Acts
Chapter 8: 1-25
1And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.
The Church Persecuted and Scattered
On that day a great persecution broke out against the
church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and
Samaria. 2Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for
him. 3But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house
to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
4Those who had been scattered
preached the word wherever they went. 5Philip went down to a
city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. 6When
the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention
to what he said. 7With shrieks, evil spirits came out of
many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 8So there
was great joy in that city.
Simon the Sorcerer
9Now for some time a man
named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He
boasted that he was someone great, 10and all the people, both
high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power
known as the Great Power.” 11They followed him because
he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. 12But when
they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of
Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13Simon
himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the
great signs and miracles he saw.
14When
the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter
and John to them. 15When they arrived, they prayed for them
that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16because the Holy
Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of
the Lord Jesus. 17Then Peter and John placed their hands on
them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18When
Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered
them money 19and said, “Give me also this ability so
that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20Peter
answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift
of God with money! 21You have no part or share in this
ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22Repent
of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a
thought in your heart. 23For I see that you are full of
bitterness and captive to sin.”
24Then
Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to
me.”
25When they
had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem,
preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
