¹² For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

²⁵ So, when they had solemnly ^(A)testified and spoken ^(B)the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^(C)preaching the gospel to many villages of the ^(D)Samaritans.

²⁶ But ^(E)an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(F)Philip, saying, “Get ready and go ^[a]south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^(G)Gaza.” (^[b]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got ready and went; and ^[c](H)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of ^[d]Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^(I)had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his ^[e]chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ Then ^(J)the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this ^[f]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 ^(M)opened his mouth, and ^(N)beginning from this Scripture he ^(O)preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^(P)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[i] 38} And he ordered that the ^[j]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, ^(Q)the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, ^[k]but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip ^[l]found himself at ^[m](R)Azotus, and as he passed through he ^(S)kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to ^(T)Caesarea.

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for ^[a]God does not see as man sees, since man looks at ^[b]the outward appearance, ^(A)but the Lord looks at the heart.”

^28 (A)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is ^[a]neither male nor female; for ^(B)you are all one in ^(C)Christ Jesus.