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But Saul was consenting to his death. And great persecution was made that day in the church, that was in Jerusalem. And all men were scattered by the countries of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

But good men buried Stephen [Forsooth men dread-full buried Stephen], and made great mourning on him.

But Saul greatly destroyed the church, and entered by houses, and drew out men and women, and betook them into prison. [Forsooth Saul greatly destroyed the church, entering by houses, drawing men and women, betook into keeping, or prison.]

And they that were scattered [Therefore they were scattered], passed forth, preaching the word of God.

And Philip came down into a city of Samaria, and preached to them Christ.

And the people gave attention to these things [to those things] that were said of Philip, with one will hearing and seeing the signs that he did.

For many of them that had unclean spirits, cried with great voice, and went out [crying with great voice, went out]. And many sick in the palsy [Forsooth many sick in palsy], and crooked, were healed.

Therefore great joy was made in that city.

But there was a man in that city, whose name was Simon, a witch [Forsooth there was some man, Simon by name, which before was in the city a witch], that had deceived the folk of Samaria, saying, that himself was some great man.

10 Whom all harkened [To whom all harkened], from the least to the most, and said [saying], This is the virtue of God, which is called great.

11 And they believed him, for long time he had madded them with his witchcrafts. [Forsooth all believed him, for this thing, that much time he had made them mad with his witchings.]

12 But when they had believed to Philip, preaching of the kingdom of God, men and women were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. [Soothly when they had believed to Philip, evangelizing of the kingdom of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, men and women were baptized.]

13 And then also Simon himself believed [Then also Simon himself believed]; and when he was baptized, he drew to Philip; and he saw also that signs and great works of power were done [he seeing also signs and most virtues to be made], he was astonished, and wondered.

14 But when the apostles that were at Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John.

15 And when they came, they prayed for them [The which, when they came, prayed for them], that they should receive the Holy Ghost;

16 for he came not yet into any of them [forsooth not yet he came into any of them], but they were baptized only in the name of the Lord Jesus.

17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

18 And when Simon had seen, that the Holy Ghost was given by laying on of [the] hands of the apostles, and he proffered to them money [he offered to them money],

19 and said, Give ye also to me this power, that [to] whomever I shall lay on mine hands, that he receive the Holy Ghost. [saying, Give to me and this power, that on whomever I shall put on hands, he receive the Holy Ghost.]

20 But Peter said to him, Thy money be with thee into perdition, for thou guessedest that the gift of God should be had for money [for thou guessedest the gift of God for to be had with money].

21 There is no part, nor lot to thee [Part is not to thee, neither sort], in this word, for thine heart is not rightful before God.

22 Therefore do thou penance for this wickedness of thee, and pray God, if peradventure this thought of thine heart be forgiven to thee.

23 For I see that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of wickedness.

24 And Simon answered, and said, Pray ye for me to the Lord, that nothing of these things that ye have said, come on me.

25 And they witnessed, and spake the word of the Lord, and went again to Jerusalem, and preached [and evangelized] to many countries of Samaritans.

26 And an angel of the Lord spake to Philip, and said, Rise thou, and go to meet the south [saying, Rise thou, and go against the south], to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza; this is desert.

27 And he rose, and went forth. And lo! a man of Ethiopia, a mighty manservant, a gelding of Candace, the queen of Ethiopians [And lo! a man of Ethiopia, a mighty gelding of the queen Candace of Ethiopians], which was on all her riches, came to worship in Jerusalem.

28 And he turned again, sitting on his chariot, and reading Esaias, the prophet.

29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Approach thou[a], and join thee to this chariot.

30 And Philip ran to, and heard him reading Esaias, the prophet. And he said, Guessest thou, whether thou understandest, what things thou readest?

31 And he said, How may I, if no man show to me [Which said, And how may I, if some man shall not show to me]? And he prayed Philip, that he should come up, and sit with him.

32 And the place of the scripture that he read, was this, As a sheep he was led to slaying, and as a lamb before a man that sheareth him is dumb without voice, so he opened not his mouth. [Forsooth the place of scripture that he read was this, As a sheep to slaying he was led, and as a lamb before a man shearing him is dumb without voice, so he opened not his mouth.]

33 In meekness his doom was taken up; who shall tell out the generation of him? For his life shall be taken away from the earth.

34 And the gelding answered to Philip, and said, I beseech thee, of what prophet saith he this thing? of himself, or of any other?

35 And Philip opened his mouth, and began at this scripture, and preached to him Jesus.

36 And while they went by the way, they came to a water [they came to some water]. And the gelding said, Lo! water; who forbiddeth me to be baptized?

37 And Philip said, If thou believest of all thine heart, it is leaveful. And he answered, and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they went down both into the water, Philip and the gelding, and Philip baptized him [and he baptized him].

39 And when they were come up of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched (up) Philip, and the gelding saw him no more; and he went in his way joying.

40 And Philip was found in Azotus; and he passed forth, and preached to all cities [and he passing forth, evangelized to all cities], till he came to Caesarea.

Footnotes

  1. Acts 8:29 Nigh thou/Come to

And Saul(A) approved of their killing him.

The Church Persecuted and Scattered

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered(B) throughout Judea and Samaria.(C) Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul(D) began to destroy the church.(E) Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

Those who had been scattered(F) preached the word wherever they went.(G) Philip(H) went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many,(I) and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.(J) So there was great joy in that city.

Simon the Sorcerer

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery(K) in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,(L) 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”(M) 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God(N) and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized,(O) both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles(P) he saw.

14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria(Q) had accepted the word of God,(R) they sent Peter and John(S) to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,(T) 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them;(U) they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.(V) 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them,(W) and they received the Holy Spirit.(X)

18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!(Y) 21 You have no part or share(Z) in this ministry, because your heart is not right(AA) before God. 22 Repent(AB) of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me(AC) so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord(AD) and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.(AE)

Philip and the Ethiopian

26 Now an angel(AF) of the Lord said to Philip,(AG) “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a](AH) eunuch,(AI) an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,(AJ) 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told(AK) Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b](AL)

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began(AM) with that very passage of Scripture(AN) and told him the good news(AO) about Jesus.

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”(AP) [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away,(AQ) and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns(AR) until he reached Caesarea.(AS)

Footnotes

  1. Acts 8:27 That is, from the southern Nile region
  2. Acts 8:33 Isaiah 53:7,8 (see Septuagint)
  3. Acts 8:37 Some manuscripts include here Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

And there was great joy in that city.

But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:

16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,

19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.

24 Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

25 And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

40 But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.