Judgment Against Idolatry

6 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)set your face toward ^(C)the mountains of Israel, and ^(D)prophesy against them, ³ and say, ^(E)You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to ^(F)the mountains and ^(G)the hills, to ^(H)the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, ^(I)and I will destroy your high places. ^4 (J)Your altars shall become desolate, and your ^(K)incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. ^5 (L)And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, ^(M)and I will scatter your bones around your altars. ⁶ Wherever you dwell, ^(N)the cities shall be waste and ^(O)the high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined,^[a] your idols broken and destroyed, your ^(P)incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. ⁷ And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

^8 (Q)“Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations ^(R)some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, ⁹ then those of you who escape ^(S)will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how ^(T)I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes ^(U)that go whoring after their idols. ^(V)And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. ¹⁰ And they shall know that I am the Lord. ^(W)I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”

¹¹ Thus says the Lord God: ^(X)“Clap your hands ^(Y)and stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, ^(Z)for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. ^12 (AA)He who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is preserved shall die of famine. ^(AB)Thus I will spend my fury upon them. ¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, ^(AC)when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, ^(AD)on every high hill, ^(AE)on all the mountaintops, ^(AF)under every green tree, and under ^(AG)every leafy oak, wherever ^(AH)they offered pleasing aroma to all their idols. ¹⁴ And ^(AI)I will stretch out my hand against them and ^(AJ)make the land desolate and waste, ^(AK)in all their dwelling places, from the wilderness to ^(AL)Riblah.^[b] Then ^(AM)they will know that I am the Lord.”

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

⁴ Now ^(A)those who were scattered went about preaching the word. ^5 (B)Philip went down to the city^[a] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. ^6 (C)And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him ^(D)and saw the signs that he did. ⁷ For ^(E)unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So ^(F)there was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

⁹ But there was a man named Simon, ^(G)who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, ^(H)saying that he himself was somebody great. ¹⁰ They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ^(I)“This man is the power of God that is called ^(J)Great.” ¹¹ And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had ^(K)amazed them with his magic. ¹² But when ^(L)they believed Philip as he preached good news ^(M)about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, ^(N)they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And ^(O)seeing signs and ^(P)great miracles^[b] performed, ^(Q)he was amazed.

¹⁴ Now when ^(R)the apostles at Jerusalem heard that ^(S)Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(T)that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ for ^(U)he had not yet ^(V)fallen on any of them, but ^(W)they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then ^(X)they laid their hands on them and ^(Y)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 this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, ^(Z)“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God ^(AA)with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for ^(AB)your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(AC)if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are in ^(AD)the gall^[c] of bitterness and in ^(AE)the bond of iniquity.” ²⁴ And Simon answered, ^(AF)“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, ^(AG)preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.