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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Acts 7: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Acts 7
7
Stephen's Defense
1Then said the high priest, Are these things so? 2#Gen 12.1. And he said,
Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopota´mi-a, before he dwelt in Haran, 3and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. 4#Gen 11.31; Gen 12.4. Then came he out of the land of the Chalde´ans, and dwelt in Haran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. 5#Gen 12.7; 13.15; 15.18; 17.8. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. 6#Gen 15.13,14. And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. 7And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. 8#Gen 17.10-14; Gen 21.2-4; Gen 25.26; Gen 29.31—35.18. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.
9 #
Gen 37.11;
Gen 37.28;
Gen 39.2,21. And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, 10#Gen 41.39-41. and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11#Gen 41.54-57. Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. 12#Gen 42.1,2. But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13#Gen 45.1; Gen 45.16. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. 14#Gen 45.9,10,17,18; Gen 46.27. Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. 15#Gen 46.1-7; Gen 49.33. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, 16#Gen 23.3-16; 33.19; 50.7-13; Josh 24.32. and were carried over into Shechem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.#7.16 the father of Shechem. Some early manuscripts have in Shechem.
17 #
Exod 1.7,8. But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. 19#Exod 1.10,11; Exod 1.22. The same dealt subtilely with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. 20#Exod 2.2. In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months: 21#Exod 2.3-10. and when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. 22And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
23 #
Exod 2.11-15. And when he was full 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 him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: 25for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them; but they understood not. 26And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? 27But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 28Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? 29#Exod 18.3,4. Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Mid´i-an, where he begat two sons.
30 #
Exod 3.1-10. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Si´nai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. 31When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, 32saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. 33Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. 34I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
35This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. 36#Exod 7.3; Exod 14.21; Num 14.33. He brought them out, after that he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. 37#Deut 18.15,18. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. 38#Exod 19.1—20.17; Deut 5.1-33. This is he, that was in the church#7.38 church or congregation. in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Si´nai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: 39to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, 40#Exod 32.1. saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 41#Exod 32.2-6. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42#Amos 5.25-27. Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets,
O ye house of Israel,
have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices
by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
43Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
and the star of your god Remphan,
figures which ye made to worship them:
and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
44 #
Exod 25.9,40. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. 45#Josh 3.14-17. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Joshua into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; 46#2 Sam 7.1-16; 1 Chr 17.1-14. who found favor before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 47#1 Kgs 6.1-38; 2 Chr 3.1-17. But Solomon built him a house. 48Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
49 #
Isa 66.1,2. Heaven is my throne,
and earth is my footstool:
what house will ye build me? saith the Lord:
or what is the place of my rest?
50Hath not my hand made all these things?
51 #
Isa 63.10. Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
The Stoning of Stephen
54When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, 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 on the right hand of God. 57Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. 59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.