Acts:8

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* Saul agreed to Stephen being killed . At that time the church people at Jerusalem had much trouble . The church people all went into Judea and Samaria . Only the apostles stayed on at Jerusalem . * Good men buried Stephen . They were very sad because he died . * Saul made much trouble for the church people . He went into every house , pulled out men and women , and put them into prison . * The people who left Jerusalem went all around telling the good news about Jesus . * Then Philip went to the city of Samaria and told people about Christ . * And all the people together listened to what Philip said because they heard and saw the big works which he did . * Many people who were held by bad spirits were made free from them . The spirits came out of them crying loudly . Many other sick people were healed too . People who could not stand , and others who were lame , were healed . * The people all over the city were very glad . * But there was one man named Simon , a witch-doctor , who fooled the people of Samaria . He tried to make people believe that he could do big things . * And all the people , young and old , listened to him . They said , This man is a big power of God . * He had fooled them for a long time with his work as a witch . That is why they listened to him . * But Philip came and told them about Gods kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ . The people believed him . Then both men and women were baptised . * Simon believed also . When he was baptised , he went with Philip . He was very much surprised when he saw the signs and the big works which were done . * Then the apostles at Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria believed Gods word . So they sent Peter and John to them . * When they came to them , they prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit . * Until that time , none of the people there had received the Holy Spirit . They had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus . * Then the apostles put their hands on the people and they received the Holy Spirit . * Simon saw that the people received the Holy Spirit when the apostles put their hands on them . Then he brought money to the apostles . * He said , Give me this power , too , so that anyone on whom I put my hands will receive the Holy Spirit . * Peter said , May you and your money be destroyed ! You thought that you could buy the gift of God with money . * You have no part in this matter . You cannot have any of this because God sees that your heart is not right . * Stop your wrong ways . Ask the Lord . Perhaps God will forgive you for the wrong things you wanted to do . * I see that you are very bitter . Your wrong ways control you all together . * Simon said , Ask the Lord for me , so that none of the things you have talked about will happen to me . * The apostles told the people the word of the Lord . Then they went back to Jerusalem . On the way they told the good news in many villages in Samaria . * The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip . Get up , said the angel . Go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza . It is desert there . * So Philip went . He saw a man from the country of Ethiopia . This man was a servant of Candace , the queen of the Ethiopian people . She gave this servant much power . He took care of her money . He had gone to Jerusalem to worship . * Now he was on his way back . He sat in his carriage reading from the book which was written long ago by Isaiah , the prophet of God . * The Spirit of the Lord said to Stephen , Go over to that man in the carriage . * So Philip went running to him . He heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah . Do you understand what you are reading ? Philip asked . * How can I ? I have no man to teach me , he answered . He asked Philip to get into the carriage and ride with him . * This is what he was reading : He was led as a sheep to be killed . A lamb says nothing while its wool is being cut , so he also says nothing . * He was put down very low . He was not allowed to have a proper trial . He had no children to follow after him . For his life is taken from the earth . * Then the man from Ethiopia asked Philip , Please tell me , who is the prophet talking about , himself or some other man ? * Then Philip told him about Jesus . He began with what the man read in the book . * While they were going along , they came to some water by the road . The man said , See , here is water . What is there to stop me from being baptised ? * Philip answered , If you believe with all your heart , you may be baptised . The man said , I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God . * The man told the driver to stop . Then both he and Philip went down into the water , and Philip baptised him . * When they came up out of the water , the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away . The man did not see him again , but he went on his way and was very happy . * Next , Philip came to the town of Azotus . He told the good news in all the cities through which he passed . Then he came to Caesarea .

---