Acts 7
7
Stephen’s Speech
1The high priest said to Stephen, “Is all this true?” 2Stephen answered, “My Jewish fathers and brothers, listen to me. Our great and glorious God appeared to Abraham, our ancestor, when he was in Mesopotamia. This was before he lived in Haran. 3God said to him, ‘Leave your country and your people, and go to the country I will show you.’#Quote from Gen. 12:1.
4“So Abraham left the country of Chaldea.#7:4 Chaldea Or “Babylonia,” a land in the southern part of Mesopotamia. See verse 2. He went to live in Haran. After his father died, God sent him to this place, where you live now. 5But God did not give Abraham any of this land, not even a foot of it. But God promised that in the future he would give Abraham this land for himself and for his children. This was before Abraham had any children.
6“This is what God said to him: ‘Your descendants will live in another country. They will be strangers. The people there will make them slaves and mistreat them for 400 years. 7But I will punish the nation that made them slaves.’#Quote from Gen. 15:13-14. And God also said, ‘After those things happen, your people will come out of that country. Then they will worship me here in this place.’#Quote from Gen. 15:14; Ex. 3:12.
8“God made an agreement with Abraham; the sign for this agreement was circumcision. And so when Abraham had a son, he circumcised him when he was eight days old. His son’s name was Isaac. Isaac also circumcised his son Jacob. And Jacob did the same for his sons, who became the twelve great ancestors of our people.
9“These ancestors of ours became jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10and saved him from all his troubles. Pharaoh was the king of Egypt then. He liked Joseph and respected him because of the wisdom God gave him. Pharaoh gave Joseph the job of being a governor of Egypt. He even let him rule over all the people in Pharaoh’s house. 11But all the land of Egypt and of Canaan became dry. It became so dry that food could not grow, and the people suffered very much. Our people could not find anything to eat.
12“But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt. So he sent our people there. This was their first trip to Egypt. 13Then they went there a second time. This time Joseph told his brothers who he was. And Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14Then Joseph sent some men to tell Jacob, his father, to come to Egypt. He also invited all his relatives, a total of 75 people. 15So Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our other ancestors lived there until they died. 16Later, their bodies were moved to Shechem, where they were put in a tomb. It was the same tomb that Abraham had bought in Shechem from the sons of Hamor. He paid them with silver.
17“The number of our people in Egypt grew. There were more and more of our people there. The promise that God made to Abraham was soon to come true. 18Then a different king began to rule Egypt, one who knew nothing about Joseph. 19This king tricked our people. He treated them badly, making them leave their children outside to die.
20“This was the time when Moses was born. He was a very beautiful child, and for three months his parents took care of him at home. 21When they put him outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him. She raised him as her own son. 22The Egyptians taught Moses everything they knew. He was powerful in all he said and did.
23“When Moses was about 40 years old, he decided to visit his own people, the people of Israel. 24He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he defended him. Moses hit the Egyptian to pay him back for hurting the man. He hit him so hard that it killed him. 25Moses thought that his people would understand that God was using him to save them. But they did not understand.
26“The next day, Moses saw two of his own people fighting. He tried to make peace between them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers! Why are you trying to hurt each other?’ 27The man who was hurting the other one pushed Moses away and said to him, ‘Did anyone say you could be our ruler and judge? 28Will you kill me just as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’#Quote from Ex. 2:14. 29When Moses heard him say this, he left Egypt. He went to live in the land of Midian, where he was a stranger. During the time he lived there, he had two sons.
30“Forty years later Moses was in the desert near Mount Sinai. An angel appeared to him in the flame of a burning bush. 31When Moses saw this, he was amazed. He went near to look closer at it. He heard a voice; it was the Lord’s. 32The Lord said, ‘I am the same God your ancestors had—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’#Quote from Ex. 3:6. Moses began to shake with fear. He was afraid to look at the bush.
33“The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, because the place where you are now standing is holy ground. 34I have seen my people suffer much in Egypt. I have heard my people crying and have come down to save them. Come now, Moses, I am sending you back to Egypt.’#Quote from Ex. 3:5-10.
