Acts 9
1 And Saul was still full of threats and deadly hatred against the disciples of our Lord.
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,
2 And he requested that a letter from the high priest might be given him unto Damascus to the synagogues; that if he should find persons pursuing this course, men or women, he might bind and bring them to Jerusalem.
and asked him to give him letters to the Jewish congregations at Damascus, authorizing him, if he found there any supporters of the Way, whether men or women, to have them put in chains and brought to Jerusalem.
3 And as he was going, and began to approach Damascus, suddenly there was poured upon him a light from heaven.
While on his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, suddenly a light from the heavens flashed around him.
4 And he fell to the ground; and he heard a voice which said to him: Saul! Saul! why persecutest thou me? It will be hard for thee to kick against the goads.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him – “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
5 He replied, and said: Who art thou, my Lord? And our Lord said: I am Jesus the Nazarean, whom thou persecutest.
“Who are you, Lord?” he asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” the voice answered;
6 But arise and go into the city, and there it will be told thee what thou oughtest to do.
“Yet stand up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 And the men who travelled with him in the way, stood amazed; for they heard merely the voice, and no one was visible to them.
The men traveling with Saul were meanwhile standing speechless; they heard the sound of the voice, but saw no one.
8 And Saul arose from the ground; and nothing was visible to him, with his eyes opened. And they took him by the hand, and led him into Damascus.
When Saul got up from the ground, though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So his men led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus;
9 And he had no sight for three days; and he neither ate nor drank.
and for three days he was unable to see, and took nothing either to eat or to drink.
10 And there was in Damascus a certain disciple, whose name was Ananias. And the Lord said to him, in a vision: Ananias! And he said: Lo, I am here, my Lord.
Now there was at Damascus a disciple named Ananias, to whom, in a vision, the Lord said, “Ananias.” “Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 And our Lord said to him: Arise, go to the street which is called Straight; and inquire in the house of Judas, for Saul who is from the city of Tarsus: for, lo, while he prayed,
“Go at once,” said the Lord, “to the Straight Street, and ask at Judas’s house for a man named Saul, from Tarsus. He is at this moment praying,
12 he saw in vision a man named Ananias, who came and laid his hand upon him, that his eyes might be opened.
and he has seen, in a vision, a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him, so that he may recover his sight.”
13 And Ananias said: My Lord, I have heard of this man, from many, how much evil he hath perpetrated towards thy saints at Jerusalem.
“Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I have heard from many people about this man – how much harm he has done at Jerusalem to your people there.
14 And, lo, here also, he hath authority from the chief priests, to bind all them that call on thy name.
And, here, too, he holds authority from the chief priests to put in chains all those who invoke your name.”
15 The Lord said to him: Arise and go; for he is to me a chosen vessel, to carry my name to the Gentiles, and to kings, and among the sons of Israel.
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to uphold my name before the Gentiles and their kings, and the people of Israel.
16 For I will show him, how much he is to suffer on account of my name.
I will myself show him all that he has to suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house to him; and he laid his hand upon him, and said to him: Saul, my brother, our Lord Jesus, he who appeared to thee by the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thy eyes might be opened, and thou be filled with the Holy Spirit.
So Ananias went, entered the house, and, placing his hands on Saul, said, “Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord – by Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here – so that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like a scab; and his eyes were opened. And he arose and was baptized.
Instantly it seemed as if a film fell from Saul’s eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized,
19 And he took food, and was invigorated. And he was some days with the disciples of Damascus.
and, after he had taken food, he felt his strength return. Saul stayed for some days with the disciples who were at Damascus,
20 And forthwith he announced Jesus, in the synagogues of the Jews, that he is the Son of God.
and at once began in the synagogues to proclaim Jesus as the Son of God.
21 And all they that heard him were amazed; and they said: Is not this he, who persecuted all them that call on this name in Jerusalem? And lo, for this very thing also, was he sent hither, that he might bind and carry them to the chief priests.
All who heard him were amazed. “Is not this,” they asked, “the man who worked havoc in Jerusalem among those that invoke this name, and who had also come here for the express purpose of having such persons put in chains and taken before the chief priests?”
22 But Saul was the more strengthened; and he confounded those Jews who dwelt at Damascus, while be demonstrated that this is the Messiah.
