Saul Persecutes the Church

8 Now Saul was consenting to his death.

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and ^(A)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and ^(B)made great lamentation over him.

³ As for Saul, ^(C)he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

Christ Is Preached in Samaria

⁴ Therefore ^(D)those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. ⁵ Then ^(E)Philip went down to ^[a]the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. ⁶ And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. ⁷ For ^(F)unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. ⁸ And there was great joy in that city.

The Sorcerer’s Profession of Faith

⁹ But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously ^(G)practiced ^[b]sorcery in the city and ^(H)astonished the ^[c]people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, ¹⁰ to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” ¹¹ And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his ^[d]sorceries for a long time. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he preached the things ^(I)concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. ¹³ Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

The Sorcerer’s Sin

¹⁴ Now when the ^(J)apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, ¹⁵ who, when they had come down, prayed for them ^(K)that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For ^(L)as yet He had fallen upon none of them. ^(M)They had only been baptized in ^(N)the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then ^(O)they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because ^(P)you thought that ^(Q)the gift of God could be purchased with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your ^(R)heart is not right in the sight of God. ²² Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God ^(S)if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are ^(T)poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

²⁴ Then Simon answered and said, ^(U)“Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

²⁵ So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

Christ Is Preached to an Ethiopian^(V)

²⁶ Now an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(W)Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is ^[e]desert. ²⁷ So he arose and went. And behold, ^(X)a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and ^(Y)had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

³⁰ So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹ And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² The place in the Scripture which he read was this:

³⁴ So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, ^(AD)and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. ^(AE)What hinders me from being baptized?”

^37 [f]Then Philip said, ^(AF)“If you believe with all your heart, you may.”

And he answered and said, ^(AG)“I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

³⁸ So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. ³⁹ Now when they came up out of the water, ^(AH)the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip was found at ^[g]Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to ^(AI)Caesarea.