Acts 8-9

Acts 8

¹And Saul gave approval to his death. Now at that time a violent attack was started against the church in Jerusalem; and all but the Apostles went away into all parts of Judaea and Samaria.

²And God-fearing men put Stephen's body in its last resting-place, making great weeping over him.

³But Saul was burning with hate against the church, going into every house and taking men and women and putting them in prison.

⁴But those who had gone in flight went everywhere preaching the word.

⁵And Philip went down to Samaria and was teaching them about Christ.

⁶And all the people gave attention to the words which Philip said, when they saw the signs which he did.

⁷For unclean spirits came out from those who had them, crying with a loud voice; and a number of those who were ill and broken in body were made well.

⁸And there was much joy in that town.

⁹But there was a certain man named Simon, who in the past had been a wonder-worker and a cause of surprise to the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was a great man:

¹⁰To whom they all gave attention, from the smallest to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is named Great.

¹¹And they gave attention to him, because for a long time his wonder-working powers had kept them under his control.

¹²But when they had faith in the good news given by Philip about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, a number of men and women had baptism.

¹³And Simon himself had faith and, having had baptism, he went with Philip and, seeing the signs and the great wonders which he did, he was full of surprise.

¹⁴Now when the Apostles at Jerusalem had news that the people of Samaria had taken the word of God into their hearts, they sent to them Peter and John;

¹⁵Who, when they came there, made prayer for them, that the Holy Spirit might be given to them:

¹⁶For up to that time he had not come on any of them; only baptism had been given to them in the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁷Then they put their hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came on them.

¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the touch of the Apostles' hands, he made them an offering of money, saying,

¹⁹Give me this power, so that when I put my hands on anyone he may get the Holy Spirit.

²⁰But Peter said, May your money come to destruction with you, because you had the idea that what is freely given by God may be got for a price.

²¹You have no part in this business, because your heart is not right before God.

²²Let your heart be changed, and make prayer to God that you may have forgiveness for your evil thoughts.

²³For I see that you are prisoned in bitter envy and the chains of sin.

²⁴And Simon, answering, said, Make prayer for me to the Lord, so that these things which you have said may not come on me.

²⁵So they, having given their witness and made clear the word of the Lord, went back to Jerusalem, giving the good news on their way in a number of the small towns of Samaria.

²⁶But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Get up, and go to the south, to the road which goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, through the waste land.

²⁷And he went and there was a man of Ethiopia, a servant of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, and controller of all her property, who had come up to Jerusalem for worship;

²⁸He was going back, seated in his carriage, and was reading the book of the prophet Isaiah.

²⁹And the Spirit said to Philip, Go near, and get on his carriage.

³⁰And Philip, running up to him, saw that he was reading Isaiah the prophet, and said to him, Is the sense of what you are reading clear to you?

³¹And he said, How is that possible when I have no guide? And he made Philip get up by his side.

³²Now the place in the book where he was reading was this: He was taken, like a sheep, to be put to death; and as a lamb is quiet when its wool is being cut, so he made no sound:

³³Being of low degree, his cause was not given a hearing: who has knowledge of his family? for his life is cut off from the earth.

³⁴And the Ethiopian said to Philip, About whom are these words said by the prophet? about himself, or some other?

³⁵So Philip, starting from this writing, gave him the good news about Jesus.

³⁶And while they were going on their way, they came to some water, and the Ethiopian said, See, here is water; why may I not have baptism?

³⁸And he gave orders for the carriage to be stopped, and the two of them went down into the water, and Philip gave him baptism.

³⁹And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away; and the Ethiopian saw him no more, for he went on his way full of joy.

⁴⁰But Philip came to Azotus, and went through all the towns, preaching the good news, till he came to Caesarea.

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.