Acts 9
1 Meanwhile, Saul angrily continued to say, “I will kill those who believe that [Jesus is] the Lord!” He went to the supreme priest [in Jerusalem]
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
2 and requested him [to write] letters [introducing him] to [the leaders of] [MTY] the Jewish meeting places in Damascus [city. The letters asked them to authorize Saul] to seize any men or women who followed the way [that Jesus had taught], and to take them as prisoners to Jerusalem [so that the Jewish leaders could judge and punish them].
and asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them to Jerusalem as prisoners.
3 Saul took those letters, and while he [and those with him] traveled toward Damascus, as they were approaching the city, suddenly a [brilliant] light from heaven shone around Saul.
As he was going along, he drew near to Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
4 [Immediately] he fell down to the ground. Then he heard the voice [of the Lord] say to him, “Saul, Saul, (stop causing me to suffer!/why are you causing me to suffer?) [RHQ]”
Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are yoʋ persecuting me?”
5 Saul asked him, “Lord, who are you?” He replied, “I am Jesus, [and] you [(sg)] are causing me to suffer [by hurting my followers]!
Saul said, “Who are yoʋ, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom yoʋ are persecuting.
6 Now instead [of continuing to do that], stand up and go into the city! [Someone there] will tell you [(sg)] what I [want] you to do.”
But rise and enter the city, and yoʋ will be told what yoʋ must do.”
7 The men who were traveling with Saul [became so frightened that they] could not say anything. [They just] stood there. They only heard the sound [when the Lord spoke], but they did not see anyone.
The men who were traveling with Saul stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could not see anything. So the men [with him] took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.
Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were open, he saw no one. So they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.
9 For the next three days Saul could not see [anything], and he did not eat or drink anything.
He went three days without seeing, and neither ate nor drank.
10 In Damascus there was [a Jew] named Ananias who believed in Jesus. While [Ananias was seeing] a vision, the Lord [Jesus] said to him, “Ananias!” He replied, “Lord, I [am listening].”
Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He said, “Behold, here I am, Lord.”
11 The Lord Jesus told him, “Go to Straight Street to the house that belongs to Judas. Ask [someone there if you(sg) can talk to] a man named Saul from Tarsus [city], because, surprisingly, at this moment he is praying [to me].
Then the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. For behold, he is praying,
12 [Saul has seen] a vision in which a man named Ananias entered [the house where he was staying] and put his hands on him in order that he might see again.”
and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hand on him so that he might receive his sight.”
13 But Ananias [protested], saying, “But Lord, many people have told me about this man! He has done many evil things to the people in Jerusalem who [believe in] you!
But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about how much evil this man has done to yoʋr saints in Jerusalem.
14 And the chief priests have authorized him to come here [to Damascus] in order to seize all of us who believe in you [(sg)] [MTY] [and take us to Jerusalem]!”
And here he has authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call upon yoʋr name.”
15 But the Lord [Jesus] told Ananias, “Go to [Saul! Do what I say], because I have chosen him to serve me in order that he might speak about me [MTY] both to non-Jewish people and [their] kings and to the Israeli people.
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a vessel chosen by me to bring my name before Gentiles, kings, and the sons of Israel.
16 I myself will tell him that he must often suffer greatly because of [telling people about] me [MTY].”
I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake.”
17 So Ananias went, and [after he found] the house [where Saul was], he entered it. Then, [as soon as he met Saul], he put his hands on him, and he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus [himself] commanded me to come [to you]. He is the [same] one who appeared to you [(sg)] while you were traveling along the road. [He sent me to you] in order that you might see again and that you might be completely controlled by the Holy Spirit {that the Holy Spirit might completely control you}.”
So Ananias went and entered the house. Laying his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord, who appeared to yoʋ on the road by which yoʋ came, has sent me so that yoʋ may receive yoʋr sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
18 Instantly, things like [fish] scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he was able to see again. Then he stood up and was baptized {[Ananias] baptized him} [immediately].
Immediately something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he received his sight. Then he rose and was baptized,
19 After Saul ate some food, he felt strong again. Saul stayed with the [other] believers in Damascus for several days.
and after taking some food, he was strengthened. For several days Saul was with the disciples in Damascus.
20 Right away Saul began to preach [to people about Jesus] in the Jewish meeting places [in Damascus. He told them] that Jesus is (the Son of/the man who is also) God.
Immediately he began preaching in the synagogues that the Christ is the Son of God.
21 And all the people who heard him [preach] were amazed. [Various ones of] them were saying, “([We(inc) can hardly believe that] this is the [same man] who persecuted the believers in Jerusalem!/Is this really the [same man] who persecuted the believers in Jerusalem?) [RHQ, MTY] And we [(inc)] know that he has [RHQ] come here to seize us and take us to the chief priests [in Jerusalem]!”
All who heard it were amazed and said, “Is this not the man who in Jerusalem tried to destroy those who call upon this name, and has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
22 But [God] enabled Saul [to preach to many people even] more convincingly. He was proving [from the Scriptures] that Jesus is the Messiah. So the Jewish leaders in Damascus could not think of anything (to refute [what he said/to prove that what he said was not true]).
But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this man Jesus is the Christ.
