1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
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1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Saul approved of Stephen's stoning.
At that time, there was great persecution of the church.
2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
Stephen was buried,
3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
while Saul arrested church members and threw them in prison.
5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
Philip went to Samaria and performed many miracles.
And the people believed him because of them.
7For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.
8 And there was great joy in that city.
Unclean spirits screamed as they came out of possessed people,
and many who were sick or lame were healed.
9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
But a man named Simon was in Samaria,
who bewitched the people with sorcery. [1]
10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.
Everyone said,
Simon has great power from God.
12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
But they also believed what Philip said about Jesus,
and all the men and women were baptized.
13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
Simon also believed and was baptized.
14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard what was happening in Samaria, they sent Peter and John,
15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
who prayed for them to receive the Holy Ghost.
16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
(Because the Holy Ghost hadn't yet fallen on any of them,
so they were baptized in the name of Jesus.) [2]
17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Peter and John laid their hands on them,
and they received the Holy Ghost.
18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
When Simon saw that the Holy Ghost was given in this way,
he offered to give them money, saying,
Give me this power so I can give the Holy Ghost to people by laying my hands on them.
20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
Peter said to him,
Let your money die with you,
because you tried to buy God's gift with money.
24 Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the LORD for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.
Simon said to Peter,
Pray for me so nothing bad happens to me.
25 And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.
After preaching the gospel to the Samaritans, [3]
they returned to Jerusalem.
26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
God's angel said to Philip,
Get up and go to Gaza in the south.
27And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Isaiah the prophet.
So Philip got up and went.
On his way, he met an Ethiopian eunuch,
who was reading Isaiah the prophet.
29Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
The Spirit said to Philip,
Go over to his chariot.
30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
So Philip went over and said to the eunuch,
Do you understand what you're reading?
31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
The eunuch said,
How can I, unless someone explains it to me?
And he asked Philip to sit with him.
32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
These are the verses he was reading: [4]
He was led as a sheep to the slaughter,
like a lamb before the shearer.
He didn't open his mouth.
In his humiliation, he couldn't judge.
His life was taken from the earth.
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
The eunuch said to Philip,
Who is the prophet talking about?
Himself, or some other man?
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
Philip preached to him about Jesus.
36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
As they went along, they passed some water.
The eunuch said,
Here's some water. Why not baptize me?
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Philip said, "Okay. If you believe with all your heart."
The eunuch said, "I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
So they stopped the chariot, and Philip baptized him. [5]
39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
When they came out of the water,
the Spirit of the Lord snatched away Philip, [6]
and the Eunuch didn't see him anymore.
40But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.
Philip was later found at Azotus.
Was the eunuch that Philip baptized gay?
The Spirit magically transports Philip from Gaza to a city (Azota) 22 miles north of Gaza.
Christian Response