Acts 8
1 Then some men who revered God buried Stephen’s body in a tomb, and they mourned greatly and loudly for him. On that same day [people] started severely persecuting the believers [who were living] in Jerusalem. So most [of the believers] fled [to other places] throughout Judea and Samaria [provinces]. The apostles were the only [believers who remained in Jerusalem].
Saulus autem erat consentiens neci ejus. Facta est autem in illa die persecutio magna in ecclesia quæ erat Jerosolymis, et omnes dispersi sunt per regiones Judææ et Samariæ præter Apostolos.
Curaverunt autem Stephanum viri timorati, et fecerunt planctum magnum super eum.
3 While the people were killing Stephen, Saul was there approving of their killing Stephen. So Saul [also] began trying to destroy the group of believers. He entered houses one by one, he dragged away men and women [who believed in Jesus], and then he [arranged for] them to be put in prison.
Saulus autem devastabat ecclesiam per domos intrans, et trahens viros ac mulieres, tradebat in custodiam.
4 The believers who had left Jerusalem went to different places, where they continued preaching the message about Jesus.
Igitur qui dispersi erant pertransibant, evangelizantes verbum Dei.
5 [One of those believers whose name was] Philip went down [from Jerusalem] to a city in Samaria [province]. There he was telling [the people that Jesus is] [MTY] the Messiah.
Philippus autem descendens in civitatem Samariæ, prædicabant illis Christum.
6 Many people there heard Philip [speak] and saw the miraculous things that he was doing. So they all (paid close attention to/listened carefully to) his words.
Intendebant autem turbæ his quæ a Philippo dicebantur, unanimiter audientes, et videntes signa quæ faciebat.
7 For [example, when Philip commanded] evil spirits who controlled many people [that they should come out of them], they came out, while those spirits screamed. Also, many people who were paralyzed and [many others] who were lame were healed.
Multi enim eorum qui habebant spiritus immundos, clamantes voce magna exibant. Multi autem paralytici et claudi curati sunt.
8 So [many people] [MTY] in that city greatly rejoiced.
Factum est ergo gaudium magnum in illa civitate.
9 There was a man in that city whose name was Simon. He had been practicing sorcery for a long time, and he had been amazing the people in Samaria [province by doing that]. He continually claimed that he was a great/important person.
Vir autem quidam nomine Simon, qui ante fuerat in civitate magus, seducens gentem Samariæ, dicens se esse aliquem magnum:
10 All the people there, both ordinary and important people, listened to him. [Various ones of] them were saying, “This man works in extremely powerful ways [because] God has caused him to be a great [person].”
cui auscultabant omnes a minimo usque ad maximum, dicentes: Hic est virtus Dei, quæ vocatur magna.
11 They continued to listen to him carefully, because for a long time he had astonished them by practicing sorcery.
Attendebant autem eum: propter quod multo tempore magiis suis dementasset eos.
12 But then they believed Philip’s [message] when he preached to them about [how] God desires to rule [MET] [the lives of people who believe in him], and about Jesus being the Messiah [MTY]. Both the men and the women who believed in Jesus were baptized. {[Philip] was baptizing both the men and the women [who had come to believe in Jesus]}.
Cum vero credidissent Philippo evangelizanti de regno Dei, in nomine Jesu Christi baptizabantur viri ac mulieres.
13 Simon himself believed [Philip’s message] and, after he was baptized {after [Philip] baptized him}, he began to constantly accompany Philip. Simon was continually amazed because he often saw [Philip] doing many kinds of miraculous things.
Tunc Simon et ipse credidit: et cum baptizatus esset, adhærebat Philippo. Videns etiam signa et virtutes maximas fieri, stupens admirabatur.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that [many people] [PRS] [throughout] Samaria [district] had believed the message from God [about Jesus], they sent Peter and John there.
Cum autem audissent Apostoli qui erant Jerosolymis, quod recepisset Samaria verbum Dei, miserunt ad eos Petrum et Joannem.
