Acts 8:14-40

New American Standard Bible

¹⁴ Now when ^(A)the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^(B)Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(C)that they would receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ (For He had ^(D)not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^(E)baptized ^[a]in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ¹⁷ Then they ^(F)began laying their hands on them, and they were ^(G)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 ^(H)acquire the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have ^(I)no part or share in this ^[b]matter, for your heart is not ^(J)right before God. ²² Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(K)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 ^(L)the ^[d]bondage of unrighteousness.” ²⁴ But Simon answered and said, “^(M)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 ^(N)testified and spoken ^(O)the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^(P)preaching the gospel to many villages of the ^(Q)Samaritans.

²⁶ But ^(R)an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(S)Philip, saying, “Get ready and go ^[e]south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^(T)Gaza.” (^[f]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got ready and went; and ^[g](U)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 ^(V)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 ^(W)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 ^(Z)opened his mouth, and ^(AA)beginning from this Scripture he ^(AB)preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^(AC)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, ^(AD)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](AE)Azotus, and as he passed through he ^(AF)kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to ^(AG)Caesarea.