⁸ Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea^(A) and stayed at the house of Philip^(B) the evangelist,^(C) one of the Seven.

⁵ This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen,^(A) a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit;^(B) also Philip,^(C) Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.

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:

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)

¹¹ So Christ himself gave^(A) the apostles,^(B) the prophets,^(C) the evangelists,^(D) the pastors and teachers,^(E)

⁵ But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship,^(A) do the work of an evangelist,^(B) discharge all the duties of your ministry.

⁵ Philip^(A) went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. ⁶ When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. ⁷ For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many,^(B) and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.^{(C) 8} So there was great joy in that city.

Simon the Sorcerer

⁹ Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery^(D) in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,^{(E) 10} and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”^{(F) 11} They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God^(G) and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized,^(H) both men and women. ¹³ Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles^(I) he saw.

¹⁶ When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.^(A)

¹³ On the Sabbath^(A) we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.

¹⁰ After Paul had seen the vision, we^(A) got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel^(B) to them.