Acts 8

¹Acts 8:1. And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.²Acts 8:2. God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.³Acts 8:3. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

⁴Acts 8:4. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.⁵Acts 8:5. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them.⁶Acts 8:6. The crowds all paid close attention to Philip’s message and to the signs they saw him perform.⁷Acts 8:7. With loud shrieks, unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, and many of the paralyzed and lame were healed.⁸Acts 8:8. So there was great joy in that city.

⁹Acts 8:9. Prior to that time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and astounded the people of Samaria. He claimed to be someone great,¹⁰Acts 8:10. and all the people, from the least to the greatest, heeded his words and said, “This man is the divine power called the Great Power.”¹¹Acts 8:11. They paid close attention to him because he had astounded them for a long time with his sorcery.¹²Acts 8:12. But when they believed Philip as he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.¹³Acts 8:13. Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. He followed Philip closely and was astounded by the great signs and miracles he observed.

¹⁴Acts 8:14. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.¹⁵Acts 8:15. On their arrival, they prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.¹⁶Acts 8:16. For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.¹⁷Acts 8:17. Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.¹⁸Acts 8:18. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.¹⁹Acts 8:19. “Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”²⁰Acts 8:20. But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!²¹Acts 8:21. You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God.²²Acts 8:22. Repent, therefore, of your wickedness, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive you for the intent of your heart.²³Acts 8:23. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and captive to iniquity.”²⁴Acts 8:24. Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”²⁵Acts 8:25. And after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many of the Samaritan villages.

²⁶Acts 8:26. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”²⁷Acts 8:27. So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship,²⁸Acts 8:28. and on his return was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.²⁹Acts 8:29. The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay by it.”³⁰Acts 8:30. So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.³¹Acts 8:31. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.³²Acts 8:32. The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth.³³Acts 8:33. In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.”³⁴Acts 8:34. “Tell me,” said the eunuch, “who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”³⁵Acts 8:35. Then Philip began with this very Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.³⁶Acts 8:36. As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”³⁸Acts 8:38. And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.³⁹Acts 8:39. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.⁴⁰Acts 8:40. But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.