Acts 7
International Standard Version
Stephen Defends Himself
7 Then the high priest asked, “Is this true?”
2 Stephen replied:
“Listen, brothers and fathers!
“The glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. 3 God[a] told him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land I’ll show you.’[b] 4 So he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. Then after the death of his father, God had him move to this country where you now live. 5 God[c] gave him no property here,[d] not even a foot of land,[e] yet he promised to give it to him and to his descendants[f] after him as a permanent possession, even though he had no child.
6 “This is what God promised: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and its people[g] would enslave them and oppress them for 400 years. 7 ‘But I will punish the nation they serve,’ said God, ‘and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.’[h]
8 Later, God[i] gave Abraham[j] the covenant of circumcision. Later, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Then Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered[k] the twelve patriarchs.
9 “Joseph’s brothers[l] became jealous of him and sold Joseph as a slave[m] in Egypt. However, God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler of Egypt and of his whole household.
11 “But a famine spread throughout Egypt and Canaan, and with it great suffering, and our ancestors couldn’t find any food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors on their first trip. 13 On their second trip, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph introduced his family[n] to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him in Egypt[o]—75 persons in all. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt. Then he and our ancestors died. 16 They were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought at a high price[p] from Hamor’s descendants in Shechem.
17 “Now as the time approached for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people’s population increased a great deal in Egypt. 18 Eventually, a different king who had not known Joseph became ruler of Egypt.[q] 19 By shrewdly scheming against our people, he oppressed our ancestors and forced them to abandon their infants to the elements, so that they wouldn’t live.
20 “At this time Moses was born. He was beautiful in the sight of God, and for three months he was cared for in his father’s house. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 So Moses learned all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man, both in words and in deeds.
23 “When he was 40 years old, he decided[r] to visit his brothers, the descendants of Israel. 24 When he saw one of them being mistreated, he defended him[s] and avenged the man who was being mistreated by killing the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn’t understand. 26 The next day, he presented himself to some of them while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why should you be hurting another?’
27 “But the man who was harming his neighbor pushed Moses[t] away and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 You don’t want to kill me like you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’[u] 29 Because of this, Moses fled and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There he had two sons.
30 “After 40 years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached the bush[v] to look at it, the voice of the Lord said,[w] 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’[x] Moses became terrified and didn’t dare to look. 33 Then the Lord told him, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I’ve heard their groans, and I’ve come down to rescue them. Now come, I’ll send you to Egypt.’[y]
35 “This same Moses—whom they rejected by saying, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’[z]—was the man whom God sent to be both their ruler and deliverer with the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. 36 It was he who led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for 40 years. 37 It was this Moses who told the Israelis, ‘God will raise up a prophet for you from among your own brothers, just as he did[aa] me.’[ab] 38 This Moses[ac] is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and to our ancestors. He received living truths to give to us,[ad] 39 but our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and wished to return to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will lead us. This Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we don’t know what happened to him!’[ae]
41 “At that time they even made a calf to be their idol, offered a sacrifice to it, and delighted in what they had made with their hands. 42 So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the heavenly bodies. As it is written in the book of the Prophets:
‘O house of Israel,
you didn’t offer me slaughtered animals and
sacrifices those 40 years in the wilderness, did you?
43 You even took along the tent of Moloch,
the star of your god Rephan,
and the images you made in order to worship them.
So I will take you into exile as far as Babylon.’[af]
44 “Our ancestors had the Tent of Testimony[ag] in the wilderness constructed,[ah] just as the one who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. 45 Our ancestors brought it here with Joshua when they replaced the nations that God drove out in front of our ancestors, and it was here until the time of David. 46 He found favor with God and asked to design a dwelling for the house[ai] of Jacob, 47 but it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 However, the Most High does not live in buildings made by human[aj] hands. As the prophet says,
49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house can you build for me,’ declares the Lord,[ak]
“or what place is there in which I can rest?
50 It was my hand that made all these things, wasn’t it?’”[al]
51 “You stubborn people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors fail to persecute? They killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. 53 You received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet you haven’t obeyed it!”
