HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1358
ACTS 8
did, and so do you! 52 Name one prophet your
ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the
ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous
One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. 53 You deliberately disobeyed God’s law,
even though you received it from the hands of
angels.”
54 The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists
at him in rage.* 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy
Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the
glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the
place of honor at God’s right hand. 56 And he
told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and
the Son of Man standing in the place of honor
at God’s right hand!”
57 Then they put their hands over their ears
and began shouting. They rushed at him 58 and
dragged him out of the city and began to stone
him. His accusers took off their coats and laid
them at the feet of a young man named Saul.*
59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 He fell to his knees,
shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this
sin!” And with that, he died.
8
Saul was one of the witnesses, and he
agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.
Persecution Scatters the Believers
A great wave of persecution began that day,
sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and
all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria.
2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen
with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going
everywhere to destroy the church. He went
from house to house, dragging out both men
and women to throw them into prison.
Philip Preaches in Samaria
4 But the believers who were scattered
preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. 5 Philip, for example, went to
the city of Samaria and told the people there
about the Messiah. 6 Crowds listened intently
to Philip because they were eager to hear his
message and see the miraculous signs he did.
7 Many evil* spirits were cast out, screaming as
they left their victims. And many who had been
paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was
great joy in that city.
9 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer
there for many years, amazing the people of
Samaria and claiming to be someone great.
10 Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often
spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of
God.” 11 They listened closely to him because
for a long time he had astounded them with
his magic.
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12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of
God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result,
many men and women were baptized. 13 Then
Simon himself believed and was baptized. He
began following Philip wherever he went, and
he was amazed by the signs and great miracles
Philip performed.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard
that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s
message, they sent Peter and John there. 15 As
soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new
believers to receive the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy
Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for
they had only been baptized in the name of
the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their
hands upon these believers, and they received
the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given
when the apostles laid their hands on people,
he offered them money to buy this power. 19 “Let
me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that
when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”
20 But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be
bought! 21 You can have no part in this, for your
heart is not right with God. 22 Repent of your
wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he
will forgive your evil thoughts, 23 for I can see
that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held
captive by sin.”
24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said
won’t happen to me!”
25 After testifying and preaching the word of
the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to
Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan
villages along the way to preach the Good News.
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him,
“Go south* down the desert road that runs from
Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and he
met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great
authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his
carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of
the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and
walk along beside the carriage.”
30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading
from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you
understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come
up into the carriage and sit with him.
7:54 Greek they were grinding their teeth against him.
7:58 Saul is later called Paul; see 13:9. 8:7 Greek unclean.
8:26 Or Go at noon.