Acts 8:5–17

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 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