The Jewish Annotated New Testament (67 page)

8
When he had said this, he died.
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1
And Saul approved of their killing him.

That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.
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Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him.
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But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.

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Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word.
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Philip went down to the city
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of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah
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to them.
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The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did,
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for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured.
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So there was great joy in that city.

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Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great.
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All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.”
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And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.
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But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
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Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.

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Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
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The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit
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(for as yet the Spirit had not come
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upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus).
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Then Peter and John
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laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
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Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,
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saying, “Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
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But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money!
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You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God.
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Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
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For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.”
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Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you
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have said may happen to me.”

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Now after Peter and John
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had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south
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to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.)
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So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship
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and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
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Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.”
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So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
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He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.
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Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
          and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
             so he does not open his mouth.

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In his humiliation justice was denied him.
        Who can describe his generation?
            For his life is taken away from the
                      earth.”

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The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”
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Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.
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As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?”
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38
He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip
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baptized him.
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When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
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But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Chs 8–11: Sites of early Christian missionary activities.

9
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
²
and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
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Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
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He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
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He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
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But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
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The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.
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Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
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For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰
Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”
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The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying,
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and he has seen in a vision
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a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”
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But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem;
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and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.”
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But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel;
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I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
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So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul
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and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
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And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized,
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and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,
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and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
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All who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”
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Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus
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was the Messiah.
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After some time had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,
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but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night so that they might kill him;
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but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,
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lowering him in a basket.

²⁶
When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.
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But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.
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So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.
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He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him.
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When the believers
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learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.