8:1  Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

8:2  {Some} devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him.

8:3  But Saul {began} ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

8:4  Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.

8:5  Philip went down to the city of Samaria and {began} proclaiming Christ to them.

8:6  The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.

8:7  For {in the case of} many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out {of them} shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.

8:8  So there was much rejoicing in that city.

8:9  Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;

8:10  and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, "This man is what is called the Great Power of God."

8:11  And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts.

8:12  But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.

8:13  Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

8:14  Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,

8:15  who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

8:16  For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

8:17  Then they {began} laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

8:18  Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,

8:19  saying, "Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

8:20  But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

8:21  "You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

8:22  "Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.

8:23  "For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity."

8:24  But Simon answered and said, "Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."

8:25  So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

8:26  But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, "Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza. (This is a desert {road.})"

8:27  So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,

8:28  and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.

8:29  Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot."

8:30  Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"

8:31  And he said, "Well, how could I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him."

8:32  Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: "HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.

8:33  "IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY; WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH."

8:34  The eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please {tell me,} of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?"

8:35  Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

8:36  As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?"

8:37  [And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."]"

8:38  And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

8:39  When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.

8:40  But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.