Thanksgiving for Rescue from Death.

Israel Invoked to Praise the Lord.

¹⁷ But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them. ¹⁸ And they abandoned ^(A)the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and ^(B)served the ^[a]Asherim and the idols; so ^(C)wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. ¹⁹ Yet ^(D)He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.

Joash Murders Son of Jehoiada

^20 (E)Then the Spirit of God ^[b]covered Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest like clothing; and he stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God has said, ‘^(F)Why do you break the commandments of the Lord and do not prosper? ^(G)Because you have abandoned the Lord, He has also abandoned you.’” ²¹ So ^(H)they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him ^[c]to death in the courtyard of the house of the Lord. ²² So Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as Zechariah died he said, “May ^(I)the Lord see and ^[d]avenge!”

Choosing of the Seven

6 Now ^[a]at this time, as the ^(A)disciples were ^(B)increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the ^[b](C)Hellenistic Jews against the native ^(D)Hebrews, because their ^(E)widows were being overlooked in ^(F)the daily serving of food. ² So the twelve summoned the ^[c]congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. ³ Instead, ^(G)brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, ^(H)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. ⁴ But we will ^(I)devote ourselves to prayer and to the ^[d]ministry of the word.” ⁵ The ^[e]announcement found approval with the whole ^[f]congregation; and they chose ^(J)Stephen, a man ^(K)full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and ^(L)Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and ^[g]Nicolas, a ^[h](M)proselyte from ^(N)Antioch. ⁶ And they brought these men before the apostles; and after ^(O)praying, they ^(P)laid their hands on them.

^7 (Q)The word of God kept spreading; and ^(R)the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to ^(S)the faith.

⁵⁹ They went on stoning Stephen as he ^(A)called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ⁶⁰ Then he ^(B)fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, ^(C)do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he ^[a](D)fell asleep.

Saul Persecutes the Church

8 ^(E)Now Saul approved of putting ^[b]Stephen to death.

And on that day a great persecution ^[c]began against ^(F)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^(G)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^(H)Samaria, except for the apostles. ² Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him. ³ But ^(I)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would ^(J)drag away men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

⁴ Therefore, those ^(K)who had been scattered went through places ^[d](L)preaching the word. ^5 (M)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the ^[e]Christ to them. ⁶ The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ^[f]signs which he was performing. ⁷ For in the case of many who had ^(N)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^(O)paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed. ⁸ So there was ^(P)much rejoicing in that city.