5 Philip went to the city of Samaria and preached about the Christ.
6 The people there heard Philip and saw the miracles he was doing. They all listened carefully to the things he said.
7 Many of these people had evil spirits in them. But Philip made the evil spirits leave them. The spirits made a loud noise when they came out. There were also many weak and crippled people there. Philip healed them, too.
8 So the people in that city were very happy.
9 But there was a man named Simon in that city. Before Philip came there, Simon had practiced magic. He amazed all the people of Samaria with his magic. He bragged and called himself a great man.
10 All the people—the least important and the most important—paid attention to what Simon said. They said, “This man has the power of God, called ‘the Great Power’!”
11 Simon had amazed them with his magic tricks so long that the people became his followers.