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Saul Persecutes the Church

^1 (C1)Now Saul approved of putting ^(F1)Stephen to death. And on that day a great persecution ^(F2)began against ^(C2)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^(C3)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^(C4)Samaria, except for the apostles.² Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him.³ But ^(C1)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would ^(C2)drag away men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

⁴ Therefore, those ^(C1)who had been scattered went through places ^(F1)(C2)preaching the word.^5 (C1)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the ^(F1)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 ^(F1)signs which he was performing.⁷ For in the case of many who had ^(C1)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^(C2)paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed.⁸ So there was ^(C1)much rejoicing in that city.

⁹ Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing ^(C1)magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, ^(C2)claiming to be someone great;¹⁰ and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, "^(C1)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 ^(C1)magic arts.¹² But when they believed Philip ^(C1)as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being ^(C2)baptized.¹³ Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed ^(C1)signs and ^(C2)great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

¹⁴ Now when ^(C1)the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them ^(C2)Peter and John,¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(C1)that they would receive the Holy Spirit.¹⁶ (For He had ^(C1)not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been ^(C2)baptized ^(F1)in the name of the Lord Jesus.)¹⁷ Then they ^(C1)began laying their hands on them, and they were ^(C2)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 ^(C1)acquire the gift of God with money!²¹ "You have ^(C1)no part or share in this ^(F1)matter, for your heart is not ^(C2)right before God.²² "Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(C1)if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you.²³ "For I see that you are ^(F1)in the gall of bitterness and in ^(C1)the ^(F2)bondage of unrighteousness."²⁴ But Simon answered and said, "^(C1)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 ^(C1)testified and spoken ^(C2)the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were ^(C3)preaching the gospel to many villages of the ^(C4)Samaritans.

²⁶ But ^(C1)an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(C2)Philip, saying, "Get ready and go ^(F1)south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^(C3)Gaza." (^(F2)This is a desert road.)²⁷ So he got ready and went; and ^(F1)(C1)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of ^(F2)Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^(C2)had come to Jerusalem to worship,²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his ^(F1)chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet.²⁹ Then ^(C1)the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this ^(F1)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:

"^(C1)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 "^(C1)IN HUMILIATION HIS JUSTICE WAS TAKEN AWAY;
WHO WILL ^(F1)DESCRIBE HIS ^(F2)GENERATION?
FOR HIS LIFE IS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE EARTH."