Acts 8

LITV^{(i) 1} And Saul was consenting to the doing away of him. And in that day a great persecution took place on the church which was in Jerusalem; and all were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² And devout men together carried Stephen and made a great lamentation over him. ³ But Saul ravaged the church, entering house by house, dragging both men and women, he delivered them to prison. ⁴ Then, indeed, the ones who had been scattered passed through, preaching the gospel, the Word. ⁵ And going down to a city of Samaria, Philip proclaimed Christ to them. ⁶ And with one passion the crowds heeded that being said by Philip when they heard and saw the many miracles which he did. ⁷ For many came out from those having unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice. And many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. ⁸ And great joy was in that city. ⁹ But a certain man named Simon had long been conjuring in the city and amazing the nation of Samaria, claiming himself to be some great one. ¹⁰ All were paying attention to him, from small to great, saying, This one is the power of God, which is great. ¹¹ And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his conjuring. ¹² But when they believed Philip preaching the gospel, the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ And Simon himself also believed, and being baptized was continuing steadfastly with Philip. And seeing miracles and mighty works happening, he was amazed. ¹⁴ And the apostles in Jerusalem hearing that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, ¹⁵ who going down prayed concerning them so that they may receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For He had not yet fallen on any one of them, but they were only being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ But Simon having seen that the Holy Spirit is given through the laying on of the hands of the apostles, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, Give to me also this authority that to whomever I may lay on the hands he may receive the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ But Peter said to him, May your silver be with you into perdition, because you thought to get the gift of God through money. ²¹ There is neither part nor lot to you in this matter, for your heart is not upright before the face of God. ²² Repent, then, from this wickedness of yours, and petition God if perhaps you will be forgiven the thought of your heart. ²³ For I see you being in the gall of bitterness and a bundle of unrighteousness. ²⁴ And answering Simon said, You petition to the Lord for me, so that nothing of which you have spoken may come on me. ²⁵ Then indeed having earnestly testified and having spoken the Word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, even having announced the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. ²⁶ But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Rise up and go along south on the highway going down to Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a deserted place . ²⁷ And rising up he went. And, behold, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, one in power with Candace the queen of Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship! ²⁸ And he was returning. And sitting on his chariot he read the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, Go near and join yourself to this chariot. ³⁰ And running near Philip heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, Indeed, do you know what you are reading? ³¹ But he said, How should I be able except someone shall guide me? And he called Philip near, to come up to sit with him. ³² And the content of the Scripture which he was reading was this: "He was led as a sheep to slaughter, and as a lamb voiceless before the one shearing it, so He does not open His mouth. ³³ In His humiliation His judgment was taken away; and who will recount His generation? For His life is taken away from the earth." Isa. 53:7, 8 ³⁴ And answering the eunuch said to Philip, I ask you, about whom does the prophet say this? About himself, or about some other one? ³⁵ And opening his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, Philip announced the gospel to him, Jesus. ³⁶ And as they were going along the highway they came on some water. And the eunuch said, Behold, water! What prevents me from being baptized? ³⁷ And Philip said, If you believe from all the heart, it is lawful. And answering he said, I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. ³⁸ And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. ³⁹ But when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip. And the eunuch did not see him any more; for he went his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ And Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through he preached the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.