Simon the Sorcerer

⁹ Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery^(A) in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,^{(B) 10} and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”^{(C) 11} They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery.

¹⁸ When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money ¹⁹ and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!^{(A) 21} You have no part or share^(B) in this ministry, because your heart is not right^(C) before God.

⁶ They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer^(A) and false prophet^(B) named Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was an attendant of the proconsul,^(C) Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer^(D) (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul^(E) from the faith.^{(F) 9} Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit,^(G) looked straight at Elymas and said, ¹⁰ “You are a child of the devil^(H) and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?^{(I) 11} Now the hand of the Lord is against you.^(J) You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”^(K)

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² When the proconsul^(L) saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

¹⁹ A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.^[a]