Acts 7
7
Stephen Speaks in His Own Defense
1Then the chief priest asked Stephen, “Is this true?”
2Stephen answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God who reveals his glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia. This happened before Abraham lived in Haran. 3God told him, ‘Leave your land and your relatives. Go to the land that I will show you.’
4“Then Abraham left the country of Chaldea and lived in the city of Haran. After his father died, God made him move from there to this land where we now live.
5“Yet, God didn’t give Abraham anything in this land to call his own, not even a place to rest his feet. But God promised to give this land to him and to his descendants, even though Abraham didn’t have a child. 6God told Abraham that his descendants would be foreigners living in another country and that the people there would make them slaves and mistreat them for 400 years. 7God also told him, ‘I will punish the people whom they will serve. After that, they will leave that country and worship me here.’
8“God gave Abraham circumcision to confirm his promise.#7:8 Or “covenant.” So when Abraham’s son Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac did the same to his son Jacob, and Jacob did the same to his twelve sons (the ancestors of our tribes).
9“Jacob’s sons were jealous of their brother Joseph. They sold him into slavery, and he was taken to Egypt. But God was with Joseph 10and rescued him from all his suffering. When Joseph stood in the presence of Pharaoh (the king of Egypt), God gave Joseph divine favor #7:10 Or “grace.” and wisdom so that he became ruler of Egypt and of Pharaoh’s whole palace. 11Then a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan brought a lot of suffering. Our ancestors couldn’t find any food. 12When Jacob heard that Egypt had food, he sent our ancestors there. That was their first trip. 13On the second trip, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his relatives, 75 people in all. 15So Jacob went to Egypt, and he and our ancestors died there. 16They were taken to Shechem for burial in the tomb that Abraham purchased in Shechem from Hamor’s sons.
17“When the time that God had promised to Abraham had almost come, the number of our people in Egypt had grown very large. 18Then a different king, who knew nothing about Joseph, began to rule in Egypt. 19This king was shrewd in the way he took advantage of our people. He mistreated our ancestors. He made them abandon their newborn babies outdoors, where they would die.
20“At that time Moses was born, and he was a very beautiful child. His parents took care of him for three months. 21When Moses was abandoned outdoors, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her son. 22So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man in what he said and did. 23When he was 40 years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24When he saw an Israelite man being treated unfairly by an Egyptian, he defended the Israelite. He took revenge by killing the Egyptian. 25Moses thought his own people would understand that God was going to use him to give them freedom. But they didn’t understand. 26The next day Moses saw two Israelites fighting, and he tried to make peace between them. He said to them, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you treating each other unfairly?’
27“But one of the men pushed Moses aside. He asked Moses, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge? 28Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29After he said that, Moses quickly left Egypt and lived in Midian as a foreigner. In Midian he fathered two sons.
30“Forty years later, a Messenger appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush in the desert of Mount Sinai. 31Moses was surprised when he saw this. As he went closer to look at the bush, the voice of the Lord said to him, 32‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to tremble and didn’t dare to look at the bush. 33The Lord told him, ‘Take off your sandals. The place where you’re standing is holy ground. 34I’ve seen how my people are mistreated in Egypt. I’ve heard their groaning and have come to rescue them. So now I’m sending you to Egypt.’
35“This is the Moses whom the Israelites rejected by saying, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge?’ This is the one God sent to free them and to rule them with the help of the Messenger who appeared to him in the bush. 36This is the man who led our ancestors out of Egypt. He is the person who did amazing things and worked miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for 40 years. 37This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me.’ 38This is the Moses who was in the assembly in the desert. Our ancestors and the Messenger who spoke to him on Mount Sinai were there with him. Moses received life-giving messages to give to us, 39but our ancestors were not willing to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt. 40They told Aaron, ‘We don’t know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of Egypt. So make gods who will lead us.’ 41That was the time they made a calf. They offered a sacrifice to that false god and delighted in what they had made.
42“So God turned away from them and let them worship the sun, moon, and stars. This is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel? 43You carried along the shrine of Moloch, the star of the god Rephan, and the statues you made for yourselves to worship. I will send you into exile beyond the city of Babylon.’
44“In the desert our ancestors had the tent of God’s promise. Moses built this tent exactly as God had told him. He used the model he had seen. 45After our ancestors received the tent, they brought it into this land. They did this with Joshua’s help when they took possession of the land from the nations that God forced out of our ancestors’ way. This tent remained here until the time of David, 46who won God’s favor. David asked that he might provide a permanent place for the family of Jacob.#7:46 Some manuscripts and translations read “God of Jacob.” 47But Solomon was the one who built a house for God.
