⁷ But Ebed-Melek,^(A) a Cushite,^[a] an official^[b](B) in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,^(C)

¹³ But when he reached the Benjamin Gate,^(A) the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”^(B)

² (This was after King Jehoiachin^[a](A) and the queen mother,^(B) the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.)

¹⁹ his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.

²⁷ So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian^[a](A) eunuch,^(B) an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,^{(C) 28} and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ The Spirit told^(D) Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

³⁰ Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

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

³² This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

³⁴ The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip began^(F) with that very passage of Scripture^(G) and told him the good news^(H) about Jesus.

³⁶ As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”^{(I) [37] [c] 38} And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away,^(J) and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

²⁹ People will come from east and west^(A) and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”^(B)

³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.^{(A) 32} So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan,^(B) as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[a] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

¹⁶ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”^(A)