Philip and the Ethiopian Traveller

An angel of the Lord told Philip to get up and go south on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, a desert road. Philip obeyed and went. There he met an Ethiopian eunuch travelling home in a chariot. He was an important official in charge of the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, and he had come to Jerusalem to worship.

As the man rode along, he was reading from the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit told Philip to go over to the chariot. Philip ran up and heard him reading. He asked whether he understood it. The traveller replied that he needed someone to explain it, and he invited Philip to sit with him.

The passage spoke of someone like a sheep led to slaughter and a lamb that stayed silent. It also spoke of a life taken from the earth. The official asked Philip who the prophet meant. Was Isaiah speaking about himself, or about someone else?

Starting with that very passage, Philip told him the good news about Jesus. As they travelled on, they came to some water. The Ethiopian man pointed to the water and asked what would stop him from being baptised.

The chariot stopped, and Philip and the traveller both went down into the water. Philip baptised him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away, and the man did not see him again. The traveller went on his way rejoicing, and Philip was found at Azotus, preaching the good news in the towns until he came to Caesarea.