Acts 7-9

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:

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:

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.

Saul Persecutes the Church

8 Now Saul was consenting to his death.

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and ^(CM)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and ^(CN)made great lamentation over him.

³ As for Saul, ^(CO)he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

Christ Is Preached in Samaria

⁴ Therefore ^(CP)those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. ⁵ Then ^(CQ)Philip went down to ^[i]the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. ⁶ And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. ⁷ For ^(CR)unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. ⁸ And there was great joy in that city.

The Sorcerer’s Profession of Faith

⁹ But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously ^(CS)practiced ^[j]sorcery in the city and ^(CT)astonished the ^[k]people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, ¹⁰ to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” ¹¹ And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his ^[l]sorceries for a long time. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he preached the things ^(CU)concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. ¹³ Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

The Sorcerer’s Sin

¹⁴ Now when the ^(CV)apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, ¹⁵ who, when they had come down, prayed for them ^(CW)that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For ^(CX)as yet He had fallen upon none of them. ^(CY)They had only been baptized in ^(CZ)the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then ^(DA)they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because ^(DB)you thought that ^(DC)the gift of God could be purchased with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your ^(DD)heart is not right in the sight of God. ²² Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God ^(DE)if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are ^(DF)poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

²⁴ Then Simon answered and said, ^(DG)“Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

²⁵ So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

Christ Is Preached to an Ethiopian^(DH)

²⁶ Now an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(DI)Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is ^[m]desert. ²⁷ So he arose and went. And behold, ^(DJ)a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and ^(DK)had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

³⁰ So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹ And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² The place in the Scripture which he read was this:

³⁴ So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, ^(DP)and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. ^(DQ)What hinders me from being baptized?”

^37 [n]Then Philip said, ^(DR)“If you believe with all your heart, you may.”

And he answered and said, ^(DS)“I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

³⁸ So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. ³⁹ Now when they came up out of the water, ^(DT)the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip was found at ^[o]Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to ^(DU)Caesarea.

The Damascus Road: Saul Converted^(DV)

9 Then ^(DW)Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ² and asked ^(DX)letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

^3 (DY)As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. ⁴ Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, ^(DZ)why are you persecuting Me?”

⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ^[p]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

⁶ So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷ And ^(EA)the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Ananias Baptizes Saul

¹⁰ Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus ^(EB)named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.”

And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹ So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul ^(EC)of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. ¹² And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”

¹³ Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^(ED)how much ^[q]harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all ^(EE)who call on Your name.”

¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(EF)he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before ^(EG)Gentiles, ^(EH)kings, and the ^(EI)children^[r] of Israel. ¹⁶ For ^(EJ)I will show him how many things he must suffer for My ^(EK)name’s sake.”

^17 (EL)And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and ^(EM)laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord ^[s]Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and ^(EN)be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

¹⁹ So when he had received food, he was strengthened. ^(EO)Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

Saul Preaches Christ

²⁰ Immediately he preached ^[t]the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

²¹ Then all who heard were amazed, and said, ^(EP)“Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”

²² But Saul increased all the more in strength, ^(EQ)and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

Saul Escapes Death

²³ Now after many days were past, ^(ER)the Jews plotted to kill him. ^24 (ES)But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him. ²⁵ Then the disciples took him by night and ^(ET)let him down through the wall in a large basket.

Saul at Jerusalem

²⁶ And ^(EU)when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. ^27 (EV)But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, ^(EW)and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ So ^(EX)he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. ²⁹ And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the ^(EY)Hellenists,^{[u] (EZ)}but they attempted to kill him. ³⁰ When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.

The Church Prospers

^31 (FA)Then the ^[v]churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were ^(FB)edified.^[w] And walking in the ^(FC)fear of the Lord and in the ^(FD)comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were ^(FE)multiplied.

Aeneas Healed

³² Now it came to pass, as Peter went ^(FF)through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda. ³³ There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed. ³⁴ And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, ^(FG)Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed.” Then he arose immediately. ³⁵ So all who dwelt at Lydda and ^(FH)Sharon saw him and ^(FI)turned to the Lord.

Dorcas Restored to Life

³⁶ At Joppa there was a certain disciple named ^[x]Tabitha, which is translated ^[y]Dorcas. This woman was full ^(FJ)of good works and charitable deeds which she did. ³⁷ But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in ^(FK)an upper room. ³⁸ And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. ³⁹ Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. ⁴⁰ But Peter ^(FL)put them all out, and ^(FM)knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he ^(FN)said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. ⁴¹ Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. ⁴² And it became known throughout all Joppa, ^(FO)and many believed on the Lord. ⁴³ So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with ^(FP)Simon, a tanner.