On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scatteredⁿ throughout Judea and Samaria.^o ²Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. ³But Saul^p began to destroy the church.^q Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

⁴Those who had been scattered^r preached the word wherever they went.^s ⁵Philip^t went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. ⁶When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. ⁷For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many,^u and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.^v ⁸So there was great joy in that city.

Simon the Sorcerer

⁹Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery^w in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,^x ¹⁰and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”^y ¹¹They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. ¹²But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God^z and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized,^a both men and women. ¹³Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles^b he saw.

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Cross references

m Ac 7:58
nver 4; Ac 11:19
o Ac 9:31
p Ac 7:58
q Ac 9:1, 13, 21; 22:4, 19; 26:10, 11; 1 Co 15:9; Gal 1:13, 23; Php 3:6; 1 Ti 1:13
rver 1
s Ac 15:35
t Ac 6:5; 21:8
uSee Mk 16:17
vSee Mt 4:24
w Ac 13:6
x Ac 5:36
y Ac 14:11; 28:6
zSee Mt 3:2
aSee Ac 2:38
bver 6; Ac 19:11