19 Then Saul ate some food and he became strong again.
Saul teaches people about Jesus
Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. 20 He immediately went to the Jewish meeting places and he taught people about Jesus. He told them that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All the people who heard what Saul said were very surprised. They said to each other, ‘This is the same man who caused much pain to the believers in Jerusalem. We are sure it is him! Now he has come here to Damascus to take hold of the believers and take them away to Jerusalem. He wants to make them stand in front of the leaders of the priests.’
22 But Saul became even more powerful when he taught the people. He showed very clearly that Jesus is God’s Messiah. So the Jews who lived there in Damascus could not answer him.
23 After many days, the Jews met together. They decided that they would kill Saul. 24 But someone told Saul about this. The Jews carefully watched the gates of the city all day and all night. They wanted to catch Saul and to kill him. 25 But one night, Saul’s friends helped him to leave the city secretly. They put him in a basket. Then they put him through a hole in the city wall. Then they let the basket go slowly down to the ground outside the city.[e]
Saul returns to Jerusalem
26 Saul returned to Jerusalem. He wanted to join the group of believers there. But they were all afraid of him. They did not believe that he had really become a disciple of Jesus. 27 But one of the believers who was called Barnabas helped Saul. He took Saul to meet the apostles. Barnabas then explained to the apostles what had happened to Saul. Barnabas said to them, ‘Saul saw the Lord when he was on his way to Damascus. The Lord spoke to him there. Then, while Saul was in Damascus, he bravely told people the message about Jesus.’
28 After that, Saul stayed with the apostles. He went everywhere in Jerusalem and he bravely taught people the message about the Lord Jesus. 29 Saul also talked with the Jews who spoke the Greek language.[f] He argued with them about Jesus. As a result, they wanted to kill him.
30 The other believers heard about this. So they took Saul away to Caesarea. From there, they sent him to Tarsus.
31 By this time there were believers everywhere in Judea, Galilee and Samaria. For some time they had no troubles. The Holy Spirit helped them to become strong. So more people became believers, and they obeyed God in everything that they did.