Acts 16 | Taking Risks

Bestseller

Whole

Let's Talk About...How to Use Your Talents

Dear Mama: God’s Not Done With Your Story

Rediscover the Creator in You

Living With God’s Purpose and Embracing His Grace

'Bad' Moms of the Bible: How God Works Through Our Worst Moments

A Letter to God's Elect - Part 2: Trained for Troubled Times

Thinking Christian: A Counter-Culture Worldview

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkACT">
      <div class="chapter ch8" data-usfm="ACT.8">
         <div class="label">8</div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ACT.8.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">And Saul approved of their killing him.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Church Persecuted and Scattered</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ACT.8.1"><span class="content">On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ACT.8.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ACT.8.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Philip in Samaria</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ACT.8.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ACT.8.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ACT.8.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ACT.8.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ACT.8.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ACT.8.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">So there was great joy in that city.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Simon the Sorcerer</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ACT.8.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ACT.8.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ACT.8.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, &#8220;This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ACT.8.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ACT.8.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ACT.8.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ACT.8.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ACT.8.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ACT.8.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ACT.8.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ACT.8.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ACT.8.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ACT.8.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles&#8217; hands, he offered them money </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ACT.8.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">and said, &#8220;Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ACT.8.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ACT.8.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Peter answered: &#8220;May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ACT.8.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ACT.8.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ACT.8.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ACT.8.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ACT.8.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Then Simon answered, &#8220;Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ACT.8.24"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ACT.8.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Philip and the Ethiopian</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ACT.8.25"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ACT.8.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, &#8220;Go south to the road&#8212;the desert road&#8212;that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.8.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:27 </span><span class="ft">That is, from the southern Nile region</span></span></span><span class="content"> eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means &#8220;queen of the Ethiopians&#8221;). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ACT.8.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ACT.8.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">The Spirit told Philip, &#8220;Go to that chariot and stay near it.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ACT.8.29"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="ACT.8.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. &#8220;Do you understand what you are reading?&#8221; Philip asked.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="ACT.8.30"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="ACT.8.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">&#8220;How can I,&#8221; he said, &#8220;unless someone explains it to me?&#8221; So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="ACT.8.31"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="ACT.8.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="ACT.8.32"><span class="content">&#8220;He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="ACT.8.32"><span class="content">and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="ACT.8.32"><span class="content">so he did not open his mouth.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="ACT.8.32"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="ACT.8.33"><span class="label">33</span><span class="content">In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="ACT.8.33"><span class="content">Who can speak of his descendants?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="ACT.8.33"><span class="content">For his life was taken from the earth.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:33 </span><span class="ft">Isaiah 53:7,8 (see Septuagint)</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="ACT.8.33"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v34" data-usfm="ACT.8.34"><span class="label">34</span><span class="content">The eunuch asked Philip, &#8220;Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v35" data-usfm="ACT.8.35"><span class="label">35</span><span class="content">Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v35" data-usfm="ACT.8.35"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v36" data-usfm="ACT.8.36"><span class="label">36</span><span class="content">As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, &#8220;Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v37" data-usfm="ACT.8.37"><span class="label">[37]</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:37 </span><span class="ft">Some manuscripts include here </span><span class="fqa">Philip said, &#8220;If you believe with all your heart, you may.&#8221; The eunuch answered, &#8220;I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.&#8221;</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v38" data-usfm="ACT.8.38"><span class="label">38</span><span class="content">And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. </span></span><span class="verse v39" data-usfm="ACT.8.39"><span class="label">39</span><span class="content">When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. </span></span><span class="verse v40" data-usfm="ACT.8.40"><span class="label">40</span><span class="content">Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bk2KI">
      <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="2KI.2.11">
         <div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="2KI.2.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. </span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkISA">
      <div class="chapter ch56" data-usfm="ISA.56.3+ISA.56.4+ISA.56.5">
         <div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ISA.56.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Let no foreigner who is bound to the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> say,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ISA.56.3"><span class="content">&#8220;The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> will surely exclude me from his people.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ISA.56.3"><span class="content">And let no eunuch complain,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ISA.56.3"><span class="content">&#8220;I am only a dry tree.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ISA.56.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ISA.56.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">For this is what the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> says:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ISA.56.4"><span class="content">&#8220;To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ISA.56.4"><span class="content">who choose what pleases me</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ISA.56.4"><span class="content">and hold fast to my covenant&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ISA.56.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.56.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">to them I will give within my temple and its walls</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.56.5"><span class="content">a memorial and a name</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.56.5"><span class="content">better than sons and daughters;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.56.5"><span class="content">I will give them an everlasting name</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.56.5"><span class="content">that will endure forever.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.56.5"><span class="content">  </span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

You Will Receive Power - the Book of ActsSample

Scripture

About this Plan

Related Plans