Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get up and go toward the south[a] on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 And he got up and[b] went, and behold, there was a man, an Ethiopian eunuch (a court official of Candace,[c] queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasury) who had come to worship in Jerusalem 28 and was returning and sitting in his chariot, and reading aloud the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Approach and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran up to it[d] and[e] heard him reading aloud Isaiah the prophet and said, “So then, do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “So how could I, unless someone will guide me?” And he invited Philip to come up and[f] sit with him. 32 Now the passage of scripture that he was reading aloud was this:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33     In his[g] humiliation justice was taken from him.
Who can describe his descendants?[h]
    For his life was taken away from the earth.”[i]

34 And the eunuch answered and[j] said to Philip, “I ask you, about whom does the prophet say this—about himself or about someone else?” 35 So Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture, proclaimed the good news to him about Jesus. 36 And as they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”[k] 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water—Philip and the eunuch—and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer, for he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he[l] passed through, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 8:26 Or “go about noon”
  2. Acts 8:27 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“got up”) has been translated as a finite verb
  3. Acts 8:27 Or “the Candace” (the title of the queen of Ethiopia)
  4. Acts 8:30 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  5. Acts 8:30 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“ran up to”) has been translated as a finite verb
  6. Acts 8:31 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“come up”) has been translated as an infinitive
  7. Acts 8:33 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  8. Acts 8:33 Or perhaps “family history”; literally “generation”
  9. Acts 8:33 A quotation from Isa 53:7–8
  10. Acts 8:34 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
  11. Acts 8:36 A few later manuscripts add v. 37, with minor variations: “He said to him, ‘If you believe with your whole heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’” The verse is almost certainly not an original part of the text of Acts.
  12. Acts 8:40 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“passed through”) which is understood as temporal

Philip and the Ethiopian

26 Now an angel(A) of the Lord said to Philip,(B) “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a](C) eunuch,(D) an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,(E) 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told(F) Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b](G)

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began(H) with that very passage of Scripture(I) and told him the good news(J) about Jesus.

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”(K) [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away,(L) and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns(M) until he reached Caesarea.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 8:27 That is, from the southern Nile region
  2. Acts 8:33 Isaiah 53:7,8 (see Septuagint)
  3. Acts 8:37 Some manuscripts include here Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”