An angel of the Lord said to Philip: 'Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert road.' Philip rose and went. There he met a high official — the eunuch treasurer of Candace, the Queen of the Ethiopians — returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in his chariot, reading Isaiah 53: 'As a sheep led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so opens he not his mouth.'
The Spirit said to Philip: 'Go up and join this chariot.' Philip ran beside the chariot. 'Do you understand what you are reading?' The eunuch said: 'How can I, unless someone guides me?' He invited Philip to sit beside him. Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this scripture told him the good news of Jesus. As they went along the road, they came to some water; the eunuch said: 'See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?' He commanded the chariot to stop; they both went down into the water and Philip baptized him. As they came up, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away — and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. Philip was found at Azotus (Ashdod). The episode is the foundational text of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which traces its origin to this eunuch's return — and the earliest scriptural witness to the Church reaching south of the Roman Empire.