19. He said, "Give me this authority too so that anyone on whom I lay my hands will receive the Holy Spirit."
20. Peter responded, "May your money be condemned to hell along with you because you believed you could buy God’s gift with money!
21. You can have no part or share in God’s word because your heart isn’t right with God.
22. Therefore, change your heart and life! Turn from your wickedness! Plead with the Lord in the hope that your wicked intent can be forgiven,
23. for I see that your bitterness has poisoned you and evil has you in chains."
24. Simon replied, "All of you, please, plead to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said will happen to me!"
25. After the apostles had testified and proclaimed the Lord’s word, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the good news to many Samaritan villages along the way.
26. An angel from the Lord spoke to Philip, "At noon, take the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert road.)
27. So he did. Meanwhile, an Ethiopian man was on his way home from Jerusalem, where he had come to worship. He was a eunuch and an official responsible for the entire treasury of Candace. (Candace is the title given to the Ethiopian queen.)
28. He was reading the prophet Isaiah while sitting in his carriage.
29. The Spirit told Philip, "Approach this carriage and stay with it."
30. Running up to the carriage, Philip heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you really understand what you are reading?"