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Acts 6:8-7:60
New International Version
Acts 6:8-7:60
New International Version
Stephen Seized
8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs(A) among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene(B) and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia(C) and Asia(D)—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.(E)
11 Then they secretly(F) persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”(G)
12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.(H) 13 They produced false witnesses,(I) who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place(J) and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place(K) and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”(L)
15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin(M) looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin
7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers,(N) listen to me! The God of glory(O) appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran.(P) 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’[a](Q)
4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.(R) 5 He gave him no inheritance here,(S) not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land,(T) even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.(U) 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.’[b](V) 8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.(W) And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth.(X) Later Isaac became the father of Jacob,(Y) and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.(Z)
9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph,(AA) they sold him as a slave into Egypt.(AB) But God was with him(AC) 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 Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.(AD)
11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food.(AE) 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit.(AF) 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was,(AG) and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family.(AH) 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family,(AI) seventy-five in all.(AJ) 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.(AK) 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.(AL)
17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.(AM) 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’[c](AN) 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.(AO)
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[d] For three months he was cared for by his family.(AP) 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.(AQ) 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians(AR) and was powerful in speech and action.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 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?’
27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?(AS) 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[e] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.(AT)
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:(AU) 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers,(AV) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[f] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.(AW)
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.(AX) 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.’[g](AY)
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’(AZ) He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of Egypt(BA) and performed wonders and signs(BB) in Egypt, at the Red Sea(BC) and for forty years in the wilderness.(BD)
37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[h](BE) 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel(BF) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;(BG) and he received living words(BH) to pass on to us.(BI)
39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.(BJ) 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!’[i](BK) 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.(BL) 42 But God turned away from them(BM) and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.(BN) This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
“‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’[j](BO) beyond Babylon.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law(BP) with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.(BQ) 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them.(BR) It remained in the land until the time of David,(BS) 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[k](BT) 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.(BU)
48 “However, the Most High(BV) does not live in houses made by human hands.(BW) As the prophet says:
49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.(BX)
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?’[l](BY)
51 “You stiff-necked people!(BZ) Your hearts(CA) and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?(CB) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him(CC)— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels(CD) but have not obeyed it.”
The Stoning of Stephen
54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious(CE) and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit,(CF) looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.(CG) 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open(CH) and the Son of Man(CI) standing at the right hand of God.”
57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city(CJ) and began to stone him.(CK) Meanwhile, the witnesses(CL) laid their coats(CM) at the feet of a young man named Saul.(CN)
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”(CO) 60 Then he fell on his knees(CP) and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”(CQ) When he had said this, he fell asleep.(CR)
Footnotes
- Acts 7:3 Gen. 12:1
- Acts 7:7 Gen. 15:13,14
- Acts 7:18 Exodus 1:8
- Acts 7:20 Or was fair in the sight of God
- Acts 7:28 Exodus 2:14
- Acts 7:32 Exodus 3:6
- Acts 7:34 Exodus 3:5,7,8,10
- Acts 7:37 Deut. 18:15
- Acts 7:40 Exodus 32:1
- Acts 7:43 Amos 5:25-27 (see Septuagint)
- Acts 7:46 Some early manuscripts the house of Jacob
- Acts 7:50 Isaiah 66:1,2
Acts 6:8-7:60
New Living Translation
Acts 6:8-7:60
New Living Translation
Stephen Is Arrested
8 Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. 9 But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. 10 None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke.
11 So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, “We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.” 12 This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council.[a]
13 The lying witnesses said, “This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses. 14 We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth[b] will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
15 At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel’s.
Stephen Addresses the Council
7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”
2 This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.[c] 3 God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’[d] 4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.
5 “But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet. 6 God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 7 ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’[e]
8 “God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.
9 “These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.
11 “But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food. 12 Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some. 13 The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers,[f] and they were introduced to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. 15 So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors. 16 Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.
17 “As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18 But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19 This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.
20 “At that time Moses was born—a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. 21 When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. 22 Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.
23 “One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24 He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.
26 “The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’
27 “But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. 28 ‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.
30 “Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him, 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’[g]
35 “So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. 36 And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.
37 “Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’[h] 38 Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.[i]
39 “But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ 41 So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made. 42 Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,
‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings
during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
43 No, you carried your pagan gods—
the shrine of Molech,
the star of your god Rephan,
and the images you made to worship them.
So I will send you into exile
as far away as Babylon.’[j]
44 “Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle[k] with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses. 45 Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.
