Acts 8
8
Saul Persecutes the Church
1Now Saul was consenting to his death.
At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and #John 16:2; Acts 8:4; 11:19they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and #Gen. 23:2made great lamentation over him.
3As for Saul, #Acts 7:58; 1 Cor. 15:9; Gal. 1:13; Phil. 3:6; 1 Tim. 1:13he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
Christ Is Preached in Samaria
4Therefore #Matt. 10:23those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5Then #Acts 6:5; 8:26, 30Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7For #Mark 16:17unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8And there was great joy in that city.
The Sorcerer’s Profession of Faith
9But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously #Acts 8:11; 13:6practiced sorcery in the city and #Acts 5:36astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 10to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” 11And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. 12But when they believed Philip as he preached the things #Acts 1:3; 8:4concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 13Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.
The Sorcerer’s Sin
14Now when the #Acts 5:12, 29, 40apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15who, when they had come down, prayed for them #Acts 2:38; 19:2that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16For #Acts 19:2as yet He had fallen upon none of them. #Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:38They had only been baptized in #Acts 10:48; 19:5the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then #Acts 6:6; 19:6; Heb. 6:2they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because #2 Kin. 5:16; Is. 55:1; Dan. 5:17; (Matt. 10:8)you thought that #(Acts 2:38; 10:45; 11:17)the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your #Jer. 17:9heart is not right in the sight of God. 22Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God #Dan. 4:27; 2 Tim. 2:25if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23For I see that you are #Heb. 12:15poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”
24Then Simon answered and said, #Gen. 20:7, 17; Ex. 8:8; Num. 21:7; 1 Kin. 13:6; Job 42:8; James 5:16“Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”
25So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.
Christ Is Preached to an Ethiopian
26Now an angel of the Lord spoke to #Acts 6:5Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. 27So he arose and went. And behold, #Ps. 68:31; 87:4; Is. 56:3; Zeph. 3:10a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and #1 Kin. 8:41, 42; John 12:20had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
#Is. 53:7, 8“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
#Matt. 26:62, 63; 27:12, 14; John 19:9So He opened not His mouth.
33In His humiliation His #Luke 23:1–25justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is #Luke 23:33–46taken from the earth.”
34So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35Then Philip opened his mouth, #Luke 24:27; Acts 17:2; 18:28; 28:23and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. #Acts 10:47; 16:33What hinders me from being baptized?”
37Then Philip said, #Matt. 28:19; (Mark 16:16; Rom. 10:9, 10)“If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, #Matt. 16:16; John 6:69; 9:35, 38; 11:27“I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39Now when they came up out of the water, #1 Kin. 18:12; 2 Kin. 2:16; Ezek. 3:12, 14; 2 Cor. 12:2the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to #Acts 21:8Caesarea.
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Acts 8: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Acts 8
8
1Saul approved of his killing. On that very day terrible persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except for the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2(Some faithful followers of God buried Stephen, with great mourning.) 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,#8:27. Kandake is not the personal name of the Queen, but her title, like “Pharaoh.” 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.”#8:33. Literally, “his life was taken from the earth.” The quotation is from Isaiah 53:7-8.
34The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about? Is it himself, or someone else?” 35Philip started explaining, beginning from this Scripture, telling him about Jesus. 36As they continued on, they came to a stretch of water. The eunuch said, “Look, there's water here—why shouldn't I be baptized?” 37#8:37. This verse is not found in the earliest manuscripts. 38He ordered that the chariot be stopped. Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When they came out of the water the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again, but he continued on his way full of joy. Philip found himself at Azotus. 40He spread the good news in all the towns along the way until he arrived at Caesarea.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com