Acts 7
7
Stephen's Speech
1The high priest asked Stephen, “Are they telling the truth about you?”
2 #
Gn 12.1. Stephen answered:
Friends, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he had moved to Haran. 3God told him, “Leave your country and your relatives and go to a land that I will show you.” 4#Gn 11.31; Gn 12.4,5. Then Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran.
After his father died, Abraham came and settled in this land where you now live. 5#Gn 12.7; 13.15; 15.18; 17.8. God didn't give him any part of it, not even a square meter. But God did promise to give it to him and his family forever, even though Abraham didn't have any children. 6#Gn 15.13-15. God said Abraham's descendants would live for a while in a foreign land. There they would be slaves and would be mistreated 400 years. 7#Ex 3.12. But he also said, “I will punish the nation that makes them slaves. Then later they will come and worship me in this place.”
8 #
Gn 17.10-14;
Gn 21.2-4;
Gn 25.26;
Gn 29.31—35.18. God said to Abraham, “Every son in each family must be circumcised to show you have kept your agreement with me.” So when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. Later, Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons. 9#Gn 37.11; Gn 37.28; Gn 39.2,3,21. These men were our ancestors.
Joseph was also one of our famous ancestors. His brothers were jealous of him and sold him as a slave to be taken to Egypt. But God was with him 10#Gn 41.39-41. and rescued him from all his troubles. God made him so wise that the Egyptian king Pharaoh thought highly of him. The king even made Joseph governor over Egypt and put him in charge of everything he owned.
11 #
Gn 42.1,2. Everywhere in Egypt and Canaan the grain crops failed. There was terrible suffering, and our ancestors could not find enough to eat. 12But when Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there for the first time. 13#Gn 45.1; Gn 45.16. It was on their second trip that Joseph told his brothers who he was, and the king learned about Joseph's family.
14 #
Gn 45.9,10,17,18; Gn 46.27 (LXX). Joseph sent for his father and his relatives. In all, there were 75 of them. 15#Gn 46.1-7; Gn 49.33. His father went to Egypt and died there, just as our ancestors did. 16#Gn 23.3-18; 33.19; 50.7-13; Js 24.32. Later their bodies were taken back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor.
17 #
Ex 1.7,8. Finally, the time came for God to do what he had promised Abraham. By then the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18Another king was ruling Egypt, and he didn't know anything about Joseph. 19#Ex 1.10,11; Ex 1.22. He tricked our ancestors and was cruel to them. He even made them leave their babies outside, so they would die.
20 #
Ex 2.2. During this time Moses was born. He was a very beautiful child, and for three months his parents took care of him in their home. 21#Ex 2.3-10. Then when they were forced to leave him outside, the king's daughter found him and raised him as her own son. 22Moses was given the best education in Egypt. He was a strong man and a powerful speaker.
23 #
Ex 2.11-15. When Moses was 40 years old, he wanted to help the Israelites because they were his own people. 24One day he saw an Egyptian mistreating one of them. So he rescued the man and killed the Egyptian. 25Moses thought the rest of his people would realize God was going to use him to set them free. But they didn't understand.
26The next day Moses saw two of his own people fighting, and he tried to make them stop. He said, “Men, you are both Israelites. Why are you so cruel to each other?”
27But the man who had started the fight pushed Moses aside and asked, “Who made you our ruler and judge? 28Are you going to kill me, just as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?” 29#Ex 18.2-4. When Moses heard this, he ran away to live in the country of Midian. His two sons were born there.
30 #
Ex 3.1-10. Forty years later, an angel appeared to Moses from a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31Moses was surprised by what he saw. He went closer to get a better look, and the Lord said, 32“I am the God who was worshiped by your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Moses started shaking all over and didn't dare to look at the bush.
33The Lord said to him, “Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy. 34With my own eyes I have seen the suffering of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now I am sending you back to Egypt.”
35 #
Ex 2.14. This was the same Moses that the people rejected by saying, “Who made you our leader and judge?” God's angel had spoken to Moses from the bush. And God had even sent the angel to help Moses rescue the people and be their leader.
36 #
Ex 7.3,4;
Ex 14.21;
Nu 14.33. In Egypt and at the Red Sea#7.36 Red Sea: This name comes from the Bible of the early Christians, a translation made into Greek about 200 b.c. It refers to the body of water that the Israelites crossed and was one of the marshes or fresh water lakes near the eastern part of the Nile Delta, where they lived and where the towns of Exodus 13.17—14.9 were located. and in the desert, Moses rescued the people by working miracles and wonders for 40 years. 37#Dt 18.15,18. Moses is the one who told the people of Israel, “God will choose one of your people to be a prophet, just as he chose me.” 38#Ex 19.1—20.17; Dt 5.1-33. Moses brought our people together in the desert, and the angel spoke to him on Mount Sinai. There he was given these life-giving words to pass on to us. 39But our ancestors refused to obey Moses. They rejected him and wanted to go back to Egypt.
