Acts 8
New King James Version
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 Now Saul was consenting to his death.
At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and (A)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and (B)made great lamentation over him.
3 As for Saul, (C)he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
Christ Is Preached in Samaria
4 Therefore (D)those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then (E)Philip went down to [a]the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For (F)unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.
The Sorcerer’s Profession of Faith
9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously (G)practiced [b]sorcery in the city and (H)astonished the [c]people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” 11 And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his [d]sorceries for a long time. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things (I)concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.
The Sorcerer’s Sin
14 Now when the (J)apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them (K)that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For (L)as yet He had fallen upon none of them. (M)They had only been baptized in (N)the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then (O)they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because (P)you thought that (Q)the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your (R)heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God (S)if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are (T)poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”
24 Then Simon answered and said, (U)“Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”
25 So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.
Christ Is Preached to an Ethiopian(V)
26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to (W)Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is [e]desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, (X)a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and (Y)had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
(Z)“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
(AA)So He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation His (AB)justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is (AC)taken from the earth.”
34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, (AD)and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. (AE)What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 [f]Then Philip said, (AF)“If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, (AG)“I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, (AH)the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at [g]Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to (AI)Caesarea.
Acts 8
GOD’S WORD Translation
8 Saul approved of putting Stephen to death.
On that day widespread persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. Most believers, except the apostles, were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
2 Devout men buried Stephen as they mourned loudly for him.
3 Saul tried to destroy the church. He dragged men and women out of one home after another and threw them into prison.
Some Samaritans Become Believers
4 The believers who were scattered went from place to place, where they spread the word. 5 Philip went to the city of Samaria and told people about the Messiah. 6 The crowds paid close attention to what Philip said. They listened to him and saw the miracles that he performed. 7 Evil spirits screamed as they came out of the many people they had possessed. Many paralyzed and lame people were cured. 8 As a result, that city was extremely happy.
9 A man named Simon lived in that city. He amazed the people of Samaria with his practice of magic. He claimed that he was great. 10 Everyone from children to adults paid attention to him. They said, “This man is the power of God, and that power is called great.” 11 They paid attention to Simon because he had amazed them for a long time with his practice of magic. 12 However, when Philip spread the Good News about God’s kingdom and the one named Jesus Christ, men and women believed him and were baptized. 13 Even Simon believed, and after he was baptized, he became devoted to Philip. Simon was amazed to see the miracles and impressive things that were happening.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had accepted God’s word, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 Peter and John went to Samaria and prayed that the Samaritans would receive the Holy Spirit. 16 (Before this the Holy Spirit had not come to any of the Samaritans. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit.
18 Simon saw that the Spirit was given to the Samaritans when the apostles placed their hands on them. So he offered Peter and John money 19 and said, “Give me this power so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter told Simon, “May your money be destroyed with you because you thought you could buy God’s gift. 21 You won’t have any share in this because God can see how twisted your thinking is. 22 So change your wicked thoughts, and ask the Lord if he will forgive you for thinking like this. 23 I can see that you are bitter with jealousy and wrapped up in your evil ways.”
24 Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me that none of the things you said will happen to me.”
25 After they had boldly spoken about the message of the Lord, they spread the Good News in many Samaritan villages on their way back to Jerusalem.
Philip Tells an Ethiopian about Jesus
26 An angel from the Lord said to Philip, “Get up, and take the desert road that goes south from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So Philip went.
An Ethiopian man who had come to Jerusalem to worship was on his way home. The man was a eunuch, a high-ranking official in charge of all the treasures of Queen Candace of Ethiopia. 28 As the official rode along in his carriage, he was reading the prophet Isaiah out loud.
29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go to that carriage, and stay close to it.”
30 Philip ran to the carriage and could hear the official reading the prophet Isaiah out loud. Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
31 The official answered, “How can I understand unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to sit with him in his carriage.
32 This was the part of the Scriptures that the official was reading:
“He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
He was like a sheep that is silent
when its wool is cut off.
He didn’t open his mouth.
33 When he humbled himself,
he was not judged fairly.
Who from his generation
will talk about his life on earth being cut short?”
34 The official said to Philip, “I would like to know who the prophet is talking about. Is he talking about himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip spoke. Starting with that passage, Philip told the official the Good News about Jesus.
36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water. The official said to Philip, “Look, there’s some water. What can keep me from being baptized?” [a] 38 The official ordered the carriage to stop. He and Philip stepped into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they had stepped out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. The official joyfully continued on his way and didn’t see Philip again.
40 Philip found himself in the city of Azotus. He traveled through all the cities and spread the Good News until he came to the city of Caesarea.
Footnotes
- 8:36 Some manuscripts and translations add verse 37: “Philip said to the official, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you can be baptized.’ The official answered, ‘I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ ”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.