The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Acts of the Apostles
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Chapter 8
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1
The church in Jerusalem was much persecuted at this time, and all except the apostles were scattered about over the countryside of Judaea and Samaria.
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Stephen was buried by devout men, who mourned greatly over him.
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Saul, meanwhile, was making havoc of the church; he made his way into house after house, carrying men and women off and committing them to prison.

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Those who had been driven away spread the gospel as they went from place to place;
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and Philip, who had gone down to one of the cities of Samaria, preached Christ there.
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The multitude listened with general accord to what Philip said, as their own eyes and ears witnessed the miracles he did.
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There were many possessed by unclean spirits, and these came out, crying aloud;
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many, too, were healed of the palsy, and of lameness,
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and there was great rejoicing in that city. And there was a man called Simon, who had been in the city before Philip came there, misleading the people of Samaria with sorcery, and pretending to have great powers,
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so that high and low hung upon his words; This, they said, is an angel called the great angel of God.
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Long misled by his sorceries, they continued to pay attention to him,
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until Philip came and preached to them about God’s kingdom. Then they found faith and were baptized, men and women alike, in the name of Jesus Christ;
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and Simon, who had found faith and been baptized with the rest, kept close to Philip’s side; he was astonished by the great miracles and signs he saw happening.

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And now the apostles at Jerusalem, hearing that Samaria had received the word of God, sent Peter and John to visit them.
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So these two came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
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who had not, as yet, come down on any of them; they had received nothing so far except baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus.
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Then the apostles began to lay their hands on them, so that the Holy Spirit was given them,
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and Simon, seeing that the Holy Spirit was granted through the imposition of the apostles’ hands, offered them money;
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Let me too, he said, have such powers that when I lay my hands on anyone he will receive the Holy Spirit. Whereupon Peter said to him,
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Take thy wealth with thee to perdition, thou who hast told thyself that God’s free gift can be bought with money.
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There is no share, no part for thee in these doings; thy heart is not true in the sight of God.
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Repent of this baseness of thine, and pray to God, in the hope of finding pardon for the thought which thy heart has conceived.
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I see plainly that a bitter poison has taken hold of thee; thou art the bondsman of iniquity.
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And Simon answered, Pray for me to the Lord, that none of this harm you have spoken of may fall upon me.

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So, when they had borne their full witness and preached the word of the Lord, they began their journey back to Jerusalem, carrying the gospel into many Samaritan villages.
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Meanwhile, Philip was commanded by an angel of the Lord, Rise up, and go south to meet the road which leads from Jerusalem to Gaza, out in the desert.
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So he rose up and went; and found there an Ethiopian. This man was a eunuch, a courtier of Candace, queen of Ethiopia, and had charge of all her wealth; he had been up to worship at Jerusalem,
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and was now on his way home, driving along in his chariot and reading the prophet Isaias.
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The Spirit said to Philip, Go up to that chariot and keep close by it.
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And Philip, as he ran up, heard him reading the prophet Isaias, and asked, Canst thou understand what thou art reading?
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How could I, said he, without someone to guide me? And he entreated Philip to come up and sit beside him.
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The passage of scripture which he was reading was this; He was led away like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before its shearer, he would not open his mouth.
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He was brought low, and all his rights taken away; who shall tell the story of his age? His life is being cut off from the earth.
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And the eunuch turned to Philip, and said, Tell me, about whom does the prophet say this? Himself, or some other man?
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Then Philip began speaking, and preached to him about Jesus, taking this passage as his theme.
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As they went on their way, they came to a piece of water, and the eunuch said, See, there is water here; why may I not be baptized?
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Philip said, If thou dost believe with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
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So he had the chariot stopped, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him there.
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But when they came up from the water, Philip was carried off by the spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch did not see him any longer; he went on his way rejoicing.
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As for Philip, he was next heard of at Azotus; and from there he went preaching all round the villages, until he reached Caesarea.