God has been really great to us as we have made our way through these readings. Just as he formed a people out of the Hebrews, and a new people out of the Jews who followed Jesus, so he continues to form new disciples today. Those of us who are drawn to him recognize his scriptures as true and trustworthy.
That isn’t to say that the bible is easy to accept or understand. But it is to say that the witness of the Spirit is that our scriptures are essential for a right walk with our Savior. Continue to strive to understand what you read here!
Joshua 7
The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart. So the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites.
Meanwhile, Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.
On returning to Joshua, they reported, “There is no need to send all the people; two or three thousand men are enough to go up and attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, you need not wear out all our people there.”
So about three thousand men went up, but they fled before the men of Ai.
And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.
“O, Lord GOD,” Joshua said, “why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be destroyed? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!
O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies?
When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”
But the LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions.
This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction.
Get up and consecrate the people, saying, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Among you, O Israel, there are things devoted to destruction. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.
In the morning you must present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe that the LORD selects shall come forward clan by clan, and the clan that the LORD selects shall come forward family by family, and the family that the LORD selects shall come forward man by man.
The one who is caught with the things devoted to destruction must be burned, along with all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD and committed an outrage in Israel.’ ”
So Joshua arose early the next morning and had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected.
He had the clans of Judah come forward, and the clan of the Zerahites was selected. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward, and the family of Zabdi was selected.
And he had the family of Zabdi come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.
So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”
“It is true,” Achan replied, “I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I did:
When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there it all was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.
They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out before the LORD.
Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor.
“Why have you brought this trouble upon us?” said Joshua. “Today the LORD will bring trouble upon you!” And all Israel stoned him to death. Then they stoned the others and burned their bodies.
And they heaped over Achan a large pile of rocks that remains to this day. So the LORD turned from His burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor to this day.
Joshua 8
Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. See, I have delivered into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind the city.”
So Joshua and the whole army set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out at night with these orders: “Pay attention. You are to lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it. All of you must be ready.
Then I and all the troops with me will advance on the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will flee from them.
They will pursue us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ So as we flee from them, you are to rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
And when you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD has commanded! See, I have given you orders.”
So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.
Joshua got up early the next morning and mobilized his men, and he and the elders of Israel marched before them up to Ai.
Then all the troops who were with him marched up and approached the city. They arrived in front of Ai and camped to the north of it, with the valley between them and the city.
Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.
So the forces were stationed with the main camp to the north of the city and the rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.
When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.
Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.
Then all the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they followed Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.
Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out your battle lance toward Ai, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out his battle lance toward Ai, and as soon as he did so, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They rushed forward, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.
When the men of Ai turned and looked back, the smoke of the city was rising into the sky. They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers.
When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai.
Meanwhile, those in the ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces on both sides. So Israel struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained.
But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had pursued them into the field and wilderness, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and put it to the sword as well.
A total of twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.
Joshua did not draw back the hand that held his battle lance until he had devoted to destruction all who lived in Ai.
Israel took for themselves only the cattle and plunder of that city, as the LORD had commanded Joshua.
So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolation to this day.
He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.
At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used.” And on it they offered burnt offerings to the LORD, and they sacrificed peace offerings.
And there in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.
All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.
Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.
There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua failed to read before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.
Joshua 9
Now when news of this reached all the kings west of the Jordan—those in the hill country, the foothills, and all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon (the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites)— they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel.
But the people of Gibeon, having heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, acted deceptively and set out as envoys, carrying on their donkeys worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.
They put worn, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies, and their whole supply of bread was dry and moldy.
They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land; please make a treaty with us.”
But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell near us. How can we make a treaty with you?”
“We are your servants,” they said to Joshua.
Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where have you come from?”
“Your servants have come from a very distant land,” they replied, “because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we have heard the reports about Him: all that He did in Egypt, and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.
So the elders and inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go to meet them and say to them: We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.’
This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But take a look, it is now dry and moldy.