15 When Peter and John arrived in Samaria, they prayed for those [new believers] in order that the Holy Spirit’s [power] would come to them.
Qui cum venissent, oraverunt pro ipsis ut acciperent Spiritum Sanctum:
16 [Peter and John realized that] the Holy Spirit had not yet begun to empower any of them. They had been baptized {[Philip] had baptized them} [because they had believed] in [MTY] the Lord Jesus, [but they did not know about the Holy Spirit].
nondum enim in quemquam illorum venerat, sed baptizati tantum erant in nomine Domini Jesu.
17 [Then Peter and John] placed their hands on [the heads of] each person, and they received the [power of] [MTY] the Holy Spirit.
Tunc imponebant manus super illos, et accipiebant Spiritum Sanctum.
18 Simon saw [things that convinced him] that [God] had given the Spirit’s [power to people] as a result of the apostles placing their hands on them. So he offered [to give] money to the apostles,
Cum vidisset autem Simon quia per impositionem manus Apostolorum daretur Spiritus Sanctus, obtulit eis pecuniam,
19 saying, “Enable me also to do what [you are doing], so that everyone on whom I place/put my hands may receive the Holy Spirit’s [power].”
dicens: Date et mihi hanc potestatem, ut cuicumque imposuero manus, accipiat Spiritum Sanctum. Petrus autem dixit ad eum:
20 But Peter said to him, “May you [(sg)] and your money go to hell, because you [mistakenly] think that you can buy [from us] what God [alone] gives to [people] (questioned)
Pecunia tua tecum sit in perditionem: quoniam donum Dei existimasti pecunia possideri.
21 [God] has not authorized you to have any part of this ministry of giving [the Holy Spirit’s power], because he knows that you are not thinking rightly! (OR, because he knows that you are thinking completely wrongly.)
Non est tibi pars neque sors in sermone isto: cor enim tuum non est rectum coram Deo.
22 So stop thinking wickedly [like] that, and plead that the Lord, if he is willing, will forgive you [for what] you [wickedly] thought/planned [to do]
Pœnitentiam itaque age ab hac nequitia tua: et roga Deum, si forte remittatur tibi hæc cogitatio cordis tui.
23 [Turn away from your evil ways], because I perceive that you [(sg)] are extremely envious of [us], and you [are] a slave of your [continual desire to do evil! God will certainly punish you severely]!”
In felle enim amaritudinis, et obligatione iniquitatis, video te esse.
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord [God] that [he] will not do to me what you just said!”
Respondens autem Simon, dixit: Precamini vos pro me ad Dominum, ut nihil veniat super me horum quæ dixistis.
25 After [Peter and John] told [people there] what they knew personally [about the] Lord [Jesus] and declared to them the message about Jesus, they both returned to Jerusalem. [Along the way] they preached the good message [about Jesus to people] in many villages in Samaria [province].
Et illi quidem testificati, et locuti verbum Domini, redibant Jerosolymam, et multis regionibus Samaritanorum evangelizabant.
26 [One day] an angel whom the Lord [God] had sent commanded Philip, “Get ready and go south along the road that extends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” [That was] a road in a desert area.
Angelus autem Domini locutus est ad Philippum, dicens: Surge, et vade contra meridianum, ad viam quæ descendit ab Jerusalem in Gazam: hæc est deserta.
27 So Philip got ready and went [along that road]. Suddenly he met a man from Ethiopia. He was an important official who took care of all the funds for the queen [of] Ethiopia. [In his language people called their queen] Candace. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship [God],
Et surgens abiit. Et ecce vir Æthiops, eunuchus, potens Candacis reginæ Æthiopum, qui erat super omnes gazas ejus, venerat adorare in Jerusalem:
28 and he was returning [home] and was seated [riding] in his chariot. [As he was riding], he was reading [out loud from] what the prophet Isaiah [had written] [MTY] [long ago].
et revertebatur sedens super currum suum, legensque Isaiam prophetam.
