Simon the Sorcerer

⁹ Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery^(A) in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,^(B)

⁶ They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer^(A) and false prophet^(B) named Bar-Jesus,

³⁶ Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.

¹⁸ Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory,^(A) but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.

¹⁸ But when the magicians^(A) tried to produce gnats by their secret arts,^(B) they could not.

Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, ¹⁹ the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger^(C) of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart^(D) was hard and he would not listen,^(E) just as the Lord had said.

⁶ “‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.^(A)

¹⁸ Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. ¹⁹ A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.^{[a] 20} In this way the word of the Lord^(A) spread widely and grew in power.^(B)

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ Once when we were going to the place of prayer,^(A) we were met by a female slave who had a spirit^(B) by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God,^(C) who are telling you the way to be saved.” ¹⁸ She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.^(D)

¹¹ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery.

²² But the Egyptian magicians^(A) did the same things by their secret arts,^(B) and Pharaoh’s heart^(C) became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.