Saul Ravages the Church
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And 1Saul 2approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and 3they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
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Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
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But 4Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he 5dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria
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Now 6those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
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8And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him 9and saw the signs that he did.
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For 10unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
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So 11there was much joy in that city.
Simon the Magician Believes
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But there was a man named Simon, 12who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, 13saying that he himself was somebody great.
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They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, 14"This man is the power of God that is called 15Great."
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And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had 16amazed them with his magic.
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But when 17they believed Philip as he preached good news 18about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, 19they were baptized, both men and women.
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Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And 20seeing signs and 21great miraclesb performed, 22he was amazed.
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Now when 23the apostles at Jerusalem heard that 24Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,
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who came down and prayed for them 25that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
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for 26he had not yet 27fallen on any of them, but 28they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
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Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,
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saying, "Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
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But Peter said to him, 31"May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God 32with money!
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You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for 33your heart is not right before God.
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Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, 34if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
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And Simon answered, 37"Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."
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Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, 38preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
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Now 39an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the southd to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place.
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And he rose and went. And there was an 40Ethiopian, a 41eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, 42who was in charge of all her treasure. 43He had come to Jerusalem to worship
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and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
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And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot."
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So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
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And he said, 44"How can I, unless someone 45guides me?" And 46he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
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Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: 47"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.
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In his 48humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth."
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And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?"
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Then Philip opened his mouth, and 49beginning with this Scripture 50he told him the good news about Jesus.
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And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! 51What prevents me from being baptized?"e
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And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
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And when they came up out of the water, 52the Spirit of the Lord 53carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
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But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Herramientas de Estudio para Acts 8
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)