Act 8 | NASB1995 | STEP | Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death . And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem , and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria , except the apostles .

Acts 8

Saul Persecutes the Church

1 ^aSaul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.

And on that day a great persecution ^{▼▼ Lit occurred}began against ^cthe church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^dscattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^eSamaria, except the apostles. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But ^fSaul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and ^gdragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

4 Therefore, those ^hwho had been scattered went about ^{▼▼ Or bringing the good news of
,} ^jpreaching the word. 5 ^kPhilip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming ^{▼▼ I.e. the Messiah}Christ to them. 6 The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ^{▼▼ Or attesting miracles}signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had ⁿunclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^oparalyzed and lame were healed. 8 So there was ^pmuch rejoicing in that city.

9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing ^qmagic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, ^rclaiming to be someone great; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, ^s“This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” 11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his ^tmagic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip ^upreaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being ^vbaptized, men and women alike. 13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^wsigns and ^xgreat miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

14 Now when ^ythe apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^zPeter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them ^aathat they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For He had ^abnot yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^acbaptized ^{▼▼ Lit into}in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they ^ae began laying their hands on them, and they were ^afreceiving the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could ^agobtain the gift of God with money! 21 “You have ^ahno part or portion in this ^{▼▼ Or teaching; lit word}matter, for your heart is not ^ajright before God. 22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, ^akif possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in ^althe ^{▼▼ Lit bond}bondage of iniquity.” 24 But Simon answered and said, ^an“Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

25 So, when they had solemnly ^aotestified and spoken ^apthe word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^aqpreaching the gospel to many villages of the ^arSamaritans.

26 But ^asan angel of the Lord spoke to ^atPhilip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^auGaza.” ( ^{▼▼ Or This city is deserted}This is a desert road.) 27 So he got up and went; and ^awthere was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^axhad come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his ^{▼▼ Or carriage}chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then ^azthe Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this ^{▼▼ Or carriage}chariot.” 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: ^bb“He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He does not open His mouth.
33 ^bc“In humiliation His judgment was taken away;
Who will ^{▼▼ Or describe} relate His ^{▼▼ Or family or origin} generation?
For His life is removed from the earth.”

34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip ^bfopened his mouth, and ^bgbeginning from this Scripture he ^bhpreached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! ^biWhat prevents me from being baptized?” 37 [ ^{▼▼ Early mss do not contain this v}And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] 38 And he ordered the ^{▼▼ Or carriage}chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, ^blthe Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, ^{▼▼ Lit for he was going}but went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip ^{▼▼ Or was found}found himself at ^{▼▼ OT: Ashdod
,} ^bpAzotus, and as he passed through he ^bqkept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to ^brCaesarea.