Acts

Stephen’s Address: The Call of Abraham

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.

Joseph Sold into Egypt

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 tohis brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh.

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

Israel Oppressed in Egypt

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

16Their bones were carried backto 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.

The Birth and Adoption of Moses

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.

The Rejection and Flight of Moses

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.

The Call of Moses

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 angelwho 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.

The Rebellion of Israel

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 offeringsforty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

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

The Tabernacle of the Testimony

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 throneand 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.”

The Stoning of Stephen

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.

1And the chief priest said, 'Are then these things so?'

2and he said, 'Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken: The God of the glory did appear to our father Abraham, being in Mesopotamia, before his dwelling in Haran,

3and He said to him, Go forth out of thy land, and out of thy kindred, and come to a land that I shall shew thee.

4'Then having come forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelt in Haran, and from thence, after the death of his father, He did remove him to this land wherein ye now dwell,

5and He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a footstep, and did promise to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him — he having no child.

6'And God spake thus, That his seed shall be sojourning in a strange land, and they shall cause it to serve, and shall do it evil four hundred years,

7and the nation whom they shall serve I will judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and shall do Me service in this place.

8'And He gave to him a covenant of circumcision, and so he begat Isaac, and did circumcise him on the eighth day, and Isaac [begat] Jacob, and Jacob — the twelve patriarchs;

9and the patriarchs, having been moved with jealousy, sold Joseph to Egypt, and God was with him,

10and did deliver him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favour and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he did set him — governor over Egypt and all his house.

11'And there came a dearth upon all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great tribulation, and our fathers were not finding sustenance,

12and Jacob having heard that there was corn in Egypt, sent forth our fathers a first time;

13and at the second time was Joseph made known to his brethren, and Joseph's kindred became manifest to Pharaoh,

14and Joseph having sent, did call for his father Jacob, and all his kindred — with seventy and five souls —

15and Jacob went down to Egypt, and died, himself and our fathers,

16and they were carried over into Sychem, and were laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in money from the sons of Emmor, of Sychem.

17'And according as the time of the promise was drawing nigh, which God did swear to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

18till another king rose, who had not known Joseph;

19this one, having dealt subtilely with our kindred, did evil to our fathers, causing to expose their babes, that they might not live;

20in which time Moses was born, and he was fair to God, and he was brought up three months in the house of his father;

21and he having been exposed, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up, and did rear him to herself for a son;

22and Moses was taught in all wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in words and in works.

23'And when forty years were fulfilled to him, it came upon his heart to look after his brethren, the sons of Israel;

24and having seen a certain one suffering injustice, he did defend, and did justice to the oppressed, having smitten the Egyptian;

25and he was supposing his brethren to understand that God through his hand doth give salvation; and they did not understand.

26'On the succeeding day, also, he shewed himself to them as they are striving, and urged them to peace, saying, Men, brethren are ye, wherefore do ye injustice to one another?

27and he who is doing injustice to the neighbour, did thrust him away, saying, Who set thee a ruler and a judge over us?

28to kill me dost thou wish, as thou didst kill yesterday the Egyptian?

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

30and forty years having been fulfilled, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai a messenger of the Lord, in a flame of fire of a bush,

31and Moses having seen did wonder at the sight; and he drawing near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord unto him,

32I [am] the God of thy fathers; the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 'And Moses having become terrified, durst not behold,

33and the Lord said to him, Loose the sandal of thy feet, for the place in which thou hast stood is holy ground;

34seeing I have seen the affliction of My people that [is] in Egypt, and their groaning I did hear, and came down to deliver them; and now come, I will send thee to Egypt.

35'This Moses, whom they did refuse, saying, Who did set thee a ruler and a judge? this one God a ruler and a redeemer did send, in the hand of a messenger who appeared to him in the bush;

36this one did bring them forth, having done wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years;

37this is the Moses who did say to the sons of Israel: A prophet to you shall the Lord your God raise up out of your brethren, like to me, him shall ye hear.

38'This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the messenger who is speaking to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers who did receive the living oracles to give to us;

39to whom our fathers did not wish to become obedient, but did thrust away, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,

40saying to Aaron, Make to us gods who shall go on before us, for this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we have not known what hath happened to him.

41'And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands,

42and God did turn, and did give them up to do service to the host of the heaven, according as it hath been written in the scroll of the prophets: Slain beasts and sacrifices did ye offer to Me forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

43and ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan — the figures that ye made to bow before them, and I will remove your dwelling beyond Babylon.

44'The tabernacle of the testimony was among our fathers in the wilderness, according as He did direct, who is speaking to Moses, to make it according to the figure that he had seen;

45which also our fathers having in succession received, did bring in with Joshua, into the possession of the nations whom God did drive out from the presence of our fathers, till the days of David,

46who found favour before God, and requested to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob;

47and Solomon built Him an house.

48'But the Most High in sanctuaries made with hands doth not dwell, according as the prophet saith:

49The heaven [is] My throne, and the earth My footstool; what house will ye build to Me? saith the Lord, or what [is] the place of My rest?

50hath not My hand made all these things?

51'Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears! ye do always the Holy Spirit resist; as your fathers — also ye;

52which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed those who declared before about the coming of the Righteous One, of whom now ye betrayers and murderers have become,

53who received the law by arrangement of messengers, and did not keep [it].'

54And hearing these things, they were cut to the hearts, and did gnash the teeth at him;

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

56and he said, 'Lo, I see the heavens having been opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.'

57And they, having cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and did rush with one accord upon him,

58and having cast him forth outside of the city, they were stoning [him] — and the witnesses did put down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul —

59and they were stoning Stephen, calling and saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;'

60and having bowed the knees, he cried with a loud voice, 'Lord, mayest thou not lay to them this sin;' and this having said, he fell asleep.