26 As
for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go
south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So
he did, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great
authority under the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone
to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was
now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud
from the book of the
prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go
over and walk along beside the carriage.” 30 Philip
ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah;
so he asked, “Do you
understand what you are reading?” 31 The
man replied, “How can I, when there is
no one to instruct me?” And
he begged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. 32 The
passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led as
a sheep to the slaughter.
And as a lamb is silent before the shearers,
He did not open his mouth.
33 He was humiliated and received no justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Was Isaiah talking
about himself or someone else?” 35 So Philip began
with this same Scripture and then used many others to tell him the Good News
about Jesus.
36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and
the eunuch said, “Look!
There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” 37 “You
can,” Philip answered, “if
you believe with all your heart.” And the eunuch replied, “I belive
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38 He ordered
the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized
him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of
the Lord caught Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his
way rejoicing. 40 Meanwhile,
Philip found himself farther north at the city of Azotus! He preached the Good
News there and in every city along the way until he came to Caesarea.
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