Acts 9:12-24

¹²Saul has seen a vision in which a man named Ananias entered the house where he was staying and put his hands on him in order that he might see again.”

¹³But Ananias protested, saying, “But Lord, many people have told me about this man! He has done many evil things to the people in Jerusalem who believe in you!

¹⁴And the chief priests have authorized him to come here to Damascus in order to seize all of us who believe in you (sg) MTY and take us to Jerusalem!”

¹⁵But the Lord Jesus told Ananias, “Go to Saul! Do what I say, because I have chosen him to serve me in order that he might speak about me MTY both to non-Jewish people and their kings and to the Israeli people.

¹⁶I myself will tell him that he must often suffer greatly because of telling people about me MTY.”

¹⁷So Ananias went, and after he found the house where Saul was, he entered it. Then, as soon as he met Saul, he put his hands on him, and he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus himself commanded me to come to you. He is the same one who appeared to you (sg) while you were traveling along the road. He sent me to you in order that you might see again and that you might be completely controlled by the Holy Spirit {that the Holy Spirit might completely control you}.”

¹⁸Instantly, things like fish scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he was able to see again. Then he stood up and was baptized { Ananias baptized him} immediately.

¹⁹After Saul ate some food, he felt strong again. Saul stayed with the other believers in Damascus for several days.

²⁰Right away Saul began to preach to people about Jesus in the Jewish meeting places in Damascus. He told them that Jesus is ◄the Son of/the man who is also► God.

²¹And all the people who heard him preach were amazed. Various ones of them were saying, “◄ We(inc) can hardly believe that this is the same man who persecuted the believers in Jerusalem!/Is this really the same man who persecuted the believers in Jerusalem?► RHQ, MTY And we (inc) know that he has RHQ come here to seize us and take us to the chief priests in Jerusalem!”

²²But God enabled Saul to preach to many people even more convincingly. He was proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah. So the Jewish leaders in Damascus could not think of anything ◄to refute what he said/to prove that what he said was not true►.

²³Some time later, after Saul had left Damascus and then returned, the Jewish leaders SYN there plotted to kill him.

²⁴During each day and night those Jews were continually watching the people passing through the city gates, in order that when they saw Saul they might kill him. However, someone told Saul what they planned to do.