Acts 8:1-25

Easy-to-Read Version

8 Saul agreed that the killing of Stephen was a good thing. Some godly men buried Stephen and cried loudly for him.

Trouble for the Believers

On that day the Jews began to persecute the church in Jerusalem, making them suffer very much. Saul was also trying to destroy the group. He went into their houses, dragged out men and women, and put them in jail. All the believers left Jerusalem. Only the apostles stayed. The believers went to different places in Judea and Samaria. ⁴ They were scattered everywhere, and in every place they went, they told people the Good News.

Philip Tells the Good News in Samaria

⁵ Philip^[a] went to the city of Samaria and told people about the Messiah. ⁶ The people there heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he was doing. They all listened carefully to what he said. ⁷ Many of these people had evil spirits inside them, but Philip made the evil spirits leave them. The spirits made a lot of noise as they came out. There were also many weak and crippled people there. Philip made these people well too. ⁸ What a happy day this was for that city!

⁹ Now there was a man named Simon who lived in that city. Before Philip came there, Simon had been doing magic and amazing all the people of Samaria. He bragged and called himself a great man. ¹⁰ All the people—the least important and the most important—believed what he said. They said, “This man has the power of God that is called ‘the Great Power.’” ¹¹ Simon amazed the people with his magic for so long that the people became his followers. ¹² But Philip told the people the Good News about God’s kingdom and the power of Jesus Christ. Men and women believed Philip and were baptized. ¹³ Simon himself also believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to Philip. When he saw the miraculous signs and powerful things Philip did, he was amazed.

¹⁴ The apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God. So they sent Peter and John to the people in Samaria. ¹⁵ When Peter and John arrived, they prayed for the Samaritan believers to receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ These people had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, but the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them. This is why Peter and John prayed. ¹⁷ When the two apostles laid their hands on the people, they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ Simon saw that the Spirit was given to people when the apostles laid their hands on them. So he offered the apostles money. ¹⁹ He said, “Give me this power so that when I lay my hands on someone, they will receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ Peter said to Simon, “You and your money should both be destroyed because you thought you could buy God’s gift with money. ²¹ You cannot share with us in this work. Your heart is not right before God. ²² Change your heart! Turn away from these evil thoughts and pray to the Lord. Maybe he will forgive you. ²³ I see that you are full of bitter jealousy and cannot stop yourself from doing wrong.”

²⁴ Simon answered, “Both of you pray to the Lord for me, so that what you have said will not happen to me.”

²⁵ Then the two apostles told the people what they had seen Jesus do. They told them the message of the Lord. Then they went back to Jerusalem. On the way, they went through many Samaritan towns and told people the Good News.