Acts 7
7
Acts 7
1¶ Then the prince of the priests said, Are these things so?
2And he said, Men, 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 country and from thy kindred and come into the land which I shall show thee.
4Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans and dwelt in Haran; and from there, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, in which ye now dwell.
5And he gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
6And God spoke thus, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into slavery and mistreat them four hundred years.
7And the Gentiles unto whom they shall be in slavery I will judge, said God; and after that they shall 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 begat the twelve patriarchs.
9And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him
10and delivered him out of all his afflictions and gave him grace and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
11Now there came a famine over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great tribulation, and our fathers found no sustenance.
12But when Jacob heard that there was wheat in Egypt, he sent our fathers the first time.
13And in the second Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s lineage was made known unto Pharaoh.
14Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob unto him and all his kindred, seventy-five souls.
15So Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers,
16who were carried over into Shechem and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor of Shechem.
17¶ But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
18until another king arose, who did not know Joseph.
19The same dealt subtly with our kindred and mistreated our fathers so that they exposed their babies to death, to the end that the generation would cease.
20In which time Moses was born and was beautiful to God and was nourished in his father’s house three months;
21and when he was put in danger, Pharaoh’s daughter took him in and nourished him as her own son.
22And Moses was taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in his words and deeds.
23And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the sons of Israel.
24And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and smote the Egyptian, avenging the oppressed;
25for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God was to give them saving health by his hand, but they had not understood.
26And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove and urged them to peace, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
27But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?
28Wilt thou kill me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday?
29Then Moses fled at this word and became a sojourner in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
30¶ And when forty years were expired, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
31When Moses saw it, he wondered at the vision; and as he drew near to consider it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
32 saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled and dared not to behold.
33Then the Lord said to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet; for the place where thou dost stand is holy ground.
34I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
35This Moses, whom they had refused, saying, Who made thee a prince and a judge? the same did God send as prince and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
36He brought them out, showing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.
37This is that Moses, who said unto the sons of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me; him shall ye hear.
38This is he, who was in the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him in the Mount Sinai and with our fathers, who received the oracles of life to give unto us;
39to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
40saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us; for as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
41And then they made a calf and offered sacrifice unto the idol and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42¶ Then God withdrew and gave them up to worship the host of the heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
43On the contrary, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan, 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, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen,
45which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus {Joshua in Heb.} into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers unto the days of David,
46who found grace before God and asked to provide a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
47But Solomon built him a house.
48Howbeit the most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet,
49Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool; what house will ye build me? saith the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?
50Has not my hand made all these things?
51¶ Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do ye.
52Who of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted? and they have slain those who announced before the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have now been the betrayers and murderers,
53who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it.
54¶ When they heard these things, they were divided in their hearts and gnashed on him with their teeth.
55But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly 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.
57And crying out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord;
58and casting him out of the city, they stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
59And they stoned Stephen calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, impute not this sin to their charge. And having said this, he fell asleep in the Lord.
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Acts 7: JUB
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Acts 7
7
Stephen Speaks in His Own Defense
1Then the chief priest asked Stephen, “Is this true?”
2Stephen answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God who reveals his glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia. This happened before Abraham lived in Haran. 3God told him, ‘Leave your land and your relatives. Go to the land that I will show you.’
4“Then Abraham left the country of Chaldea and lived in the city of Haran. After his father died, God made him move from there to this land where we now live.
5“Yet, God didn’t give Abraham anything in this land to call his own, not even a place to rest his feet. But God promised to give this land to him and to his descendants, even though Abraham didn’t have a child. 6God told Abraham that his descendants would be foreigners living in another country and that the people there would make them slaves and mistreat them for 400 years. 7God also told him, ‘I will punish the people whom they will serve. After that, they will leave that country and worship me here.’
8“God gave Abraham circumcision to confirm his promise.#7:8 Or “covenant.” So when Abraham’s son Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac did the same to his son Jacob, and Jacob did the same to his twelve sons (the ancestors of our tribes).
9“Jacob’s sons were jealous of their brother Joseph. They sold him into slavery, and he was taken to Egypt. But God was with Joseph 10and rescued him from all his suffering. When Joseph stood in the presence of Pharaoh (the king of Egypt), God gave Joseph divine favor #7:10 Or “grace.” and wisdom so that he became ruler of Egypt and of Pharaoh’s whole palace. 11Then a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan brought a lot of suffering. Our ancestors couldn’t find any food. 12When Jacob heard that Egypt had food, he sent our ancestors there. That was their first trip. 13On the second trip, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his relatives, 75 people in all. 15So Jacob went to Egypt, and he and our ancestors died there. 16They were taken to Shechem for burial in the tomb that Abraham purchased in Shechem from Hamor’s sons.
