Acts 8
(1) Church Scatters
Saul agreed with putting Stephen to death, and that day sparked a wave of heavy persecution against the church in Jerusalem that scattered them across Judea and Samaria. Everyone was scattered except the apostles. After Stephen died, some dedicated men buried his body and mourned his death. At that same time, Saul started ravaging the church, entering house after house and dragging off both men and women to prison.
(4) Philip Spreads Message to Samaria
As a result, the people who got scattered went all over, excitedly telling others about the message. On example was Philip, who went to the city of Samaria and told them about the Chosen One. [This is a different Philip than the apostle.] The crowds gave him their full attention, because they witnessed the attesting miracles that accompanied him. In many cases, impure spirits came out of people and could be heard screaming as they left. Many paralytics and people with disabilities were also healed. Needless to say, there was lots of celebrating in that city.
(9) Simon the Mage is Astonished
There was also a man named Simon who had been practicing magic in Samaria, and he astonished everyone there. He claimed to be someone significant, and everyone was turning their attention to him whether they were laymen or celebrities, saying,
“Now that guy is an important powerhouse from God!”
They gave him lots of attention because he had been astonishing them with his magic arts for a long time. But when everyone heard Philip’s good news about God’s empire and the name of Jesus the Chosen One, they believed and started getting baptized. Even Simon himself believed! And after Simon got baptized, he went along with Philip and witnessed lots of signs and significant miracles, leaving him in constant amazement.
(14) Peter Scolds Simon for Trying to Buy Authority
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John to them who went and prayed for them to receive the Different Spirit. He [the Different Spirit] hadn’t descended on any of them yet—they had only been baptized into the name of King Jesus. So Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they started receiving the Different Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was imparted by the apostles placing their hands on people, he offered to pay them, saying,
“Give me that authority and power too, so that everyone I place my hands on will receive the Different Spirit!”
But Peter replied,
“May your money waste away alongside yourself for thinking you can buy God’s gift with money! You have no part in this message, because your heart isn’t right before God. Change your mind about this crookedness of yours, and beg the Master to forgive you—if possible—for your inward intentions. I can see that you are deeply intertwined with bitterness and tied up by crookedness.”
Simon responded,
“Please beg the Ruler on my behalf so that none of the things you said will happen to me!”
When the apostles finished testifying and sharing the Ruler’s message there, they went back to Jerusalem and shared the good news with many Samaritan villages along the way.
(26) Philip Baptizes Ethiopian Official
But one of the Ruler’s angels told Philip,
“Go south to the desert road connecting Jerusalem to Gaza.”
So he got up and went. On the road, he saw an Ethiopian official who worked for Ethiopia’s queen, Candace, and was in charge of all her treasure. That man had come to Jerusalem to worship and was on his way back to Ethiopia, reading the prophet Isaiah in his carriage. Then the Spirit told Philip,
“Go join that carriage.”
So Philip ran up. When he heard him reading Isaiah, he said,
“Are you understanding what you’re reading?”
The man replied,
“Well, how can I when I don’t have someone guiding me?”
So the man invited Philip to get in and sit with him. And here’s the passage he was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. In the same way that a lamb stays quiet in front of its wool-cutter, He won’t open his mouth. Humiliatingly, the verdict of His trial was taken away. Who can talk about His descendants? Because His life was removed from the earth.” —Isaiah 53:7–8
The Ethiopian asked Philip,
“Please tell me, who is the prophet talking about? Himself, or someone else?”
Then, starting with that scripture, Philip told him the exciting news about Jesus. As they continued traveling, they eventually came to some water, and the Ethiopian said,
“Look! There’s some water. Is there anything to stop me from getting baptized right now?”
Philip said,
“If you believe with your entire heart, then you can go ahead and get baptized.”
The Ethiopian responded,
“I believe that Jesus the Chosen One is God’s son.”
So the man ordered the carriage to stop, and they both went into the water where Philip baptized him. When they were coming back up out of the water, the Ruler’s Spirit snatched Philip away. The Ethiopian didn’t see him anywhere but kept going on his way and couldn’t stop smiling.
Meanwhile, Philip found himself at the Philistine city of Azotus. As he traveled, he kept sharing the good news in all the cities until he got to Caesarea.
