13 7:44Our fathers in the wilderness received the tabernacle of the testimony, as he that spoke to Moses charged him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen; 7:45which also our fathers receiving it in succession brought with Joshua into the possession of the nations, whom God expelled before the face of our fathers till the days of David; 7:46who found favor with God and desired to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 7:47And Solomon built him a house. 7:48But the Most High dwells not in [temples] made with hands, as the prophet says; 7:49Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool; what house will you build me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 7:50has not my hand made all these things? 7:51Stiff necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always fight against the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, you also do. 7:52Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you now have become betrayers and murderers, 7:53who have received the law by orders of angels and have not kept it.
14 7:54And when they heard these things they were enraged in their minds and gnashed their teeth upon him. 7:55But he being full of the Holy Spirit, looking steadily to heaven saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 7:56and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 7:57And crying with a loud voice they stopped their ears and rushed upon him with one accord, 7:58and casting him out of the city, stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul, 7:59and they stoned Stephen, calling and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 7:60And kneeling down he cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And having said this he fell asleep. 8:1And Saul consented to his death.
15 And at that time there was a great persecution of the church at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad through the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 8:2And pious men buried Stephen and made a great lamentation for him. 8:3But Saul persecuted the church, and going from house to house, seizing men and women, committed them to prison.
CHAPTER VI.
THE EARLY MINISTRY OF PHILIP THE DEACON, THE CONVERSION OF THE SAMARITANS, THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH.
1 8:4Being scattered abroad, therefore, they went everywhere preaching the good news of the word; 8:5and Philip going down to a city of Samaria preached Christ to them. 8:6And the multitudes attended with one accord to the things said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the miracles which he performed. 8:7For impure spirits came out of many who had them, crying with a loud voice; and many paralytics and lame persons were cured; 8:8and there was great joy in that city.
2 8:9And there was a man by the name of Simon who formerly practised magic in that city, and astonished the nation of Samaria, saying that he was some great person, 8:10to whom all from the least to the greatest attended, saying, This is the power of God which is called great. 8:11And they attended to him because for a long time he had astonished them with his magic arts. 8:12But because they believed Philip preaching the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women. 8:13And Simon also himself believed, and being baptized attended constantly on Philip; and beholding the mighty works and miracles that were performed, he was astonished.
3 8:14And the apostles at Jerusalem hearing that Samaria had received the word of God, sent to them Peter and John, 8:15who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; 8:16for it had not yet fallen on any of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 8:17Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 8:18And Simon seeing that the Holy Spirit was given by the imposition of the hands of the apostles, offered them money, 8:19saying, Give me this power, that on whomsoever I lay my hand he may receive the Holy Spirit. 8:20But Peter said to him, Your money go to perdition with you; because you have thought to purchase the gift of God with money. 8:21You have no part nor inheritance in this work; for your heart is not right before God. 8:22Turn your mind therefore from this your wickedness, and pray the Lord if perhaps the thought of your mind may be forgiven you; 8:23for I see you are in the gall of bitterness and bond of wickedness. 8:24And Simon answered and said, Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have said may come upon me.
4 8:25They then having fully testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the good news to many villages of the Samaritans. 8:26And an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Arise and go to the south, by the way that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza; this is a wilderness. 8:27And he arose and went. And behold a man, an Ethiopian eunuch, an officer of Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasures, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, 8:28and he was returning and sitting in his chariot reading the prophet Isaiah.
5 8:29And the Spirit said to Philip, Go forward and join yourself to his chariot. 8:30And Philip running forward heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and he said, Do you really understand what you read? 8:31And he said [No]; for how can I unless some one teaches me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 8:32And the passage of Scripture which he was reading, was this; As a sheep is led to slaughter, and as a lamb before one that shears him is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. 8:33In his humiliation his judgment was taken away; and who will tell of his generation? for his life was taken from the earth.