35“This Moses was the one his people said they did not want. They said, ‘Did anyone say you could be our ruler and judge?’#Quote from Ex. 2:14. But he is the one God sent to be a ruler and savior. God sent him with the help of an angel, the one Moses saw in the burning bush. 36So Moses led the people out of Egypt. He worked wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and then in the desert for 40 years.
37“This is the same Moses who said these words to the people of Israel: ‘God will give you a prophet. That prophet will come from among your own people. He will be like me.’#Quote from Deut. 18:15. 38This same Moses was with the gathering of God’s people in the desert. He was with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and he was with our ancestors. He received life-giving words from God to give to us.
39“But our ancestors did not want to obey Moses. They rejected him. They wanted to go back to Egypt again. 40They said to Aaron, ‘Moses led us out of the country of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him. So make some gods to go before us and lead us.’#Quote from Ex. 32:1. 41So the people made an idol that looked like a calf. Then they brought sacrifices to it. They were very happy with what they had made with their own hands. 42But God turned against them and let them continue worshiping the army of false gods in the sky. This is what God says in the book that contains what the prophets wrote:
‘People of Israel, you did not bring me blood offerings and sacrifices
in the desert for 40 years;
43You carried with you the tent for worshiping Moloch
and the image of the star of your god Rephan.
These were the idols you made to worship.
So I will send you away beyond Babylon.’ Amos 5:25-27
44“The Holy Tent#7:44 Holy Tent Literally, “Tent of the Testimony.” See “Holy Tent” in the Word List. was with our ancestors in the desert. God told Moses how to make this tent. He made it like the plan that God showed him. 45Later, Joshua led our ancestors to capture the lands of the other nations. Our people went in and God made the other people go out. When our people went into this new land, they took with them this same tent. Our people received this tent from their fathers, and our people kept it until the time of David. 46God was very pleased with David. He asked God to let him build a Temple for the people of Jacob.#7:46 for the people of Jacob Some Greek copies have “for the God of Jacob.” 47But Solomon was the one who built the Temple.
48“But the Most High God does not live in houses built by human hands. This is what the prophet#7:48 prophet Isaiah, who spoke for God about 740–700 B.C. writes:
49‘The Lord says, Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is where I rest my feet.
So do you think you can build a house for me?
Do I need a place to rest?
50Remember, I made all these things!’” Isaiah 66:1-2
51Then Stephen said, “You stubborn Jewish leaders! You refuse to give your hearts to God or even listen to him. You are always against what the Holy Spirit wants you to do. That’s how your ancestors were, and you are just like them! 52They persecuted every prophet who ever lived. They even killed those who long ago said that the Righteous One would come. And now you have turned against that Righteous One and killed him. 53You are the people who received God’s law, which he gave you through his angels. But you don’t obey it!”
Stephen Is Killed
54When those in the council meeting heard this, they became very angry. They were so mad they were grinding their teeth at him. 55But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God. And he saw Jesus standing at God’s right side. 56Stephen said, “Look! I see heaven open. And I see the Son of Man standing at God’s right side.”
57Everyone there started shouting loudly, covering their ears with their hands. Together they all ran at Stephen. 58They took him out of the city and began throwing stones at him. The men who told lies against Stephen gave their coats to a young man named Saul. 59As they were throwing the stones at him, Stephen was praying. He said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60He fell on his knees and shouted, “Lord, don’t blame them for this sin!” These were his last words before he died.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Acts 7
7
Stephen’s Speech
1Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2#Ge 11:31; Ps 29:3He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran, 3#Ge 12:1and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come to the land which I will show you.’#Ge 12:1.
4#Ge 12:4–5; 11:31–32“Then he departed from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Harran. When his father died, He removed him from there to this land in which you now live. 5#Ge 12:7; 17:8He gave him no inheritance in it, nor a foothold, and promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him while he had no child. 6#Ge 15:13God spoke in this way, ‘Your descendants shall be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who will enslave them and mistreat them four hundred years.#Ge 15:13. 7#Ex 3:12And I will judge the nation to whom they will be enslaved,’#Ge 15:14. said God. ‘After that they shall come out and worship Me in this place.’#Ex 3:12. 8#Ge 17:9–14; 35:23–26Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
9#Ge 39:2; 45:4“The patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him, 10#Ge 42:6and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him governor over Egypt and all his house.