Stephen is Stoned to Death
54 While they were listening to these things, they became more and more furious and began to grind their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen,[am] filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 He said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57 But they shouted out loud, stopped listening, and together they all rushed at him, 58 ran him outside of the city, and began to stone him to death. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 As they continued to stone Stephen, he kept praying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” After he had said this, he died.[an]
Footnotes
- Acts 7:3 Lit. He
- Acts 7:3 Cf. Gen 12:1
- Acts 7:5 Lit. He
- Acts 7:5 Lit. in it
- Acts 7:5 I.e. about half of a single stride, or about 1.5 feet
- Acts 7:5 Lit. seed
- Acts 7:6 Lit. they
- Acts 7:7 Cf. Gen 15:13-14; Exod 3:12
- Acts 7:8 Lit. he
- Acts 7:8 Lit. him
- Acts 7:8 The Gk. lacks fathered
- Acts 7:9 Lit. The patriarchs
- Acts 7:9 The Gk. lacks as a slave
- Acts 7:13 Lit. Joseph’s family became known
- Acts 7:14 The Gk. lacks in Egypt
- Acts 7:16 Lit. Abraham for a sum of money
- Acts 7:18 Other mss. lack of Egypt
- Acts 7:23 Lit. old, his heart was moved
- Acts 7:24 The Gk. lacks him
- Acts 7:27 Lit. him
- Acts 7:28 Cf. Exod 2:14
- Acts 7:31 The Gk. lacks the bush
- Acts 7:31 Lit. came
- Acts 7:32 Cf. Exod 3:6
- Acts 7:34 Cf. Exod 3:4-10
- Acts 7:35 Cf. Exod 2:14
- Acts 7:37 The Gk. lacks he did
- Acts 7:37 Cf. Deut 18:15
- Acts 7:38 Lit. one
- Acts 7:38 Other mss. read to you
- Acts 7:40 Cf. Exod 32:1, 23
- Acts 7:43 Cf. Amos 5:25-27
- Acts 7:44 I.e. the tent containing the Ark of the Covenant
- Acts 7:44 The Gk. lacks constructed
- Acts 7:46 Other mss. read God
- Acts 7:48 The Gk. lacks human
- Acts 7:49 MT source citation reads Lord
- Acts 7:50 Cf. Isa 66:1-2
- Acts 7:55 Lit. he
- Acts 7:60 Lit. fell asleep
Acts 7
New King James Version
Stephen’s Address: The Call of Abraham
7 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, (A)“Brethren and fathers, listen: The (B)God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in (C)Haran, 3 and said to him, (D)‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then (E)he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was (F)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, (G)He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But God spoke in this way: (H)that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into (I)bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7 (J)‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will (K)judge,’ said God, (L)‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ 8 (M)Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; (N)and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; (O)and Isaac begot Jacob, and (P)Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.
The Patriarchs in Egypt
9 (Q)“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, (R)sold Joseph into Egypt. (S)But God was with him 10 and delivered him out of all his troubles, (T)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 (U)Now a famine and great [a]trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 (V)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And the (W)second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. 14 (X)Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and (Y)all his relatives to him, [b]seventy-five people. 15 (Z)So Jacob went down to Egypt; (AA)and he died, he and our fathers. 16 And (AB)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in (AC)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 (AD)the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, (AE)the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 till another king (AF)arose who did not know Joseph. 19 This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, (AG)making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. 20 (AH)At this time Moses was born, and (AI)was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. 21 But (AJ)when he was set out, (AK)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 (AL)mighty in words and deeds.
23 (AM)“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, (AN)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 (AO)Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he (AP)had two sons.
30 (AQ)“And when forty years had passed, an Angel [c]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, (AR)‘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 (AS)‘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 (AT)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 (AU)send you to Egypt.” ’
35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, (AV)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer (AW)by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 (AX)He brought them out, after he had (AY)shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, (AZ)and in the Red Sea, (BA)and in the wilderness forty years.
Israel Rebels Against God
37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, (BB)‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. (BC)Him[d] you shall hear.’
38 (BD)“This is he who was in the [e]congregation in the wilderness with (BE)the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, (BF)the one who received the living (BG)oracles[f] to give to us, 39 whom our fathers (BH)would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40 (BI)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 (BJ)And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and (BK)rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then (BL)God turned and gave them up to worship (BM)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
(BN)‘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 (BO)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 (BP)to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 (BQ)which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, (BR)whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the (BS)days of David, 46 (BT)who found favor before God and (BU)asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47 (BV)But Solomon built Him a house.
