had stopped, not saying a word; they heard the voice but could not see anyone. ₈Saul got up from the ground and opened his eyes, but could not see a thing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus. ₉For three days he was not able to see, and during that time he did not eat or drink anything.

₁₀There was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. He had a vision, in which the Lord said to him, “Ananias!”

“Here I am, Lord,” he answered.

₁₁The Lord said to him, “Get ready and go to Straight Street, and at the house of Judas ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying, ₁₂and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he might see again.”

₁₃Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and about all the terrible things he has done to your people in Jerusalem. ₁₄And he has come to Damascus with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who worship you.”

₁₅The Lord said to him, “Go, because I have chosen him to serve me, to make my name known to Gentiles and kings and to the people of Israel. ₁₆And I myself will show him all that he must suffer for my sake.”

₁₇So Ananias went, entered the house where Saul was, and placed his hands on him. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord has sent me — Jesus himself, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He sent me so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ₁₈At once something like fish scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he was able to see again. He stood up and was baptized; ₁₉and after he had eaten, his strength came back.

Saul stayed for a few days with the believers in Damascus. ₂₀He went straight to the synagogues and began to preach that Jesus was the Son of God.

₂₁All who heard him were amazed and asked, “Isn't he the one who in Jerusalem was killing those who worship that man Jesus? And didn't he come here for the very purpose of arresting those people and taking them back to the chief priests?”

₂₂But Saul's preaching became even more powerful, and his proofs that Jesus was the Messiah were so convincing that the Jews who lived in Damascus could not answer him.

₂₃After many days had gone by, the Jews met together and made plans to kill Saul, ₂₄but he was told of their plan. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him. ₂₅But one night Saul's followers took him and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

₂₆Saul went to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples. But they would not believe that he was a disciple, and they were all afraid of him. ₂₇Then Barnabas came to his help and took him to the apostles. He explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had spoken to him. He also told them how boldly Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus. ₂₈And so Saul stayed with them and went all over Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. ₂₉He also talked and disputed with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to kill him. ₃₀When the believers found out about this, they took Saul to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

₃₁And so it was that the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. Through the help of the Holy Spirit it was strengthened and grew in numbers, as it lived in reverence for the Lord.

₃₂Peter travelled everywhere, and on one occasion he went to visit God's people who lived in Lydda. ₃₃There he met a man named Aeneas, who was paralysed and had not been able to get out of bed for eight years. ₃₄“Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ makes you well. Get up and make your bed.” At once Aeneas got up. ₃₅All the people living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

₃₆In Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, who was a believer. (Her name in Greek is Dorcas, meaning “a deer”.) She spent all her time doing good and helping the poor. ₃₇At that time she became ill and died. Her body was washed and laid in a room upstairs. ₃₈Joppa was not very far from Lydda, and when the believers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him with the message, “Please hurry and come to us.” ₃₉So Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, he was taken to the room upstairs, where all the widows crowded round him, crying and showing him all the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was alive. ₄₀Peter put them all out of the room, and knelt down and prayed; then he turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. ₄₁Peter reached over and helped her get up. Then he called all the believers, including the widows, and presented her alive to them. ₄₂The news about this spread all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. ₄₃Peter stayed on in Joppa for many days with a tanner of leather named Simon.