46 “David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.[l] 47 But it was Solomon who actually built it. 48 However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,
49 ‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
asks the Lord.
‘Could you build me such a resting place?
50 Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’[m]
51 “You stubborn people! You are heathen[n] at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! 52 Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. 53 You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”
54 The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.[o] 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 56 And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”
57 Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.[p]
59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.
Footnotes
- 6:12 Greek Sanhedrin; also in 6:15.
- 6:14 Or Jesus the Nazarene.
- 7:2 Mesopotamia was the region now called Iraq. Haran was a city in what is now called Syria.
- 7:3 Gen 12:1.
- 7:5-7 Gen 12:7; 15:13-14; Exod 3:12.
- 7:13 Other manuscripts read Joseph was recognized by his brothers.
- 7:31-34 Exod 3:5-10.
- 7:37 Deut 18:15.
- 7:38 Some manuscripts read to you.
- 7:42-43 Amos 5:25-27 (Greek version).
- 7:44 Greek the tent of witness.
- 7:46 Some manuscripts read the house of Jacob.
- 7:49-50 Isa 66:1-2.
- 7:51 Greek uncircumcised.
- 7:54 Greek they were grinding their teeth against him.
- 7:58 Saul is later called Paul; see 13:9.
Acts 6:8-7:60
Contemporary English Version
Acts 6:8-7:60
Contemporary English Version
Stephen Is Arrested
8 God gave Stephen the power to work great miracles and wonders among the people. 9 But some men from Cyrene and Alexandria were members of a group who called themselves “Free Men.”[a] They started arguing with Stephen. Some others from Cilicia and Asia also argued with him. 10 But they were no match for Stephen, who spoke with the great wisdom that the Spirit gave him. 11 So they talked some men into saying, “We heard Stephen say terrible things against Moses and God!”
12 They turned the people and their leaders and the teachers of the Law of Moses against Stephen. Then they all grabbed him and dragged him in front of the council.
13 Some men agreed to tell lies about Stephen, and they said, “This man keeps on saying terrible things about this holy temple and the Law of Moses. 14 We have heard him claim that Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses gave us.” 15 (A) Then all the council members stared at Stephen. They saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.
Stephen's Speech
7 The high priest asked Stephen, “Are they telling the truth about you?”
2 (B) Stephen answered:
Friends, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he had moved to Haran. 3 God told him, “Leave your country and your relatives and go to a land that I will show you.” 4 (C) Then Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran.
After his father died, Abraham came and settled in this land where you now live. 5 (D) God didn't give him any part of it, not even a square meter. But God did promise to give it to him and his family forever, even though Abraham didn't have any children. 6 (E) God said Abraham's descendants would live for a while in a foreign land. There they would be slaves and would be mistreated 400 years. 7 (F) But he also said, “I will punish the nation that makes them slaves. Then later they will come and worship me in this place.”
8 (G) God said to Abraham, “Every son in each family must be circumcised to show you have kept your agreement with me.” So when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. Later, Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons. 9 (H) These men were our ancestors.
Joseph was also one of our famous ancestors. His brothers were jealous of him and sold him as a slave to be taken to Egypt. But God was with him 10 (I) and rescued him from all his troubles. God made him so wise that the Egyptian king Pharaoh thought highly of him. The king even made Joseph governor over Egypt and put him in charge of everything he owned.
11 (J) Everywhere in Egypt and Canaan the grain crops failed. There was terrible suffering, and our ancestors could not find enough to eat. 12 But when Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there for the first time. 13 (K) It was on their second trip that Joseph told his brothers who he was, and the king learned about Joseph's family.
14 (L) Joseph sent for his father and his relatives. In all, there were 75 of them. 15 (M) His father went to Egypt and died there, just as our ancestors did. 16 (N) Later their bodies were taken back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor.
17 (O) Finally, the time came for God to do what he had promised Abraham. By then the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Another king was ruling Egypt, and he didn't know anything about Joseph. 19 (P) He tricked our ancestors and was cruel to them. He even made them leave their babies outside, so they would die.
20 (Q) During this time Moses was born. He was a very beautiful child, and for three months his parents took care of him in their home. 21 (R) Then when they were forced to leave him outside, the king's daughter found him and raised him as her own son. 22 Moses was given the best education in Egypt. He was a strong man and a powerful speaker.
23 (S) When Moses was 40 years old, he wanted to help the Israelites because they were his own people. 24 One day he saw an Egyptian mistreating one of them. So he rescued the man and killed the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought the rest of his people would realize God was going to use him to set them free. But they didn't understand.
