8 ¹ And Saul was consenting to his death.

Saul Persecutes the Church

And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samar′ia, except the apostles. ² Devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him. ³ But Saul laid waste the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Philip Preaches in Samaria

⁴ Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. ⁵ Philip went down to a city of Samar′ia, and proclaimed to them the Christ. ⁶ And the multitudes with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which he did. ⁷ For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice; and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So there was much joy in that city.

⁹ But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the nation of Samar′ia, saying that he himself was somebody great. ¹⁰ They all gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is that power of God which is called Great.” ¹¹ And they gave heed to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

¹⁴ Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samar′ia had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; ¹⁶ for it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me also this power, that any one on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!^{[a] 21} You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” ²⁴ And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

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

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

²⁶ But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south^[b] 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?”^{[c] 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.