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. |