26. Then Saul went to Jerusalem. He tried to join the group of followers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe that he was really a follower of Jesus.
27. But Barnabas accepted Saul and took him to the apostles. He told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. Then he told them how boldly Saul had spoken for the Lord in Damascus.
28. And so Saul stayed with the followers and went all around Jerusalem speaking boldly for the Lord.
29. He often had arguments with the Greek-speaking Jews, who began making plans to kill him.
30. When the believers learned about this, they took Saul to Caesarea, and from there they sent him to the city of Tarsus.
31. The church in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, these groups of believers became stronger in faith and showed their respect for the Lord by the way they lived. So the church everywhere grew in numbers.
32. Peter was traveling through all the areas around Jerusalem, and he stopped to visit the believers who lived in Lydda.
33. There he met a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had not been able to get out of bed for the past eight years.
34. Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!” He stood up immediately.
35. All the people living in Lydda and on the plain of Sharon saw him, and they decided to follow the Lord.
36. In the city of Joppa there was a follower of Jesus named Tabitha. Her Greek name, Dorcas, means “a deer.” She was always doing good things for people and giving money to those in need.
37. While Peter was in Lydda, Tabitha became sick and died. They washed her body and put it in an upstairs room.
38. The followers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda, which was not far away. So they sent two men, who begged him, “Hurry, please come quickly!”