Now on that day a great ²  persecution began ³  against the church in Jerusalem, ⁴  and all ⁵  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ⁶  of Judea and Samaria. 8:2 Some ⁷  devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation ⁸  over him. ⁹  8:3 But Saul was trying to destroy ¹⁰  the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off ¹¹  both men and women and put them in prison. ¹²