But you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit shall have descended upon you, and shall be witnesses for me not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
This proposal was unanimously agreed to; and the disciples chose Stephen--a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit--and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a former convert to Judaism;
Saul approved of his being put to death. On that very day a great persecution broke out against the Church which was in Jerusalem; and its members, with the exception of the Apostles, were all scattered over the districts of Judea and Samaria.
Meanwhile an angel of the Lord had said to Philip: "Set out on a journey southwards, along the road that runs down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (It is now deserted).