Acts 9-10

Acts 9

¹But Saul, still burning with desire to put to death the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,

²And made a request for letters from him to the Synagogues of Damascus, so that if there were any of the Way there, men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

³And while he was journeying, he came near Damascus; and suddenly he saw a light from heaven shining round him;

⁴And he went down on the earth, and a voice said to him, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly?

⁵And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are attacking:

⁶But get up, and go into the town, and it will be made clear to you what you have to do.

⁷And the men who were with him were not able to say anything; hearing the voice, but seeing no one.

⁸And Saul got up from the earth, and when his eyes were open, he saw nothing; and he was guided by the hand into Damascus.

⁹And for three days he was not able to see, and he took no food or drink.

¹⁰Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias! and he said, Here I am, Lord.

¹¹And the Lord said to him, Get up, and go to the street which is named Straight, and make search at the house of Judas for one named Saul of Tarsus: for he is at prayer;

¹²And he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hands on him, so that he may be able to see.

¹³But Ananias said, Lord, I have had accounts of this man from a number of people, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem:

¹⁴And here he has authority from the chief priests to make prisoners all who give worship to your name.

¹⁵But the Lord said, Go without fear: for he is a special vessel for me, to give to the Gentiles and kings and to the children of Israel the knowledge of my name:

¹⁶For I will make clear to him what troubles he will have to undergo for me.

¹⁷And Ananias went out and came to the house, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, whom you saw when you were on your journey, has sent me, so that you may be able to see, and be full of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸And straight away it seemed as if a veil was taken from his eyes, and he was able to see; and he got up, and had baptism;

¹⁹And when he had taken food his strength came back. And for some days he kept with the disciples who were in Damascus.

²⁰And straight away, in the Synagogues, he was preaching Jesus as the Son of God.

²¹And all those hearing him were full of wonder and said, Is not this the man who in Jerusalem was attacking all the worshippers of this name? and he had come here so that he might take them as prisoners before the chief priests.

²²But Saul went on increasing in power, and the Jews in Damascus were not able to give answers to the arguments by which he made it clear that Jesus was the Christ.

²³Then, after some days, the Jews made an agreement together to put him to death:

²⁴But Saul got knowledge of their design. And they kept watch day and night on the roads out of the town, so that they might put him to death:

²⁵But his disciples took him by night and let him down from the wall in a basket.

²⁶And when he came to Jerusalem, he made an attempt to be joined to the disciples, but they were all in fear of him, not taking him for a disciple.

²⁷But Barnabas took him to the Apostles and gave them an account of how he had seen the Lord on the road, and had given hearing to his words, and how at Damascus he had been preaching in the name of Jesus without fear.

²⁸And he was with them, going in and out at Jerusalem,

²⁹Preaching in the name of the Lord without fear; and he had discussions with the Greek Jews; but they were working for his death.

³⁰And when the brothers had knowledge of it, they took him to Caesarea and sent him to Tarsus.

³¹And so the church through all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was made strong; and, living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was increased greatly.

³²And it came about that while Peter was going through all parts of the country he came to the saints who were living at Lydda.

³³And there was a certain man there, named Aeneas, who for eight years had been in bed, without power of moving.

³⁴And Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you well: get up and make your bed. And straight away he got up.

³⁵And all those living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and were turned to the Lord.

³⁶Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, that is, Dorcas: this woman was given to good works and acts of mercy at all times.

³⁷And it came about, in those days, that she got ill and came to her death: and when she had been washed, they put her in a room which was high up.

³⁸And because Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having knowledge that Peter was there, sent two men to him, requesting him to come to them straight away.

³⁹And Peter went with them. And when he had come, they took him into the room: and all the widows were there, weeping and putting before him the coats and clothing which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

⁴⁰But Peter made them all go outside, and went down on his knees in prayer; and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, get up. And, opening her eyes, she saw Peter and got up.

⁴¹And he took her hand, lifting her up; and, sending for the saints and widows, he gave her to them, living.

⁴²And news of it went all through Joppa, and a number of people had faith in the Lord.

⁴³And he was living in Joppa for some time with Simon, a leather-worker.

Acts 10

¹Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, named Cornelius, the captain of the Italian band of the army;

²A serious-minded man, fearing God with all his family; he gave much money to the poor, and made prayer to God at all times.

