8:9 Now in that city was a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic 10 and amazing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. 8:10 All the people, 11 from the least to the greatest, paid close attention to him, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called ‘Great.’” 12 8:11 And they paid close attention to him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God 13 and the name of Jesus Christ, 14 they began to be baptized, 15 both men and women. 8:13 Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to 16 Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed. 17
8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem 18 heard that Samaria had accepted the word 19 of God, they sent 20 Peter and John to them. 8:15 These two 21 went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. 8:16 (For the Spirit 22 had not yet come upon 23 any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 24 8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans, 25 and they received the Holy Spirit. 26
8:18 Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit 27 was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them money, 8:19 saying, “Give me this power 28 too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” 8:20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, 29 because you thought you could acquire 30 God’s gift with money! 8:21 You have no share or part 31 in this matter 32 because your heart is not right before God! 8:22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord 33 that he may perhaps forgive you for the intent of your heart. 34 8:23 For I see that you are bitterly envious 35 and in bondage to sin.” 8:24 But Simon replied, 36 “You pray to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said may happen to 37 me.”
8:25 So after Peter and John 38 had solemnly testified 39 and spoken the word of the Lord, 40 they started back to Jerusalem, proclaiming 41 the good news to many Samaritan villages 42 as they went. 43
8:26 Then an angel of the Lord 44 said to Philip, 45 “Get up and go south 46 on the road that goes down from Jerusalem 47 to Gaza.” (This is a desert 48 road.) 49 8:27 So 50 he got up 51 and went. There 52 he met 53 an Ethiopian eunuch, 54 a court official of Candace, 55 queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He 56 had come to Jerusalem to worship, 57 8:28 and was returning home, sitting 58 in his chariot, reading 59 the prophet Isaiah. 8:29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 8:30 So Philip ran up 60 to it 61 and heard the man 62 reading Isaiah the prophet. He 63 asked him, 64 “Do you understand what you’re reading?” 8:31 The man 65 replied, “How in the world can I, 66 unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 8:32 Now the passage of scripture the man 67 was reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to slaughter,
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did 68 not open his mouth.
8:33 In humiliation 69 justice was taken from him. 70
Who can describe his posterity? 71
For his life was taken away 72 from the earth.” 73
8:34 Then the eunuch said 74 to Philip, “Please tell me, 75 who is the prophet saying this about – himself or someone else?” 76 8:35 So Philip started speaking, 77 and beginning with this scripture 78 proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. 8:36 Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water! What is to stop me 79 from being baptized?” 8:37 [[EMPTY]] 80 8:38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, 81 and Philip baptized 82 him. 8:39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but 83 went on his way rejoicing. 84 8:40 Philip, however, found himself 85 at Azotus, 86 and as he passed through the area, 87 he proclaimed the good news 88 to all the towns 89 until he came to Caesarea. 90