26 The next day Moses saw two of his own people fighting, and he tried to make them stop. He said, “Men, you are both Israelites. Why are you so cruel to each other?”
27 But the man who had started the fight pushed Moses aside and asked, “Who made you our ruler and judge? 28 Are you going to kill me, just as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?” 29 (T) When Moses heard this, he ran away to live in the country of Midian. His two sons were born there.
30 (U) Forty years later, an angel appeared to Moses from a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 Moses was surprised by what he saw. He went closer to get a better look, and the Lord said, 32 “I am the God who was worshiped by your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Moses started shaking all over and didn't dare to look at the bush.
33 The Lord said to him, “Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy. 34 With my own eyes I have seen the suffering of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now I am sending you back to Egypt.”
35 (V) This was the same Moses that the people rejected by saying, “Who made you our leader and judge?” God's angel had spoken to Moses from the bush. And God had even sent the angel to help Moses rescue the people and be their leader.
36 (W) In Egypt and at the Red Sea[b] and in the desert, Moses rescued the people by working miracles and wonders for 40 years. 37 (X) Moses is the one who told the people of Israel, “God will choose one of your people to be a prophet, just as he chose me.” 38 (Y) Moses brought our people together in the desert, and the angel spoke to him on Mount Sinai. There he was given these life-giving words to pass on to us. 39 But our ancestors refused to obey Moses. They rejected him and wanted to go back to Egypt.
40 (Z) The people said to Aaron, “Make some gods to lead us! Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don't know what's happened to him now.” 41 (AA) Then they made an idol in the shape of a calf. They offered sacrifices to the idol and were pleased with what they had done.
42 (AB) God turned his back on his people and left them. Then they worshiped the stars in the sky, just as it says in the Book of the Prophets, “People of Israel, you didn't offer sacrifices and offerings to me during those 40 years in the desert. 43 Instead, you carried the tent where the god Molech is worshiped, and you took along the star of your god Rephan. You made those idols and worshiped them. So now I will have you carried off beyond Babylonia.”
44 (AC) The tent where our ancestors worshiped God was with them in the desert. This was the same tent that God had commanded Moses to make. And it was made like the model that Moses had seen. 45 (AD) Later it was given to our ancestors, and they took it with them when they went with Joshua. They carried the tent along as they took over the land from those people that God had chased out for them. Our ancestors used this tent until the time of King David. 46 (AE) He pleased God and asked him if he could build a house of worship for the people[c] of Israel. 47 (AF) And it was finally King Solomon who built a house for God.[d]
48 But the Most High God doesn't live in houses made by humans. It is just as the prophet said, when he spoke for the Lord,
49 (AG) “Heaven is my throne,
and the earth
is my footstool.
What kind of house
will you build for me?
In what place will I rest?
50 I have made everything.”
51 (AH) You stubborn and hardheaded people! You are always fighting against the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors did. 52 Is there one prophet that your ancestors didn't mistreat? They killed the prophets who told about the coming of the One Who Obeys God.[e] And now you have turned against him and killed him. 53 Angels gave you God's Law, but you still don't obey it.
Stephen Is Stoned to Death
54 When the council members heard Stephen's speech, they were angry and furious. 55 (AI) But Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked toward heaven, where he saw our glorious God and Jesus standing at his right side.[f] 56 Then Stephen said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!”
57 The council members shouted and covered their ears. At once they all attacked Stephen 58 and dragged him out of the city. Then they started throwing stones at him. The men who had brought charges against him put their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.[g]
59 As Stephen was being stoned to death, he called out, “Lord Jesus, please welcome me!” 60 He knelt down and shouted, “Lord, don't blame them for what they have done.” Then he died.
Footnotes
- 6.9 Free Men: A group of Jewish men who had once been slaves, but had been freed.
- 7.36 Red Sea: This name comes from the Bible of the early Christians, a translation made into Greek about 200 b.c. It refers to the body of water that the Israelites crossed and was one of the marshes or fresh water lakes near the eastern part of the Nile Delta, where they lived and where the towns of Exodus 13.17—14.9 were located.
- 7.46 people: Some manuscripts have “God.”
- 7.47 God: Or “the people.”
- 7.52 One Who Obeys God: That is, Jesus.
- 7.55 standing at his right side: The “right side” is the place of honor and power. “Standing” may mean that Jesus is welcoming Stephen (see verse 59).
- 7.58 Saul: Better known as Paul, who became a famous follower of Jesus.
