Luke's Story (23 page)

 

God Delivers Israel by Moses

¹⁷
“But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt
¹⁸
till another king arose who did not know Joseph.
¹⁹
This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.
²⁰
At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months.
²¹
But when he was she Prophets:

 

‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilde.
²³
For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

²⁴
Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

²⁵
So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

 

Christ Is Preached to an
Ethiopian

²⁶
Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.
²⁷
So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Can-dace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,
²⁸
was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.
²⁹
Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

³⁰
So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹
And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked
Philip to come up and sit with him.
³²
The place in the Scripture which he read was this:

 

“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;

And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

³³
In His humiliation His justice was taken away,

And who will declare His generation?

For His life is taken from the earth.”
^a

³⁴
So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”
³⁵
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
³⁶
Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See,
here is
water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

³⁷
Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”

And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
^a

³⁸
So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
³⁹
Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
⁴⁰
But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

 

The Damascus Road: Saul
Converted

8:t is found in Western texts, including the Latin tradition.

 

9 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
²
and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

³
As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
⁴
Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

⁵
And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
^a
It
is
hard for you to kick against the goads.”

⁶
So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Then the Lord
said
to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷
And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.
⁸
Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought
him
into Damascus.
³⁰
And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Ananias Baptizes Saul

¹⁰
Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.”

And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹
So the Lord
said
to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for
one
called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.
¹²
And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting
his
hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”

¹³
Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.
¹⁴
And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”

¹⁵
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.
¹⁶
For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

¹⁷
And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus,
^a
who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
¹⁸
Immediately there fell from his eyes
something
like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

¹⁹
So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

21 Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”

²²
But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this
Jesus
is the Christ.

 

Saul Escapes Death

²³
Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him.
²⁴
But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him.
²⁵
Then the disciples took him by night and let
him
down through the wall in a large basket.

 

Saul at Jerusalem

²⁶
And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.
²⁷
But Barnabas took him and brought
him
to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
²⁸
So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out.
²⁹
And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him.
³⁰
When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.

 

The Church Prospers

9:17
^a
M-Text omits
Jesus.
9:20
^a
NU-Text reads
Jesus.
9:31
^a
NU-Text reads
church . . . was edified.

³¹
Then the churches
^a
throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

 

Aeneas Healed

³²
Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all
parts of the country,
that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda.
³³
There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed.
³⁴
And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed.” Then he arose immediately.
³⁵
So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

 

Dorcas Restored to Life

³⁶
At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did.
³⁷
But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid
her
in an upper room.
³⁸
And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring
him
not to delay in coming to them.
³⁹
Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they she was with them.
⁴⁰
But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.
⁴¹
Then he gave her
his
hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
⁴²
And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.
⁴³
So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.

 

Cornelius Sends a Delegation

 

10 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,
²
a devout
man
and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.
³
About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴
And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, Lord?”

So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.
⁵
Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter.
⁶
He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.
^a
He will tell you what you must do.”
⁷
And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually.
⁸
So when he had explained all
these
things to them, he sent them to Joppa.

 

Peter’s Vision

⁹
The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.
³¹
Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance
¹¹
and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth.
¹²
In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.
¹³
And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

¹⁴
But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”

¹⁵
And a voice
spoke
to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”
¹⁶
This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.

 

Summoned to Caesarea

¹⁷
Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate.
¹⁸
And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.