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.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

²⁶ Now ^(A)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 place. ²⁷ And he rose and went. And there was an ^(B)Ethiopian, a ^(C)eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, ^(D)who was in charge of all her treasure. ^(E)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, ^(F)“How can I, unless someone ^(G)guides me?” And ^(H)he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

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 ^(K)beginning with this Scripture ^(L)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! ^(M)What prevents me from 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, ^(N)the Spirit of the Lord ^(O)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.

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

10 After this the Lord appointed ^(A)seventy-two^[a] others and ^(B)sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. ^2 (C)And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ^(D)Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ³ Go your way; ^(E)behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. ^4 (F)Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and ^(G)greet no one on the road. ⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, ^(H)‘Peace be to this house!’ ⁶ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, ^(I)it will return to you. ⁷ And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for ^(J)the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. ⁸ Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. ⁹ Heal the sick in it and say to them, ^(K)‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ^11 (L)‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that ^(M)the kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹² I tell you, ^(N)it will be more bearable on ^(O)that day for Sodom than for that town.

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

^13 (P)“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in ^(Q)Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ^14 (R)But it will be more bearable in the judgment for ^(S)Tyre and Sidon than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, ^(T)will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to ^(U)Hades.

^16 (V)“The one who hears you hears me, and ^(W)the one who rejects you rejects me, and ^(X)the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The Return of the Seventy-Two

^17 (Y)The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, ^(Z)even the demons are subject to us in your name!” ¹⁸ And he said to them, ^(AA)“I saw Satan ^(AB)fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority ^(AC)to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of ^(AD)the enemy, and ^(AE)nothing shall hurt you. ^20 (AF)Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that ^(AG)your names are written in heaven.”