And Saul was consenting unto his death.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judæa and Samaria, except the apostles.
And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.
But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every house, and dragging men and women committed them to prison.
They therefore that were scattered abroad, went about {Compare marginal note on chapter 5:42.}preaching the word.
And Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed unto them the Christ.
And the multitudes gave heed with one accord unto the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard, and saw the signs which he did. {Or, For many of those that had unclean spirits that cried with a loud voice came forth}
For from many of those that had unclean spirits, they came out, crying with a loud voice: and many that were palsied, and that were lame, were healed.
And there was much joy in that city.
But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who beforetime in the city used sorcery, and amazed the {Greek: nation.}people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is called Great.
And they gave heed to him, because that of long time he had amazed them with his sorceries.
But when they believed Philip {Compare marginal note on chapter 5:42.}preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
And Simon also himself believed: and being baptized, he continued with Philip; and beholding signs and great {Greek: powers.}miracles wrought, he was amazed.
Now when the apostles that were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit:
for as yet it was fallen upon none of them: only they had been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the {Some ancient authorities omit Holy.}Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.
But Peter said unto him, Thy silver perish with thee, because thou hast thought to obtain the gift of God with money.
Thou hast neither part nor lot in this {Greek: word.}matter: for thy heart is not right before God.
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray the Lord, if perhaps the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee.
For I see that thou {Or, wilt become gall (or, a gall root) of bitterness and a bond of iniquity. Compare Deuteronomy 29:18; Hebrew 12:15.}art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.
And Simon answered and said, Pray ye for me to the Lord, that none of the things which ye have spoken come upon me.
They therefore, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and {Greek: brought good tidings. Compare chapter 5:22.}preached the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
But an angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go {Or, at noon Compare chapter 22:6}toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza: the same is desert.
And he arose and went: and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship;
and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.
And the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
And Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
And he said, How can I, except some one shall guide me? And he besought Philip to come up and sit with him.
Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this,
{Isaiah 53:7 f.}He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before his shearer is dumb,
So he openeth not his mouth:
In his humiliation his judgment was taken away:
His generation who shall declare?
For his life is taken from the earth.
And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other?
And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, {See marginal note on chapter 5:42.}preached unto him Jesus.
And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? {Some ancient authorities insert, wholly or in part, version 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.}
- - -
And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached the gospel to all the cities, till he came to Cæsarea.
Querverweise zu Apostelgeschichte 8,7 Apg 8,7
And there also came together the multitudes from the cities round about Jerusalem, bringing sick folk, and them that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.
And there he found a certain man named Æneas, who had kept his bed eight years; for he was palsied.
But Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but what I have, that give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.
And he called unto him his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness.
And Peter said unto him, Æneas, Jesus Christ healeth thee: arise and make thy bed. And straightway he arose.
And he took him by the right hand, and raised him up: and immediately his feet and his ankle-bones received strength.
And having cried out, and {Or, convulsed See chapter 1:26.}torn him much, he came out: and the boy became as one dead; insomuch that the more part said, He is dead.
And they come, bringing unto him a man sick of the palsy, borne of four.
And when they could not {Many ancient authorities read bring him unto him.}come nigh unto him for the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the {Or, pallet}bed whereon the sick of the palsy lay.
And Jesus seeing their faith saith unto the sick of the palsy, {Greek: Child.}Son, thy sins are forgiven.
But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
Why doth this man thus speak? he blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but one, even God?
And straightway Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, saith unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and take up thy {Or, pallet}bed, and walk?
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of the palsy),
I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy {Or, pallet}bed, and go unto thy house.
And at Lystra there sat a certain man, impotent in his feet, a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked.
The same heard Paul speaking, who, fastening his eyes upon him, and seeing that he had faith to be made whole,
said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped up and walked.
And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with {Some ancient authorities omit new.}new tongues;
Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have {Or, the gospel}good tidings preached to them.
And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name.
And there came unto him great multitudes, having with them the lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and they cast them down at his feet; and he healed them:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.
insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing: and they glorified the God of Israel.
God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by {Greek: distributions.}gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.