Saul Ravages the Church
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And 1Saul 2approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and 3they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
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Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
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But 4Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he 5dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria
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Now 6those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
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8And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him 9and saw the signs that he did.
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For 10unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
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So 11there was much joy in that city.
Simon the Magician Believes
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But there was a man named Simon, 12who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, 13saying that he himself was somebody great.
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They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, 14"This man is the power of God that is called 15Great."
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And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had 16amazed them with his magic.
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But when 17they believed Philip as he preached good news 18about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, 19they were baptized, both men and women.
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Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And 20seeing signs and 21great miraclesb performed, 22he was amazed.
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Now when 23the apostles at Jerusalem heard that 24Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,
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who came down and prayed for them 25that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
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for 26he had not yet 27fallen on any of them, but 28they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
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Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,
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saying, "Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
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But Peter said to him, 31"May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God 32with money!
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You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for 33your heart is not right before God.
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Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, 34if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
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And Simon answered, 37"Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."
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Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, 38preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
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Now 39an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the southd to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place.
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And he rose and went. And there was an 40Ethiopian, a 41eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, 42who was in charge of all her treasure. 43He had come to Jerusalem to worship
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and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
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And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot."
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So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
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And he said, 44"How can I, unless someone 45guides me?" And 46he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
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Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: 47"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.
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In his 48humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth."
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And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?"
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Then Philip opened his mouth, and 49beginning with this Scripture 50he told him the good news about Jesus.
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And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! 51What prevents me from being baptized?"e
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And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
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And when they came up out of the water, 52the Spirit of the Lord 53carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
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But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)