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Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise up and go toward the south on the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. 27 So he rose up and went. And there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in command of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship. 28 He was returning, sitting in his chariot and reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go to this chariot and stay with it.”

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

31 He said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 The passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

“He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation justice was denied Him;
    who will speak of His generation?
    For His life is taken from the earth.”[a]

34 The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet speak, of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip spoke, beginning with the same Scripture, and preached Jesus to him.

36 As they went on their way, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” He answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38 And he commanded the chariot to halt. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. And the eunuch saw him no more, and he went his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached the gospel in all the cities until he came to Caesarea.

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Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get up and go toward the south[a] on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 And he got up and[b] went, and behold, there was a man, an Ethiopian eunuch (a court official of Candace,[c] queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasury) who had come to worship in Jerusalem 28 and was returning and sitting in his chariot, and reading aloud the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Approach and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran up to it[d] and[e] heard him reading aloud Isaiah the prophet and said, “So then, do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “So how could I, unless someone will guide me?” And he invited Philip to come up and[f] sit with him. 32 Now the passage of scripture that he was reading aloud was this:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33     In his[g] humiliation justice was taken from him.
Who can describe his descendants?[h]
    For his life was taken away from the earth.”[i]

34 And the eunuch answered and[j] said to Philip, “I ask you, about whom does the prophet say this—about himself or about someone else?” 35 So Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture, proclaimed the good news to him about Jesus. 36 And as they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”[k] 38 And he ordered 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 carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer, for he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he[l] passed through, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 8:26 Or “go about noon”
  2. Acts 8:27 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“got up”) has been translated as a finite verb
  3. Acts 8:27 Or “the Candace” (the title of the queen of Ethiopia)
  4. Acts 8:30 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  5. Acts 8:30 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“ran up to”) has been translated as a finite verb
  6. Acts 8:31 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“come up”) has been translated as an infinitive
  7. Acts 8:33 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  8. Acts 8:33 Or perhaps “family history”; literally “generation”
  9. Acts 8:33 A quotation from Isa 53:7–8
  10. Acts 8:34 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
  11. Acts 8:36 A few later manuscripts add v. 37, with minor variations: “He said to him, ‘If you believe with your whole heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’” The verse is almost certainly not an original part of the text of Acts.
  12. Acts 8:40 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“passed through”) which is understood as temporal