Acts 6:8-7:60
New American Standard Bible
Acts 6:8-7:60
New American Standard Bible
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great (A)wonders and [a]signs among the people. 9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both (B)Cyrenians and (C)Alexandrians, and some from (D)Cilicia and [b](E)Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. 10 But they were unable to [c]cope with his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking. 11 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 (F)came up to him and dragged him away, and brought him [d]before (G)the [e]Council. 13 They put forward (H)false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop [f]speaking against this (I)holy place and the Law; 14 for we have heard him say that (J)this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and change (K)the customs which Moses handed down to us.” 15 And all who were sitting in the [g](L)Council stared at him, and they saw his face, which was like the face of an angel.
Stephen’s Defense
7 Now the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And [h]Stephen said, “Listen to me, (M)[i]brothers and fathers! (N)The God of glory (O)appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in [j]Haran, 3 and He said to him, ‘(P)Go from your country and your relatives, and come to the land which I will show you.’ 4 (Q)Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in [k]Haran. And (R)from there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. 5 But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, (S)He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child. 6 But (T)God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and [l]they would enslave and mistreat them for four hundred years. 7 ‘And whatever nation to which they are enslaved I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and (U)after that they will come out and [m]serve Me in this place.’ 8 And He (V)gave him [n]the covenant of circumcision; and so (W)Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and (X)Isaac fathered Jacob, and (Y)Jacob, the twelve (Z)patriarchs.
9 “The patriarchs (AA)became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and (AB)granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and his entire household.
11 “Now (AC)a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers [o]could find no food. 12 But (AD)when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 And on the second visit, (AE)Joseph [p]made himself known to his brothers, and (AF)Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh. 14 Then (AG)Joseph sent word and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, (AH)seventy-five [q](AI)people in all. 15 And (AJ)Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there. 16 And they were brought back from there to [r](AK)Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of [s]Hamor in [t]Shechem.
17 “But as the (AL)time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, (AM)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until (AN)another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 19 It was he who (AO)shrewdly took advantage of our nation and mistreated our fathers in order that they would (AP)abandon their infants in the Nile, so that they would not survive. 20 At this time (AQ)Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father’s home. 21 And after he had been put outside, (AR)Pharaoh’s daughter [u]took him away and nurtured him as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all (AS)the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was proficient in [v]speaking and action. 23 But when he was approaching the age of forty, (AT)it entered his [w]mind to visit his countrymen, the sons of Israel. 24 And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian. 25 And he thought that his brothers understood that God was granting them [x]deliverance [y]through him; but they did not understand. 26 (AU)And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting each other, and he tried to reconcile them to peace, by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you injuring each other?’ 27 But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘(AV)Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 28 (AW)You do not intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ 29 At this remark, (AX)Moses fled and became a stranger in the land of [z]Midian, where he (AY)fathered two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, (AZ)an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came: 32 ‘(BA)I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look closely. 33 (BB)But the Lord said to him, ‘[aa](BC)Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 34 (BD)I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them; and (BE)now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
35 “This Moses whom they (BF)disowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God [ab]sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the [ac]help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 (BG)This man led them out, performing (BH)wonders and [ad]signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and in the (BI)wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘(BJ)God will raise up for you a prophet [ae]like me from your countrymen.’ 38 This is the one who was in (BK)the [af]assembly in the wilderness together with (BL)the angel who spoke to him at length on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received (BM)living (BN)words to pass on to you. 39 Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they (BO)rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, 40 (BP)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us [ag]a god who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’ 41 [ah]At that time (BQ)they made a [ai]calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in (BR)the works of their hands. 42 But God (BS)turned away and gave them over to [aj]serve the heavenly [ak]lights; as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘(BT)You did not offer Me victims and sacrifices (BU)for forty years in the wilderness, did you, house of Israel? 43 (BV)You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god [al]Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will deport you beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our fathers had (BW)the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it (BX)according to the pattern which he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn received it, and they also (BY)brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the [am]nations that God drove out from our fathers, until the time of David. 46 [an](BZ)David found favor in God’s sight, and (CA)asked that he might [ao]find a dwelling place for the [ap]house of Jacob. 47 But it was (CB)Solomon who built a house for Him. 48 However, (CC)the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:
49 ‘(CD)Heaven is My throne,
And the earth is the footstool of My feet;
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My rest?
50 (CE)Was it not My hand that made all these things?’
