Acts 7
7
Stephen’s Defense
1Now the #7:1 Probably Caiaphas. See 4:6.high priest asked [Stephen], “Are these charges true?”
2And he answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory [the Shekinah, the radiance of God] appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, [Gen 11:31; 15:7; Ps 29:3] 3and He said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.’ [Gen 12:1] 4Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God sent him to this country in which you now live. [Gen 11:31; 12:5; 15:7] 5But He did not give him inheritable property, not even enough ground to take a step on, yet He promised that He would give it to Him as a possession, and to his descendants after him. [Gen 12:7; 17:8; Deut 2:5] 6And this is, in effect, what God spoke [to him]: That his descendants would be aliens (strangers) in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7‘And I will judge any nation to whom they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me [in worship] in this place.’ [Gen 15:13, 14; Ex 3:12] 8And God gave Abraham a covenant [a formal agreement to be strictly observed] of [which] circumcision [was the sign]; and so [under these circumstances] Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [became the father] of #7:8 Jacob’s name was changed to Israel (Gen 32:28).Jacob, and Jacob [became the father] of the #7:8 Ancestral fathers of the twelve tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.twelve patriarchs. [Gen 17:10-14; 21:2-4; 25:26; 29:31-35; 30:1-24; 35:16-26]
9“The [ten elder] patriarchs, overwhelmed with jealousy, sold [their younger brother] Joseph into [slavery in] Egypt; but God was with him, [Gen 37:11, 28; 45:4] 10and He rescued him from all his suffering, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made Joseph governor over Egypt and over his entire household. [Gen 39:2, 3, 21; 41:40-46; Ps 105:21]
11“Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great distress and our fathers could not find food [for their households and livestock]. [Gen 41:54, 55; 42:5] 12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. [Gen 42:2] 13And on the second visit Joseph identified himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family and background were revealed to Pharaoh. [Gen 45:1-4] 14Then Joseph sent and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all. [Gen 45:9, 10] 15And Jacob (Israel) went down into Egypt, and #7:15 Jacob was buried in Abraham’s tomb at Machpelah in Canaan.there he died, as did our fathers; [Gen 49:33] 16and [from Egypt] #7:16 Lit they, i.e. the bodies of Joseph and his brothers.their bodies were taken back to Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. [Gen 50:13; Josh 24:32]
17“But as the time [for the fulfillment] of the promise which God had made to Abraham was approaching, the [Hebrew] people increased and multiplied in Egypt, [Deut 10:22] 18until [the time when] there arose another king over egypt who did not know joseph [nor his history and the merit of his service to Egypt]. [Ex 1:7, 8] 19He shrewdly exploited our race and mistreated our fathers, forcing them to expose their [male] babies so that they would die. [Ex 1:7-11, 15-22] 20It was at this [critical] time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and for three months he was nourished in his father’s house. [Ex 2:2] 21Then when he was set outside [to die], Pharaoh’s daughter rescued him and claimed him for herself, and cared for him as her own son. [Ex 2:5, 6, 10] 22So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds. 23But when he reached the age of forty, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. 24And when he saw one [of them] being treated unfairly, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking and killing the Egyptian. 25He expected his countrymen to understand that God was granting them freedom through him [assuming that they would accept him], but they did not understand. 26Then on the next day he suddenly appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong one another?’ 27But the man who was injuring his neighbor pushed Moses away, saying, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? 28Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29At this remark Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons. [Ex 2:11-15, 22; 18:3, 4]
30“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount #7:30 Horeb is the range of mountains of which Sinai is a peak (Ex 3:1).Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. 31When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; but as he went near to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came [to him, saying]: 32‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. 33Then the Lord said to him, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground [worthy of reverence and respect]. 34I have most certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, and I will send you to Egypt [as My messenger].’ [Ex 3:1-10]
35“This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the very one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer, with the [protecting and helping] hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. [Ex 2:14] 36This man led them out [of Egypt] after performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. [Ex 7:3; 14:21; Num 14:33] 37This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet #7:37 Or as He raised up me.like me from your countrymen.’ [Deut 18:15, 18] 38This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles [divine words that still live] to be handed down to you. [Ex 19] 39Our fathers were unwilling to be subject to him [and refused to listen to him]. They rejected him, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. [Num 14:3, 4] 40They said to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ [Ex 32:1, 23] 41In those days they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced and celebrated over the works of their hands. [Ex 32:4, 6] 42But God turned away [from them] and handed them over to serve the #7:42 A mythological group of gods represented by the heavenly bodies and constellations.host of heaven. As it is written and forever remains written in the book of the prophets, ‘It was not [really] to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel? [Jer 19:13] 43You also took along the tabernacle (portable temple) of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship; and I will remove you beyond Babylon [carrying you away into exile].’ [Amos 5:25-27]
