8:1 Now Saul was consenting to his execution. On that day, there broke out a severe persecution of the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
8:2 Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.
8:3 Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the church; entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment.
8:4 Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
8:5 Thus Philip went down to [the] city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them.
8:6 With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
8:7 For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice, came out of many possessed people, and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured.
8:9 A man named Simon used to practice magic in the city and astounded the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great.
8:10 All of them, from the least to the greatest, paid attention to him, saying, “This man is the ‘Power of God’ that is called ‘Great.’”
8:11 They paid attention to him because he had astounded them by his magic for a long time,
8:12 but once they began to believe Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, men and women alike were baptized.
8:13 Even Simon himself believed and, after being baptized, became devoted to Philip; and when he saw the signs and mighty deeds that were occurring, he was astounded.
8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,
8:15 who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the holy Spirit,
8:16 for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
8:17 Then they laid hands on them and they received the holy Spirit.
8:18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was conferred by the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money
8:19 and said, “Give me this power too, so that anyone upon whom I lay my hands may receive the holy Spirit.”
8:20 But Peter said to him, “May your money perish with you, because you thought that you could buy the gift of God with money.
8:21 You have no share or lot in this matter, for your heart is not upright before God.
8:22 Repent of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your intention may be forgiven.
8:23 For I see that you are filled with bitter gall and are in the bonds of iniquity.”
8:24 Simon said in reply, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
8:25 So when they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem and preached the good news to many Samaritan villages.
8:26 Then the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.”
8:27 So he got up and set out. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship,
8:28 and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
8:29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.”
8:30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
8:31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.
8:32 This was the scripture passage he was reading: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
8:33 In (his) humiliation justice was denied him. Who will tell of his posterity? For his life is taken from the earth.”
8:34 Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply, “I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this? About himself, or about someone else?”
8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this scripture passage, he proclaimed Jesus to him.
8:36 As they traveled along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?”
8:38 Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and he baptized him.
8:39 When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but continued on his way rejoicing.
8:40 Philip came to Azotus, and went about proclaiming the good news to all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
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