Saul’s influence, however, kept steadily increasing, and he confounded the Jewish people who lived in Damascus by the proofs that he gave that Jesus was the Christ.
23 And when he had been there many days, the Jews formed a conspiracy against him, to kill him.
After some time some of them laid a plot to kill Saul,
24 And the plot which they sought to execute upon him, was made known to Saul: and they watched the gates of the city by day and by night, in order to kill him.
but it became known to him. They even watched the gates day and night, to kill him;
25 Then the disciples placed him in a basket, and let him down from the wall by night.
but his disciples let him down by night through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
26 And he went to Jerusalem; and he wished to join himself with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.
On his arrival in Jerusalem, Saul attempted to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, as they did not believe that he was really a disciple.
27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the legates, and related to them how the Lord appeared to him in the way, and how he conversed with him; and how, in Damascus, he had discoursed openly in the name of Jesus.
Barnabas, however, taking him by the hand, brought him to the apostles, and told them the whole story of how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord, and how the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out fearlessly in the name of Jesus.
28 And he went in and out with them, at Jerusalem.
After that, Saul remained in Jerusalem, in close contact with the apostles; and he spoke fearlessly in the name of the Lord,
29 And he spoke openly in the name of Jesus and disputed with those Jews who understood Greek. But they wished to kill him:
talking and arguing with the Jews of foreign birth, who, however, made attempts to kill him.
30 and when the brethren knew it, they conducted him by night to Caesarea, and from there they sent him to Tarsus.
But, when the followers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and sent him on his way to Tarsus.
31 Moreover the church, in all Judaea, and in Galilee, and in Samaria, had peace and was edified; and it walked in the fear of God, and abounded in the consolation of the Holy Spirit.
And so it came about that the church, throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, enjoyed peace and became firmly established; and, ordering its life by respect for the Lord and the help of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
32 And it occurred, that, as Simon travelled about the cities, he came down to the saints also who dwelt in the city of Lydda.
Peter, while traveling from place to place throughout the country, went down to visit the people of Christ living at Lydda.
33 And he found a certain man whose name was 'neas, who had lain on a bed and been paralytic eight years.
There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years with paralysis.
34 And Simon said to him: 'neas, Jesus the Messiah doth heal thee; arise, and spread thy bed. And he rose up immediately.
“Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ cures you. Get up, and make your bed.” Aeneas got up at once;
35 And all they that dwelt at Lydda and Saron, saw him; and they turned to God.
and all the inhabitants of Lydda and of the Plain of Sharon saw him, and came over to the Lord’s side.
36 And there was in the city of Joppa, a certain female disciple named Tabitha; and she was rich in good works, and in the alms which she did.
At Joppa there lived a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which is in Greek ‘Dorcas’ – a Gazelle. Her life was spent in doing kind and charitable actions.
37 And she fell sick in those days, and died; and they washed her, and laid her in an upper room.
Just at that time she was taken ill, and died; and they had washed her body and laid it out in an upstairs room.
38 And the disciples heard that Simon was in the city of Lydda, which is near to Joppa; and they sent two men to him, to request of him that he would not delay to come to them.
Joppa was near Lydda, and the disciples, having heard that Peter was at Lydda, sent two men with the request that he come to them without delay.
39 And Simon arose and went with them. And when he arrived, they conducted him to the chamber; and there were assembled around her all the widows, weeping, and showing him the tunics and the cloaks which Tabitha had given them when alive.
Peter returned with them at once. On his arrival, he was taken upstairs, and all the widows came around him in tears, showing the coats and other clothing which Dorcas had made while she was among them.
40 And Simon put all the people out, and fell on his knees and prayed; and he turned to the corpse and said: Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes; and when she saw Simon, she sat up.
But Peter sent everybody out of the room, and knelt down and prayed. Then, turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha! Stand up.” She opened her eyes, and, seeing Peter, sat up.
41 And he reached to her his hand, and raised her up: and he called the saints and the widows, and presented her to them alive.
Giving her his hand, Peter raised her up, and, calling in the widows and others of Christ’s people, presented her to them alive.
42 And this became known throughout the city; and many believed on our Lord.
This became known all through Joppa, and numbers of people came to believe in the Lord.
43 And he tarried in Joppa not a few days: and he lodged in the house of Simon a tanner.
And Peter stayed some days at Joppa with a tanner named Simon.
