7:1 And the high priest said, “Are these things true?”
7:2 And Stephen said: “My brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in · Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
7:3 and said to him, ‘Go out from · your land and from · your relatives and come to the land that I will show you.’
7:4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after · his father died, · God had him move to · this land in which you are now living.
7:5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him, though as yet Abraham had no child.
7:6 And God spoke thus, · that Abraham’s descendants would be · sojourners in a foreign land, and that the people would enslave and mistreat them four hundred years.
7:7 But, ‘Whatever · nation they serve as slaves, I will punish,’ said · God, ‘and after this they will come out and they will worship me in · this place.’
7:8 And he gave him a covenant of circumcision; and so 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.
7:9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was · with him,
7:10 and rescued him out of all · his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over all · his royal household.
7:11 Now there came a famine upon all · Egypt and Canaan, · bringing great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ·
7:12 But Jacob, hearing that there was grain in Egypt, sent · our fathers out on their first visit.
7:13 · On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and the lineage of Joseph became clear to Pharaoh.
7:14 Then Joseph sent and summoned Jacob · his father and all his relatives, seventy-five persons.
7:15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he himself died there, along with · our fathers,
7:16 and they were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
7:17 “But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted · to Abraham, our people increased and multiplied in Egypt,
7:18 until there arose another king over Egypt who did not know · Joseph.
7:19 He took advantage of · our nation and mistreated · our fathers, · making them expose · their infants, so that they would not be kept alive.
7:20 At which time Moses was born, and he was beautiful before God. He was brought up for three months in · his father’s house;
7:21 and when he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh rescued him and brought him up for herself as a son.
7:22 So Moses was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.
7:23 “When · he was about forty years old, it entered · his mind to visit · his brothers, the sons of Israel.
7:24 And seeing one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and brought justice to the one being mistreated by striking down the Egyptian.
7:25 He thought · that his brothers would understand · that · God, by his hand, was granting them deliverance; but they did not understand.
7:26 On the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them to be at peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you hurting one another?’
7:27 But the one who was trying to injure his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
7:28 Do you want to kill me as yesterday you killed the Egyptian?’
7:29 At this remark, Moses fled · · and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.
7:30 “Now when forty years had passed, there appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai an angel in the flame of a burning bush.
7:31 When · · Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight; and as he came closer to look at it, there came the voice of the Lord:
7:32 ‘I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.
7:33 And the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.
7:34 Surely I have seen the oppression of my people · in Egypt, and I have heard · their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. · Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’
7:35 This · Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man · God sent both as ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
7:36 He led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.
7:37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up a prophet for you · from among · your brothers, as he raised up me.’
7:38 He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on · Mount Sinai, and with · our fathers, and he received living oracles to give to us.
7:39 To him our fathers were not willing to be obedient, · but thrust him aside, and turned in · their hearts to Egypt,
7:40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us, · for this Moses who brought us from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’
7:41 And they made a calf in · those days and offered a sacrifice to the idol and began rejoicing in the works of their hands.
7:42 But God turned away · and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? No;
7:43 · You took along the shrine of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made, to worship them, so I will make you move beyond Babylon.’
7:44 “The tabernacle of witness was with our fathers in the wilderness just as the one who spoke to Moses ordered him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen.
7:45 And when our fathers received it in return, · they brought it in · with Joshua in · taking possession of the nations, whom God drove out · before the face of our fathers, until the days of David,
7:46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
7:47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.
7:48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands; as the prophet says,
7:49 · ‘Heaven is my throne, · and earth is the footstool for my feet. What sort of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?
7:51 “You stiff-necked people, · uncircumcised in heart and · ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. · As · your fathers were, so also are you.
7:52 Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? · · They killed those who announced beforehand concerning the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers!
7:53 You, who received the law by decrees given by angels and did not keep it.”
7:54 Now when they heard these things, they became furious · and ground their teeth at him.
7:55 But Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked right 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, 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 together at him.
7:58 · When they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him; and the witnesses laid · their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.
7:59 · They kept stoning · Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive · my spirit!”
7:60 And falling to his knees he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” · And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
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