ActsChapter 7

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¹Then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these charges true?" ²Stephen answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham. Abraham was still in Mesopotamia then. That was before he lived in Haran. ³God told him, 'Leave your country and your relatives. Go to the land I will show you.' ⁴So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God moved him from there. God brought him to this land where you live now. ⁵God gave him no land of his own here. He didn't give him even a foot of ground. But God promised that Abraham and his descendants would own the land. He promised this even though Abraham had no child yet. ⁶God told him that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land. They would be made slaves there. They would be treated badly for 400 years. ⁷God said, 'But I will punish the nation that makes them slaves. After that, they will come out and worship me in this place.' ⁸Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. Abraham became the father of Isaac. He circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old. Isaac became the father of Jacob. And Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. ⁹The patriarchs were jealous of Joseph. So they sold him as a slave, and he was taken to Egypt. But God was with him. ¹⁰God rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and made Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, like him. So Pharaoh made Joseph ruler over Egypt and over his whole palace. ¹¹Then a famine came over all of Egypt and Canaan. It caused great suffering. Our fathers could not find food. ¹²Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt. So he sent our fathers there on their first trip. ¹³On their second trip, Joseph told his brothers who he was. And Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family. ¹⁴Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives. There were 75 of them in all. ¹⁵So Jacob went down to Egypt. There he and our fathers died. ¹⁶Their bones were carried back to Shechem. They were placed in the tomb Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem. He had paid for it with silver. ¹⁷The time came near for God to keep his promise to Abraham. By then our people in Egypt had grown to be very many. ¹⁸Then a new king came to rule over Egypt. He knew nothing about Joseph. ¹⁹He took advantage of our people and treated our fathers cruelly. He forced them to leave their babies outside so they would die. ²⁰That was when Moses was born. He was a beautiful child in God's eyes. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. ²¹Then he was put outside. Pharaoh's daughter took him and raised him as her own son. ²²So Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was powerful in what he said and did. ²³When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the children of Israel. ²⁴He saw one of them being treated badly by an Egyptian. So Moses went to help him. He got even for him by killing the Egyptian. ²⁵Moses thought his own people would understand that God was using him to rescue them. But they didn't understand. ²⁶The next day he came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to make peace between them. He said, 'Men, you are brothers. Why are you hurting each other?' ²⁷But the man who was hurting the other pushed Moses away. He said, 'Who made you our ruler and judge? ²⁸Do you want to kill me like you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' ²⁹When Moses heard this, he ran away to the land of Midian. He lived there as a foreigner and had two sons. ³⁰Forty years went by. Then an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush. This was in the desert near Mount Sinai. ³¹When Moses saw it, he was amazed at what he saw. He went closer to look. Then he heard the voice of the Lord. ³²'I am the God of your fathers,' the Lord said. 'I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses shook with fear. He didn't dare to look. ³³Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals. The place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴I have truly seen how my people in Egypt are being crushed. I have heard their groans. I have come down to rescue them. Now come. I will send you back to Egypt.' ³⁵The people had turned this Moses away. They had said, 'Who made you ruler and judge?' But God sent him to be their ruler and redeemer. God sent him through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶Moses led them out. He did wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea. He did them for forty years in the wilderness too. ³⁷This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will raise up for you a prophet like me. He will come from among your own people.' ³⁸Moses was with the people gathered in the wilderness. He was with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai. He was with our fathers too. And he received living words to pass on to us. ³⁹But our fathers refused to obey him. They turned him away. In their hearts they turned back to Egypt. ⁴⁰They said to Aaron, 'Make us gods who will lead us! We don't know what happened to this Moses who led us out of Egypt.' ⁴¹That was when they made an idol shaped like a calf. They offered a sacrifice to it. They celebrated what their own hands had made. ⁴²But God turned away from them. He let them worship the sun, moon, and stars. This is just what is written in the book of the prophets: 'People of Israel, did you bring me sacrifices and offerings for forty years in the wilderness? ⁴³You carried along the tent of the god Molech. You carried the star of your god Rephan. These were the idols you made to worship. So I will send you away as captives, even farther than Babylon.' ⁴⁴Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was built just as God had told Moses. He made it like the pattern he had seen. ⁴⁵Our fathers received the tabernacle. Later they brought it with them when they came in with Joshua. They took the land from the nations God drove out in front of them. The tabernacle stayed there until the time of David. ⁴⁶God was pleased with David. David asked if he could build a home for the God of Jacob. ⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built the house for God. ⁴⁸But the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says, ⁴⁹'Heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Where will my resting place be? ⁵⁰Didn't my hand make all these things?' ⁵¹You stubborn people! Your hearts and ears are like those of people who don't belong to God. You always fight against the Holy Spirit, just like your fathers did.a ⁵²Was there ever a prophet your fathers didn't hurt? They even killed those who told ahead of time that the Righteous One would come. And now you have turned him over and murdered him. ⁵³You received the law that was given through angels. But you have not obeyed it." ⁵⁴When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious. They ground their teeth at him in anger. ⁵⁵But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked up into heaven. He saw the glory of God. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶"Look!" he said. "I see heaven open. I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." ⁵⁷When they heard this, they covered their ears. They yelled at the top of their voices. Then they all rushed at him. ⁵⁸They dragged him out of the city and began to throw stones at him. The witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." ⁶⁰Then he fell on his knees. He cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, don't hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep in death.