³He saw in a vision, clearly, at about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of the Lord coming to him and saying to him, Cornelius!

⁴And he, looking on him in fear, said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and your offerings have come up to God, and he has kept them in mind.

⁵Now send men to Joppa, and get one Simon, named Peter,

⁶Who is living with Simon, a leather-worker, whose house is by the sea.

⁷And when the angel who said these words to him had gone away, he sent for two of his house-servants, and a God-fearing man of the army, one of those who were waiting on him at all times;

⁸And having given them an account of everything, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹Now the day after, when they were on their journey and were near the town, Peter went up to the top of the house for prayer, about the sixth hour:

¹⁰And he was in need of food: but while they were getting it ready, a deep sleep came on him;

¹¹And he saw the heavens opening, and a vessel coming down, like a great cloth let down on the earth,

¹²In which were all sorts of beasts and birds.

¹³And a voice came to him, saying, Come, Peter; take them for food.

¹⁴But Peter said, No, Lord; for I have never taken food which is common or unclean.

¹⁵And the voice came to him a second time, What God has made clean, do not you make common.

¹⁶And this was done three times: and then the vessel was taken back into heaven.

¹⁷Now while Peter was in doubt as to the purpose of this vision, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made search for Simon's house, came to the door,

¹⁸To see if Simon, named Peter, was living there.

¹⁹And, while Peter was turning the vision over in his mind, the Spirit said to him, See, three men are looking for you.

²⁰Go down, then, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them.

²¹And Peter went down to the men, and said, I am the man you are looking for: why have you come?

²²And they said, Cornelius, a captain, an upright and God-fearing man, respected by all the nation of the Jews, had word from God by an angel to send for you to his house, and to give hearing to your words.

²³So he took them in for the night. And the day after, he went with them, taking some of the brothers from Joppa with him.

²⁴And the day after that, they came to Caesarea. And Cornelius was waiting for them, having got together his relations and his near friends.

²⁵And when Peter came in, Cornelius came to him and, falling down at his feet, gave him worship.

²⁶But Peter, lifting him up, said, Get up, for I am a man as you are.

²⁷And saying these words, he went in, and saw that a great number of people had come together;

²⁸And he said to them, You yourselves have knowledge that it is against the law for a man who is a Jew to be in the company of one who is of another nation; but God has made it clear to me that no man may be named common or unclean:

²⁹And so I came without question, when I was sent for. What then is your purpose in sending for me?

³⁰And Cornelius said, Four days from now I was in my house in prayer at the ninth hour; and I saw before me a man in shining clothing,

³¹Who said, Cornelius, your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your offerings are kept in his memory.

³²Send, then, to Joppa, and get Simon, named Peter, to come to you; he is living in the house of Simon, a leather-worker, by the sea.

³³So, straight away, I sent for you; and you have done well to come. And now, we are all present before God, ready to give attention to all the things which the Lord has given you to say.

³⁴Then Peter said, Truly, I see clearly that God is no respecter of persons:

³⁵But in every nation, the man who has fear of him and does righteousness is pleasing to him.

³⁶The word which he sent to the children of Israel, giving the good news of peace through Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all) —

³⁷That word you yourselves have knowledge of, which was made public through all Judaea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism of which John was the preacher,

³⁸About Jesus of Nazareth, how God gave the Holy Spirit to him, with power: and how he went about doing good and making well all who were troubled by evil spirits, for God was with him.

³⁹And we are witnesses of all the things which he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they put to death, hanging him on a tree.

⁴⁰On the third day God gave him back to life, and let him be seen,

⁴¹Not by all the people, but by witnesses marked out before by God, even by us, who took food and drink with him after he came back from the dead.

⁴²And he gave us orders to give news of this to the people, and to give public witness that this is he whom God has made judge of the living and the dead.

⁴³To him all the prophets give witness, that through his name everyone who has faith in him will have forgiveness of sins.

⁴⁴While Peter was saying these words, the Holy Spirit came on all those who were hearing the word.

⁴⁵And the Jews of the faith, who had come with Peter, were full of wonder, because the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles,

⁴⁶And they were talking in tongues, and giving glory to God. Then Peter said,

⁴⁷Will any man say that these may not have baptism who have been given the Holy Spirit as we have?

⁴⁸And he gave orders for them to have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they kept him with them for some days.