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Acts  


8 : 1 AndSaulapproved of his execution.And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, andthey were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
8 : 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
8 : 3 ButSaul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, hedragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
8 : 4 Nowthose who were scattered went about preaching the word.
8 : 5 Philip went down to the cityof Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.
8 : 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard himand saw the signs that he did.
8 : 7 Forunclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
8 : 8 Sothere was much joy in that city.
8 : 9 But there was a man named Simon,who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria,saying that he himself was somebody great.
8 : 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying,This man is the power of God that is calledGreat.
8 : 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he hadamazed them with his magic.
8 : 12 But whenthey believed Philip as he preached good newsabout the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ,they were baptized, both men and women.
8 : 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. Andseeing signs andgreat miraclesperformed,he was amazed.
8 : 14 Now whenthe apostles at Jerusalem heard thatSamaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,
8 : 15 who came down and prayed for themthat they might receive the Holy Spirit,
8 : 16 forhe had not yetfallen on any of them, butthey had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
8 : 17 Thenthey laid their hands on them andthey received the Holy Spirit.
8 : 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,
8 : 19 saying,Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.
8 : 20 But Peter said to him,May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of Godwith money!
8 : 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, foryour heart is not right before God.
8 : 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that,if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
8 : 23 For I see that you are inthe gallof bitterness and inthe bond of iniquity.
8 : 24 And Simon answered,Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.
8 : 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem,preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
8 : 26 Nowan angel of the Lord said to Philip,Rise and go toward the southto the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.This is a desert place.
8 : 27 And he rose and went. And there was anEthiopian, aeunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians,who was in charge of all her treasure.He had come to Jerusalem to worship
8 : 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
8 : 29 And the Spirit said to Philip,Go over and join this chariot.
8 : 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked,Do you understand what you are reading?
8 : 31 And he said,How can I, unless someoneguides me?Andhe invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
8 : 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:Like a sheep he was led to the slaughterand like a lamb before its shearer is silent,so he opens not his mouth.
8 : 33 In hishumiliation justice was denied him.Who can describe his generation?For his life is taken away from the earth.
8 : 34 And the eunuch said to Philip,About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?
8 : 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, andbeginning with this Scripturehe told him the good news about Jesus.
8 : 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said,See, here is water!What prevents me from being baptized?
8 : 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
8 : 39 And when they came up out of the water,the Spirit of the Lordcarried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
8 : 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.