48“However, the Most High doesn’t live in a house built by humans, as the prophet says:
49‘The Lord says,
“Heaven is my throne.
The earth is my footstool.
What kind of house are you going to build for me?
Where will I rest?
50Didn’t I make all these things?” ’
51“How stubborn can you be? How can you be so heartless and disobedient? You’re just like your ancestors. They always opposed the Holy Spirit, and so do you! 52Was there ever a prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute? They killed those who predicted that a man with God’s approval would come. You have now become the people who betrayed and murdered that man. 53You are the people who received Moses’ Teachings, which were put into effect by angels. But you haven’t obeyed those teachings.”
Stephen Is Executed
54As council members listened to Stephen, they became noticeably furious. 55But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked into heaven, saw God’s glory, and Jesus in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne. 56So Stephen said, “Look, I see heaven opened and the Son of Man in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the throne!”
57But the council members shouted and refused to listen. Then they rushed at Stephen with one purpose in mind, 58and after they had thrown him out of the city, they began to stone him to death. The witnesses left their coats with a young man named Saul.
59While council members were executing Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, welcome my spirit.” 60Then he knelt down and shouted, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them.” After he had said this, he died.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Acts 7
7
1 AND THE high priest asked [Stephen], Are these charges true?
2 And he answered, Brethren and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before he [went to] live in Haran, [Gen. 11:31; 15:7; Ps. 29:3.]
3 And He said to him, Leave your own country and your relatives and come into the land (region) that I will point out to you. [Gen. 12:1.]
4 So then he went forth from the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, [God] transferred him to this country in which you are now dwelling. [Gen. 11:31; 12:5; 15:7.]
5 Yet He gave him no inheritable property in it, [no] not even enough ground to set his foot on; but He promised that He would give it to Him for a permanent possession and to his descendants after him, even though [as yet] he had no child. [Gen. 12:7; 17:8; Deut. 2:5.]
6 And this is [in effect] what God told him: That his descendants would be aliens (strangers) in a land belonging to other people, who would bring them into bondage and ill-treat them 400 years.
7 But I will judge the nation to whom they will be slaves, said God, and after that they will escape and come forth and worship Me in this [very] place. [Gen. 15:13, 14; Exod. 3:12.]
8 And [God] made with Abraham a covenant (an agreement to be religiously observed) of which circumcision was the seal. And under these circumstances [Abraham] became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [did so] when he became the father of Jacob, and Jacob [when each of his sons was born], the twelve patriarchs. [Gen. 17:10-14; 21:2-4; 25:26; 29:31-35; 30:1-24; 35:16-26.]
9 And the patriarchs [Jacob's sons], boiling with envy and hatred and anger, sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt; but God was with him, [Gen. 37:11, 28; 45:4.]
10 And delivered him from all his distressing afflictions and won him goodwill and favor and wisdom and understanding in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him governor over Egypt and all his house. [Gen. 39:2, 3, 21; 41:40-46; Ps. 105:21.]
11 Then there came a famine over all of Egypt and Canaan, with great distress, and our forefathers could find no fodder [for the cattle] or vegetable sustenance [for their households]. [Gen. 41:54, 55; 42:5.]
12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our forefathers [to go there on their] first trip. [Gen. 42:2.]
13 And on their second visit Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh and his origin and race. [Gen. 45:1-4.]
14 And Joseph sent an invitation calling to himself Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. [Gen. 45:9, 10.]
15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, where he himself died, as did [also] our forefathers; [Deut. 10:22.]
16 And their bodies [Jacob's and Joseph's] were taken back to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of [silver] 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 drew near which God had made to Abraham, the [Hebrew] people increased and multiplied in Egypt,
18 Until [the time when] there arose over Egypt another and a different king who did not know Joseph [neither knowing his history and services nor recognizing his merits]. [Exod. 1:7, 8.]
19 He dealt treacherously with and defrauded our race; he abused and oppressed our forefathers, forcing them to expose their babies so that they might not be kept alive. [Exod. 1:7-11, 15-22.]
20 At this juncture Moses was born, and was exceedingly beautiful in God's sight. For three months he was nurtured in his father's house; [Exod. 2:2.]
21 Then when he was exposed [to perish], the daughter of Pharaoh rescued him and took him and reared him as her own son. [Exod. 2:5, 6, 10.]
22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was mighty (powerful) in his speech and deeds.
23 And when he was in his fortieth year, it came into his heart to visit his kinsmen the children of Israel [to help them and to care for them].
24 And on seeing one of them being unjustly treated, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian and slaying [him].
25 He expected his brethren to understand that God was granting them deliverance by his hand [taking it for granted that they would accept him]; but they did not understand.
