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    Acts · 43 verses

    Acts 9

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    Saul’s enemies watched Damascus’s gates day and night, and his disciples answered this elaborate siege with a basket, a window, and a rather undignified descent through the wall.

    The persecutor is led by the handvv. 1–19

    Saul set out for Damascus armed with authority to seize men and women of the Way, but heaven interrupted the journey with a light, a voice, and a fall to the ground. Jesus named the trouble plainly: Saul was persecuting him. Saul rose blind, was led into Damascus, and spent three days without food or drink—an arresting change of circumstances for a man who had arrived intending to make arrests. Ananias, quite reasonably aware of Saul’s reputation, was nevertheless sent to him. When he laid hands on Saul, something like scales fell from his eyes. Saul could see, ate, recovered his strength, and stayed with the disciples.

    From hunted man to basket cargovv. 20–31

    Saul promptly began declaring in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God, leaving his hearers to compare this new preacher with the man who had come to imprison them. His arguments grew stronger; the astonishment grew into a conspiracy to kill him. The city gates were watched day and night, but Saul’s disciples lowered him through a window in a basket, which is not the grandest of escapes but is certainly memorable. Jerusalem received him with fear until Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told his story. Saul then spoke boldly there too, until the brothers sent him away to Caesarea and on to Tarsus. After that, the churches throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and grew.

    A mat put away, and a woman sitting upvv. 32–43

    Peter travelled to Lydda and found Aeneas, paralysed and bedridden for eight years. The healing came with a wonderfully household instruction: get up and put away the mat. Lydda and Sharon saw the result, and people turned to the Lord. In nearby Joppa, Tabitha—also called Dorcas—had been known for kindness and charity; after she died, the widows displayed the clothing she had made. Peter prayed, called her by name, and took her by the hand when she opened her eyes. She was presented alive to the saints and widows, and Peter stayed in Joppa with Simon the tanner.

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    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Acts 9:1Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He approached the high priest

    2. Acts 9:2and 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 Jerusalem.

    3. Acts 9:3As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

    4. Acts 9:4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”

    5. Acts 9:5“Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.

    6. Acts 9:6“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

    7. Acts 9:7The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless. They heard the voice but did not see anyone.

    8. Acts 9:8Saul 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.

    9. Acts 9:9For three days he was without sight, and he did not eat or drink anything.

    10. Acts 9:10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Here I am, Lord,” he answered.

    11. Acts 9:11“Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.

    12. Acts 9:12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

    13. Acts 9:13But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.

    14. Acts 9:14And now he is here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.”

    15. Acts 9:15“Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.

    16. Acts 9:16I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”

    17. Acts 9:17So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord Jesus, 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 Holy Spirit.”

    18. Acts 9:18At that instant, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and his sight was restored. He got up and was baptized,

    19. Acts 9:19and after taking some food, he regained his strength. And he spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

    20. Acts 9:20Saul promptly began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, declaring, “He is the Son of God.”

    21. Acts 9:21All who heard him were astounded and asked, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem on those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

    22. Acts 9:22But Saul was empowered all the more, and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

    23. Acts 9:23After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him,

    24. Acts 9:24but Saul learned of their plot. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.

    25. Acts 9:25One night, however, his disciples took him and lowered him in a basket through a window in the wall.

    26. Acts 9:26When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.

    27. Acts 9:27Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and described how Saul had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him on the road to Damascus, and how Saul had spoken boldly in that city in the name of Jesus.

    28. Acts 9:28So Saul stayed with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem and speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

    29. Acts 9:29He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him.

    30. Acts 9:30When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

    31. Acts 9:31Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced a time of peace. It grew in strength and numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.

    32. Acts 9:32As Peter traveled throughout the area, he went to visit the saints in Lydda.

    33. Acts 9:33There he found a man named Aeneas who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.

    34. Acts 9:34“Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you! Get up and put away your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up,

    35. Acts 9:35and all who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

    36. Acts 9:36In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which is translated as Dorcas), who was always occupied with works of kindness and charity.

    37. Acts 9:37At that time, however, she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upper room.

    38. Acts 9:38Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to urge him, “Come to us without delay.”

    39. Acts 9:39So Peter 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 Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

    40. Acts 9:40Then Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down and prayed, and turning toward her body, he said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.

    41. Acts 9:41Peter took her by the hand and helped her up. Then he called the saints and widows and presented her to them alive.

    42. Acts 9:42This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

    43. Acts 9:43And Peter stayed for several days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

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    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 592 passages were voted onto 43 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 15Galatians 1:15–16But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased
    • 1Acts 8:3But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
    • 161 Thessalonians 3:3so that none of you would be shaken by these trials. For you know that we are destined for this.
    • 15Ephesians 3:7–8I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power.
    • 11 Timothy 1:13I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.
    • 7Acts 22:9My companions saw the light, but they could not understand the voice of the One speaking to me.
    • 8Acts 22:11Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.
    • 15Romans 11:13I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
    • 152 Timothy 4:16–17At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them.
    • 31Psalms 111:10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!
    • 1Galatians 1:13For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
    • 4Zechariah 2:8For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye—
    • 15Acts 26:17–20I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them
    • 16Acts 21:11Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.’”
    • 162 Corinthians 6:4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;
    • 22Acts 18:5And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself fully to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

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