Acts 8 - New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Saul Persecutes the Church

8 ^(A)Now Saul approved of putting ^[a]Stephen to death.

And on that day a great persecution ^[b]began against ^(B)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^(C)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^(D)Samaria, except for the apostles. ² Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him. ³ But ^(E)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would ^(F)drag away men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

⁴ Therefore, those ^(G)who had been scattered went through places ^[c](H)preaching the word. ^{5 (I)}Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the ^[d]Christ to them. ⁶ The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ^[e]signs which he was performing. ⁷ For in the case of many who had ^(J)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^(K)paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed. ⁸ So there was ^(L)much rejoicing in that city.

⁹ Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing ^(M)magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, ^(N)claiming to be someone great; ¹⁰ and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “^(O)This man is the Power of God that is called Great.” ¹¹ And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his ^(P)magic arts. ¹² But when they believed Philip ^(Q)as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being ^(R)baptized. ¹³ Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^(S)signs and ^(T)great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

¹⁴ Now when ^(U)the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^(V)Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(W)that they would receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ (For He had ^(X)not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^(Y)baptized ^[f]in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ¹⁷ Then they ^(Z)began laying their hands on them, and they were ^(AA)receiving the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could ^(AB)acquire the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have ^(AC)no part or share in this ^[g]matter, for your heart is not ^(AD)right before God. ²² Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(AE)if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are ^[h]in the gall of bitterness and in ^(AF)the ^[i]bondage of unrighteousness.” ²⁴ But Simon answered and said, “^(AG)Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

²⁵ So, when they had solemnly ^(AH)testified and spoken ^(AI)the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^(AJ)preaching the gospel to many villages of the ^(AK)Samaritans.

²⁶ But ^(AL)an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(AM)Philip, saying, “Get ready and go ^[j]south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^(AN)Gaza.” (^[k]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got ready and went; and ^[l](AO)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of ^[m]Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^(AP)had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his ^[n]chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ Then ^(AQ)the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this ^[o]chariot.” ³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

“^(AR)He was led like a sheep to slaughter;
And like a lamb that is silent before its shearer,
So He does not open His mouth.
^{33 (AS)}In humiliation His justice was taken away;
Who will ^[p]describe His ^[q]generation?
For His life is taken away from the earth.”

³⁴ The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip ^(AT)opened his mouth, and ^(AU)beginning from this Scripture he ^(AV)preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^(AW)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[r] 38} And he ordered that the ^[s]chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, ^(AX)the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, ^[t]but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip ^[u]found himself at ^[v](AY)Azotus, and as he passed through he ^(AZ)kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to ^(BA)Caesarea.

Footnotes

1. Acts 8:1 Lit him
2. Acts 8:1 Lit occurred
3. Acts 8:4 Or bringing the good news of
4. Acts 8:5 I.e., Messiah
5. Acts 8:6 I.e., confirming miracles
6. Acts 8:16 Lit into
7. Acts 8:21 Or teaching; lit word
8. Acts 8:23 Or doomed to the
9. Acts 8:23 Lit bond
10. Acts 8:26 Or at about noon to
11. Acts 8:26 Or This city is deserted
12. Acts 8:27 Lit behold, an Ethiopian
13. Acts 8:27 Possibly an Ethiopian title: the Candace
14. Acts 8:28 Or carriage
15. Acts 8:29 Or carriage
16. Acts 8:33 Or relate
17. Acts 8:33 Or family history
18. Acts 8:36 Late mss add as v 37: And 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.”
19. Acts 8:38 Or carriage
20. Acts 8:39 Lit for he was going
21. Acts 8:40 Or was found
22. Acts 8:40 OT: Ashdod

Cross references

1. Acts 8:1 : Acts 7:58; 22:20; 26:10
2. Acts 8:1 : Acts 9:31
3. Acts 8:1 : Acts 8:4; 11:19
4. Acts 8:1 : Acts 1:8; 8:5, 14; 9:31
5. Acts 8:3 : Acts 9:1, 13, 21; 22:4, 19; 26:10f; 1 Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13; Phil 3:6; 1 Tim 1:13
6. Acts 8:3 : James 2:6
7. Acts 8:4 : Acts 8:1
8. Acts 8:4 : Acts 8:12; 15:35
9. Acts 8:5 : Acts 6:5; 8:26, 30
10. Acts 8:7 : Mark 16:17
11. Acts 8:7 : Matt 4:24
12. Acts 8:8 : John 4:40-42; Acts 8:39
13. Acts 8:9 : Acts 8:11; 13:6
14. Acts 8:9 : Acts 5:36
15. Acts 8:10 : Acts 14:11; 28:6
16. Acts 8:11 : Acts 8:9; 13:6
17. Acts 8:12 : Acts 1:3; 8:4
18. Acts 8:12 : Acts 2:38
19. Acts 8:13 : Acts 8:6
20. Acts 8:13 : Acts 19:11
21. Acts 8:14 : Acts 8:1
22. Acts 8:14 : Luke 22:8
23. Acts 8:15 : Acts 2:38; 19:2
24. Acts 8:16 : Matt 28:19; Acts 19:2
25. Acts 8:16 : Acts 2:38; 10:48
26. Acts 8:17 : Mark 5:23; Acts 6:6
27. Acts 8:17 : Acts 2:4
28. Acts 8:20 : 2 Kin 5:16; Is 55:1; Dan 5:17; Matt 10:8; Acts 2:38
29. Acts 8:21 : Deut 10:9; 12:12; Eph 5:5
30. Acts 8:21 : Ps 78:37
31. Acts 8:22 : Is 55:7
32. Acts 8:23 : Is 58:6
33. Acts 8:24 : Gen 20:7; Ex 8:8; Num 21:7; James 5:16
34. Acts 8:25 : Luke 16:28
35. Acts 8:25 : Acts 13:12
36. Acts 8:25 : Acts 8:40
37. Acts 8:25 : Matt 10:5
38. Acts 8:26 : Acts 5:19; 8:29
39. Acts 8:26 : Acts 8:5
40. Acts 8:26 : Gen 10:19
41. Acts 8:27 : Ps 68:31; 87:4; Is 56:3ff
42. Acts 8:27 : 1 Kin 8:41f; John 12:20
43. Acts 8:29 : Acts 8:39; 10:19; 11:12; 13:2; 16:6, 7; 20:23; 21:11; 28:25; Heb 3:7
44. Acts 8:32 : Is 53:7
45. Acts 8:33 : Is 53:8
46. Acts 8:35 : Matt 5:2
47. Acts 8:35 : Luke 24:27; Acts 17:2; 18:28; 28:23
48. Acts 8:35 : Acts 5:42
49. Acts 8:36 : Acts 10:47
50. Acts 8:39 : 1 Kin 18:12; 2 Kin 2:16; Ezek 3:12, 14; 8:3; 11:1, 24; 43:5; 2 Cor 12:2
51. Acts 8:40 : Josh 11:22; 1 Sam 5:1
52. Acts 8:40 : Acts 8:25
53. Acts 8:40 : Acts 9:30; 10:1, 24; 11:11; 12:19; 18:22; 21:8, 16; 23:23, 33; 25:1, 4, 6, 13