Handelingen 8
1 En Saulus had mede een welbehagen aan zijn dood. En er werd te dien dage een grote vervolging tegen de Gemeente, die te Jeruzalem was; en zij werden allen verstrooid door de landen van Judea en Samaria, behalve de apostelen.
Then some men who revered God buried Stephen’s body in a tomb, and they mourned greatly and loudly for him. On that same day [people] started severely persecuting the believers [who were living] in Jerusalem. So most [of the believers] fled [to other places] throughout Judea and Samaria [provinces]. The apostles were the only [believers who remained in Jerusalem].
2 En enige godvruchtige mannen droegen Stefanus te zamen ten grave en maakten groten rouw over hem.
3 En Saulus verwoestte de Gemeente, gaande in de huizen; en trekkende mannen en vrouwen, leverde hen over in de gevangenis.
While the people were killing Stephen, Saul was there approving of their killing Stephen. So Saul [also] began trying to destroy the group of believers. He entered houses one by one, he dragged away men and women [who believed in Jesus], and then he [arranged for] them to be put in prison.
4 Zij dan nu, die verstrooid waren, gingen het land door, en verkondigden het Woord.
The believers who had left Jerusalem went to different places, where they continued preaching the message about Jesus.
5 En Filippus kwam af in de stad van Samaria, en predikte hun Christus.
[One of those believers whose name was] Philip went down [from Jerusalem] to a city in Samaria [province]. There he was telling [the people that Jesus is] [MTY] the Messiah.
6 En de scharen hielden zich eendrachtelijk aan hetgeen van Filippus gezegd werd, dewijl zij hoorden en zagen de tekenen, die hij deed.
Many people there heard Philip [speak] and saw the miraculous things that he was doing. So they all (paid close attention to/listened carefully to) his words.
7 Want van velen, die onreine geesten hadden, gingen dezelve uit, roepende met grote stem; en vele geraakten en kreupelen werden genezen.
For [example, when Philip commanded] evil spirits who controlled many people [that they should come out of them], they came out, while those spirits screamed. Also, many people who were paralyzed and [many others] who were lame were healed.
8 En er werd grote blijdschap in die stad.
So [many people] [MTY] in that city greatly rejoiced.
9 En een zeker man, met name Simon, was te voren in de stad plegende toverij, en verrukkende de zinnen des volks van Samaria, zeggende van zichzelven, dat hij wat groots was.
There was a man in that city whose name was Simon. He had been practicing sorcery for a long time, and he had been amazing the people in Samaria [province by doing that]. He continually claimed that he was a great/important person.
10 Welken zij allen aanhingen, van den kleine tot den grote, zeggende: Deze is de grote kracht Gods.
All the people there, both ordinary and important people, listened to him. [Various ones of] them were saying, “This man works in extremely powerful ways [because] God has caused him to be a great [person].”
11 En zij hingen hem aan, omdat hij een langen tijd met toverijen hun zinnen verrukt had.
They continued to listen to him carefully, because for a long time he had astonished them by practicing sorcery.
12 Maar toen zij Filippus geloofden, die het Evangelie van het Koninkrijk Gods, en van den Naam van Jezus Christus verkondigde, werden zij gedoopt, beiden, mannen en vrouwen.
But then they believed Philip’s [message] when he preached to them about [how] God desires to rule [MET] [the lives of people who believe in him], and about Jesus being the Messiah [MTY]. Both the men and the women who believed in Jesus were baptized. {[Philip] was baptizing both the men and the women [who had come to believe in Jesus]}.
13 En Simon geloofde ook zelf, en gedoopt zijnde, bleef gedurig bij Filippus; en ziende de tekenen en grote krachten, die er geschiedden, ontzette hij zich.
Simon himself believed [Philip’s message] and, after he was baptized {after [Philip] baptized him}, he began to constantly accompany Philip. Simon was continually amazed because he often saw [Philip] doing many kinds of miraculous things.
14 Als nu de apostelen, die te Jeruzalem waren, hoorden, dat Samaria het Woord Gods aangenomen had, zonden zij tot hen Petrus en Johannes;
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that [many people] [PRS] [throughout] Samaria [district] had believed the message from God [about Jesus], they sent Peter and John there.
