Philip and the Ethiopian

²⁶ Now 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.” ²⁷ So 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) 28} and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ The Spirit told^(F) Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

³⁰ Then 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.

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

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

³⁶ As 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] 38} And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. ³⁹ When 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. ⁴⁰ Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns^(M) until he reached Caesarea.^(N)

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

²⁵ About midnight^(D) Paul and Silas^(E) were praying and singing hymns^(F) to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.^(G) At once all the prison doors flew open,^(H) and everyone’s chains came loose.^{(I) 27} The 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.^{(J) 28} But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

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

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