1
Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
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And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
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As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
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Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
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Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.
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And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
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For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.
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And there was great joy in that city.
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But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great,
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to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God."
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And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time.
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But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.
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Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.
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Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
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who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
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For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
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Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
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And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
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saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
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But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!
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You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.
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Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
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For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity."
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Then Simon answered and said, "Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me."
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So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.
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Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is desert.
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So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,
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was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.
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Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot."
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So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
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And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
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The place in the Scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
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In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth."
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So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?"
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Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
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Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?"
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Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
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So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
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Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
40
But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.