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was there, approving of Stephen being put to death.
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 Devout men buried Stephen, and mourned deeply for him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc for the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women and putting them in prison.
4 Those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he performed, they listened closely to what he said. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralysed and lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
9 Now a man named Simon had previously practised sorcery in that city and amazed all the people of Samaria, while claiming that he was someone great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they were saying, “This man is called the Great Power of God.” 11 They all listened eagerly to him, because he had amazed them with his sorceries for a long time. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. 13 Then even Simon himself also believed. When he was baptized, he followed Philip around constantly, and was astonished by the signs and great miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet, the Spirit had not come down on any of them; they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 and said, “Give me this power also, so that anyone I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be obtained with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, for your heart is not right before God. 22 So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”
24 Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.”
25 When they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem and through the desert to Gaza.” 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. This man had come to worship in Jerusalem 28 and was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet on his way home. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go over and join that chariot.”
30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he answered, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture the eunuch was reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb is silent before its shearer,
so He did not open his mouth.
33 In His humiliation justice was denied Him.
Who can describe His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip started with that very passage of Scripture and proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they were travelling along the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What would keep me from being baptised?”
37 “If you believe with all your heart, you may,” Philip answered.
He replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down to the water, and Philip baptised him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip appeared in Azotus, and passing through, he preached the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.