Acts 8:1–13

Saul Persecutes the Church

^1aSaul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.

And on that day a great persecution ¹began against ^bthe church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^cscattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^dSamaria, except the apostles.

²Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him.

³But ^aSaul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and ^bdragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

⁴Therefore, those ^awho had been scattered went about ^1bpreaching the word.

^5aPhilip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming ¹Christ to them.

⁶The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ¹signs which he was performing.

⁷For in the case of many who had ^aunclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^bparalyzed and lame were healed.

⁸So there was ^amuch rejoicing in that city.

⁹Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing ^amagic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, ^bclaiming to be someone great;

¹⁰and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “^aThis man is what is called the Great Power of God.”

¹¹And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his ^amagic arts.

¹²But when they believed Philip ^apreaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being ^bbaptized, men and women alike.

¹³Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^asigns and ^bgreat miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.