Saul Persecutes the Church

8 ^(A)Now Saul approved of putting ^[a]Stephen to death.

And on that day a great persecution ^[b]began against ^(B)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^(C)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^(D)Samaria, except for the apostles. ² Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him. ³ But ^(E)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would ^(F)drag away men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

⁴ Therefore, those ^(G)who had been scattered went through places ^[c](H)preaching the word. ^5 (I)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the ^[d]Christ to them. ⁶ The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ^[e]signs which he was performing. ⁷ For in the case of many who had ^(J)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^(K)paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed. ⁸ So there was ^(L)much rejoicing in that city.

⁹ Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing ^(M)magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, ^(N)claiming to be someone great; ¹⁰ and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “^(O)This man is the Power of God that is called Great.” ¹¹ And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his ^(P)magic arts. ¹² But when they believed Philip ^(Q)as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being ^(R)baptized. ¹³ Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^(S)signs and ^(T)great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

¹⁴ Now when ^(U)the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^(V)Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(W)that they would receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ (For He had ^(X)not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^(Y)baptized ^[f]in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ¹⁷ Then they ^(Z)began laying their hands on them, and they were ^(AA)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 ^(AB)acquire the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have ^(AC)no part or share in this ^[g]matter, for your heart is not ^(AD)right before God. ²² Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(AE)if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are ^[h]in the gall of bitterness and in ^(AF)the ^[i]bondage of unrighteousness.” ²⁴ But Simon answered and said, “^(AG)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 ^(AH)testified and spoken ^(AI)the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^(AJ)preaching the gospel to many villages of the ^(AK)Samaritans.

²⁶ But ^(AL)an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(AM)Philip, saying, “Get ready and go ^[j]south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^(AN)Gaza.” (^[k]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got ready and went; and ^[l](AO)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of ^[m]Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^(AP)had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his ^[n]chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ Then ^(AQ)the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this ^[o]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 ^(AT)opened his mouth, and ^(AU)beginning from this Scripture he ^(AV)preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^(AW)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[r] 38} And he ordered that the ^[s]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, ^(AX)the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, ^[t]but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip ^[u]found himself at ^[v](AY)Azotus, and as he passed through he ^(AZ)kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to ^(BA)Caesarea.