15 Dewelken, afgekomen zijnde, baden voor hen, dat zij den Heiligen Geest ontvangen mochten.
When Peter and John arrived in Samaria, they prayed for those [new believers] in order that the Holy Spirit’s [power] would come to them.
16 (Want Hij was nog op niemand van hen gevallen, maar zij waren alleenlijk gedoopt in den Naam van den Heere Jezus.)
[Peter and John realized that] the Holy Spirit had not yet begun to empower any of them. They had been baptized {[Philip] had baptized them} [because they had believed] in [MTY] the Lord Jesus, [but they did not know about the Holy Spirit].
17 Toen legden zij de handen op hen, en zij ontvingen den Heiligen Geest.
[Then Peter and John] placed their hands on [the heads of] each person, and they received the [power of] [MTY] the Holy Spirit.
18 En als Simon zag, dat, door de oplegging van de handen der apostelen de Heilige Geest gegeven werd, zo bood hij hun geld aan,
Simon saw [things that convinced him] that [God] had given the Spirit’s [power to people] as a result of the apostles placing their hands on them. So he offered [to give] money to the apostles,
19 Zeggende: Geeft ook mij deze macht, opdat, zo wien ik de handen opleg, hij den Heiligen Geest ontvange.
saying, “Enable me also to do what [you are doing], so that everyone on whom I place/put my hands may receive the Holy Spirit’s [power].”
20 Maar Petrus zeide tot hem: Uw geld zij met u ten verderve, omdat gij gemeend hebt, dat de gave Gods door geld verkregen wordt!
But Peter said to him, “May you [(sg)] and your money go to hell, because you [mistakenly] think that you can buy [from us] what God [alone] gives to [people] (questioned)
21 Gij hebt geen deel noch lot in dit woord: want uw hart is niet recht voor God.
[God] has not authorized you to have any part of this ministry of giving [the Holy Spirit’s power], because he knows that you are not thinking rightly! (OR, because he knows that you are thinking completely wrongly.)
22 Bekeer u dan van deze uw boosheid, en bid God, of misschien u deze overlegging uws harten vergeven wierd.
So stop thinking wickedly [like] that, and plead that the Lord, if he is willing, will forgive you [for what] you [wickedly] thought/planned [to do]
23 Want ik zie, dat gij zijt in een gans bittere gal en samenknoping der ongerechtigheid.
[Turn away from your evil ways], because I perceive that you [(sg)] are extremely envious of [us], and you [are] a slave of your [continual desire to do evil! God will certainly punish you severely]!”
24 Doch Simon, antwoordende, zeide: Bidt gijlieden voor mij tot den Heere, opdat niets over mij kome van hetgeen gij gezegd hebt.
Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord [God] that [he] will not do to me what you just said!”
25 Zij dan nu, als zij het Woord des Heeren betuigd en gesproken hadden, keerden wederom naar Jeruzalem, en verkondigden het Evangelie in vele vlekken der Samaritanen.
After [Peter and John] told [people there] what they knew personally [about the] Lord [Jesus] and declared to them the message about Jesus, they both returned to Jerusalem. [Along the way] they preached the good message [about Jesus to people] in many villages in Samaria [province].
26 En een engel des Heeren sprak tot Filippus, zeggende: Sta op, en ga heen tegen het zuiden, op den weg, die van Jeruzalem afdaalt naar Gaza, welke woest is.
[One day] an angel whom the Lord [God] had sent commanded Philip, “Get ready and go south along the road that extends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” [That was] a road in a desert area.
27 En hij stond op en ging heen; en ziet, een Moorman, een kamerling, en een machtig heer van Candace, de koningin der Moren, die over al haar schat was, welke was gekomen om aan te bidden te Jeruzalem;
So Philip got ready and went [along that road]. Suddenly he met a man from Ethiopia. He was an important official who took care of all the funds for the queen [of] Ethiopia. [In his language people called their queen] Candace. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship [God],
28 En hij keerde wederom, en zat op zijn wagen, en las den profeet Jesaja.
and he was returning [home] and was seated [riding] in his chariot. [As he was riding], he was reading [out loud from] what the prophet Isaiah [had written] [MTY] [long ago].
