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Today's Bible Reading :: Acts 7 - 8 (ESV)

Acts 7Listen to the passage

Acts 8Listen to the passage

Acts 7

Stephen’s Speech

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:1

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:1 - And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:2

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:2 - And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:3

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:3 - and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:4

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:4 - Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:5

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:5 - Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:6

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:6 - And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:7

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:7 - ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:8

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:8 - And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:9

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:9 - “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:10

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:10 - and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:11

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:11 - Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:12

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:12 - But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:13

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:13 - And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:14

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:14 - And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:15

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:15 - And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:16

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:16 - and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:17

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:17 - “But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:18

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:18 - until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:19

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:19 - He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:20

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:20 - At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:21

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:21 - and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:22

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:22 - And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:23

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:23 - “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:24

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:24 - And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:25

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:25 - He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:26

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:26 - And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:27

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:27 - But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:28

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:28 - Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:29

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:29 - At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:30

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:30 - “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:31

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:31 - When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord:

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:32

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:32 - ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:33

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:33 - Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:34

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:34 - I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:35

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:35 - “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:36

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:36 - This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:37

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:37 - This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:38

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:38 - This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:39

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:39 - Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:40

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:40 - saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:41

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:41 - And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:42

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:42 - But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:43

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:43 - You took up the tent of Moloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship;
and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:44

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:44 - “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:45

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:45 - Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:46

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:46 - who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:47

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:47 - But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:48

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:48 - Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:49

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:49 - “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:50

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:50 - Did not my hand make all these things?’

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:51

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:51 - “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:52

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:52 - Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:53

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:53 - you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:54

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:54 - Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:55

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:55 - But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:56

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:56 - And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:57

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:57 - But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together[fn] at him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:58

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:58 - Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:59

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:59 - And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 7:60

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 7:60 - And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
ESV Footnotes
Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob
Or rushed with one mind

Acts 8

Saul Ravages the Church

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:1

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:1 - And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:2

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:2 - Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:3

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:3 - But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:4

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:4 - Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:5

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:5 - Philip went down to the city[fn] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:6

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

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:7

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:7 - For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:8

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:8 - So there was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:9

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:9 - But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:10

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:10 - They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:11

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:11 - And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:12

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:12 - But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:13

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:13 - Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles[fn] performed, he was amazed.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:14

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:14 - Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:15

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:15 - who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:16

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:16 - for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:17

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:17 - Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:18

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:18 - Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:19

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:19 - saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:20

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:20 - But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:21

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:21 - You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:22

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:22 - Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:23

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:23 - For I see that you are in the gall[fn] of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:24

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:24 - And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:25

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:25 - Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

(cf. Isa 53:7, 8 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:26

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:26 - Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south[fn] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:27

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:27 - And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:28

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:28 - and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:29

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:29 - And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:30

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:30 - So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:31

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:31 - And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:32

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:32 - Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:33

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:33 - In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:34

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:34 - And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:35

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:35 - Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:36

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:36 - And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:38

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:38 - And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:39

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:39 - And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 8:40

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 8:40 - But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
See the ESV Preface
ESV Footnotes
Some manuscripts a city
Greek works of power
That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile
Or go at about noon
Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
BLB Footnotes
Some Greek manuscripts exclude this verse. The ESV related footnote for 8:36 states:
Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”  
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2025 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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