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31 Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

The Healing of Aeneas

32 Now as Peter went here and there among all the believers,^* he came down also to the saints living in Lydda. ³³There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years, for he was paralysed. ³⁴Peter said to him, ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed!’ And immediately he got up. ³⁵And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

Peter in Lydda and Joppa

36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas.^* She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. ³⁷At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. ³⁸Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, ‘Please come to us without delay.’ ³⁹So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. ⁴⁰Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. ⁴²This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

Psalm 116

Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness

¹ I love the Lord, because he has heard
   my voice and my supplications.
² Because he inclined his ear to me,
   therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
³ The snares of death encompassed me;
   the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
   I suffered distress and anguish.
⁴ Then I called on the name of the Lord:
   ‘O Lord, I pray, save my life!’

⁵ Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
   our God is merciful.
⁶ The Lord protects the simple;
   when I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷ Return, O my soul, to your rest,
   for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

⁸ For you have delivered my soul from death,
   my eyes from tears,
   my feet from stumbling.
⁹ I walk before the Lord
   in the land of the living.
¹⁰ I kept my faith, even when I said,
   ‘I am greatly afflicted’;
¹¹ I said in my consternation,
   ‘Everyone is a liar.’

¹² What shall I return to the Lord
   for all his bounty to me?
¹³ I will lift up the cup of salvation
   and call on the name of the Lord,
¹⁴ I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people.
¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the Lord
   is the death of his faithful ones.
¹⁶ O Lord, I am your servant;
   I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid.
   You have loosed my bonds.
¹⁷ I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
   and call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸ I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹ in the courts of the house of the Lord,
   in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

⁵³So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

The Words of Eternal Life

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ ⁶¹But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. ⁶⁵And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’

66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’^*