51 “You men who are (CF)stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52 (CG)Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of (CH)the Righteous One, and (CI)you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him; 53 you who received the Law as (CJ)ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”
Stephen Put to Death
54 Now when they heard this, they were (CK)infuriated, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But he, being (CL)full of the Holy Spirit, (CM)looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing (CN)at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the (CO)heavens opened and (CP)the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one [aq]mind. 58 When they had (CQ)driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and (CR)the witnesses (CS)laid aside their cloaks at the feet of (CT)a young man named Saul. 59 They went on stoning Stephen as he (CU)called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then he (CV)fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, (CW)do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he [ar](CX)fell asleep.
Footnotes
- Acts 6:8 I.e., confirming miracles
- Acts 6:9 I.e., west coast province of Asia Minor
- Acts 6:10 Lit oppose
- Acts 6:12 Lit into
- Acts 6:12 Or Sanhedrin
- Acts 6:13 Lit speaking words
- Acts 6:15 Or Sanhedrin
- Acts 7:2 Lit he
- Acts 7:2 Lit men, brothers
- Acts 7:2 Gr Charran
- Acts 7:4 Gr Charran
- Acts 7:6 I.e., the people of the land (Egypt)
- Acts 7:7 Or worship
- Acts 7:8 Or a
- Acts 7:11 Lit were not finding
- Acts 7:13 Or was made known
- Acts 7:14 Lit souls
- Acts 7:16 Gr Sychem
- Acts 7:16 Gr Emmor
- Acts 7:16 Gr Sychem
- Acts 7:21 Or adopted him
- Acts 7:22 Lit his words and actions
- Acts 7:23 Lit heart
- Acts 7:25 Or salvation
- Acts 7:25 Lit through his hand
- Acts 7:29 Gr Madiam
- Acts 7:33 Lit Untie the sandal of your
- Acts 7:35 Lit has sent
- Acts 7:35 Lit hand
- Acts 7:36 I.e., confirming miracles
- Acts 7:37 Or as He raised up me
- Acts 7:38 Gr ekklesia
- Acts 7:40 Lit gods, plural, but prob. refers to a singular deity
- Acts 7:41 Lit in those days
- Acts 7:41 Or young bull
- Acts 7:42 Or worship
- Acts 7:42 Lit host
- Acts 7:43 Other mss spell it: Romphan, Rempham, Raiphan; or Rephan
- Acts 7:45 Or Gentiles
- Acts 7:46 Lit He who
- Acts 7:46 I.e., build the temple
- Acts 7:46 I.e., the people of Israel
- Acts 7:57 Or purpose
- Acts 7:60 I.e., died
Acts 6:8-7:60
New King James Version
Acts 6:8-7:60
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.
God Delivers Israel by Moses
17 “But when (AH)the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, (AI)the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 till another king (AJ)arose who did not know Joseph. 19 This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, (AK)making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. 20 (AL)At this time Moses was born, and (AM)was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. 21 But (AN)when he was set out, (AO)Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was (AP)mighty in words and deeds.
23 (AQ)“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ 27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, (AR)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 (AS)Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he (AT)had two sons.
30 (AU)“And when forty years had passed, an Angel [e]of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 saying, (AV)‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 33 (AW)‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have surely (AX)seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will (AY)send you to Egypt.” ’
35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, (AZ)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer (BA)by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 (BB)He brought them out, after he had (BC)shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, (BD)and in the Red Sea, (BE)and in the wilderness forty years.
Israel Rebels Against God
37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, (BF)‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. (BG)Him[f] you shall hear.’
38 (BH)“This is he who was in the [g]congregation in the wilderness with (BI)the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, (BJ)the one who received the living (BK)oracles[h] to give to us, 39 whom our fathers (BL)would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40 (BM)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 (BN)And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and (BO)rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then (BP)God turned and gave them up to worship (BQ)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
(BR)‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness,
O house of Israel?
43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
And the star of your god Remphan,
Images which you made to worship;
And (BS)I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
God’s True Tabernacle
44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses (BT)to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 (BU)which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, (BV)whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the (BW)days of David, 46 (BX)who found favor before God and (BY)asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47 (BZ)But Solomon built Him a house.
48 “However, (CA)the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
49 ‘Heaven(CB) is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of My rest?
50 Has My hand not (CC)made all these things?’
Israel Resists the Holy Spirit
51 “You (CD)stiff-necked[i] and (CE)uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 (CF)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of (CG)the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 (CH)who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
Stephen the Martyr
54 (CI)When they heard these things they were [j]cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, (CJ)being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the (CK)glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! (CL)I see the heavens opened and the (CM)Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And (CN)the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, (CO)receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, (CP)“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
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New King James Version (NKJV) 
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