Acts 9
Open in the reader1Meanwhile, Asked-For was still breathing out murderous threats against the apprentices of the Lord. He approached the high priest
2and requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he could bring them as prisoners to Foundation-of-Peace.
3As Asked-For drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Asked-For, Asked-For, why do you persecute Me?”
5“Who are You, Lord?” Asked-For asked. “I am He-Who-Is-Saves, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.
6“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7The men traveling with Asked-For stood there speechless. They heard the voice but did not see anyone.
8Asked-For got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could not see a thing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
9For three days he was without sight, and he did not eat or drink anything.
10In Damascus there was a apprentice named He-Who-Is-Gracious. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, “He-Who-Is-Gracious!” “Here I am, Lord,” he answered.
11“Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Asked-For, for he is praying.
12In a vision he has seen a man named He-Who-Is-Gracious come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13But He-Who-Is-Gracious answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your devoted ones in Foundation-of-Peace.
14And now he is here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.”
15“Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Nations and their kings, and before the people of He-Strives-with-God.
16I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”
17So He-Who-Is-Gracious went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Asked-For. “Brother Asked-For,” he said, “the Lord He-Who-Is-Saves, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Devoted Spirit.”
18At that instant, something like scales fell from Asked-For’s eyes, and his sight was restored. He got up and was baptized,
19and after taking some food, he regained his strength. And he spent several days with the apprentices in Damascus.
20Asked-For promptly began to proclaim He-Who-Is-Saves in the synagogues, declaring, “He is the Son of God.”
21All who heard him were astounded and asked, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Foundation-of-Peace on those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
22But Asked-For was empowered all the more, and he confounded the Praised-Ones living in Damascus by proving that He-Who-Is-Saves is the The-Anointed-One.
23After many days had passed, the Praised-Ones conspired to kill him,
24but Asked-For learned of their plot. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.
25One night, however, his apprentices took him and lowered him in a basket through a window in the wall.
26When Asked-For arrived in Foundation-of-Peace, he tried to join the apprentices, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was an apprentice.
27Then Son-of-Encouragement brought him to the emissaries and described how Asked-For had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him on the road to Damascus, and how Asked-For had spoken boldly in that city in the name of He-Who-Is-Saves.
28So Asked-For stayed with them, moving about freely in Foundation-of-Peace and speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.
29He talked and debated with the Greek-Speaking-Jews, but they tried to kill him.
30When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31Then the assembly throughout Land-of-the-Praised, The-Circuit, and Watch-Mountain experienced a time of peace. It grew in strength and numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and the encouragement of the Devoted Spirit.
32As Stone traveled throughout the area, he went to visit the devoted ones in Lydda.
33There he found a man named Aeneas who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.
34“Aeneas,” Stone said to him, “He-Who-Is-Saves The-Anointed-One heals you! Get up and put away your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up,
35and all who lived in Lydda and Plain saw him and turned to the Lord.
36In Fair there was a disciple named Gazelle (which is translated as Gazelle), who was always occupied with works of kindness and charity.
37At that time, however, she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upper room.
38Since Lydda was near Fair, the apprentices, hearing that Stone was there, sent two men to urge him, “Come to us without delay.”
39So Stone got up and went with them. On his arrival, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood around him, weeping and showing him the tunics and other clothing that Gazelle had made while she was still with them.
40Then Stone sent them all out of the room. He knelt down and prayed, and turning toward her body, he said, “Gazelle, get up!” She opened her eyes, and seeing Stone, she sat up.
41Stone took her by the hand and helped her up. Then he called the devoted ones and widows and presented her to them alive.
42This became known all over Fair, and many people believed in the Lord.
43And Stone stayed for several days in Fair with a tanner named Heard.