ActsChapter 8

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¹Saul was there, and he agreed that Stephen should be killed. On that day a great wave of attacks broke out against the church in Jerusalem. All the believers except the apostles were scattered all over Judea and Samaria. ²Some men who feared God buried Stephen. They cried loudly and mourned for him. ³But Saul began trying to destroy the church. He went from house to house. He dragged men and women away and put them in prison. ⁴The believers who had been scattered preached the word everywhere they went. ⁵Philip went down to a city in Samaria. He told the people there about the Messiah. ⁶The crowds all listened closely to what Philip said. They saw the signs he did, and they paid close attention. ⁷Evil spirits came out of many people, screaming loudly. And many people who could not move or walk were healed. ⁸So there was great joy in that city. ⁹Before that time, a man named Simon had been doing magic in the city. He amazed the people of Samaria. He said he was someone great. ¹⁰All the people listened to him, from the least important to the most important. They said, "This man is the power of God called the Great Power." ¹¹They followed him closely because he had amazed them with his magic for a long time. ¹²But then Philip preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. The people believed him. Both men and women were baptized. ¹³Even Simon believed and was baptized. He stayed close to Philip everywhere he went. He was amazed by the great signs and miracles he saw. ¹⁴The apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God's word. So they sent Peter and John to them. ¹⁵When Peter and John got there, they prayed for the new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶For the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷Then Peter and John placed their hands on them. And they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles placed their hands on people. So he offered them money. ¹⁹"Give me this power too," he said. "Then everyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit." ²⁰But Peter answered, "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy God's gift with money! ²¹You have no part or share in our work, because your heart is not right with God. ²²So turn away from this evil and turn back to God. Pray to the Lord. Maybe he will forgive you for what you had in your heart. ²³For I can see that you are full of bitter poison. You are a prisoner of sin." ²⁴Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me. Pray that none of the things you said will happen to me." ²⁵Peter and John told what they had seen. They spoke the word of the Lord. Then they went back to Jerusalem. On the way, they preached the good news in many Samaritan villages. ²⁶Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip. "Get up and go south," he said. "Go to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." ²⁷So Philip started out. On his way he met a man from Ethiopia. He was a eunuch and an important official. He was in charge of all the money of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship. ²⁸Now he was going home. He was sitting in his chariot, reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." ³⁰So Philip ran up to the chariot. He heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you're reading?" Philip asked. ³¹"How can I," the man said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. ³²The eunuch was reading this part of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to be killed. A lamb is silent while its wool is cut. In the same way, he did not open his mouth. ³³He was put to shame and was not treated fairly. Who can tell about his descendants? His life was taken away from the earth." ³⁴The eunuch said to Philip, "Tell me, who is the prophet talking about? Is he talking about himself or someone else?" ³⁵Then Philip started with that very Scripture. He told him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶As they went down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, "Look, here's water! What's stopping me from being baptized?" ³⁷—a ³⁸He ordered the chariot to stop. Then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water. And Philip baptized him. ³⁹They came up out of the water. Then the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. The eunuch did not see him again. But he went on his way full of joy. ⁴⁰Philip showed up at Azotus. He traveled through that area and preached the good news in all the towns. He did this until he came to Caesarea.