Acts 8:17–40

¹⁷Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸Simon saw that the Spirit had been given to the believers when the apostles placed their hands on them. So he offered money to Peter and John, ¹⁹and said, “Give this power to me too, so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰But Peter answered him, “May you and your money go to hell, for thinking that you can buy God’s gift with money! ²¹You have no part or share in our work, because your heart is not right in God’s sight. ²²Repent, then, of this evil plan of yours, and pray to the Lord that he will forgive you for thinking such a thing as this. ²³For I see that you are full of bitter envy and are a prisoner of sin.”

²⁴Simon said to Peter and John, “Please pray to the Lord for me, so that none of these things you spoke of will happen to me.”

²⁵After they had given their testimony and proclaimed the Lord’s message, Peter and John went back to Jerusalem. On their way they preached the Good News in many villages of Samaria.

Philip and the Ethiopian Official

²⁶An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get ready and go southⁱ to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This road is not used nowadays.)^{j 27–28}So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it.” ³⁰Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹The official replied, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit in the carriage with him. ^32*The passage of scripture which he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered,

like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off,

he did not say a word.

^33*He was humiliated, and justice was denied him.

No one will be able to tell about his descendants,

because his life on earth has come to an end.”

³⁴The official asked Philip, “Tell me, of whom is the prophet saying this? Of himself or of someone else?” ³⁵Then Philip began to speak; starting from this passage of scripture, he told him the Good News about Jesus. ³⁶As they travelled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water, and the official said, “Here is some water. What is to keep me from being baptized?”^k

³⁸The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. ³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but continued on his way, full of joy. ⁴⁰Philip found himself in Azotus; he went on to Caesarea, and on the way he preached the Good News in every town.