Acts 8

¹And Saul approved of his execution . And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem , and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria , except the apostles .

²Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him .

³But Saul was ravaging the church , and entering house after house , he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison .

⁴Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word .

⁵Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ .

⁶And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did .

⁷For unclean spirits , crying out with a loud voice , came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed .

⁸So there was much joy in that city .

⁹But there was a man named Simon , who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria , saying that he himself was somebody great .

¹⁰They all paid attention to him , from the least to the greatest , saying , This man is the power of God that is called Great .

¹¹And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic .

¹²But 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 .

¹³Even Simon himself believed , and after being baptized he continued with Philip . And seeing signs and great miracles performed , he was amazed .

¹⁴Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God , they sent to them Peter and John ,

¹⁵who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit ,

¹⁶for he had not yet fallen on any of them , but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus .

¹⁷Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit .

¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles ’ hands , he offered them money ,

¹⁹saying , Give me this power also , so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit .

²⁰But Peter said to him , May your silver perish with you , because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money !

²¹You have neither part nor lot in this matter , for your heart is not right before God .

²²Repent , therefore , of this wickedness of yours , and pray to the Lord that, if possible , the intent of your heart may be forgiven you .

²³For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity .

²⁴And Simon answered , Pray for me to the Lord , that nothing of what you have said may come upon me .

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

²⁶Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip , Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza . This is a desert place.

²⁷And he rose and went . And there was an Ethiopian , a eunuch , a court official of Candace , queen of the Ethiopians , who was in charge of all her treasure . He had come to Jerusalem to worship

²⁸and was returning , seated in his chariot , and he was reading the prophet Isaiah .

²⁹And the Spirit said to Philip , Go over and join this chariot .

³⁰So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked , Do you understand what you are reading ?

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

³²Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this : Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent , so he opens not his mouth .

³³In his humiliation justice was denied him . Who can describe his generation ? For his life is taken away from the earth .

³⁴And the eunuch said to Philip , About whom , I ask you , does the prophet say this , about himself or about someone else ?

³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth , and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus .

³⁶And as they were going along the road they came to some water , and the eunuch said , See , here is water ! What prevents me from being baptized ?

³⁸And he commanded the chariot to stop , and they both went down into the water , Philip and the eunuch , and he baptized him .

³⁹And when they came up out of the water , the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away , and the eunuch saw him no more , and went on his way rejoicing .

⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus , and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea .