8:1   Now Saul heartily approved of putting him to death. That day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all of them, except for the apostles, were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.

8:2   Devout men buried Stephen as they mourned loudly for him.

8:3   But Saul kept trying to destroy the church. Going into one house after another, he began dragging off men and women and throwing them in prison.

8:4   Now those who were scattered went from place to place preaching the word.

8:5   Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began to preach the Christ to the people.

8:6   The crowds, hearing his message and seeing the signs that he was doing, paid close attention to what was said by Philip.

8:7   Unclean spirits screamed with a loud voice as they came out of the many people they had possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed.

8:8   As a result, there was great rejoicing in that city.

8:9   Now in that city there was a man named Simon. He was practicing occult arts and thrilling the people of Samaria, claiming to be a great man.

8:10   Everyone from the least to the greatest paid close attention to him, saying, "This man is the power of God, which is called great!"

8:11   They paid careful attention to him because he had thrilled them for a long time with his occultic performances.

8:12   But when Philip proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ, men and women believed and were baptized.

8:13   Even Simon believed, and after he was baptized he became devoted to Philip. He was amazed to see the signs and great miracles that were happening.

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

8:15   They went down and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.

8:16   Before this he had not come on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

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

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

8:19   and said, "Give me this power too, so that when I lay my hands on someone he will receive the Holy Spirit."

8:20   But Peter said to him, "May your money perish with you because you thought you could obtain God's free gift with money!

8:21   You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart isn't right before God.

8:22   So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, this thought of your heart may be forgiven you.

8:23   For I see that you're turning into bitter poison and that you’re being chained by wickedness!"

8:24   Simon answered, "Both of you pray to the Lord for me that none of the things you have said will happen to me."

8:25   After they had given their testimony and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, continuing to proclaim the good news in many Samaritan villages.

8:26   Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south by the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert road."

8:27   So he got up and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch was there. He was a member of the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, and was in charge of all her treasures. He had come to Jerusalem to worship

8:28   and was returning home. He was seated in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah.

8:29   The Spirit said to Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay close to it."

8:30   So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah out loud. He asked, "Do you understand what you're reading?"

8:31   He replied, "How can I unless someone guides me?" So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.

8:32   This was the passage of Scripture he was reading: "Like a sheep he was led away to be slaughtered, and like a lamb is silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.

8:33   In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth."

8:34   The eunuch said to Philip, "I ask you, about whom is the prophet speaking-about himself or about someone else?"

8:35   Then Philip opened his mouth and, starting from this Scripture, told him the good news about Jesus.

8:36   As they were going along the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, "Look, there's some water. What keeps me from being baptized?"

8:37   {\cf15\I Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." He replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

8:38   So he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

8:39   When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch went on his way rejoicing and did not see Philip again.

8:40   But Philip found himself at Azotus. As he was passing through the region, he kept proclaiming the good news in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.