Acts 7
7
1The high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3and said to him, ‘Get out of your land and away from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’#Genesis 12:1 4Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land where you are now living. 5He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when he still had no child. 6God spoke in this way: that his offspring would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve me in this place.’#Genesis 15:13-14 8He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
9“The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him 10and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food. 12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time. 13On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh. 14Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his relatives, seventy-five souls. 15Jacob went down into Egypt and he died, himself and our fathers; 16and they were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor of Shechem.
17“But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18until there arose a different king who didn’t know Joseph. 19The same took advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to abandon their babies, so that they wouldn’t stay alive. 20At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome to God. He was nourished three months in his father’s house. 21When he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up and reared him as her own son. 22Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works. 23But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers,#7:23 The word for “brothers” here and where the context allows may be also correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.” the children of Israel. 24Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian. 25He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they didn’t understand.
26“The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, ‘Sirs, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?’ 27But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’#Exodus 2:14 29Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
30“When forty years were fulfilled, an 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 sight. As he came close to see, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32‘I am the God of your fathers: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’#Exodus 3:6 Moses trembled and dared not look. 33The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.’#Exodus 3:5,7-8,10
35“This Moses whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. 37This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.’#7:37 TR adds “You shall listen to him.”#Deuteronomy 18:15 38This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living revelations to give to us, 39to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, 40saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’#Exodus 32:1 41They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. 42But God turned away and gave them up to serve the army of the sky,#7:42 This idiom could also be translated “host of heaven”, or “angelic beings”, or “heavenly bodies.” as it is written in the book of the prophets,
‘Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices
forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43You took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
the star of your god Rephan,
the figures which you made to worship,
so I will carry you away#Amos 5:25-27 beyond Babylon.’
44“Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen; 45which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations whom God drove out before the face of our fathers to the days of David, 46who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. 47But Solomon built him a house. 48However, the Most High doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says,
49‘heaven is my throne,
and the earth a footstool for my feet.
What kind of house will you build me?’ says the Lord.
‘Or what is the place of my rest?
50Didn’t my hand make all these things?’#Isaiah 66:1-2
51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do. 52Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers. 53You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”
54Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at 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 at the right hand of God!”
57But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord. 58They threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60He kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
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Acts 7: WEBUS
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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.