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¹Saul wholeheartedly approved of Stephen's death. And on that day a great and relentless persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem; and the believers were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.

²Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned greatly over him [expressing a personal sense of loss].

³But Saul began ravaging the church [and assaulting believers]; entering house after house and dragging off men and women, putting them in prison.

⁴Now those [believers] who had been scattered went from place to place preaching the word [the good news of salvation through Christ].

⁵Philip [the evangelist] went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) to them.

⁶The crowds gathered and were paying close attention to everything Philip said, as they heard [the message] and saw the [miraculous] signs which he was doing [validating his message].

⁷For unclean spirits (demons), shouting loudly, were coming out of many who were possessed; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.

⁸So there was great rejoicing in that city.

⁹Now there was a man named Simon, who previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great.

¹⁰They all paid [a great deal of] attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is what is called the Great Power of God!"

¹¹They were paying attention to him because for a long time he had mystified and dazzled them with his magic.

¹²But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, both men and women.

¹³Even Simon believed [Philip's message of salvation]; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he watched the attesting signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

¹⁴When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that [the people of] Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

¹⁵They came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit;

¹⁶for He had not yet fallen on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus [as His possession].

¹⁷Then Peter and John laid their hands on them [one by one], and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,

¹⁹saying, "Give me this authority and power too, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

²⁰But Peter said to him, "May your money be destroyed along with you, because you thought you could buy the [free] gift of God with money!

²¹You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart (motive, purpose) is not right before God.

²²So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, this thought of your heart may be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are provoked by bitterness and bound by sin."

²⁴But Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me both of you, so that nothing of what you have said will come upon me."

²⁵So, when Peter and John had given their testimony and preached the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, preaching the good news [about salvation] in many Samaritan villages [along the way].

²⁶But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south to the road that runs from Jerusalem down to Gaza." (This is a desert road).

²⁷So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch [a man of great authority], a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship,

²⁸and he was returning, and sitting in his chariot he was reading [the scroll of] the prophet Isaiah.

²⁹Then the [Holy] Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot."

³⁰Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah, and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"

³¹And he said, "Well, how could I [understand] unless someone guides me [correctly]?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³²Now this was the passage of Scripture which he was reading: "Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He does not open His mouth.

³³"In humiliation His judgment was taken away [justice was denied Him]. Who will describe His generation? For His life is taken from the earth."

³⁴The eunuch replied to Philip, "Please tell me, about whom does the prophet say this? About himself or about someone else?"

³⁵Then Philip spoke and beginning with this Scripture he preached Jesus to him [explaining that He is the promised Messiah and the source of salvation].

³⁶As they continued along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch exclaimed, "Look! Water! What forbids me from being baptized?"

³⁷[Philip said to him, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he replied, "I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."]

³⁸And he ordered that the chariot be stopped; and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord [suddenly] took Philip [and carried him] away [to a different place]; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but he went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the good news [of salvation] to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea [Maritima].

¹Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord [and relentless in his search for believers], went to the high priest,

²and he asked for letters [of authority] from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there belonging to the Way [believers, followers of Jesus the Messiah], men and women alike, he could arrest them and bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem.

³As he traveled he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him [displaying the glory and majesty of Christ];

⁴and he fell to the ground and heard a voice [from heaven] saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting and oppressing Me?"

⁵And Saul said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He answered, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

⁶now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

⁷The men who were traveling with him [were terrified and] stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

⁸Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

⁹And he was unable to see for three days, and he neither ate nor drank.

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

¹¹And the Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul; for he is praying [there],

¹²and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him, so that he may regain his sight."

¹³But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, especially how much suffering and evil he has brought on Your saints (God's people) at Jerusalem;

¹⁴and here [in Damascus] he has authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call on Your name [confessing You as Savior]."

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, "Go, for this man is a [deliberately] chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

¹⁶for I will make clear to him how much he must suffer and endure for My name's sake."

¹⁷So Ananias left and entered the house, and he laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came [to Damascus], has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit [in order to proclaim Christ to both Jews and Gentiles]."

¹⁸Immediately something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized;

¹⁹and he took some food and was strengthened. For several days [afterward] Saul remained with the disciples who were at Damascus.

²⁰And immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "This Man is the Son of God [the promised Messiah]!"

²¹All those who heard him continued to be amazed and said, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem attacked those who called on this name [of Jesus], and had come here [to Damascus] for the express purpose of bringing them bound [with chains] before the chief priests?"

²²But Saul increased in strength more and more, and continued to perplex the Jews who lived in Damascus by examining [theological evidence] and proving [with Scripture] that this Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).

²³After considerable time had passed [about three years or so], the Jews plotted together to kill him,

²⁴but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the city's gates day and night so they could kill him;

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

²⁶When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.

²⁷However, Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and described to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road [to Damascus], and how He had spoken to him, and how at Damascus Saul had preached openly and spoken confidently in the name of Jesus.

²⁸So he was with them, moving around freely [as one among them] in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹He was talking and arguing with the Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews); but they were attempting to kill him.

³⁰When the brothers found out [about the plot], they brought him down to Caesarea [Maritima] and sent him off to Tarsus [his home town].

³¹So the church throughout Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace [without persecution], being built up [in wisdom, virtue, and faith]; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort and encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it continued to grow [in numbers].

³²Now as Peter was traveling throughout the land, he went down to [visit] the saints (God's people) who lived at Lydda.

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

³⁴Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed." Immediately Aeneas got up.

³⁵Then all who lived at Lydda and the plain of Sharon saw [what had happened to] him, and they turned to the Lord.

³⁶Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, (which translated into Greek means Dorcas). She was rich in acts of kindness and charity which she continually did.

³⁷During that time it happened that she became sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upstairs room.

³⁸Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, "Come to us without delay."

³⁹So Peter got up [at once] and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upstairs room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing [him] all the tunics and robes that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.

⁴⁰But Peter sent them all out [of the room] and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, arise!" And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

⁴¹And he gave her his hand and helped her up; and then he called in the saints (God's people) and the widows, and he presented her [to them] alive.

⁴²This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord [that is, to adhere to and trust in and rely on Jesus as Christ and Savior].

⁴³And so it was that Peter stayed in Joppa for many days with Simon, a tanner.