Meanwhile, Saul, breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, had asked the high priest for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, he could arrest them and take them in bonds to Jerusalem. He was on his way and had almost reached Damascus when suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" "Who are You, Lord?" he asked, and the voice answered, "I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting. But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men traveling with Saul stood there dumfounded, for they could hear the voice, but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, but even with his eyes wide open he could see nothing at all. They had to lead him into Damascus by the hand. For three days he could not see, and did not eat or drink.
There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias," and he answered, "Here I am, Lord." The Lord said to him, "You must go to Straight Street, and ask at the house of Judas for someone called Saul, who comes from Tarsus. He is praying, and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he can see again."
But Ananias answered, "Lord, many people have told me about this man, about all the harm he has been doing to Your saints in Jerusalem. He has only come here because he has a warrant from the chief priest to arrest everyone who calls upon Your Name." But the Lord said to him, "You must go all the same, because I have chosen this man to carry My Name among all the nations, and before the people of Israel. I Myself will show him how much he must suffer for My Name."
So Ananias went. Coming into the house he laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus Who appeared to you on your way here so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see. So he was baptized there and then. He took some food and then he felt strong.
After he had spent only a few days with the disciples in Damascus, he began preaching in the synagogues, "Jesus is the Son of God." Everyone who heard was amazed. "Isn't this the man who organized the attack in Jerusalem against all the people who call upon this Name? He has come here only to arrest them, and have them tried by the chief priests!" But Saul's power increased steadily, and he came close to throwing the Jewish colony in Damascus into complete confusion by the way he proved that Jesus was the Christ.
After some time passed, the Jews worked out a plot to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. To make sure of killing him they were watching the gates day and night, but when it was dark the disciples took him and let him down from the top of the wall, lowering him in a basket.
When Saul got to Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him; they did not believe he had really become a disciple. But Barnabas took charge of him, and introduced him to the Twelve, and told them how the Lord had appeared to Saul and spoken to him on the road, and how he had preached boldly in Damascus in the Name of Jesus.
So Saul started to go around with the disciples in Jerusalem, preaching without fear in the name of the Lord, but some he disputed with were seeking to kill him, so the other disciples sent him to Tarsus.
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