Acts 8:3-34

³But Saul set about destroying the church, going from house to house, dragging both men and women off to prison.

⁴Those who had been scattered spread the word wherever they went.

⁵Philip went to the town of Samaria, and told them about the Messiah.

⁶When the crowds heard what Philip was saying and saw the miracles he did they all paid attention to what he was telling them.

⁷Many were freed from possession by evil spirits that screamed as they came out, and many who were lame or disabled were healed.

⁸The people who lived in the city were overjoyed.

⁹Now there was a man named Simon who lived in the city. He practiced sorcery. He claimed that he was someone very important, and had astounded the people of Samaria

¹⁰so they all paid attention to him. From the lowest to the highest in society they said, “This man is ‘God the Great Power.’”

¹¹They were impressed by him because he had amazed them with his magic for so long.

¹²But when they believed in what Philip told them about the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

¹³Simon too believed and was baptized. He accompanied Philip, amazed at the miraculous signs and wonders he saw.

¹⁴When the apostles back in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to visit them.

¹⁵When they arrived they prayed for the converts in Samaria to receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶The Holy Spirit hadn't come to any of these converts yet—they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁷The apostles placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given when the apostles placed their hands on people, he offered them money.

¹⁹“Give me this power, too,” he asked them, “so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰“May your money be destroyed together with you for thinking God's gift is something that can be bought!” Peter replied.

²¹“You're not part of any of this. None of this work belongs to you, because in God's eyes your attitude is totally wrong.

²²Repent of your evil ways! Pray to the Lord and ask forgiveness for thinking like this.

²³I can see that you are full of bitter envy, and chained down by your sin.”

²⁴“Please pray for me, that nothing you've said may happen to me!” Simon replied.

²⁵After they had given their testimony and shared the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, sharing the good news in many Samaritan villages along the way.

²⁶An angel of the Lord told Philip, “Get ready and go south to the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

²⁷So Philip set out, and met an Ethiopian man, a eunuch who had a high position in the service of the Kandake, Queen of Ethiopia. He was her chief treasurer. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship there, and

²⁸was returning from his trip, sitting in his chariot. He was reading out loud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

²⁹The Spirit told Philip, “Go over close to the chariot.”

³⁰So Philip ran over, and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. “Do you understand what you're reading?” Philip asked him.

³¹“How can I, unless someone explains it?” the man replied. He invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

³²The Scripture passage he was reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered. Like a lamb is silent in front of his shearer, he didn't say a word.

³³He was humiliated and denied justice. No one can speak of his descendants, for his life came to an end.”

³⁴The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about? Is it himself, or someone else?”