Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

²⁶ But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south^[a] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert road. ²⁷ And he rose and went. And behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of the Canda′ce the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸ and was returning; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up 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, “How can I, unless some one guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this:

³⁴ And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, pray, does the prophet say this, about himself or about some one else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news of Jesus. ³⁶ And as they went along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?”^{[b] 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, the Spirit of the Lord caught up Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip was found at Azo′tus, and passing on he preached the gospel to all the towns till he came to Caesare′a.

The Believers Share Their Possessions

³² Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common.^{[a] 33} And with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of what was sold ³⁵ and laid it at the apostles’ feet; and distribution was made to each as any had need. ³⁶ Thus Joseph who was surnamed by the apostles Barnabas (which means, Son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, ³⁷ sold a field which belonged to him, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.