40 #
Ex 32.1. The people said to Aaron, “Make some gods to lead us! Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don't know what's happened to him now.” 41#Ex 32.2-6. Then they made an idol in the shape of a calf. They offered sacrifices to the idol and were pleased with what they had done.
42 # Am 5.25-27 (LXX). God turned his back on his people and left them. Then they worshiped the stars in the sky, just as it says in the Book of the Prophets, “People of Israel, you didn't offer sacrifices and offerings to me during those 40 years in the desert. 43Instead, you carried the tent where the god Molech is worshiped, and you took along the star of your god Rephan. You made those idols and worshiped them. So now I will have you carried off beyond Babylonia.”
44 #
Ex 25.9,40. The tent where our ancestors worshiped God was with them in the desert. This was the same tent that God had commanded Moses to make. And it was made like the model that Moses had seen. 45#Js 3.14-17. Later it was given to our ancestors, and they took it with them when they went with Joshua. They carried the tent along as they took over the land from those people that God had chased out for them. Our ancestors used this tent until the time of King David. 46#2 S 7.1-16; 1 Ch 17.1-14. He pleased God and asked him if he could build a house of worship for the people#7.46 people: Some manuscripts have “God.” of Israel. 47#1 K 6.1-38; 2 Ch 3.1-17. And it was finally King Solomon who built a house for God.#7.47 God: Or “the people.”
48But the Most High God doesn't live in houses made by humans. It is just as the prophet said, when he spoke for the Lord,
49 #
Is 66.1,2. “Heaven is my throne,
and the earth
is my footstool.
What kind of house
will you build for me?
In what place will I rest?
50I have made everything.”
51 #
Is 63.10. You stubborn and hardheaded people! You are always fighting against the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors did. 52Is there one prophet that your ancestors didn't mistreat? They killed the prophets who told about the coming of the One Who Obeys God.#7.52 One Who Obeys God: That is, Jesus. And now you have turned against him and killed him. 53Angels gave you God's Law, but you still don't obey it.
Stephen Is Stoned to Death
54When the council members heard Stephen's speech, they were angry and furious. 55#3 Macc 6.6. But Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked toward heaven, where he saw our glorious God and Jesus standing at his right side.#7.55 standing at his right side: The “right side” is the place of honor and power. “Standing” may mean that Jesus is welcoming Stephen (see verse 59). 56Then Stephen said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!”
57The council members shouted and covered their ears. At once they all attacked Stephen 58and dragged him out of the city. Then they started throwing stones at him. The men who had brought charges against him put their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.#7.58 Saul: Better known as Paul, who became a famous follower of Jesus.
59As Stephen was being stoned to death, he called out, “Lord Jesus, please welcome me!” 60He knelt down and shouted, “Lord, don't blame them for what they have done.” Then he died.
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Acts 7: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Ma`asei (Acts) 7
7
1And the high priest said, “Is this so?”
2And he replied, “Men, brothers and fathers, listen: The Elohim of esteem appeared to our father Aḇraham when he was in Aram Naharayim, before he dwelt in Ḥaran,
3and said to him, ‘Come out of your land and from your relatives, and come here, into a land that I shall show you.’# Gen. 12:1
4“Then he came out of the land of the Kasdim and dwelt in Ḥaran. And from there, after the death of his father, He removed him to this land in which you now dwell.
5“And He gave him no inheritance in it, not a foot of it.# Deu. 2:5 But He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him,# Gen. 12:7; Gen. 17:8#See also Gen. 13:15; Gen. 15:4; Gen. 15:7; Gen. 15:18-21; Gen. 24:7; Gen. 48:4 when as yet he had no child.
6“And Elohim spoke in this way: that his seed would be sojourning in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.# Gen. 15:13
7‘And the nation to whom they shall be enslaved, I shall judge,’# Gen. 15:13 said Elohim, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’# Gen. 15:14; Exo. 3:12
8“And He gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so he brought forth Yitsḥaq and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Yitsḥaq brought forth Ya‛aqoḇ, and Ya‛aqoḇ brought forth the twelve ancestors.
9“And the ancestors, becoming jealous, sold Yosĕph into Mitsrayim. But Elohim was with him,# Gen. 37:11; Gen. 37:28; Gen. 39:2; Gen. 39:21
10and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour# Gen. 39:21 and wisdom before Pharaoh, sovereign of Mitsrayim. And he appointed him governor over Mitsrayim and all his house.# Gen. 41:37-46
11“Then a scarcity of food and great distress came over all the land of Mitsrayim and Kena’an,# Gen. 41:54; Gen. 42:5 and our fathers found no food.
12“But Ya‛aqoḇ heard that there was grain in Mitsrayim,# Gen. 42:2 and he sent out our fathers the first time,
13and at the second time Yosĕph was made known to his brothers, and Yosĕph’s race became known to the Pharaoh.
