Acts 8
1 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].
And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.
3 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.
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
4 The believers who had left Jerusalem went to different places, where they continued preaching the message about Jesus.
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
5 [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.
Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them.
6 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.
The crowds gave their undivided attention to Philip’s message and to the signs they saw him perform.
7 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.
With loud shrieks, unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, and many of the paralyzed and lame were healed.
8 So [many people] [MTY] in that city greatly rejoiced.
So there was great joy in that city.
9 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.
Prior to that time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and astounded the people of Samaria. He claimed to be someone great,
10 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].”
and all the people, from the least to the greatest, heeded his words and said, “This man is the divine power called the Great Power.”
11 They continued to listen to him carefully, because for a long time he had astonished them by practicing sorcery.
They paid close attention to him because he had astounded them for a long time with his sorcery.
12 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]}.
But when they believed Philip as he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13 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.
Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. He followed Philip closely and was astounded by the great signs and miracles he observed.
14 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.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
15 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.
On their arrival, they prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
16 [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].
For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 [Then Peter and John] placed their hands on [the heads of] each person, and they received the [power of] [MTY] the Holy Spirit.
Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 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,
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.
19 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].”
“Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 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)
But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
21 [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.)
You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
22 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]
Repent, therefore, of your wickedness, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive you for the intent of your heart.
23 [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]!”
For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and captive to iniquity.”
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord [God] that [he] will not do to me what you just said!”
Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
25 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].
And after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many of the Samaritan villages.
26 [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.
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
27 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],
So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
28 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].
and on his return was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.
29 [God’s] Spirit told Philip, “Go near to that chariot and keep walking close to [the man who is riding in] it!”
The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay by it.”
30 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?”
So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 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].
“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 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].
The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth.
33 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.
In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.”
34 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?”
“Tell me,” said the eunuch, “who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”
35 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].
Then Philip began with this very Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 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]”
As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”
38 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.
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, 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].
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.
40 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].
But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
