Acts 8:26-40

New International Version

Philip and the Ethiopian

²⁶Now an angel^(A) of the Lord said to Philip,^(B) “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” ²⁷So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian^[a]^(C) eunuch,^(D) an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,^(E) ²⁸and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹The Spirit told^(F) Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

³⁰Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

³¹“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³²This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
³³In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.”^[b]^(G)

³⁴The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” ³⁵Then Philip began^(H) with that very passage of Scripture^(I) and told him the good news^(J) about Jesus.

³⁶As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”^(K) ^[37]^[c] ³⁸And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. ³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away,^(L) and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns^(M) until he reached Caesarea.^(N)

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Footnotes

Acts 8:27 That is, from the southern Nile region
Acts 8:33 Isaiah 53:7,8 (see Septuagint)
Acts 8:37 Some manuscripts include here Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Acts 16:16-34

New International Version

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶Once when we were going to the place of prayer,^(A) we were met by a female slave who had a spirit^(B) by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God,^(C) who are telling you the way to be saved.” ¹⁸She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.^(D)

¹⁹When her owners realized that their hope of making money^(E) was gone, they seized Paul and Silas^(F) and dragged^(G) them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar^(H) ²¹by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans^(I) to accept or practice.”^(J)

²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.^(K) ²³After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer^(L) was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.^(M)

²⁵About midnight^(N) Paul and Silas^(O) were praying and singing hymns^(P) to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.^(Q) At once all the prison doors flew open,^(R) and everyone’s chains came loose.^(S) ²⁷The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.^(T) ²⁸But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.^(U) ³⁰He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”^(V)

³¹They replied, “Believe^(W) in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved^(X)—you and your household.”^(Y) ³²Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³At that hour of the night^(Z) the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.^(AA) ³⁴The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he^(AB) was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.