Acts 8
English Standard Version
Saul Ravages the Church
8 And (A)Saul (B)approved of his execution.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and (C)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But (D)Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he (E)dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria
4 Now (F)those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 (G)Philip went down to the city[a] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 (H)And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him (I)and saw the signs that he did. 7 For (J)unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So (K)there was much joy in that city.
Simon the Magician Believes
9 But there was a man named Simon, (L)who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, (M)saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, (N)“This man is the power of God that is called (O)Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had (P)amazed them with his magic. 12 But when (Q)they believed Philip as he preached good news (R)about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, (S)they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And (T)seeing signs and (U)great miracles[b] performed, (V)he was amazed.
14 Now when (W)the apostles at Jerusalem heard that (X)Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them (Y)that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for (Z)he had not yet (AA)fallen on any of them, but (AB)they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then (AC)they laid their hands on them and (AD)they received 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 me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, (AE)“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God (AF)with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for (AG)your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, (AH)if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in (AI)the gall[c] of bitterness and in (AJ)the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, (AK)“Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, (AL)preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
26 Now (AM)an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south[d] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an (AN)Ethiopian, a (AO)eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, (AP)who was in charge of all her treasure. (AQ)He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, (AR)“How can I, unless someone (AS)guides me?” And (AT)he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:
(AU)“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.
33 In his (AV)humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”
34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and (AW)beginning with this Scripture (AX)he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! (AY)What prevents me from being baptized?”[e] 38 And he commanded 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, (AZ)the Spirit of the Lord (BA)carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Footnotes
- Acts 8:5 Some manuscripts a city
- Acts 8:13 Greek works of power
- Acts 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile
- Acts 8:26 Or go at about noon
- Acts 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Acts 8
Common English Bible
8 1 Saul was in full agreement with Stephen’s murder.
The church scatters
At that time, the church in Jerusalem began to be subjected to vicious harassment. Everyone except the apostles was scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 Some pious men buried Stephen and deeply grieved over him. 3 Saul began to wreak havoc against the church. Entering one house after another, he would drag off both men and women and throw them into prison.
Philip in Samaria
4 Those who had been scattered moved on, preaching the good news along the way. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria[a] and began to preach Christ to them. 6 The crowds were united by what they heard Philip say and the signs they saw him perform, and they gave him their undivided attention. 7 With loud shrieks, unclean spirits came out of many people, and many who were paralyzed or crippled were healed. 8 There was great rejoicing in that city.
9 Before Philip’s arrival, a certain man named Simon had practiced sorcery in that city and baffled the people of Samaria. He claimed to be a great person. 10 Everyone, from the least to the greatest, gave him their undivided attention and referred to him as “the power of God called Great.” 11 He had their attention because he had baffled them with sorcery for a long time. 12 After they came to believe Philip, who preached the good news about God’s kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 13 Even Simon himself came to believe and was baptized. Afterward, he became one of Philip’s supporters. As he saw firsthand the signs and great miracles that were happening, he was astonished.
14 When word reached the apostles in Jerusalem that Samaria had accepted God’s word, they commissioned Peter and John to go to Samaria. 15 Peter and John went down to Samaria where they prayed that the new believers would receive the Holy Spirit. (16 This was because the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 So Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon perceived that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money. 19 He said, “Give me this authority too so that anyone on whom I lay my hands will receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter responded, “May your money be condemned to hell along with you because you believed you could buy God’s gift with money! 21 You can have no part or share in God’s word because your heart isn’t right with God. 22 Therefore, change your heart and life! Turn from your wickedness! Plead with the Lord in the hope that your wicked intent can be forgiven, 23 for I see that your bitterness has poisoned you and evil has you in chains.”
24 Simon replied, “All of you, please, plead to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said will happen to me!” 25 After the apostles had testified and proclaimed the Lord’s word, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the good news to many Samaritan villages along the way.
Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch
26 An angel from the Lord spoke to Philip, “At noon, take[b] the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 So he did. Meanwhile, an Ethiopian man was on his way home from Jerusalem, where he had come to worship. He was a eunuch and an official responsible for the entire treasury of Candace. (Candace is the title given to the Ethiopian queen.) 28 He was reading the prophet Isaiah while sitting in his carriage. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Approach this carriage and stay with it.”
30 Running up to the carriage, Philip heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “Without someone to guide me, how could I?” Then he invited Philip to climb up and sit with him. 32 This was the passage of scripture he was reading:
Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent
so he didn’t open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was taken away from him.
Who can tell the story of his descendants
because his life was taken from the earth?[c]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, about whom does the prophet say this? Is he talking about himself or someone else?” 35 Starting with that passage, Philip proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. 36 As they went down the road, they came to some water.
The eunuch said, “Look! Water! What would keep me from being baptized?”[d] 38 He ordered that the carriage halt. Both Philip and the eunuch went down to the water, where Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Lord’s Spirit suddenly took Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip found himself in Azotus. He traveled through that area, preaching the good news in all the cities until he reached Caesarea.
Footnotes
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible