Acts of Emissaries of Yeshua (Act) 7
7
1The cohen hagadol asked, “Are these accusations true?” 2and Stephen said:
“Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to Avraham avinu in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran 3and said to him, ‘Leave your land and your family, and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4So he left the land of the Kasdim and lived in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this land where you are living now. 5He gave him no inheritance in it, not even space for one foot; yet he promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him, even though at the time he was childless. 6What God said to him was, ‘Your descendants will be aliens in a foreign land, where they will be in slavery and oppressed for four hundred years. 7But I will judge the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.’ 8And he gave him b’rit-milah. So he became the father of Yitz’chak and did his b’rit-milah on the eighth day, and Yitz’chak became the father of Ya‘akov, and Ya‘akov became the father of the Twelve Patriarchs.
9“Now the Patriarchs grew jealous of Yosef and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But Adonai was with him; 10he rescued him from all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him chief administrator over Egypt and over all his household. 11Now there came a famine that caused much suffering throughout Egypt and Kena‘an 12But when Ya‘akov heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13The second time, Yosef revealed his identity to his brothers, and Yosef’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14Yosef then sent for his father Ya‘akov and all his relatives, seventy-five people. 15And Ya‘akov went down to Egypt; there he died, as did our other ancestors. 16Their bodies were removed to Sh’khem and buried in the tomb Avraham had bought from the family of Hamor in Sh’khem for a certain sum of money.
17“As the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise God had made to Avraham, the number of our people in Egypt increased greatly, 18until there arose another king over Egypt who had no knowledge of Yosef. 19With cruel cunning this man forced our fathers to put their newborn babies outside their homes, so that they would not survive.
20“It was then that Moshe was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. For three months he was reared in his father’s house; 21and when he was put out of his home, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22So Moshe was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became both a powerful speaker and a man of action.
23“But when he was forty years old, the thought came to him to visit his brothers, the people of Isra’el. 24On seeing one of them being mistreated, he went to his defense and took revenge by striking down the Egyptian. 25He supposed his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn’t understand. 26When he appeared the next day, as they were fighting, and tried to make peace between them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers! Why do you want to hurt each other?’ 27the one who was mistreating his fellow pushed Moshe away and said, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 28Do you want to kill me, the way you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 29On hearing this, Moshe fled the country and became an exile in the land of Midyan, where he had two sons.
30“After forty more years, an angel appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai in the flames of a burning thorn bush. 31When Moshe saw this, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to get a better look, there came the voice of Adonai, 32‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.’ But Moshe trembled with fear and didn’t dare to look. 33Adonai said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34I have clearly seen how My people are being oppressed in Egypt, I have heard their cry, and I have come down to rescue them, and now I will send you to Egypt.’
35“This Moshe, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ is the very one whom God sent as both ruler and ransomer by means of the angel that appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36This man led them out, performing miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37This is the Moshe who said to the people of Isra’el, ‘God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers’ 38This is the man who was in the assembly in the wilderness, accompanied by the angel that had spoken to him at Mount Sinai and by our fathers, the man who was given living words to pass on to us.
39“But our fathers did not want to obey him. On the contrary, they rejected him and in their hearts turned to Egypt, 40saying to Aharon, ‘Make us some gods to lead us; because this Moshe, who led us out of Egypt — we don’t know what has become of him.’ 41That was when they made an idol in the shape of a calf and offered a sacrifice to it and held a celebration in honor of what they had made with their own hands. 42So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars — as has been written in the book of the prophets,
‘People of Isra’el, it was not to me
that you offered slaughtered animals
and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness!
43No, you carried the tent of Molekh
and the star of your god Reifan,
the idols you made so that you could worship them.
Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Bavel.’
44“Our fathers had the Tent of Witness in the wilderness. It had been made just as God, who spoke to Moshe, had ordered it made, according to the pattern Moshe had seen. 45Later on, our fathers who had received it brought it in with Y’hoshua when they took the Land away from the nations that God drove out before them.
“So it was until the days of David. 46He enjoyed God’s favor and asked if he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Ya‘akov 47and Shlomo did build him a house. 48But Ha‘Elyon does not live in places made by hand! As the prophet says,
49‘Heaven is my throne,’ says Adonai,
‘and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house could you build for me?
What kind of place could you devise for my rest?
50Didn’t I myself make all these things?’
51“Stiffnecked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You continually oppose the Ruach HaKodesh! You do the same things your fathers did! 52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who told in advance about the coming of the Tzaddik, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers! — 53you! — who receive the Torah as having been delivered by angels — but do not keep it!”
54On hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts and ground their teeth at him. 55But he, full of the Ruach HaKodesh, looked up to heaven and saw God’s Sh’khinah, with Yeshua standing at the right hand of God. 56“Look!” he exclaimed, “I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57At this, they began yelling at the top of their voices, so that they wouldn’t have to hear him; and with one accord, they rushed at him, 58threw him outside the city and began stoning him. And the witnesses laid down their coats at the feet of a young man named Sha’ul.
59As they were stoning him, Stephen called out to God, “Lord Yeshua! Receive my spirit!” 60Then he kneeled down and shouted out, “Lord! Don’t hold this sin against them!” With that, he died;
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Acts of Emissaries of Yeshua (Act) 7: CJB
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7
Stephen’s Sermon
1“Are these things true?” the high priest asked.
