Acts 8:5-40 — Legacy Standard Bible

⁵^aNow Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching ¹Christ to them. ⁶And the crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ¹signs which he was doing. ⁷For in the case of many who had ^aunclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^bparalyzed and lame were healed. ⁸So there was ^agreat joy in that city.

⁹Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing ^amagic in the city and astounding the people of Samaria, ^bclaiming to be someone great; ¹⁰and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “^aThis man is what is called the Great Power of God.” ¹¹And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astounded them with his ^amagic arts. ¹²But when they believed Philip ^aproclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being ^bbaptized, both men and women. ¹³Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^asigns and ^bgreat miracles taking place, he was constantly astounded.

¹⁴Now when ^athe apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^bPeter and John, ¹⁵who came down and prayed for them ^athat they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶For He had ^anot yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^bbaptized ¹in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷Then they ^abegan laying their hands on them, and they were ^breceiving the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit had been bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you supposed you could ^aobtain the gift of God with money! ²¹“You have ^ano part or portion in this ¹matter, for your heart is not ^bright before God. ²²“Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray earnestly to the Lord that, ^aif possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³“For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in ^athe ¹bondage of unrighteousness.” ²⁴But Simon answered and said, “^aPray earnestly to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

²⁵So, when they had solemnly ^aborne witness and spoken ^bthe word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^cproclaiming the gospel to many villages of the ^dSamaritans.

²⁶But ^aan angel of the ¹Lord spoke to ^bPhilip saying, “Rise up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^cGaza.” (²This is a desert road.) ²⁷So he rose up and went; and behold, ^athere was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^bhad come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸and he was returning and sitting in his ¹chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹Then ^athe Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this ¹chariot.” ³⁰And Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³²Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “^aAs a sheep is led to slaughter;And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,So He does not open His mouth.

³³“^aIn humiliation His judgment was taken away;Who will ¹recount His ²generation?For His life is removed from the earth.”

³⁴And the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you earnestly, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” ³⁵Then Philip ^aopened his mouth, and ^bbeginning from this Scripture he ^cproclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. ³⁶And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^aWhat prevents me from being baptized?” ³⁷¹[And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] ³⁸And he ordered the ¹chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹When they came up out of the water, ^athe Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch no longer saw him, ¹but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰But Philip ¹found himself at ²^,^aAzotus, and as he passed through he ^bkept proclaiming the gospel to all the cities until he came to ^cCaesarea.