Book of Common Prayer

¹⁴ When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received God’s word, they sent Peter and John to them. ¹⁵ When they arrived, they prayed for them, asking that they would receive the holy spirit, ¹⁶ since up to that point the spirit had come upon none of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the holy spirit.

¹⁸ When Simon saw that the spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.

¹⁹ “Give me this power too,” he said, “so that anyone I lay my hands on will receive the holy spirit.”

²⁰ “You and your silver belong in hell!” retorted Peter. “Did you really think that God’s gift could be bought with money? ²¹ You have no part or share in this word! Your heart is not straight before God. ²² So repent from this wickedness, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive the scheme you had in your heart. ²³ I can see that you are still stuck in the bitter poison and chains of unrighteousness.”

²⁴ “Pray to the Lord for me,” said Simon in reply, “that none of what you’ve said will happen to me.”

²⁵ After Peter and John had finished bearing witness and speaking the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, announcing the good news to many Samaritan villages.

Jesus before Pilate and Herod

23 The whole crowd of them got up and took Jesus to Pilate.

² They began to accuse him. “We found this fellow,” they said, “deceiving our nation! He was forbidding people to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he is the Messiah—a king!”

³ So Pilate asked Jesus, “You are the king of the Jews?”

“You said it,” replied Jesus.

⁴ “I find no fault in this man,” said Pilate to the chief priests and the crowds. ⁵ But they became insistent.

“He’s stirring up the people,” they said, “teaching them throughout the whole of Judaea. He began in Galilee, and now he’s come here.”

⁶ When Pilate heard that, he asked if the man was indeed a Galilean. ⁷ When he learned that he was from Herod’s jurisdiction he sent him to Herod, who happened also to be in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸ When Herod saw Jesus he was delighted. He had been wanting to see him for quite some time now, since he’d heard about him, and had hoped to see him perform some sign or other. ⁹ He questioned him this way and that, but Jesus gave no answer at all. ¹⁰ The chief priests and the scribes stood by, accusing him vehemently. ¹¹ Herod and his soldiers treated Jesus with contempt; they ridiculed him by dressing him up in a splendid robe, and sent him back to Pilate. ¹² And so it happened, that very day, that Herod and Pilate became friends with each other. Up until then, they had been enemies.