Acts 8

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¹Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ✦ ²And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. ✦ ³As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. ✦ ⁴Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. ✦ ⁵Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. ✦ ⁶And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. ✦ ⁷For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. ✦ ⁸And there was great joy in that city. ✦ ⁹But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, ✦ ¹⁰to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” ✦ ¹¹And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. ✦ ¹²But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. ✦ ¹³Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. ✦ ¹⁴Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, ✦ ¹⁵who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ✦ ¹⁶For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ✦ ¹⁷Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. ✦ ¹⁸And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ✦ ¹⁹saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ✦ ²⁰But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! ✦ ²¹You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. ✦ ²²Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. ✦ ²³For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” ✦ ²⁴Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.” ✦ ²⁵So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. ✦ ²⁶Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. ✦ ²⁷So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, ✦ ²⁸was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. ✦ ²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” ✦ ³⁰So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ✦ ³¹And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. ✦ ³²The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. ✦ ³³In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” ✦ ³⁴So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” ✦ ³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. ✦ ³⁶Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” ✦ ³⁷Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” ³⁸So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. ✦ ³⁹Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. ✦ ⁴⁰But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Acts 8 ·23 Acts 5 ·10 Acts 2 ·10 Acts 10 ·10 Acts 11 ·9 Acts 13 ·9 Acts 9 ·8 Acts 28 ·7

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryDrive Thru History: Acts to RevelationDave Stotts · Free · evangelical
Follows Paul's missionary journeys and the early church on location across the Mediterranean — free on Tubi, great for families.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Acts 8YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Acts 8David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Acts 8Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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