17“When the time that God had promised to Abraham had almost come, the number of our people in Egypt had grown very large. 18Then a different king, who knew nothing about Joseph, began to rule in Egypt. 19This king was shrewd in the way he took advantage of our people. He mistreated our ancestors. He made them abandon their newborn babies outdoors, where they would die.
20“At that time Moses was born, and he was a very beautiful child. His parents took care of him for three months. 21When Moses was abandoned outdoors, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her son. 22So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man in what he said and did. 23When he was 40 years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24When he saw an Israelite man being treated unfairly by an Egyptian, he defended the Israelite. He took revenge by killing the Egyptian. 25Moses thought his own people would understand that God was going to use him to give them freedom. But they didn’t understand. 26The next day Moses saw two Israelites fighting, and he tried to make peace between them. He said to them, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you treating each other unfairly?’
27“But one of the men pushed Moses aside. He asked Moses, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge? 28Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29After he said that, Moses quickly left Egypt and lived in Midian as a foreigner. In Midian he fathered two sons.
30“Forty years later, a Messenger appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush in the desert of Mount Sinai. 31Moses was surprised when he saw this. As he went closer to look at the bush, the voice of the Lord said to him, 32‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to tremble and didn’t dare to look at the bush. 33The Lord told him, ‘Take off your sandals. The place where you’re standing is holy ground. 34I’ve seen how my people are mistreated in Egypt. I’ve heard their groaning and have come to rescue them. So now I’m sending you to Egypt.’
35“This is the Moses whom the Israelites rejected by saying, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge?’ This is the one God sent to free them and to rule them with the help of the Messenger who appeared to him in the bush. 36This is the man who led our ancestors out of Egypt. He is the person who did amazing things and worked miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for 40 years. 37This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me.’ 38This is the Moses who was in the assembly in the desert. Our ancestors and the Messenger who spoke to him on Mount Sinai were there with him. Moses received life-giving messages to give to us, 39but our ancestors were not willing to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt. 40They told Aaron, ‘We don’t know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of Egypt. So make gods who will lead us.’ 41That was the time they made a calf. They offered a sacrifice to that false god and delighted in what they had made.
42“So God turned away from them and let them worship the sun, moon, and stars. This is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel? 43You carried along the shrine of Moloch, the star of the god Rephan, and the statues you made for yourselves to worship. I will send you into exile beyond the city of Babylon.’
44“In the desert our ancestors had the tent of God’s promise. Moses built this tent exactly as God had told him. He used the model he had seen. 45After our ancestors received the tent, they brought it into this land. They did this with Joshua’s help when they took possession of the land from the nations that God forced out of our ancestors’ way. This tent remained here until the time of David, 46who won God’s favor. David asked that he might provide a permanent place for the family of Jacob.#7:46 Some manuscripts and translations read “God of Jacob.” 47But Solomon was the one who built a house for God.
48“However, the Most High doesn’t live in a house built by humans, as the prophet says:
49‘The Lord says,
“Heaven is my throne.
The earth is my footstool.
What kind of house are you going to build for me?
Where will I rest?
50Didn’t I make all these things?” ’
51“How stubborn can you be? How can you be so heartless and disobedient? You’re just like your ancestors. They always opposed the Holy Spirit, and so do you! 52Was there ever a prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute? They killed those who predicted that a man with God’s approval would come. You have now become the people who betrayed and murdered that man. 53You are the people who received Moses’ Teachings, which were put into effect by angels. But you haven’t obeyed those teachings.”
Stephen Is Executed
54As council members listened to Stephen, they became noticeably furious. 55But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked into heaven, saw God’s glory, and Jesus in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne. 56So Stephen said, “Look, I see heaven opened and the Son of Man in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the throne!”
57But the council members shouted and refused to listen. Then they rushed at Stephen with one purpose in mind, 58and after they had thrown him out of the city, they began to stone him to death. The witnesses left their coats with a young man named Saul.
59While council members were executing Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, welcome my spirit.” 60Then he knelt down and shouted, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them.” After he had said this, he died.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.