44“Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as God directed Moses to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. [Ex 25:9-40] 45Our fathers also brought it in [with them into the land] with Joshua when they dispossessed the #7:45 Or Gentiles.nations whom God drove out before our fathers, [and so it remained here] until the time of David, [Deut 32:49; Josh 3:14-17] 46who found favor (grace, spiritual blessing) in the sight of God and asked that he might [be allowed to] find a dwelling place for the #7:46 The earliest mss read house instead of “God”; the Septuagint reads God.God of Jacob. [2 Sam 7:8-16; Ps 132:1-5] 47But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. [1 Kin 6] 48However, the Most High [the One infinitely exalted above humanity] does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet [Isaiah] says, [1 Kin 8:27]
49‘Heaven is My throne,
And the earth is the footstool for My feet;
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My rest?
50‘Was it not My hand that made all these things?’ [Is 66:1, 2]
51“You stiff-necked and stubborn people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. You are doing just as your fathers did. [Ex 33:3, 5; Num 27:14; Is 63:10; Jer 6:10; 9:26] 52Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53you who received the law as ordained and delivered to you by angels, and yet you did not obey it!”
Stephen Put to Death
54Now when #7:54 This would include the members of the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) and those witnessing the proceedings.they heard this [accusation and understood its implication], they were cut to the heart, and they began grinding their teeth [in rage] at him. 55But he, being full of the Holy Spirit and led by Him, gazed into heaven and saw the glory [the great splendor and majesty] of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56and he said, “Look! I see the heavens opened up [in welcome] and #7:56 The vision acknowledged Stephen’s right standing with God.the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and together rushed at him [considering him guilty of blasphemy]. 58Then they drove him out of the city and began stoning him; and the witnesses placed their outer robes at the feet of a young man named #7:58 At this time Saul (later known as the apostle Paul) was an active and devoted Pharisee.Saul. [Acts 22:20] 59They continued stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive and accept and welcome my spirit!” 60Then falling on his knees [in worship], he cried out loudly, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them [do not charge them]!” When he had said this, he fell asleep [in death].
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Acts 7
7
Stephen’s Address: The Call of Abraham
1Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2And he said, #Acts 22:1“Brethren and fathers, listen: The #Ps. 29:3; 1 Cor. 2:8God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in #Gen. 11:31, 32Haran, 3and said to him, #Gen. 12:1‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4Then #Gen. 11:31; 15:7; Heb. 11:8–10he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was #Gen. 11:32dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. 5And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, #Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 15:3, 18; 17:8; 26:3He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6But God spoke in this way: #Gen. 15:13, 14, 16; 47:11, 12that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into #Ex. 1:8–14; 12:40, 41; Gal. 3:17bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7#Gen. 15:14‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will #Ex. 14:13–31judge,’ said God, #Ex. 3:12; Josh. 3:1–17‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ 8#Gen. 17:9–14Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; #Gen. 21:1–5and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; #Gen. 25:21–26and Isaac begot Jacob, and #Gen. 29:31—30:24; 35:18, 22–26Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.
The Patriarchs in Egypt
9#Gen. 37:4, 11, 28; Ps. 105:17“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, #Gen. 37:28sold Joseph into Egypt. #Gen. 39:2, 21, 23But God was with him 10and delivered him out of all his troubles, #Gen. 41:38–44and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11#Gen. 41:54; 42:5Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12#Gen. 42:1, 2But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13And the #Gen. 45:4, 16second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. 14#Gen. 45:9, 27Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and #Gen. 46:26, 27; Deut. 10:22all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. 15#Gen. 46:1–7So Jacob went down to Egypt; #Gen. 49:33; Ex. 1:6and he died, he and our fathers. 16And #Gen. 50:13; Ex. 13:19; Josh. 24:32they were carried back to Shechem and laid in #Gen. 23:16the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
God Delivers Israel by Moses
17“But when #Gen. 15:13; Ex. 2:23–25; Acts 7:6, 7the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, #Ex. 1:7–9; Ps. 105:24, 25the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18till another king #Ex. 1:8arose who did not know Joseph. 19This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, #Ex. 1:22making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. 20#Ex. 2:1, 2At this time Moses was born, and #Heb. 11:23was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. 21But #Ex. 2:3, 4when he was set out, #Ex. 2:5–10Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. 22And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was #Luke 24:19mighty in words and deeds.
