Acts 8 — TCENT
8Verse 1And Saul approved of his execution. Saul Persecutes the Church On that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem, and all the believers except the apostles were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.Verse 2Devout men carried Stephen away for burial and made great lamentation over him.Verse 3But Saul was ravaging the church. Entering house after house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
“Like a sheep he was led to slaughter,
and like a lamb is silent before its shearer,
so he did not open his mouth.
Verse 33In+his humiliation he was denied justice.
Who will tell of his posterity?
For his life was taken from the earth.”Verse 34The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask yoʋ, who does the prophet say this about? About himself, or about someone else?”Verse 35Then Philip opened his mouth to speak, and beginning from this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.Verse 36As they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water! What prevents me from being+baptized?”Verse 38So he ordered the chariot to stop, and the two of them went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and Philip baptized him.Verse 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.Verse 40Philip, however, found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through that region, he preached the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Philip Preaches the Good News in Samaria
Verse 4Now those who had been scattered went around preaching the message of good news.Verse 5Philip went down to+a city of Samaria and began proclaiming to them the Christ.Verse 6With one accord the crowds paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him and saw the signs he was performing.Verse 7For unclean spirits came out of many who had them, crying out with a loud voice, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.Verse 8And there was great joy in that city.Simon the Magician
Verse 9Now a man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, declaring himself to be someone great.Verse 10From the least to the greatest,+they paid close attention to him, saying, “This man is the+great power of God.”Verse 11They all paid close attention to him because he had amazed them with his magical arts for a long time.Verse 12But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.Verse 13Even Simon himself believed. After he was baptized, he kept close company with Philip and was amazed as he saw+miracles and signs taking place.Verse 14When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John.Verse 15These two went down and prayed for the Samaritan believers to receive the Holy Spirit,Verse 16for the Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of+Christ Jesus.Verse 17Then Peter and John laid their hands on the Samaritan believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.Verse 18When Simon saw that the+Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,Verse 19saying, “Give this power to me as well, so that whomever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”Verse 20But Peter said to him, “May yoʋr silver be destroyed with yoʋ, because yoʋ thought yoʋ could acquire the gift of God with money!Verse 21Yoʋ have no share or portion in this matter, for yoʋr heart is not right before God.Verse 22Therefore repent of this wickedness of yoʋrs, and plead with+God in the hope that the intention of yoʋr heart might be forgiven yoʋ.Verse 23For I see that yoʋ are bitterly envious and in bondage to unrighteousness.”Verse 24In response Simon said, “Pray to+the Lord for me so that nothing you have said will happen to me.”Verse 25After Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the good news in many villages of the Samaritans as they went.Philip Baptizes the Ethiopian Eunuch
Verse 26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south, to the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)Verse 27So he rose and went. And behold, there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. This man had come to Jerusalem to worshipVerse 28and was sitting in his chariot on his way back home, reading the prophet Isaiah.Verse 29The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join that chariot.”Verse 30So Philip ran up to it and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah. He said, “Do yoʋ understand what yoʋ are reading?”Verse 31The man said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.Verse 32This is the passage of Scripture that he was reading:“Like a sheep he was led to slaughter,
and like a lamb is silent before its shearer,
so he did not open his mouth.
Verse 33In+his humiliation he was denied justice.
Who will tell of his posterity?
For his life was taken from the earth.”Verse 34The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask yoʋ, who does the prophet say this about? About himself, or about someone else?”Verse 35Then Philip opened his mouth to speak, and beginning from this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.Verse 36As they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water! What prevents me from being+baptized?”Verse 38So he ordered the chariot to stop, and the two of them went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and Philip baptized him.Verse 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.Verse 40Philip, however, found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through that region, he preached the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.