Acts 9

(1) Jesus Blinds Saul

Constantly breathing threats and murder against the Master’s apprentices, Saul went to the high priest and asked him for a document that addressed the churches in Damascus, authorizing Saul to arrest anyone belonging to the Way and bring them back to Jerusalem. But as he was approaching Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed all around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying,

“Saul… Saul, why are you mistreating Me with all this hostility?”

Saul said,

“Who are you, sir?”

The voice said,

“I am Jesus, the one you’re mistreating with hostility. Get up and go into the city. Someone will be there to tell you what to do next.”

The people traveling with him were speechless, because they heard the voice but didn’t see anyone there. When Saul got up off the ground, his eyes were open, but he couldn’t see a single thing. So his colleagues had to lead him by the hand the rest of the way to Damascus. He couldn’t see for 3 days, and didn’t eat or drink anything during that time.

(10) Jesus Sends Ananias to Restore Saul’s Sight

In Damascus, there was one of Jesus’s apprentices named Ananias, and in a vision, the Master said to him,

“Ananias.”

He responded,

“Here I am, Sir.”

The Ruler continued,

“Go to Judas’s house on Straight Street, and ask for a man from Tarsus [a city in Turkey] named Saul. Saul is praying and saw a vision where a man named Ananias comes in and places his hands on him, causing him to regain his sight.”

Ananias responded,

“Master, I’ve heard a lot of people talk about how much harm that guy did to Your different ones in Jerusalem. And the chief priests gave him authority to arrest everyone in this city who calls on Your name.”

But the Master answered,

“Just go, because Saul is an instrument I’ve chosen to bring My name to the non-Jews, kings, and Israel’s descendants. I’ll show him how much he needs to suffer on My name’s behalf.”

So Ananias went to the house, put his hands on Saul, and said,

“Brother Saul, the same Master Jesus who appeared to you on the road sent me here so you could regain your sight and be filled with the Different Spirit.”

Then something like scales immediately fell off of his eyes, and Saul was able to see again. He stood up and got baptized, then ate some food and was strengthened. He stayed with the apprentices [disciples] in Damascus for several days.

(20) Saul Starts Promoting Jesus

Saul immediately began promoting Jesus in the churches, saying,

“He’s God’s Son!”

Everyone who heard him was bewildered, saying,

“Isn’t this the guy who ravaged all the people in Jerusalem who call on Jesus’s name? And wasn’t the whole reason he came here to arrest them with the chief priests’ support?”

But Saul kept growing stronger and kept bewildering the Jews in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Chosen One. 

(23) Saul Escapes Damascus

Several days later, and the Jews were plotting to do away with Saul, but he heard about their plans. The Jews were watching the city gates day and night so they could kill him, but one night, Saul’s apprentices put him in a large basket and lowered him down through an opening in the city wall. 

(26) Saul Sent to Turkey

When Saul got back to Jerusalem, he tried to join up with the other apprentices, but they were all scared of him, and couldn’t believe that he really was a fellow apprentice. Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them about how Saul had seen the Master on the road and that Jesus had talked to him. He also told them about how Saul boldly spoke out in Jesus’s name at Damascus and how he was now going around Jerusalem boldly saying things in Jesus’s name. Barnabas also told them that Saul had been talking with the Jews who had adopted Greek culture and disputed them even though they were trying to kill him. When the brothers heard all of that, they brought Saul to Caesarea [coastal city northwest of Jerusalem] and sent him to Tarsus [modern day Turkey]. 

(31) Church Peacefully Grows

After that, the church all throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace and continued being built up. They kept growing as they continued fearing the Master and being comforted by the Different Spirit.

(32) Paralytic Healed

As Peter was traveling through those regions, he also visited the different ones who lived at Lod [city still in modern-day Israel]. He found a man there named Aeneas whose paralysis had left him bedridden for 8 years. Peter told him,

“Aeneas, Jesus the Chosen One heals you! Get up and make your bed.”

Aeneas immediately got up, and when everyone in Lod and Sharon saw him, they turned to the Master.

(36) Dead Woman Resurrected

In Joppa [modern-day Jaffa] there was an apprentice named Tabitha (or “Dorcas” when translated to Greek) who was constantly doing kind things and overflowing with charity. But she got sick and passed away. They washed her body and laid it in an upper room. The apprentices heard that Peter was in Lod (which is close to Joppa), so they sent him two people who said,

“Please, come to us right away!”

So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they brought Peter to the upper room, and there were a bunch of widows there who were crying and showing all the clothes that Dorcas used to make when she was still with them. Then Peter sent everyone out, knelt down, and had a conversation with God. Then he turned to the body and said,

“Tabitha, get up.”

Tabitha opened her eyes, looked at Peter, and sat up. Peter gave her his hand and helped her up, then called in the different people and widows who saw that she was alive. News of this event spread all over Joppa, and as a result, lots of people believed in the Master.

After that, Peter stayed in Joppa for a while with a leather-maker named Simon.