23#Ex. 2:11, 12; Heb. 11:24–26“Now when he was 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 and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ 27But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, #Ex. 2:14; Luke 12:14; Acts 7:35‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29#Heb. 11:27Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he #Ex. 2:15, 21, 22; 4:20; 18:3had two sons.
30#Ex. 3:1–10; Is. 63:9“And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32saying, #Ex. 3:6, 15; (Matt. 22:32); Heb. 11:16‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 33#Ex. 3:5, 7, 8, 10‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34I have surely #Ex. 2:24, 25seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will #Ps. 105:26send you to Egypt.” ’
35“This Moses whom they rejected, saying, #Ex. 2:14; Acts 7:27‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer #Ex. 14:21by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36#Ex. 12:41; 33:1; Deut. 6:21, 23; Heb. 8:9He brought them out, after he had #Ex. 7:8, 9; Deut. 6:22; Ps. 105:27; John 4:48shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, #Ex. 14:21and in the Red Sea, #Ex. 16:1, 35; Num. 14:33; Ps. 95:8–10; Acts 7:42; 13:18; Heb. 3:8and in the wilderness forty years.
Israel Rebels Against God
37“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, #Deut. 18:15, 18, 19; Acts 3:22‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. #Matt. 17:5Him you shall hear.’
38#Ex. 19:3“This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with #Is. 63:9; Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, #Ex. 21:1; Deut. 5:27; John 1:17the one who received the living #Rom. 3:2; Heb. 5:12; 1 Pet. 4:11oracles to give to us, 39whom our fathers #Ps. 95:8–11would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40#Ex. 32:1, 23saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41#Ex. 32:2–4; Deut. 9:16; Ps. 106:19And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and #Ex. 32:6, 18, 19rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42Then #Ps. 81:12; (2 Thess. 2:11)God turned and gave them up to worship #Deut. 4:19; 2 Kin. 21:3the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
#Amos 5:25–27‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness,
O house of Israel?
43You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
And the star of your god Remphan,
Images which you made to worship;
And #2 Chr. 36:11–21; Jer. 25:9–12I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
God’s True Tabernacle
44“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses #Ex. 25:40; (Heb. 8:5)to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45#Deut. 32:49; Josh. 3:14; 18:1; 23:9which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, #Neh. 9:24; Ps. 44:2whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the #2 Sam. 6:2–15days of David, 46#2 Sam. 7:1–13; 1 Kin. 8:17who found favor before God and #1 Chr. 22:7; Ps. 132:4, 5asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47#1 Kin. 6:1–38; 8:20, 21; 2 Chr. 3:1–17But Solomon built Him a house.
48“However, #1 Kin. 8:27; 2 Chr. 2:6; Acts 17:24the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
49‘Heaven#Is. 66:1, 2; Matt. 5:34 is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of My rest?
50Has My hand not #Ps. 102:25made all these things?’
Israel Resists the Holy Spirit
51“You #Ex. 32:9; Is. 6:10stiff-necked and #Lev. 26:41uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52#2 Chr. 36:16; Matt. 21:35; 23:35; 1 Thess. 2:15Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of #Acts 3:14; 22:14; 1 John 2:1the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53#Ex. 20:1; Deut. 33:2; Acts 7:38; Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
Stephen the Martyr
54#Acts 5:33When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55But he, #Matt. 5:8; 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27; Acts 6:5being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the #(Ex. 24:17)glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56and said, “Look! #Matt. 3:16I see the heavens opened and the #Dan. 7:13Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And #Acts 22:20the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, #Ps. 31:5receive my spirit.” 60Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, #Matt. 5:44; Luke 23:34“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.