Acts 8
Christian Standard Bible
Saul the Persecutor
8 Saul agreed with putting him to death.
On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.(A) 2 Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. 3 Saul,(B) however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.(C)
Philip in Samaria
4 So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to a[a] city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them.(D) 6 The crowds were all paying attention to what Philip said, as they listened and saw the signs he was performing. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.(E) 8 So there was great joy in that city.
The Response of Simon
9 A man named Simon had previously practiced sorcery in that city and amazed the Samaritan people, while claiming to be somebody great.(F) 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they said, “This man is called the Great Power of God.”[b](G) 11 They were attentive to him because he had amazed them with his sorceries for a long time. 12 But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.(H) 13 Even Simon himself believed. And after he was baptized, he followed Philip everywhere and was amazed as he observed the signs and great miracles(I) that were being performed.
Simon’s Sin
14 When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.(J) 15 After they went down there, they prayed for them so that the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit because he had not yet come down on any of them. 16 (They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.(K)) 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit[c] was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also so that anyone I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 But Peter told him, “May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!(L) 21 You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God.(M) 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart’s intent may be forgiven. 23 For I see you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by wickedness.”(N)
24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon replied, “so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”(O)
25 So, after they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they traveled back to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.
The Conversion of the Ethiopian Official
26 An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.[d](P)) 27 So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch(Q) and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem(R) 28 and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud.
29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.”(S)
30 When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this:
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb is silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will describe his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth.[e](T)
34 The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about—himself or someone else?” 35 Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning with that Scripture.(U)
36 As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water. What would keep me from being baptized?” [f] 38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord(V) carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip appeared in[g] Azotus,[h] and he was traveling and preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.(W)
Footnotes
- 8:5 Other mss read the
- 8:10 Or “This is the power of God called Great
- 8:18 Other mss add Holy
- 8:26 Or is a desert place
- 8:32–33 Is 53:7–8
- 8:36 Some mss include v. 37: Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
- 8:40 Or Philip was found at, or Philip found himself in
- 8:40 Or Ashdod
Acts 8
Lexham English Bible
Saul Attempts to Destroy the Church
8 And Saul was agreeing with his murder. Now there happened on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was attempting to destroy the church. Entering house after house,[a] he dragged off both men and women and[b] delivered them[c] to prison.
Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria
4 Now those who had been scattered went about proclaiming the good news of the word. 5 And Philip came down to the city of Samaria and[d] began proclaiming[e] the Christ[f] to them. 6 And the crowds with one mind were paying attention to what was being said by Philip, as they heard him[g] and saw the signs that he was performing. 7 For many of those who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them,[h] crying out with a loud voice, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.
Simon the Magician
9 Now a certain man named[i] Simon had been in the city practicing magic and astonishing the people of Samaria, saying he was someone great. 10 They were all paying attention to him,[j] from the least to the greatest, saying, “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 astonished them with his[k] magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he[l] was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being baptized. 13 And Simon himself also believed, and after he[m] was baptized he was keeping close company with[n] Philip. And when he[o] saw the signs and great miracles that were taking place, he was astonished.
14 Now when[p] the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who went down and[q] prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. 16 (For he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized[r] in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then they placed their[s] hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 Now Simon, when he[t] saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them money, 19 saying, “Give to me also this power, so that whomever I place my[u] hands on may receive the Holy Spirit!” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver be destroyed along with you,[v] because you thought you could acquire[w] the gift of God by means of money! 21 You have no[x] part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and ask the Lord if perhaps the intent of your heart may be forgiven you!” 23 For I see you are in a state of bitter envy[y] and bound by unrighteousness.”[z] 24 But Simon answered and[aa] said, “You pray to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said will come upon me.” 25 So when[ab] they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they turned back toward Jerusalem, and were proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get up and go toward the south[ac] on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 And he got up and[ad] went, and behold, there was a man, an Ethiopian eunuch (a court official of Candace,[ae] 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[af] and[ag] 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[ah] 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[ai] humiliation justice was taken from him.
Who can describe his descendants?[aj]
For his life was taken away from the earth.”[ak]
34 And the eunuch answered and[al] 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?”[am] 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[an] passed through, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Footnotes
- Acts 8:3 Literally “from house” to house
- Acts 8:3 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“dragged off”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 8:3 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 8:5 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came down”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 8:5 The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began proclaiming”)
- Acts 8:5 Or “Messiah”
- Acts 8:6 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 8:7 *The words “of them” are supplied in the translation to indicate that the unclean spirits were coming out of the people
- Acts 8:9 Literally “by name”
- Acts 8:10 Literally “whom”
- Acts 8:11 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 8:12 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was proclaiming the good news”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 8:13 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was baptized”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 8:13 Literally “attaching himself to”
- Acts 8:13 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 8:14 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 8:15 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went down”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 8:16 Literally “but they were only having been baptized”
- Acts 8:17 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 8:18 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 8:19 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 8:20 Literally “be for destruction with you”
- Acts 8:20 Literally “to acquire”
- Acts 8:21 Literally “there is for you no”
- Acts 8:23 Literally “the gall of bitterness”
- Acts 8:23 Literally “the fetter of unrighteousness”
- Acts 8:24 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 8:25 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had solemnly testified”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 8:26 Or “go about noon”
- Acts 8:27 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“got up”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 8:27 Or “the Candace” (the title of the queen of Ethiopia)
- Acts 8:30 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 8:30 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“ran up to”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 8:31 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“come up”) has been translated as an infinitive
- Acts 8:33 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 8:33 Or perhaps “family history”; literally “generation”
- Acts 8:33 A quotation from Isa 53:7–8
- Acts 8:34 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
- 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.
- Acts 8:40 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“passed through”) which is understood as temporal
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