Act 8 | NASB2020 | STEP | Now Saul approved of putting Stephen 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 for the apostles .

Acts 8

Saul Persecutes the Church

1 ^aNow Saul approved of putting ^{▼▼Lit him}Stephen to death.

And on that day a great persecution ^{▼▼Lit occurred}began against ^dthe church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^escattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^fSamaria, except for the apostles. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him. 3 But ^gSaul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would ^hdrag away men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

4 Therefore, those ⁱwho had been scattered went through places ^{▼▼Or bringing the good news of
,} ^kpreaching the word. 5 ^lPhilip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the ^{▼▼I.e., Messiah}Christ to them. 6 The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ^{▼▼I.e., confirming miracles}signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had ^ounclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^pparalyzed or limped on crutches were healed. 8 So there was ^qmuch rejoicing in that city.

9 Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing ^rmagic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, ^sclaiming to be someone great; 10 and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “ ^tThis man is the Power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his ^umagic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip ^vas he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being ^wbaptized. 13 Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^xsigns and ^ygreat miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

14 Now when ^zthe apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^aaPeter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them ^abthat they would receive the Holy Spirit. 16 (For He had ^acnot yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^adbaptized ^{▼▼Lit into}in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then they ^afbegan laying their hands on them, and they were ^agreceiving the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given 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 ^ahacquire the gift of God with money! 21 You have ^aino part or share in this ^{▼▼Or teaching; lit word}matter, for your heart is not ^akright before God. 22 Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^alif possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are ^{▼▼Or doomed to the}in the gall of bitterness and in ^anthe ^{▼▼Lit bond}bondage of unrighteousness.” 24 But Simon answered and said, “ ^apPray 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 ^aqtestified and spoken ^arthe word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^aspreaching the gospel to many villages of the ^atSamaritans.

26 But ^auan angel of the Lord spoke to ^avPhilip, saying, “Get ready and go ^{▼▼Or at about noon to}south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^axGaza.” ( ^{▼▼Or This city is deserted}This is a desert road.) 27 So he got ready and went; and ^{▼▼Lit behold, an Ethiopian
,} ^bathere was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of ^{▼▼Possibly an Ethiopian title: the Candace}Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^bchad come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his ^{▼▼Or carriage}chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then ^bethe 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:

“ ^bgHe was led like a sheep to slaughter;
And like a lamb that is silent before its shearer,
So He does not open His mouth.
33 “ ^bhIn humiliation His justice was taken away;
Who will ^{▼▼Or relate}describe His ^{▼▼Or family history}generation?
For His life is taken away 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 ^bkopened his mouth, and ^blbeginning from this Scripture he ^bmpreached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^bnWhat prevents me from being baptized?” ^{▼▼Late mss add as v 37: 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.”} 37 ^{▼▼This verse is empty in this translation.}– 38 And he ordered that the ^{▼▼Or carriage}chariot 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, ^brthe 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
,} ^bvAzotus, and as he passed through he ^bwkept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to ^bxCaesarea.