Acts 6:8-7:16

New King James Version

Stephen Accused of Blasphemy

⁸ And Stephen, full of ^[a]faith and power, did great ^(A)wonders and signs among the people. ⁹ Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. ¹⁰ And ^(B)they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. ^11 (C)Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹² And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. ¹³ They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak ^[b]blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; ^14 (D)for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” ¹⁵ And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.

Stephen’s Address: The Call of Abraham

7 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

² And he said, ^(E)“Brethren and fathers, listen: The ^(F)God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in ^(G)Haran, ³ and said to him, ^(H)‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ ⁴ Then ^(I)he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was ^(J)dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. ⁵ And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, ^(K)He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. ⁶ But God spoke in this way: ^(L)that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into ^(M)bondage and oppress them four hundred years. ^7 (N)‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will ^(O)judge,’ said God, ^(P)‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ ^8 (Q)Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; ^(R)and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; ^(S)and Isaac begot Jacob, and ^(T)Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

The Patriarchs in Egypt

^9 (U)“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, ^(V)sold Joseph into Egypt. ^(W)But God was with him ¹⁰ and delivered him out of all his troubles, ^(X)and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ^11 (Y)Now a famine and great ^[c]trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. ^12 (Z)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. ¹³ And the ^(AA)second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. ^14 (AB)Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and ^(AC)all his relatives to him, ^[d]seventy-five people. ^15 (AD)So Jacob went down to Egypt; ^(AE)and he died, he and our fathers. ¹⁶ And ^(AF)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in ^(AG)the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.