Saul Persecutes the Church

8 ^(A)Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.

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

Philip in Samaria

⁴ Therefore, those ^(G)who had been scattered went about ^[b](H)preaching the word. ^5 (I)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming ^[c]Christ to them. ⁶ The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ^[d]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 and lame were healed. ⁸ So there was ^(L)much rejoicing in that city.

⁹ Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing ^(M)magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, ^(N)claiming to be someone great; ¹⁰ and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “^(O)This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” ¹¹ And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his ^(P)magic arts. ¹² But when they believed Philip ^(Q)preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being ^(R)baptized, men and women alike. ¹³ 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 constantly 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 might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For He had ^(X)not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^(Y)baptized ^[e]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 bestowed 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)obtain the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have ^(AC)no part or portion in this ^[f]matter, for your heart is not ^(AD)right before God. ²² Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, ^(AE)if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in ^(AF)the ^[g]bondage of iniquity.” 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 up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^(AN)Gaza.” (^[h]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got up and went; and ^(AO)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of 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 ^[i]chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ Then ^(AQ)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 ^(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?” ³⁷ [^[m]And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] ³⁸ And he ordered the ^[n]chariot to 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, ^[o]but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip ^[p]found himself at ^[q](AY)Azotus, and as he passed through he ^(AZ)kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to ^(BA)Caesarea.