Acts 8:4–25

Philip in Samaria

⁴Those who had been scattered^r preached the word wherever they went.^{s 5}Philip^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 8}So 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 10}and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”^{y 11}They 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.

¹⁴When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria^c had accepted the word of God,^d they sent Peter and John^e to Samaria. ¹⁵When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,^{f 16}because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them;^g they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.^{h 17}Then Peter and John placed their hands on them,ⁱ and they received the Holy Spirit.^j

¹⁸When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money ¹⁹and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!^{k 21}You have no part or share^l in this ministry, because your heart is not right^m before God. ²²Repentⁿ of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. ²³For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

²⁴Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me^o so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

²⁵After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord^p and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.^q