2“Brothers and fathers,” he replied, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,#Gn 11:31; 15:7; Ps 29:3; Ac 22:1; 1Co 2:8 3and said to him: Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.#7:3Gn 12:1#Gn 12:1
4“Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land in which you are now living.#Gn 11:31; 12:4–5 5He didn’t give him an inheritance in it — not even a foot of ground — but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him,#Gn 12:7; 13:15; 15:18; 17:8; Gl 3:16; Heb 8:8–9 even though he was childless. 6God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for four hundred years. 7I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship me in this place.#7:6–7Gn 15:13–14#Gn 15:13–14; Ex 3:12; 12:40 8And so he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised#Gn 17:9–11; 21:2–4 him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.#Gn 25:26; 29:31; 30:5; 35:23
The Patriarchs in Egypt
9“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him#Gn 37:11,28; 39:2,21; 45:4; Ps 105:17 10and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household.#Gn 41:37–43; 42:6; Ps 105:21 11Now a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan,#Gn 41:54; 42:5 and our ancestors could find no food. 12When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time. 13The second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all,#Gn 45:1–4,9–10,16,27; 46:26–27; Ex 1:5; Dt 10:22 15and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there,#Gn 46:5; 49:33; Ex 1:6 16were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.#Gn 23:16; 33:19; 50:13; Ex 13:19; Jos 24:32
Moses, a Rejected Savior
17“As the time was approaching to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt#Gn 15:13; Ex 1:7; Ps 105:24 18until a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt.#7:18 Other mss omit over Egypt 19He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them abandon their infants outside so that they wouldn’t survive.#Ex 1:8–10,22; Ps 105:25 20At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home for three months. 21When he was put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son.#Ex 2:2–10; Heb 11:23 22So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.#1Kg 4:30; Is 19:11; Lk 24:19
23“When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. 25He assumed his people would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. 26The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other? ’ #Ex 2:11–14; Heb 11:24–26
27“But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying: Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? 28Do you want to kill me, the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?#7:27–28Ex 2:14#Ex 2:14; Lk 12:14; Ac 7:35
29“When he heard this, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.#Ex 2:15,22; 18:3–4 30After forty years had passed, an angel#7:30 Other mss add of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. 31When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came: 32I am the God of your ancestors — the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.#7:32Ex 3:6,15#Ex 3:6; Mt 22:32; Mk 12:26; Lk 20:37 Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.
33“The Lord said to him: Take off the sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt.#7:33–34Ex 3:5,7–8,10#Ex 3:5,7–8,10
35“This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?#7:35Ex 2:14 — this one God sent as a ruler and a deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.#Ex 14:19; Nm 20:16 36This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt,#Ex 12:41; 33:1; Heb 8:9 at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.#Ex 14:21; 16:35; Nm 14:33; Ps 95:10; Ac 13:18
Israel’s Rebellion against God
37“This is the Moses who said to the Israelites: God#7:37 Other mss read The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.#7:37Dt 18:15#Dt 18:15; Ac 3:22 38He is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors.#Ex 19:17; Is 63:9; Ac 7:53 He received living oracles to give to us.#Dt 5:27; 32:47; Jn 1:17; Rm 3:2; Heb 4:12; 5:12; 1Pt 4:11 39Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.#Ex 16:3; Nm 11:4; 14:3–4; Ezk 20:8,24 40They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.#7:40Ex 32:1,23#Ex 32:1,23 41They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made.#Dt 9:16; Ps 106:19–20; Rv 9:20 42God turned away#Jos 24:20; Is 63:10 and gave them up to worship#Dt 4:19; 2Kg 21:3; Jr 19:13; Zph 1:5 the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
House of Israel, did you bring me offerings and sacrifices
for forty years in the wilderness?
43 You took up the tent of Moloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship.
So I will send you into exile beyond Babylon. # 7:42–43 Am 5:25–27 #
1Kg 11:7; Am 5:25–27; Ac 7:36
God’s Real Tabernacle
44“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.#Ex 25:8–9,40; 38:21; Heb 8:5 45Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them,#Jos 3:14; 18:1; 23:9; 24:18; Ps 44:2 until the days of David. 46He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God#7:46 Other mss read house of Jacob.#2Sm 7:1,8; 1Ch 22:7; Ps 89:19; 132:5 47It was Solomon, rather, who built him a house,#1Kg 6:1–2; 8:17–20; 2Ch 3:1 48but the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says:#1Kg 8:27; 2Ch 2:6
49 Heaven is my throne,
and the earth my footstool.
What sort of house will you build for me?
says the Lord,
or what will be my resting place?
50 Did not my hand make all these things? # 7:49–50 Is 66:1–2 #
Is 66:1–2; Mt 5:34–35
Resisting the Holy Spirit
51“You stiff-necked#Ex 32:9; Dt 10:16; Heb 3:13 people with uncircumcised hearts and ears!#Lv 26:41; Jr 4:4; 6:10; 9:26 You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also. 52Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?#2Ch 36:16; Mt 5:12; 21:35; 23:31,37; 1Th 2:15 They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers#Ac 3:14; 5:28 you have now become. 53You received the law under the direction of angels#Ac 7:38; Gl 3:19; Heb 2:2 and yet have not kept it.”
The First Christian Martyr
54When they heard these things, they were enraged#7:54 Or were cut to the quick and gnashed their teeth at him. 55Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.#Jn 12:41; Ac 6:5 56He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” #Mt 3:16; Jn 1:51
57They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. 58They dragged him out of the city and began to stone#Lv 24:14–16; Dt 13:9; Heb 13:12 him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.#Ac 8:1; 22:20 59While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” #Ps 31:5; Lk 23:46; Ac 9:14 60He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice,#Mt 5:44; Lk 22:41; 23:34; Ac 9:40 “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he fell asleep.#Jn 11:11; 1Co 11:30; 1Th 4:13–15
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