Acts 7

¹And the high priest said, Are these things so?

²And he said, Brethren and fathers, hearken: The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,

³and said unto him, Get thee out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.

⁴Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans, and dwelt in Haran: and from thence, when his father was dead, God removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell:

⁵and he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: and he promised that he would give it to him in possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.

⁶And God spake on this wise, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and that they should bring them into bondage, and treat them ill, four hundred years.

⁷And the nation to which they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.

⁸And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.

⁹And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt: and God was with him,

¹⁰and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

¹¹Now there came a famine over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our fathers the first time.

¹³And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s race became manifest unto Pharaoh.

¹⁴And Joseph sent, and called to him Jacob his father, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

¹⁵And Jacob went down into Egypt; and he died, himself and our fathers;

¹⁶and they were carried over unto Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver of the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷But as the time of the promise drew nigh which God vouchsafed unto Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

¹⁸till there arose another king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.

¹⁹The same dealt craftily with our race, and ill-treated our fathers, that they should cast out their babes to the end they might not live.

²⁰At which season Moses was born, and was exceeding fair; and he was nourished three months in his father’s house:

²¹and when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.

²²And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and works.

²³But when he was well-nigh forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.

²⁴And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, smiting the Egyptian:

²⁵and he supposed that his brethren understood that God by his hand was giving them deliverance; but they understood not.

²⁶And the day following he appeared unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?

²⁷But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?

²⁸Wouldest thou kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday?

²⁹And Moses fled at this saying, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons.

³⁰And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.

³¹And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord,

³²I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not behold.

³³And the Lord said unto him, Loose the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

³⁴I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver them: and now come, I will send thee into Egypt.

³⁵This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? him hath God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush.

³⁶This man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

³⁷This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me.

³⁸This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel that spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received living oracles to give unto us:

³⁹to whom our fathers would not be obedient, but thrust him from them, and turned back in their hearts unto Egypt,

⁴⁰saying unto Aaron, Make us gods that shall go before us: for as for this Moses, who led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.

⁴¹And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did ye offer unto me slain beasts and sacrifices Forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

⁴³And ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of the god Rephan, The figures which ye made to worship them: And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

⁴⁴Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he appointed who spake unto Moses, that he should make it according to the figure that he had seen.

⁴⁵Which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered on the possession of the nations, that God thrust out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;

⁴⁶who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷But Solomon built him a house.

⁴⁸Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands; as saith the prophet,

⁴⁹The heaven is my throne, And the earth the footstool of my feet: What manner of house will ye build me? saith the Lord: Or what is the place of my rest?

⁵⁰Did not my hand make all these things?

⁵¹Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.

⁵²Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers;

⁵³ye who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.

⁵⁴Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

⁵⁶and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

⁵⁷But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord;

⁵⁸and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

⁶⁰And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 7

¹Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

²And Stephen declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

³and told him, ‘Leave your country and your kindred and go to the land I will show you.’

⁴So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God brought him out of that place and into this land where you are now living.

⁵He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a child.

⁶God told him that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

⁷‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come forth and worship Me in this place.’

⁸Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him

¹⁰and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

¹¹Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.

¹²When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit.

¹³On their second visit, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.

¹⁵So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.

¹⁶Their bones were carried back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver.

¹⁷As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.

¹⁸Then another king, who knew nothing of Joseph, arose over Egypt.

¹⁹He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.

²⁰At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God. For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house.

²¹When he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.

²²So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

²³When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.

²⁴And when he saw one of them being mistreated, Moses went to his defense and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian who was oppressing him.

²⁵He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.

²⁶The next day he came upon two Israelites who were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’

²⁷But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?

²⁸Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’

²⁹At this remark, Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he lived as a foreigner and had two sons.

³⁰After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.

³¹When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came to him:

³²‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

³³Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

³⁴I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’

³⁵This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

³⁶He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.

³⁷This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’

³⁸He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.

³⁹But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

⁴⁰They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’

⁴¹At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

⁴³You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

⁴⁴Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.

⁴⁵And our fathers who received it brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations God drove out before them. It remained until the time of David,

⁴⁶who found favor in the sight of God and asked to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built the house for Him.

⁴⁸However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

⁴⁹‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or where will My place of repose be?

⁵⁰Has not My hand made all these things?’

⁵¹You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.

⁵²Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—

⁵³you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”

⁵⁴On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.

⁵⁵But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

⁵⁶“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him.

⁵⁸They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

⁶⁰Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.