48 “However, (BW)the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
49 ‘Heaven(BX) 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 (BY)made all these things?’
Israel Resists the Holy Spirit
51 “You (BZ)stiff-necked[g] and (CA)uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 (CB)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of (CC)the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 (CD)who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
Stephen the Martyr
54 (CE)When they heard these things they were [h]cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, (CF)being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the (CG)glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! (CH)I see the heavens opened and the (CI)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 (CJ)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, (CK)receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, (CL)“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7
English Standard Version
Stephen's Speech
7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said:
(A)“Brothers and fathers, hear me. (B)The God (C)of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, (D)before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, (E)‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 (F)Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And (G)after his father died, (H)God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised (I)to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, (J)though he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that (K)his offspring would (L)be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them (M)four hundred years. 7 ‘But (N)I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out (O)and worship me in this place.’ 8 And (P)he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And (Q)so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and (R)circumcised him on the eighth day, and (S)Isaac became the father of Jacob, and (T)Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
9 “And the patriarchs, (U)jealous of Joseph, (V)sold him into Egypt; but (W)God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and (X)gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, (Y)who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now (Z)there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 (AA)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And (AB)on the second visit (AC)Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and (AD)Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And (AE)Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, (AF)seventy-five persons in all. 15 And (AG)Jacob went down into Egypt, and (AH)he died, he (AI)and our fathers, 16 and (AJ)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that (AK)Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
17 “But (AL)as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, (AM)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until there arose over Egypt another king (AN)who did not know Joseph. 19 (AO)He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, (AP)so that they would not be kept alive. 20 (AQ)At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, 21 and (AR)when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses (AS)was instructed in (AT)all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was (AU)mighty in his words and deeds.
23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart (AV)to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 (AW)And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, (AX)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 At this retort (AY)Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, (AZ)where he became the father of two sons.
30 “Now when forty years had passed, (BA)an angel appeared to him (BB)in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 (BC)‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, (BD)‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 (BE)I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and (BF)have heard their groaning, and (BG)I have come down to deliver them. (BH)And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, (BI)saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer (BJ)by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 (BK)This man led them out, performing (BL)wonders and signs (BM)in Egypt and (BN)at the Red Sea and (BO)in the wilderness for (BP)forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you (BQ)a prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one (BR)who was in the congregation in the wilderness with (BS)the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. (BT)He received (BU)living (BV)oracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and (BW)in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, (BX)‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And (BY)they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and (BZ)were rejoicing in (CA)the works of their hands. 42 But (CB)God turned away and (CC)gave them over to worship (CD)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
(CE)“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
(CF)during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43 You took up the tent of (CG)Moloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship;
and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our fathers had (CH)the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses (CI)directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn (CJ)brought it in with Joshua when they (CK)dispossessed the nations (CL)that God drove out before our fathers. So it was (CM)until the days of David, 46 (CN)who found favor in the sight of God and (CO)asked to find a dwelling place for (CP)the God of Jacob.[a] 47 But it was (CQ)Solomon who built a house for him. 48 (CR)Yet the Most High does not dwell (CS)in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,
49 (CT)“‘Heaven is my throne,
(CU)and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’
51 (CV)“You stiff-necked people, (CW)uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. (CX)As your fathers did, so do you. 52 (CY)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of (CZ)the Righteous One, (DA)whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law (DB)as delivered by angels and (DC)did not keep it.”
The Stoning of Stephen
54 Now when they heard these things (DD)they were enraged, and they (DE)ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, (DF)full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw (DG)the glory of God, and Jesus standing (DH)at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see (DI)the heavens opened, and (DJ)the Son of Man standing (DK)at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together[b] at him. 58 Then (DL)they cast him out of the city and (DM)stoned him. And (DN)the witnesses laid down their garments (DO)at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, (DP)he called out, “Lord Jesus, (DQ)receive my spirit.” 60 And (DR)falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, (DS)“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, (DT)he fell asleep.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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