8:1   Saul agreed heartily with putting him to death And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they 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 become 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 gave attention to what Philip said, as they heard and saw the signs which he performed.

8:7   For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they came out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had suffered paralysis and lameness received healing.

8:8   Many rejoiced in that city.

8:9   Now a man named Simon, who formerly practiced magic in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming to having attained greatness;

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

8:11   And they gave 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 requested baptism, men and women alike.

8:13   Even Simon himself believed; and after receiving baptism, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he felt 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 received baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus.

8:17   Then they began laying their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

8:18   Now when Simon saw that the Spirit transferred 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 has not become 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 receive forgiveness.

8:23   "For I see that you reside 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 preached 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." (a desert road.)

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

8:28   and he returned and sat in his chariot, and read 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 read?"

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 read stated:" HE BECAME LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER REMAINS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.

8:33   " IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT BECAME TAKEN AWAY; WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE WILL DISAPPEAR 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 becoming baptized?"

8:37   [ And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I acknowledge Jesus Christ as 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.