23 Some time later, [after Saul had left Damascus and then returned], the Jewish [leaders] [SYN] [there] plotted to kill him.
When many days had past, the Jews took counsel together to kill him,
24 [During each] day and night those Jews were continually watching [the people passing through] the city gates, in order that [when they saw Saul] they might kill him. However, someone told Saul what they planned to do.
but their plot became known to Saul. They started watching the gates both day and night so that they might kill him.
25 So some of those whom he had helped [to believe in Jesus] took him [one] night [to the high stone wall that surrounded the city]. They [used ropes to] lower him in a [large] basket through an opening in the wall. [So he escaped from Damascus].
But the disciples took him by night and let him down through a window in the city wall, lowering him in a basket.
26 When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he began trying to associate with other believers. However, [almost] all of them continued to be afraid of him, because they did not believe that he had become a believer.
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him because they did not believe that he was a disciple.
27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He explained to the apostles how, [while Saul was traveling] along the road [to Damascus], he had seen the Lord [Jesus] and how the Lord had spoken to him [there. He] also told them how Saul had preached boldly about Jesus [MTY] [to people] in Damascus. [The apostles believed Barnabas and told the other believers about that].
Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles. He related to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how he had been preaching boldly in Damascus in the name of Jesus.
28 So Saul began to associate with the apostles [and other believers] throughout Jerusalem, and he spoke boldly [to people] about [MTY] the Lord [Jesus].
So Saul stayed with them and would go into Jerusalem and speak boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus.
29 Saul was [also] speaking [about Jesus] with Jews who spoke Greek, and he was debating with them. But they were continually trying [to think] ([of a way] to kill him/of [how they could] kill him).
He would also speak and debate with the Hellenists, but they were trying to kill him.
30 When the [other] believers heard that [those Jews were planning to kill him, some of] the believers took Saul down to Caesarea [city. There] they arranged for him to go [by ship] to Tarsus, [his hometown].
When the brothers found out about it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 So the groups of believers throughout [the entire regions of] Judea, Galilee, and Samaria lived peacefully [because no one was persecuting them any more]. The Holy Spirit was strengthening them [spiritually] and encouraging them. They were continuing to revere/honor the Lord [Jesus, and the Holy Spirit] was enabling many other people [to become believers].
So the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were being strengthened. Continuing in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, they were being multiplied.
32 While Peter was traveling throughout those [regions, once] he went to [the coastal plain to visit] the believers [who lived] in Lydda [town].
Now as Peter was traveling from place to place, he went down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda.
33 There he met a man whose name was Aeneas. Aeneas had not been able to get up from [his] bed for eight years, because he was paralyzed.
There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been confined to a mat for eight years.
34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you [(sg) right now]! Get up and roll up your mat!” Right away Aeneas stood up.
Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ has now healed yoʋ; rise and roll up yoʋr mat.” Immediately he rose,
35 Most of the people who lived in Lydda and on Sharon [Plain] saw Aeneas [after the Lord had healed him], so they believed in the Lord [Jesus].
and all who dwelt in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
36 In Joppa [town] there was a believer whose name was Tabitha. [Her name] in the [Greek] language was Dorcas. [Both of these names mean gazelle/deer/antelope]. That woman was continually doing good deeds [for others. Specifically], she was helping poor people [by giving them things that they needed].
Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which means “Dorcas”). She was always doing good works and charitable acts.
37 During the time [that Peter was in Lydda], she became sick and died. [Some women there] washed her body [according to the Jewish custom so that the people could bury it]. Then they [covered her body with cloth and] placed it in an upstairs room [in her house].
In those days she became sick and died, so they washed her body and laid it in an upper room.
38 Lydda was near Joppa, so when the believers heard that Peter was [still] in Lydda, they sent two men to [go] to Peter. [When they arrived where Peter was], they repeatedly urged/begged him, “Please come immediately with us [to Joppa]!”
Lydda was near Joppa, so when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent for him, urging him not to delay in coming to them.
39 So [right away] Peter got ready and went with them. When they arrived [at the house in Joppa], the two men took Peter to the upstairs room [where Dorcas’ body was lying]. All the widows [there] around Peter. They were crying and showing him the cloaks and [other] garments that Dorcas had made for people while she was still alive.
So Peter rose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him to the upper room, and all the widows stood before him, weeping and showing him all the tunics and cloaks that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
40 But Peter sent them all out of the room. Then he got down on his knees and prayed. Then, turning toward Tabitha’s body, he said, “Tabitha, stand up!” [Immediately] she opened her eyes and, when she saw Peter, she sat up.
But Peter sent them all outside, knelt down, and prayed. Turning toward the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise.” Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.
41 He grasped one of her hands and helped her to stand up. After he had summoned the believers and [especially] the widows [among them to come back in], he showed them that Tabitha was alive [again].
He gave her his hand and raised her up. Then he called in the saints and the widows and presented her alive.
42 [Soon] people everywhere in Joppa knew about that miracle, and as a result many people believed in the Lord [Jesus].
This became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.
43 Peter stayed in Joppa many days with a man named Simon who made leather [from animal skins].
And Peter remained in Joppa for many days with a tanner named Simon.