These wineskins were new when we filled them, but look, they are cracked. And these clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.”
Then the men of Israel sampled their provisions, but did not seek the counsel of the LORD.
And Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.
Three days after they had made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites learned that they were neighbors, living among them.
So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities—Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.
But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.
All the leaders answered, “We have sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them. This is how we will treat them: We will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.”
They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the whole congregation.” So the leaders kept their promise.
Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you deceive us by telling us you live far away from us, when in fact you live among us?
Now therefore you are under a curse and will perpetually serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
The Gibeonites answered, “Your servants were told clearly that the LORD your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land and wipe out all its inhabitants before you. So we greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we have done this.
Now we are in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you.”
So Joshua did this and delivered them from the hands of the Israelites, and they did not kill the Gibeonites.
On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation of the LORD and for the altar at the place He would choose.
Acts 7
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
And Stephen declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and told him, ‘Leave your country and your kindred and go to the land I will show you.’
So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God brought him out of that place and into this land where you are now living.
He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a child.
God told him that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come forth and worship Me in this place.’
Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.
Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.
When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit.
On their second visit, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.
So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.
Their bones were carried back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver.
As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number. Then another king, who knew nothing of Joseph, arose over Egypt.
He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.
At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God. For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house.
When he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
And when he saw one of them being mistreated, Moses went to his defense and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian who was oppressing him.
He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.
The next day he came upon two Israelites who were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’
But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
At this remark, Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he lived as a foreigner and had two sons.
After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came to him:
‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’
This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness. This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’
He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.
But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’
At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.
But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
And our fathers who received it brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations God drove out before them. It remained until the time of David, who found favor in the sight of God and asked to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built the house for Him.
However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or where will My place of repose be? Has not My hand made all these things?’
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers— you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”
On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him.
They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 8
And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death.
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them.
The crowds gave their undivided attention to Philip’s message and to the signs they saw him perform.
With loud shrieks, unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, and many of the paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.
Prior to that time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and astounded the people of Samaria. He claimed to be someone great, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, heeded his words and said, “This man is the divine power called the Great Power.”
They paid close attention to him because he had astounded them for a long time with his sorcery.
But when they believed Philip as he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. He followed Philip closely and was astounded by the great signs and miracles he observed.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. On their arrival, they prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money. “Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of your wickedness, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive you for the intent of your heart. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and captive to iniquity.”
Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
And after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many of the Samaritan villages.
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his return was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.
The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay by it.”
So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth. In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.”
“Tell me,” said the eunuch, “who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”
Then Philip began with this very Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”
And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Acts 9
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He approached the high priest and requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
“Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless. They heard the voice but did not see anyone.
Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could not see a thing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
For three days he was without sight, and he did not eat or drink anything.
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Here I am, Lord,” he answered.
“Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.
And now he is here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.”
“Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”
So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
At that instant, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and his sight was restored. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. And he spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
Saul promptly began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, declaring, “He is the Son of God.”
All who heard him were astounded and asked, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem on those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
But Saul was empowered all the more, and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul learned of their plot. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.
One night, however, his disciples took him and lowered him in a basket through a window in the wall.
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.
Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and described how Saul had seen the Lord, who spoke to him on the road to Damascus, and how Saul had spoken boldly in that city in the name of Jesus.
So Saul stayed with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem and speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.
He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced a time of peace. It grew in strength and numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
As Peter traveled throughout the area, he went to visit the saints in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.
“Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you! Get up and put away your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up, and all who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which is translated as Dorcas), who was always occupied with works of kindness and charity.
At that time, however, she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upper room.
Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there and sent two men to urge him, “Come to us without delay.”
So Peter got up and went with them. On his arrival, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood around him, weeping and showing him the tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
Then Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down and prayed, and turning toward her body, he said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.
Peter took her by the hand and helped her up. Then he called the saints and widows and presented her to them alive.
This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. And Peter stayed for several days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.
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