14“And Yosĕph sent and called his father Ya‛aqoḇ and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people.
15“And Ya‛aqoḇ went down to Mitsrayim, and died, he and our fathers,# Gen. 46:5; Gen. 49:33; Exo. 1:6
16and they were brought over to Sheḵem and laid in the tomb that Aḇraham bought for a price of silver from the sons of Ḥamor, the father of Sheḵem.
17“But as the time of the promise drew near which Elohim had sworn to Aḇraham, the people increased and multiplied in Mitsrayim
18until another sovereign arose who did not know Yosĕph.# Exo. 1:8
19“Having dealt treacherously with our race, this one mistreated our fathers, making them expose their babies, so that they should not live.
20“At that time Mosheh was born, and he was well-pleasing to Elohim. And he was reared three months in the house of his father.
21“But when he was exposed, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up and reared him as her own son.
22“And Mosheh was instructed in all the wisdom of the Mitsrites, and was mighty in words and works.
23“And when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Yisra’ĕl.
24“And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended and revenged him who was oppressed, smiting the Mitsrian.
25“And he thought that his brothers would have understood that Elohim would give deliverance to them by his hand, but they did not understand.
26“And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and urged them to peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why do you wrong one another?’
27“But he who was wronging his neighbour pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
28‘Do you wish to kill me as you killed the Mitsrian yesterday?’# Exo. 2:14
29“And at this saying, Mosheh fled and became a sojourner in the land of Miḏyan,# Exo. 2:15 where he fathered two sons.
30“And after forty years were completed, a Messenger of יהוה appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush,# Exo. 3:2 in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.
31“And Mosheh, seeing it, marvelled at the sight, and coming near to look, the voice of יהוה came to him,
32saying, ‘I am the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Aḇraham and the Elohim of Yitsḥaq and the Elohim of Ya‛aqoḇ.’ And Mosheh trembled and did not have the courage to look.
33‘But יהוה said to him, Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is set-apart ground.
34“I have certainly seen the evil treatment of my people who are in Mitsrayim, and I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, let Me send you to Mitsrayim.” ’# Exo. 3:6-10
35“This Mosheh whom they had refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’# Exo. 2:14 – this one Elohim sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Messenger who appeared to him in the bush.
36“This one led them out, after he had done wonders and signs in the land of Mitsrayim, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
37“This is the Mosheh who said to the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘יהוה your Elohim shall raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brothers. Him you shall hear.’# Deu. 18:15
38“This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the Messenger who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the living Words to give to us,
39unto whom our fathers would not become obedient, but thrust away, and in their hearts they turned back to Mitsrayim,
40saying to Aharon, ‘Make us mighty ones to go before us, for this Mosheh who led us out of the land of Mitsrayim, we do not know what has become of him.’# Exo. 32:1; Exo. 32:23
41“And they made a calf in those days, and brought an offering to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their own hands.
42“So Elohim turned and gave them up to worship the host of the heaven,#See Deu. 4:19; Deu. 17:3; 2Kings 23:5 as it has been written in the book of the Prophets, ‘Did you bring slaughtered beasts and offerings unto Me during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Yisra’ĕl?
43‘And you took up the tent of Moleḵ, and the star of your mighty one Kiyyun, images which you made to bow before them. Therefore I shall remove you beyond Baḇel.’# Amos 5:25-27
44“The Tent of Witness was with our fathers in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Mosheh to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,
45which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Yehoshua into the land possessed by the nations, whom Elohim drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of Dawiḏ,
46who found favour before Elohim and asked to find a dwelling for the Elohim of Ya‛aqoḇ,
47but Shelomoh built Him a house.
48“However, the Most High does not dwell in dwellings made with hands,#See Acts 17:24 as the prophet says:
49‘The heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What house shall you build for Me? says יהוה, or what is the place of My rest?
50‘Has My hand not made all these?’# Isa. 66:1, 2
51“You stiff-necked# Exo. 32:9; Exo. 33:3; Exo. 33:5 and uncircumcised in heart and ears!# Lev. 26:41; Jer. 6:10 You always resist the Set-apart Spirit, as your fathers did, you also do.
52“Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who before announced the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,
53who received the Torah as it was ordained by messengers, but did not watch over#See Mat. 5:20 it.”
54And hearing this they were cut to the hearts and gnashed the teeth at him.
55But he, being filled with the Set-apart Spirit, looked steadily into the heaven and saw the esteem of Elohim, and יהושע standing at the right hand of Elohim,
56and he said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Aḏam standing at the right hand of Elohim!”# Psa. 110:1
57And crying out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one mind,
58and threw him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Sha’ul.
59And they were stoning Stephanos as he was calling and saying, “Master יהושע, receive my spirit.”
60And kneeling down he cried out with a loud voice, “Master, do not hold this sin against them.” And having said this, he fell asleep.
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