Acts 9–10

Chapter 9

The Conversion of Saul

^1aNow ¹Saul, still ^bbreathing ²threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,

²and asked for ^aletters from him to ^bthe synagogues at ^cDamascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^dthe Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

³As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and ^asuddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;

⁴and ^ahe fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

⁵And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

⁶but get up and enter the city, and ^ait will be told you what you must do.”

⁷The men who traveled with him ^astood speechless, ^bhearing the ¹voice but seeing no one.

⁸Saul got up from the ground, and ^athough his eyes were open, he ¹could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into ^bDamascus.

⁹And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰Now there was a disciple at ^aDamascus named ^bAnanias; and the Lord said to him in ^ca vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from ^aTarsus named Saul, for he is praying,

¹²and he has seen ¹in a vision a man named Ananias come in and ^alay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”

¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^ahow much harm he did to ^bYour ¹saints at Jerusalem;

¹⁴and here he ^ahas authority from the chief priests to bind all who ^bcall on Your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^ahe is a chosen ¹instrument of Mine, to bear My name before ^bthe Gentiles and ^ckings and the sons of Israel;

¹⁶for ^aI will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

¹⁷So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after ^alaying his hands on him said, “^bBrother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be ^cfilled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;

¹⁹and he took food and was strengthened.

Saul Begins to Preach Christ

Now ^afor several days he was with ^bthe disciples who were at Damascus,

²⁰and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus ^ain the synagogues, ¹saying, “He is ^bthe Son of God.”

²¹All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem ^adestroyed those who ^bcalled on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

²²But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the ¹Christ.

²³When ^amany days had elapsed, ^bthe Jews plotted together to do away with him,

²⁴but ^atheir plot became known to Saul. ^bThey were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death;

²⁵but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

^26aWhen he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; ¹but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.

²⁷But ^aBarnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had ^bseen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how ^cat Damascus he had ^dspoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.

²⁸And he was with them, ¹moving about freely in Jerusalem, ^aspeaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹And he was talking and arguing with the ^1aHellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death.

³⁰But when ^athe brethren learned of it, they brought him down to ^bCaesarea and ^csent him away to ^dTarsus.

³¹So ^athe church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria ¹enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

Peter’s Ministry

³²Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to ^athe ¹saints who lived at ^2bLydda.

³³There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed.

³⁴Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up.

³⁵And all who lived at ^1aLydda and ^bSharon saw him, and they ^cturned to the Lord.

³⁶Now in ^aJoppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called ¹Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.

³⁷And it happened ¹at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an ^aupper room.

³⁸Since Lydda was near ^aJoppa, ^bthe disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.”

³⁹So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the ^aupper room; and all the ^bwidows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the ¹tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.

⁴⁰But Peter ^asent them all out and ^bknelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “^cTabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

⁴¹And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling ^athe ¹saints and ^bwidows, he presented her alive.

⁴²It became known all over ^aJoppa, and ^bmany believed in the Lord.

⁴³And Peter stayed many days in ^aJoppa with ^ba tanner named Simon.

Chapter 10

Cornelius’s Vision

¹Now there was a man at ^aCaesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ^bcalled the Italian ¹cohort,

²a devout man and ^aone who feared God with all his household, and ^bgave many ¹alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.

³About ^athe ¹ninth hour of the day he clearly saw ^bin a vision ^can angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴And ^afixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and ¹alms ^bhave ascended ^cas a memorial before God.

⁵“Now dispatch some men to ^aJoppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;

⁶he is staying with a tanner named ^aSimon, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his ¹servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants,

⁸and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to ^aJoppa.

⁹On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ^aPeter went up on ^bthe housetop about ^cthe ¹sixth hour to pray.

¹⁰But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he ^afell into a trance;

¹¹and he saw ^athe ¹sky opened up, and an ²object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,

¹²and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and ¹crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the ²air.

¹³A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, ¹kill and eat!”

¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, ^aLord, for ^bI have never eaten anything ¹unholy and unclean.”

¹⁵Again a voice came to him a second time, “^aWhat God has cleansed, no longer consider ¹unholy.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and immediately the ¹object was taken up into the ²sky.

¹⁷Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ¹mind as to what ^athe vision which he had seen might be, behold, ^bthe men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate;

¹⁸and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.

¹⁹While Peter was reflecting on ^athe vision, ^bthe Spirit said to him, “Behold, ¹three men are looking for you.

²⁰“But get up, go downstairs and ^aaccompany them ¹without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”

²¹Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”

²²They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^aGod-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^bwas divinely directed by a ^choly angel to send for you to come to his house and hear ^1da message from you.”

²³So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

Peter at Caesarea

And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and ^asome of ^bthe brethren from ^cJoppa accompanied him.

²⁴On the following day he entered ^aCaesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ^1aworshiped him.

²⁶But Peter raised him up, saying, “^aStand up; I too am just a man.”

²⁷As he talked with him, he entered and found ^amany people assembled.

²⁸And he said to them, “You yourselves know how ^aunlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet ^bGod has shown me that I should not call any man ¹unholy or unclean.

²⁹“That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”

³⁰Cornelius said, “^aFour days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^bthe ¹ninth hour; and behold, ^ca man stood before me in shining garments,

³¹and he said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your ¹alms have been remembered before God.

³²‘Therefore send to ^aJoppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’

³³“So I sent for you immediately, and you have ¹been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear Good News

^34aOpening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most certainly understand now that ^bGod is not one to show partiality,

³⁵but ^ain every nation the man who ^1bfears Him and ²does what is right is welcome to Him.

³⁶“The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^apreaching ^1bpeace through Jesus Christ (He is ^cLord of all)—

³⁷you…