29 En de Geest zeide tot Filippus: Ga toe, en voeg u bij dezen wagen.
[God’s] Spirit told Philip, “Go near to that chariot and keep walking close to [the man who is riding in] it!”
30 En Filippus liep toe, en hoorde hem den profeet Jesaja lezen, en zeide: Verstaat gij ook, hetgeen gij leest?
So Philip ran [to the chariot and kept running close to it]. Then he heard the official reading what the prophet Isaiah [had written]. He asked the man, “Do you [(sg)] understand what you are reading?”
31 En hij zeide: Hoe zou ik toch kunnen, zo mij niet iemand onderricht? En hij bad Filippus, dat hij zou opkomen, en bij hem zitten.
He answered Philip, “[No!] (I cannot possibly [understand it] if [there is] no one to explain it to me!/How can I [understand it] if [there is] no one to explain it to me?) [RHQ]” Acts 8:31b-35 Then the man said to Philip, “Please come up [and] sit beside me.” [So Philip did that].
32 En de plaats der Schriftuur, die hij las, was deze: Hij is gelijk een schaap ter slachting geleid; en gelijk een lam stemmeloos is voor dien, die het scheert, alzo doet Hij Zijn mond niet open.
The part of the Scriptures that the official was reading was this: He will [be silent when] they lead him away to kill him [like when] a sheep [is led away to be killed]. As a young sheep is silent when its wool is being cut off {someone cuts off its wool}, [similarly] he will not protest [MTY] [when people cause him to suffer].
33 In Zijn vernedering is Zijn oordeel weggenomen; en wie zal Zijn geslacht verhalen? Want Zijn leven wordt van de aarde weggenomen.
When he will be humiliated by being accused falsely {people will humiliate him [by accusing him falsely]}, [the rulers] (will not consider him innocent/will consider him guilty). No one will possibly be able to tell about his descendants, because he will be killed {people will kill him} without him having [any descendants] on the earth.
34 En de kamerling antwoordde Filippus en zeide: Ik bid u, van Wien zegt de profeet dit, van zichzelven, of van iemand anders?
The official asked Philip [about these words that he was reading], “Tell me, who was the prophet writing about? [Was he writing] about himself or about someone else?”
35 En Filippus deed zijn mond open en beginnende van diezelfde Schrift, verkondigde hem Jezus.
So Philip began [to explain] that Scripture passage. He told him the good message about [MTY] Jesus. [So the official understood and believed in Jesus].
36 En alzo zij over weg reisden, kwamen zij aan een zeker water; en de kamerling zeide: Ziedaar water; wat verhindert mij gedoopt te worden?
While they were traveling along the road, they came to [a place where there was a pond of] water [near the road]. Then the official said [to Philip], “Look, [there is a pond of] water! (I would like you to baptize me, because I do not know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent [you] from baptizing me.}/Do you know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent [you] from baptizing me}?) [RHQ]”
37 En Filippus zeide: Indien gij van ganser harte gelooft, zo is het geoorloofd. En hij, antwoordende, zeide: Ik geloof, dat Jezus Christus de Zoon van God is.
38 En hij gebood den wagen stil te houden; en zij daalden beiden af in het water, zo Filippus als de kamerling, en hij doopte hem.
So the official told [the driver] to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the official went down into the [pond of] water, and [Philip] baptized him.
39 En toen zij uit het water waren opgekomen, nam de Geest des Heeren Filippus weg, en de kamerling zag hem niet meer; want hij reisde zijn weg met blijdschap.
When they came up out of the water, suddenly God’s Spirit took Philip away. The official never saw Philip again. But [although he never saw Philip again], the official continued going along the road, very happy [that God had saved him].
40 Maar Filippus werd gevonden, te Azote; en het land doorgaande, verkondigde hij het Evangelie in alle steden, totdat hij te Cesarea kwam.
Philip then realized [that the Spirit had miraculously taken him to] Azotus [town]. While he traveled around [in that region], he continued proclaiming the message [about Jesus] in all the towns [between Azotus and Caesarea. And he was still proclaiming] it when he finally arrived in Caesarea [city].