29 [God’s] Spirit told Philip, “Go near to that chariot and keep walking close to [the man who is riding in] it!”
Dixit autem Spiritus Philippo: Accede, et adjunge te ad currum istum.
30 So Philip ran [to the chariot and kept running close to it]. Then he heard the official reading what the prophet Isaiah [had written]. He asked the man, “Do you [(sg)] understand what you are reading?”
Accurrens autem Philippus, audivit eum legentem Isaiam prophetam, et dixit: Putasne intelligis quæ legis?
31 He answered Philip, “[No!] (I cannot possibly [understand it] if [there is] no one to explain it to me!/How can I [understand it] if [there is] no one to explain it to me?) [RHQ]” Acts 8:31b-35 Then the man said to Philip, “Please come up [and] sit beside me.” [So Philip did that].
Qui ait: Et quomodo possum, si non aliquis ostenderit mihi? Rogavitque Philippum ut ascenderet, et sederet secum.
32 The part of the Scriptures that the official was reading was this: He will [be silent when] they lead him away to kill him [like when] a sheep [is led away to be killed]. As a young sheep is silent when its wool is being cut off {someone cuts off its wool}, [similarly] he will not protest [MTY] [when people cause him to suffer].
Locus autem Scripturæ quem legebat, erat hic: [Tamquam ovis ad occisionem ductus est: et sicut agnus coram tondente se, sine voce, sic non aperuit os suum.
33 When he will be humiliated by being accused falsely {people will humiliate him [by accusing him falsely]}, [the rulers] (will not consider him innocent/will consider him guilty). No one will possibly be able to tell about his descendants, because he will be killed {people will kill him} without him having [any descendants] on the earth.
In humilitate judicium ejus sublatum est. Generationem ejus quis enarrabit? quoniam tolletur de terra vita ejus.]
34 The official asked Philip [about these words that he was reading], “Tell me, who was the prophet writing about? [Was he writing] about himself or about someone else?”
Respondens autem eunuchus Philippo, dixit: Obsecro te, de quo propheta dicit hoc? de se, an de alio aliquo?
35 So Philip began [to explain] that Scripture passage. He told him the good message about [MTY] Jesus. [So the official understood and believed in Jesus].
Aperiens autem Philippus os suum, et incipiens a Scriptura ista, evangelizavit illi Jesum.
36 While they were traveling along the road, they came to [a place where there was a pond of] water [near the road]. Then the official said [to Philip], “Look, [there is a pond of] water! (I would like you to baptize me, because I do not know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent [you] from baptizing me.}/Do you know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent [you] from baptizing me}?) [RHQ]”
Et dum irent per viam, venerunt ad quamdam aquam: et ait eunuchus: Ecce aqua: quid prohibet me baptizari?
Dixit autem Philippus: Si credis ex toto corde, licet. Et respondens ait: Credo Filium Dei esse Jesum Christum.
38 So the official told [the driver] to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the official went down into the [pond of] water, and [Philip] baptized him.
Et jussit stare currum: et descenderunt uterque in aquam, Philippus et eunuchus, et baptizavit eum.
39 When they came up out of the water, suddenly God’s Spirit took Philip away. The official never saw Philip again. But [although he never saw Philip again], the official continued going along the road, very happy [that God had saved him].
Cum autem ascendissent de aqua, Spiritus Domini rapuit Philippum, et amplius non vidit eum eunuchus. Ibat autem per viam suam gaudens.
40 Philip then realized [that the Spirit had miraculously taken him to] Azotus [town]. While he traveled around [in that region], he continued proclaiming the message [about Jesus] in all the towns [between Azotus and Caesarea. And he was still proclaiming] it when he finally arrived in Caesarea [city].
Philippus autem inventus est in Azoto, et pertransiens evangelizabat civitatibus cunctis, donec veniret Cæsaream.
