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].
With these words he fell asleep. And Saul fully approved of his murder. On this very day there broke out a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostle were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentations 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 was laying waste the church. He was wont to enter into every house, and to drag off men and women, and to commit them to prison.
4 The believers who had left Jerusalem went to different places, where they continued preaching the message about Jesus.
So those who were scattered abroad were going everywhere preaching the word.
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 the city of Samaria, and began to preach Christ there.
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 crowd with one accord were giving heed to what he said, when they heard and saw the signs that he did.
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.
For with a loud cry unclean spirits would come out of many possessed by them, and many that were palsied and lame were healed.
8 So [many people] [MTY] in that city greatly rejoiced.
There began to be 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.
Now for some time a man named Simon had been practising sorcery in that city, and had amazed the people of Samaria. He gave himself out to be some great person.
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].”
Many from all classes would give heed to him, declaring, "This man is the Power of God, known as the Great Power."
11 They continued to listen to him carefully, because for a long time he had astonished them by practicing sorcery.
They were giving heed to him because, for a long time, he had amazed them with his sorceries.
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, who was preaching glad tidings about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they began to be 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.
And Simon himself also believed, and after his baptism he remained with Philip, and was full of amazement as he beheld the signs and striking miracles which were performed.
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.
The apostle at Jerusalem, when they heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, sent to them Peter and John.
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.
Who came down and prayed for them, that they might 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 he had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in 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 the apostles laid their hands upon 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,
But when Simon perceived that, by the laying on of the apostles’ hands, the Spirit was given, he offered them money saying,
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, too, this power, so that on whomever I lay my hands, he 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 said to him. "Your money perish with you, because you have supposed that with money you can obtain God’s free gift!"
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 lot in this matter." Your heart is not right in the sight of 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 then of this your wickedness, and beseech the Lord to forgive you this purpose 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 perceive that you still stand in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of unrighteousness."
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord [God] that [he] will not do to me what you just said!”
And Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me, both of you, that nothing which 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].
So the apostles, after bearing solemn witness, and declaring the message of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, evangelizing many Samaritan villages as they went.
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.
And an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go on your way south, along the road that runs down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert way."
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 arose and went. And behold an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, who was a high official (a chief treasurer) of Candace, the queen of Ethiopia, who had come 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].
Was now on his way home, and was reading the Prophet Isaiah as he sat in his chariot.
29 [God’s] Spirit told Philip, “Go near to that chariot and keep walking close to [the man who is riding in] it!”
And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join that chariot."
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 him reading Isaiah the Prophet, and said to him. "Do you understand what you are reading?"
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].
The eunuch answered, "Why, how can I unless someone shall show me the way?" And he begged Philip to get 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].
Now the portion of Scripture which he was reading was as follows. He was led a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is dumb, So he opened not 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 justice was denied him. Who will declare his posterity? For his life is cut off 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?”
"Pray," asked the eunuch of Philip, "of whom is the prophet speaking? Of himself, or of some one 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 opened his lips, and beginning from that same scripture, he preached the gospel of Jesus to him.
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]”
And as they were going on their way they came to a certain water, and the eunuch said. "See, here is water! What hinders my being baptized?"
And Philip said, "If you believe with your whole heart, you may." The eunuch answered, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
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 ordered the chariot to stop; and both of them, 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].
And when they had come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but continued 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].
Philip found himself at Ashdod. Then visiting town after town, he kept preaching the good news in all the cities until he reached Caesarea.
