8:1 Now Saul heartily approved of putting Stephen to death. That day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except for the apostles was scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.
8:2 Devout men buried Stephen as they mourned loudly for him.
8:3 But Saul kept trying to destroy the church. Going into one house after another, he began dragging off men and women and throwing them in prison.
8:4 Now those who were scattered went from place to place preaching the word.
8:5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began to preach the Messiah to the people.
8:6 The crowds, hearing his message and seeing the signs that he was doing, paid close attention to what was said by Philip.
8:7 Unclean spirits screamed with a loud voice as they came out of the many people they had possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed.
8:8 As a result, there was great rejoicing in that city.
8:9 Now in that city there was a man named Simon. He was practicing occult arts and thrilling the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great.
8:10 Everyone from the least to the greatest paid close attention to him, saying, "This is what we call the great power of God!"
8:11 They paid careful attention to him because he had thrilled them for a long time with his occult performances.
8:12 But when Philip proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and about the name of Jesus the Messiah, men and women believed and were baptized.
8:13 Even Simon believed, and after he was baptized he became devoted to Philip. He was amazed to see the signs and great miracles that were happening.
8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
8:15 They went down and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
8:16 Before this, he had not come on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
8:17 Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
8:18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money
8:19 and said, "Give me this power too, so that when I lay my hands on someone, he will receive the Holy Spirit."
8:20 But Peter told him, "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God's free gift with money!
8:21 You have no part or share in what we're saying, because your heart isn't right with God.
8:22 So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart's intent may be forgiven you.
8:23 For I see that you're being poisoned by bitterness and you're a prisoner of wickedness!"
8:24 Simon answered, "Both of you pray to the Lord for me that none of the things you have said will happen to me."
8:25 After they had given their testimony and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, continuing to proclaim the good news in many Samaritan villages.
8:26 Now an angel of the Lord told Philip, "Get up and go south on the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a deserted road."
8:27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, who was a member of the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was in charge of all her treasures and had come up to Jerusalem to worship.
8:28 Now he was returning home, seated in his chariot, and reading from the prophet Isaiah.
8:29 The Spirit told Philip, "Approach that chariot and stay near it."
8:30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah out loud. Philip asked, "Do you understand what you're reading?"
8:31 The man replied, "How can I unless someone guides me?" So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.
8:32 This was the passage of Scripture he was reading: "Like a sheep he was led away to be slaughtered, and like a lamb is silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.
8:33 In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his descendants? For his life is taken away from the earth."
8:34 The eunuch asked Philip, "I ask you, who is the prophet talking about? Himself? Or someone else?"
8:35 Then Philip began to speak, and, starting from this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.
8:36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, "Look, there's some water. What keeps me from being baptized?"
8:38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
8:39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch went on his way rejoicing and did not see Philip again.
8:40 But Philip found himself at Azotus. As he was passing through that region, he kept proclaiming the good news in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
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