Saul Ravages the Church

¹And bSaul capproved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and dthey were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ²Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. ³But eSaul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he fdragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

⁴Now gthose who were scattered went about preaching the word. ⁵hPhilip went down to the city1 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. ⁶iAnd the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him jand saw the signs that he did. ⁷For kunclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸So lthere was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

⁹But there was a man named Simon, mwho had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, nsaying that he himself was somebody great. ¹⁰They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, o“This man is the power of God that is called pGreat.” ¹¹And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had qamazed them with his magic. ¹²But when rthey believed Philip as he preached good news sabout the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, rthey were baptized, both men and women. ¹³Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And tseeing signs and ugreat miracles2 performed, vhe was amazed.

¹⁴Now when wthe apostles at Jerusalem heard that xSamaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, ¹⁵who came down and prayed for them ythat they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶for zhe had not yet afallen on any of them, but bthey had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷Then cthey laid their hands on them and dthey 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, e“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God fwith money! ²¹You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for gyour heart is not right before God. ²²Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, hif possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³For I see that you are in ithe gall3 of bitterness and in jthe bond of iniquity.” ²⁴And Simon answered, k“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, lpreaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

²⁶Now man angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south4 to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. ²⁷And he rose and went. And there was an nEthiopian, a oeunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, pwho was in charge of all her treasure. qHe 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, r“How can I, unless someone sguides me?” And the invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³²Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

u“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 vhumiliation 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 wbeginning with this Scripture xhe 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! yWhat prevents me from being baptized?”5 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, zthe Spirit of the Lord acarried 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.