< 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]
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].
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.
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]”
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]!
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.”
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.
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.
9 For the next three days Saul could not see [anything], and he did not eat or drink anything.
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].”
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].
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.”
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!
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]!”
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.
16 I myself will tell him that he must often suffer greatly because of [telling people about] me [MTY].”
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}.”
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].
19 After Saul ate some food, he felt strong again. Saul stayed with the [other] believers in Damascus for several days.
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.
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]!”
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]).
23 Some time later, [after Saul had left Damascus and then returned], the Jewish [leaders] [SYN] [there] plotted 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.
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].
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.
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].
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].
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).
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].
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].
32 While Peter was traveling throughout those [regions, once] he went to [the coastal plain to visit] the believers [who lived] in Lydda [town].
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.
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.
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].
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].
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].
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]!”
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.
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.
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].
42 [Soon] people everywhere in Joppa knew about that miracle, and as a result many people believed in the Lord [Jesus].
43 Peter stayed in Joppa many days with a man named Simon who made leather [from animal skins].
