Acts 6
6
Seven Leaders Are Chosen
1In those days the number of believers was growing. The Greek Jews complained about the non-Greek Jews. They said that the widows of the Greek Jews were not being taken care of. They weren’t getting their fair share of food each day. 2So the 12 apostles gathered all the believers together. They said, “It wouldn’t be right for us to give up teaching God’s word. And we’d have to stop teaching to wait on tables. 3Brothers and sisters, choose seven of your men. They must be known as men who are wise and full of the Holy Spirit. We will turn this important work over to them. 4Then we can give our attention to prayer and to teaching God’s word.”
5This plan pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen. He was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon and Parmenas were chosen too. The group also chose Nicolas from Antioch. He had accepted the Jewish faith. 6The group brought them to the apostles. Then the apostles prayed and placed their hands on them.
7So God’s word spread. The number of believers in Jerusalem grew quickly. Also, a large number of priests began to obey Jesus’ teachings.
Stephen Is Arrested
8Stephen was full of God’s grace and power. He did great wonders and signs among the people. 9But members of the group called the Synagogue of the Freedmen began to oppose him. Some of them were Jews from Cyrene and Alexandria. Others were Jews from Cilicia and Asia Minor. They all began to argue with Stephen. 10But he was too wise for them. That’s because the Holy Spirit gave Stephen wisdom whenever he spoke.
11Then in secret they talked some men into lying about Stephen. They said, “We heard Stephen speak evil things against Moses and against God.”
12So the people were stirred up. The elders and the teachers of the law were stirred up too. They arrested Stephen and brought him to the Sanhedrin. 13They found witnesses who were willing to tell lies. These liars said, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place. He also speaks against the law. 14We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place. He says Jesus will change the practices that Moses handed down to us.”
15All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked right at Stephen. They saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
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Acts 6: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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The Acts 6
6
Seven Men Are Chosen
1More and more people were becoming followers of Jesus. But during this same time, the Greek-speaking followers had an argument with the other Jewish followers. The Greek-speaking Jews said that their widows were not getting their share of the food that was given out every day. 2The 12 apostles called the whole group of followers together. They said, “It is not right for us to stop our work of teaching God’s word in order to serve tables. 3So, brothers, choose seven of your own men. They must be men who are good. They must be full of wisdom and full of the Spirit. We will put them in charge of this work. 4Then we can use all our time to pray and to teach the word of God.”
5The whole group liked the idea. So they chose these seven men: Stephen (a man with great faith and full of the Holy Spirit), Philip,# Not the apostle named Philip. Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (a man from Antioch who had become a Jew). 6Then they put these men before the apostles. The apostles prayed and laid their hands on# Here, doing this showed that these men were given a special work of God. the men.
7The word of God was reaching more and more people. The group of followers in Jerusalem became larger and larger. A great number of the Jewish priests believed and obeyed.
Stephen Is Arrested
8Stephen was richly blessed by God. God gave him the power to do great miracles and signs among the people. 9But some Jews were against him. They belonged to a synagogue of Free Men# Jews who had been slaves or whose fathers had been slaves, but were now free. (as it was called). (This synagogue was also for Jews from Cyrene and from Alexandria.) Jews from Cilicia and Asia were also with them. They all came and argued with Stephen.
10But the Spirit was helping him to speak with wisdom. His words were so strong that they could not argue with him. 11So they paid some men to say, “We heard him say things against Moses and against God!”
12This upset the people, the Jewish elders, and the teachers of the law. They came to Stephen, grabbed him and brought him to a meeting of the Jewish leaders. 13They brought in some men to tell lies about Stephen. They said, “This man is always saying things against this holy place and the law of Moses. 14We heard him say that Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place. He also said that Jesus will change the things that Moses told us to do.” 15All the people in the meeting were watching Stephen closely. His face looked like the face of an angel.
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