Acts 8
Legacy Standard Bible
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 (A)Now 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 And 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 was delivering them into prison.
Philip Preaches in Samaria
4 Therefore, those (G)who had been scattered went about, (H)proclaiming the good news of the word. 5 (I)Now Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching [b]Christ to them. 6 And the crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the [c]signs which he was doing. 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)great joy in that city.
9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing (M)magic in the city and astounding 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 astounded them with his (P)magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip (Q)proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being (R)baptized, both men and women. 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 astounded.
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 [d]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 had been 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 supposed you could (AB)obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have (AC)no part or portion in this [e]matter, for your heart is not (AD)right before God. 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray earnestly to 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 [f]bondage of unrighteousness.” 24 But Simon answered and said, “(AG)Pray earnestly 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)borne witness and spoken (AI)the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were (AJ)proclaiming the gospel to many villages of the (AK)Samaritans.
26 But (AL)an angel of the [g]Lord spoke to (AM)Philip saying, “Rise up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to (AN)Gaza.” ([h]This is a desert road.) 27 So he rose up and went; and behold, (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 over and join this [j]chariot.” 30 And 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:
“(AR)As a sheep is led to slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He does not open His mouth.
33 (AS)In humiliation His judgment was taken away;
Who will [k]recount His [l]generation?
For His life is removed from the earth.”
34 And the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you earnestly, 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)proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. 36 And 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 proclaiming the gospel to all the cities until he came to (BA)Caesarea.
Footnotes
- Acts 8:1 Lit occurred
- Acts 8:5 The Messiah
- Acts 8:6 Or attesting miracles
- Acts 8:16 Lit into
- Acts 8:21 Or teaching; lit word
- Acts 8:23 Lit bond
- Acts 8:26 In OT, Yahweh, cf. Gen 16:7
- Acts 8:26 Or This city is deserted
- Acts 8:28 Or carriage
- Acts 8:29 Or carriage
- Acts 8:33 Or describe
- Acts 8:33 Or family, origin
- Acts 8:37 Early mss omit this v
- Acts 8:38 Or carriage
- Acts 8:39 Lit for he was going
- Acts 8:40 Or was found
- Acts 8:40 In OT, Ashdod
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
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