7:1 Then the high priest asked him, “Are these charges true?”
7:2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.
7:3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’
7:4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.
7:5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.
7:6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
7:7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’
7:8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
7:9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
7:10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
7:11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers could not find food.
7:12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit.
7:13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family.
7:14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all.
7:15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.
7:16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
7:17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.
7:18 Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt.
7:19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
7:20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father’s house.
7:21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
7:22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
7:23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites.
7:24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.
7:25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.
7:26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
7:27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
7:28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
7:29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
7:30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
7:31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord’s voice:
7:32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
7:33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground.
7:34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’
7:35 “This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
7:36 He led them out of Egypt and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert.
7:37 “This is that Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.’
7:38 He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.
7:39 “But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
7:40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt–we don’t know what has happened to him!’
7:41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made.
7:42 But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?
7:43 You have lifted up the shrine of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.
7:44 “Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
7:45 Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David,
7:46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
7:47 But it was Solomon who built the house for him.
7:48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says:
7:49 “‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?
7:50 Has not my hand made all these things?’
7:51 “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
7:52 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him–
7:53 you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.”
7:54 When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.
7:55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
7:56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
7:57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,
7:58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
7:59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
7:60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
7:1 And the high priest said, Are these things so?
7:2 And he said, Men, brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
7:3 And said to him, Come out from your land and from your relatives, and come into the land which I will show you.
7:4 Then he came forth from the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, after his father died, He removed him into this land, in which you now dwell.
7:5 Yet He did not give him an inheritance in it, not even a place to set his foot on; and He promised to give it to him for a possession and to his seed after him, while he had no child.
7:6 And God spoke in this way, that his seed would be a sojourner in a foreign land, and they would enslave them and mistreat them four hundred years.
7:7 And whatever nation they will serve as slaves I will judge, said God, and after these things they will come forth and serve Me as priests in this place.
7:8 And He gave to him a covenant of circumcision; and thus Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac, Jacob; and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs.
7:9 And the patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt; yet God was with him
7:10 And rescued him out of all his afflictions and granted him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he appointed him governor over Egypt and over all his house.
7:11 And a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan as well as great affliction; and our fathers could find no sustenance.
7:12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers out the first time.
7:13 And during the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph s race became manifest to Pharaoh.
7:14 And Joseph sent word and called for Jacob his father and all his family, seventy-five souls in all.
7:15 And Jacob went down into Egypt; and he ended his days, he and our fathers.
7:16 And they were carried over to Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
7:17 But as the time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham drew near, the people grew and were multiplied in Egypt,
7:18 Until another king rose up over Egypt who did not know of Joseph.
7:19 This one dealt craftily with our race and mistreated our fathers, so that they threw out their babies in order that they would not be kept alive.
7:20 At this time Moses was born and was lovely to God. And he was nurtured three months in his father s house.
7:21 And when he was thrown out, Pharaoh s daughter took him up and nurtured him as a son for herself.
7:22 And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in his words and works.
7:23 But when he was approaching forty years of age, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel.
7:24 And when he saw one of them being wronged, he defended him, and he avenged him who was being oppressed by striking the Egyptian dead.
7:25 And he supposed that his brothers understood that God through his hand was giving salvation to them; but they did not understand.
7:26 And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, Men, you are brothers. Why are you wronging one another?
7:27 But the one who was wronging his neighbor pushed him away, saying, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us?
7:28 Do you want to do away with me the same way you did away with the Egyptian yesterday?
7:29 And Moses fled at this word and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begot two sons.
7:30 And when forty years had been fulfilled, an Angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai in the flame of a thornbush fire.
7:31 And when Moses saw it, he marveled at the vision; and as he approached to examine it, there came the voice of the Lord:
7:32 I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And Moses trembled and dared not examine it.
7:33 And the Lord said to him, Untie the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.
7:34 I have surely seen the ill-treatment of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. And now, come, I will send you into Egypt.
7:35 This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge? this one God has sent as both a ruler and a redeemer, along with the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the thornbush.
7:36 This man led them out, doing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.
7:37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, A Prophet will God raise up unto you from your brothers, like me.
7:38 This is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him in Mount Sinai and with our fathers, and who received living oracles to give to us.
7:39 To him our fathers were not willing to become obedient, but thrust him away and turned in their hearts to Egypt,
7:40 Saying to Aaron, Make gods for us who will go before us; for this Moses, who has led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.
7:41 And they made a calf in those days and brought up a sacrifice to the idol and were glad with the works of their hands.
7:42 But God turned and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven, even as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did you offer slain beasts and sacrifices to Me for forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
7:43 And you took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Rompha, the images which you made to worship. And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
7:44 The Tabernacle of the Testimony was with our fathers in the wilderness, even as He who spoke to Moses instructed him to make it, according to the pattern which he had seen.
7:45 This tabernacle our fathers, having in their turn received, also brought in with Joshua when they took possession of the nations, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David,
7:46 Who found favor before God and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.
7:47 But Solomon built Him a house.
7:48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in that which is made by hands, even as the prophet says,
7:49 Heaven is My throne, and the earth is a footstool for My feet. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest?
7:50 Has not My hand made all these things?
7:51 You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, you also do.
7:52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand concerning the coming of the righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become,
7:53 You who received the law as ordinances of angels and did not keep it.
7:54 Now as they heard these things, they were exasperated and gnashed their teeth at him.
7:55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;
7:56 And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
7:57 But they cried out with a loud voice and covered their ears and rushed upon him with one accord.
7:58 And they threw him outside of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul.
7:59 And they stoned Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!
7:60 And kneeling down, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.