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Philip and the Ethiopian Official
26 An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get ready and go south  i 8.26: south; or at midday. to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This road is not used nowadays.) j 8.26: This road is not used nowadays; or This is the desert road.
27-28 So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it.”
30 Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 The official replied, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit in the carriage with him.
32  The passage of scripture which he was reading was this:
“He was like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered,
like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off.
He did not say a word.
33 He was humiliated, and justice was denied him.
No one will be able to tell about his descendants,
because his life on earth has come to an end.”
34 The official asked Philip, “Tell me, of whom is the prophet saying this? Of himself or of someone else?”
35 Then Philip began to speak; starting from this passage of scripture, he told him the Good News about Jesus.
36 As they traveled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water, and the official said, “Here is some water. What is to keep me from being baptized?” k 8.36: Some manuscripts add verse 37: Philip said to him, “You may be baptized if you believe with all your heart.” “I do,” he answered; “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but continued on his way, full of joy.
40 Philip found himself in Azotus; he went on to Caesarea, and on the way he preached the Good News in every town.
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