Acts 8:1-10

Saul Ravages the Church

1 And ¹Saul ²approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and ³they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.

3 But ⁴Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he ⁵dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

4 Now ⁶those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

5 ⁷Philip went down to the city^[a] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.

6 ⁸And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him ⁹and saw the signs that he did.

7 For ¹⁰unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.

8 So ¹¹there was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

9 But there was a man named Simon, ¹²who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, ¹³saying that he himself was somebody great.

10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ¹⁴"This man is the power of God that is called ¹⁵Great."