26 Then on the next day he suddenly appeared to some who were quarreling and fighting among themselves, and he urged them to make peace and become reconciled, saying, Men, you are brethren; why do you abuse and wrong one another?
27 Whereupon the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed [Moses] aside, saying, Who appointed you a ruler (umpire) and a judge over us?
28 Do you intend to slay me as you slew the Egyptian yesterday?
29 At that reply Moses sought safety by flight and he was an exile and an alien in the country of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. [Exod. 2:11-15, 22; 18:3, 4.]
30 And when forty years had gone by, there appeared to him in the wilderness (desert) of Mount Sinai an angel, in the flame of a burning bramblebush.
31 When Moses saw it, he was astonished and marveled at the sight; but when he went close to investigate, there came to him the voice of the Lord, saying,
32 I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. And Moses trembled and was so terrified that he did not venture to look.
33 Then the Lord said to him, Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground and worthy of veneration.
34 Because I have most assuredly seen the abuse and oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their sighing and groaning, I have come down to rescue them. So, now come! I will send you back to Egypt [as My messenger]. [Exod. 3:1-10.]
35 It was this very Moses whom they had denied (disowned and rejected), saying, Who made you our ruler (referee) and judge? whom God sent to be a ruler and deliverer and redeemer, by and with the [protecting and helping] hand of the Angel that appeared to him in the bramblebush. [Exod. 2:14.]
36 He it was who led them forth, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and during the forty years in the wilderness (desert). [Exod. 7:3; 14:21; Num. 14:33.]
37 It was this [very] Moses who said to the children of Israel, God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren as He raised me up. [Deut. 18:15, 18.]
38 This is he who in the assembly in the wilderness (desert) was the go-between for the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and our forefathers, and he received living oracles (words that still live) to be handed down to us. [Exod. 19.]
39 [And yet] our forefathers determined not to be subject to him [refusing to listen to or obey him]; but thrusting him aside they rejected him, and in their hearts yearned for and turned back to Egypt. [Num. 14:3, 4.]
40 And they said to Aaron, Make us gods who shall [be our leaders and] go before us; as for this Moses who led us forth from the land of Egypt–we have no knowledge of what has happened to him. [Exod. 32:1, 23.]
41 And they [even] made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol and made merry and exulted in the work of their [own] hands. [Exod. 32:4, 6.]
42 But God turned [away from them] and delivered them up to worship and serve the host (stars) of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: Did you [really] offer to Me slain beasts and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness (desert), O house of Israel? [Jer. 19:13.]
43 [No!] You took up the tent (the portable temple) of Moloch and carried it [with you], and the star of the god Rephan, the images which you [yourselves] made that you might worship them; and I will remove you [carrying you away into exile] beyond Babylon. [Amos 5:25-27.]
44 Our forefathers had the tent (tabernacle) of witness in the wilderness, even as He Who directed Moses to make it had ordered, according to the pattern and model he had seen. [Exod. 25:9-40.]
45 Our forefathers in turn brought it [this tent of witness] in [with them into the land] with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations which God drove out before the face of our forefathers. [So it remained here] until the time of David, [Deut. 32:49; Josh. 3:14-17.]
46 Who found grace (favor and spiritual blessing) in the sight of God and prayed that he might be allowed to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. [II Sam. 7:8-16; Ps. 132:1-5.]
47 But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. [I Kings 6.]
48 However, the Most High does not dwell in houses and temples made with hands; as the prophet says, [Isa. 66:1, 2.]
49 Heaven [is] My throne, and earth the footstool for My feet. What [kind of] house can you build for Me, says the Lord, or what is the place in which I can rest?
50 Was it not My hand that made all these things? [Isa. 66:1, 2.]
51 You stubborn and stiff-necked people, still heathen and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. As your forefathers [were], so you [are and so you do]! [Exod. 33:3, 5; Num. 27:14; Isa. 63:10; Jer. 6:10; 9:26.]
52 Which of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? And they slew those who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, Whom you now have betrayed and murdered–
53 You who received the Law as it was ordained and set in order and delivered by angels, and [yet] you did not obey it!
54 Now upon hearing these things, they [the Jews] were cut to the heart and infuriated, and they ground their teeth against [Stephen].
55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit and controlled by Him, gazed into heaven and saw the glory (the splendor and majesty) of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand;
56 And he said, Look! I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at God's right hand!
57 But they raised a great shout and put their hands over their ears and rushed together upon him.
58 Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him, and the witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. [Acts 22:20.]
59 And while they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, Lord Jesus, receive and accept and welcome my spirit!
60 And falling on his knees, he cried out loudly, Lord, fix not this sin upon them [lay it not to their charge]! And when he had said this, he fell asleep [in death].
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