¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(A)that they would receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ (For He had ^(B)not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^(C)baptized ^[a]in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ¹⁷ Then they ^(D)began laying their hands on them, and they were ^(E)receiving the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could ^(F)acquire the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have ^(G)no part or share in this ^[b]matter, for your heart is not ^(H)right before God. ²² Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(I)if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are ^[c]in the gall of bitterness and in ^(J)the ^[d]bondage of unrighteousness.” ²⁴ But Simon answered and said, “^(K)Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

²⁵ So, when they had solemnly ^(L)testified and spoken ^(M)the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^(N)preaching the gospel to many villages of the ^(O)Samaritans.

²⁶ But ^(P)an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(Q)Philip, saying, “Get ready and go ^[e]south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^(R)Gaza.” (^[f]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got ready and went; and ^[g](S)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of ^[h]Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^(T)had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his ^[i]chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ Then ^(U)the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this ^[j]chariot.” ³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

³⁴ The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip ^(X)opened his mouth, and ^(Y)beginning from this Scripture he ^(Z)preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^(AA)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[m] 38} And he ordered that the ^[n]chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, ^(AB)the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, ^[o]but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip ^[p]found himself at ^[q](AC)Azotus, and as he passed through he ^(AD)kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to ^(AE)Caesarea.

¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘^(A)John baptized with water, but you will be baptized ^[a]with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ Therefore, if ^(B)God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(C)who was I that I could ^[b]stand in God’s way?” ¹⁸ When they heard this, they ^[c]quieted down and ^(D)glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the ^(E)repentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

^19 (F)So then those who were scattered because of the ^[d]persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ^[e]to ^(G)Phoenicia, ^(H)Cyprus, and ^(I)Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of ^(J)Cyprus and ^(K)Cyrene, who came to ^(L)Antioch and began speaking to the ^[f](M)Greeks as well, ^(N)preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And ^(O)the hand of the Lord was with them, and ^(P)a large number who believed turned to the Lord. ²² The ^[g]news about them ^[h]reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent ^(Q)Barnabas off ^[i]to ^(R)Antioch. ²³ Then when he arrived and ^[j]witnessed ^(S)the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with ^[k]resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; ²⁴ for he was a good man, and ^(T)full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And ^[l](U)considerable numbers were added to the Lord. ²⁵ And he left for ^(V)Tarsus to look for Saul; ²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to ^(W)Antioch. And for an entire year they ^[m]met with the church and taught ^[n]considerable numbers of people; and ^(X)the disciples were first called ^(Y)Christians in ^(Z)Antioch.

²⁷ Now ^[o]at this time some ^(AA)prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^(AB)Antioch. ²⁸ One of them, named ^(AC)Agabus, stood up and ^[p]indicated ^[q]by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine ^(AD)all over the ^[r]world. ^[s]And this took place in the reign of ^(AE)Claudius. ²⁹ And to the extent that any of ^(AF)the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the ^[t]relief of ^(AG)the brothers and sisters living in Judea. ^30 (AH)And they did this, sending it ^[u]with ^(AI)Barnabas and Saul to the ^(AJ)elders.