11#Ps 105:16“Then a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan with great affliction, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time. 13During the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14#Dt 10:22; Ge 46:26–27Then Joseph sent and called for his father Jacob and all his kindred, seventy-five souls. 15#Ge 49:33; Ex 1:6Then Jacob went down into Egypt. And he and our fathers died, 16#Jos 24:32; Ge 23:16; Ex 13:19and were carried to Shechem and put in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a price of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
17#Ac 7:6; 13:17“When the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18#Ex 1:8until another king rose up who did not know Joseph.#Ex 1:8. 19#Ex 1:9–22; Ps 105:25He dealt deceitfully with our people and mistreated our fathers, forcing them to put out their young children, that they might not live.
20#Heb 11:23“At that time Moses was born, and was fair in the sight of God. And he was reared for three months in his father’s house. 21When he was put out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up and reared him as her own son. 22#Isa 19:11; Da 1:4Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in words and in deeds.
23#Ex 2:11–12; Heb 11:24–26“When he was forty years old, it came to his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. 24But seeing one being wronged, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck the Egyptian. 25He supposed that his brothers would understand that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26On the next day he appeared to them as they fought and tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’#Ex 2:13.
27#Ac 7:35; Lk 12:14“But the one wronging his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? 28Will you kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’#Gk. 15 orguias, about 27 meters. 29Moses fled at this word and became a sojourner in the land of Midian,#Ex 2:11–15. where he became the father of two sons.
30#Ac 7:35; Ex 3:1–2“When forty years had passed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.#Ex 3:1–4. 31#Ex 3:3–4When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he drew near to look at it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, 32#Ex 3:6; Mt 22:32‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’#Ex 3:6. Moses trembled and dared not look.
33#Ex 3:5; Jos 5:15“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.#Ex 3:5. 34#Ex 3:7–10I have indeed seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt. I have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you to Egypt.’#Ex 3:7, 10.
35#Ex 14:19; Nu 20:16“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?’#Ex 2:14. God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36#Ex 12:41; 14:21; 33:1He led them out after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
37“This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. Him you shall hear.’#Dt 18:15. 38#Ro 3:2; Ac 7:53; Heb 5:12This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living oracles to give to us, 39#Nu 14:3–4; Ex 16:3whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust away. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40#Ex 32:1; 32:23saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods to go before us. For we do not know what has become of this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt.’#Ex 32:1, 23. 41So they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. 42#Jer 19:13; Eze 20:39But God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
‘O House of Israel, have you offered to Me slain animals and sacrifices
for forty years in the wilderness?
43Yes, you even raised the shrine of Moloch,
and the star of your god Remphan,
idols which you made to worship;
therefore I will exile you beyond Babylon.’
44#Ex 25:40; 38:21“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, telling Moses to make it as He had commanded, according to the pattern that he had seen, 45#Ps 44:2; Jos 18:1which our fathers, having received it, brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out in front of our fathers until the days of David, 46#Ps 132:1–5; Ac 13:22who found favor in the presence of God and asked to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 47#1Ki 8:20; 2Sa 7:13But Solomon built Him a house.
48#1Ki 8:27“However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made with hands. As the prophet says:
49#Mt 5:34–35; Ps 11:4 ‘Heaven is My throne,
and the earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
or what is the place of My rest?
50Has not My hand made all these things?’
51#Ex 32:9; Lev 26:41“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52#Mt 5:12; 2Ch 36:16Which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted? They have even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become the betrayers and murderers, 53#Gal 3:19; Heb 2:2; Dt 33:2who have received the law by the disposition of angels, but have not kept it.”
The Stoning of Stephen
54#Ac 5:33; Job 16:9When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed their teeth at him. 55#Mk 16:19; Jn 12:41But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56#Mt 3:16and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57Then they cried out with a loud voice, closed their ears, and rushed at him in unison. 58#Ac 22:20; Lk 4:29; Ac 8:1And they threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59#Ps 31:5; Lk 23:46They stoned Stephen as he was calling on God, praying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60#Mt 5:44; Lk 22:41Then he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Having said this, he fell asleep.
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