7
1 The high priest said, “Are
these things so?”
2 He
said, “Brothers and
fathers, listen. The
God of glory
appeared to our
father Abraham when
he was in
Mesopotamia, before
he lived in
Haran,
3 and
said to him, ‘Get
out of your
land and away
from your
relatives, and
come into a
land which I
will show
you.’
4 Then
he came out
of the land
of the Chaldaeans
and lived in
Haran. From there,
when his father
was dead, God moved
him into this
land where you
are now living.
5 He
gave him no
inheritance in it,
no, not so much
as to set
his foot on.
He promised that
he would give
it to him
for a possession,
and to
his offspring after
him, when he still
had no child.
6 God
spoke in this
way: that
his offspring would
live as aliens
in a strange land,
and that they
would be enslaved
and mistreated for
four hundred years.
7 ‘I
will judge the
nation to which
they will be
in bondage,’ said
God, ‘and after
that they will
come out and
serve me in
this place.’
8 He
gave him the
covenant of
circumcision. So Abraham
became the father
of Isaac, and
circumcised him
the eighth day.
Isaac became the
father of Jacob,
and Jacob became
the father of
the twelve
patriarchs.
9 “The
patriarchs, moved with jealousy
against Joseph,
sold him
into Egypt. God
was with him
10 and
delivered him out
of all his
afflictions, and
gave him favor
and wisdom before
Pharaoh, king
of Egypt. He made
him governor
over Egypt and all
his house.
11 Now
a famine came
over all the land
of Egypt and
Canaan, and great
affliction. Our
fathers found no
food.
12 But
when Jacob heard
that there was
grain in Egypt, he
sent out our
fathers the first
time.
13 On
the second time
Joseph was made
known to
his brothers, and
Joseph’s family
was revealed to
Pharaoh.
14 Joseph
sent and summoned
Jacob his father
and all his
relatives, seventy-five
souls.
15 Jacob
went down
into Egypt and he
died, himself and
our fathers;
16 and
they were brought
back to Shechem
and laid in
the tomb
that Abraham bought
for a price
in silver from the
children of Hamor
of Shechem.
17 “But
as the time
of the promise
came close which
God had sworn
to Abraham, the
people grew and
multiplied in Egypt,
18 until
there arose a
different king
who didn’t know
Joseph.
19 The
same took
advantage of our
race and
mistreated our
fathers, and forced
them to abandon
their babies, so
that they wouldn’t
stay alive.
20 At
that time Moses
was born, and
was exceedingly handsome
to God. He
was nourished three
months in his
father’s house.
21 When
he was abandoned,
Pharaoh’s daughter
took him up
and reared him as
her own son.
22 Moses
was instructed in
all the wisdom
of the Egyptians.
He was mighty
in his words
and works.
23 But
when he was
forty years old,
it came into
his heart to
visit his brothers,
the children of
Israel.
24 Seeing
one of them
suffer wrong,
he defended him
and avenged him
who was oppressed,
striking the Egyptian.
25 He
supposed that
his brothers understood
that God, by
his hand, was
giving them
deliverance; but
they didn’t
understand.
26 “The
day following, he
appeared to them
as they fought,
and urged them to
be at peace
again, saying, ‘Sirs,
you are brothers.
Why do you wrong
one another?’
27 But
he who did
his neighbor wrong pushed
him away, saying, ‘Who
made you a
ruler and a
judge over us?
28 Do
you want to kill
me as you killed
the Egyptian yesterday?’
29 Moses
fled at this
saying, and became
a stranger in
the land of
Midian, where he
became the father
of two sons.
30 “When
forty years were
fulfilled, an angel
of the Lord
appeared to him
in the wilderness
of Mount Sinai,
in a flame
of fire in
a bush.
31 When
Moses saw it,
he wondered at
the sight. As
he came close to
see, the voice
of the Lord
came to him,
32 ‘I
am the God
of your fathers:
the God of Abraham,
the God of
Isaac, and the
God of Jacob.’
Moses trembled and
dared not look.
33 The
Lord said to
him, ‘Take off
your sandals, for
the place where
you stand is holy
ground.
34 I
have surely seen
the affliction of
my people who
are in Egypt, and
have heard their
groaning. I have
come down to
deliver them. Now
come, I will send
you into Egypt.’
35 “This
Moses whom
they refused, saying, ‘Who
made you a
ruler and a
judge?’—God has
sent him as
both a ruler
and a deliverer
by the hand
of the angel who
appeared to him
in the bush.
36 This
man led them
out, having worked
wonders and signs
in Egypt, in the
Red Sea, and
in the wilderness
for forty years.
37 This
is that Moses
who said to
the children of
Israel, ‘The Lord
our God will
raise up a
prophet for you
from among
your brothers, like
me.’
38 This
is he who
was in the
assembly in the
wilderness with
the angel that
spoke to him
on Mount Sinai,
and with our
fathers, who
received living revelations
to give to
us,
39 to
whom our
fathers wouldn’t
be obedient,
but rejected him
and turned back
in their hearts
to Egypt,
40 saying
to Aaron, ‘Make us
gods that will
go before us,
for as for
this Moses who
led us out
of the land
of Egypt, we don’t
know what has
become of
him.’
41 They
made a calf
in those days,
and brought a
sacrifice to the
idol, and rejoiced
in the works
of their hands.
42 But
God turned away
and gave them
up to serve
the army of
the sky,
as it is
written in the
book of the
prophets,
‘Did you offer
to me slain animals
and sacrifices
forty years in
the wilderness, O
house of Israel?
43 You
took up the
tabernacle of
Moloch,
the star of your
god Rephan,
the figures which
you made to
worship,
so I will
carry you away
beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our
fathers had the
tabernacle of the
testimony in the
wilderness, even
as he who
spoke to Moses
commanded him to
make it according
to the pattern
that he had
seen;
45 which
also our fathers,
in their turn,
brought in with
Joshua when
they entered into
the possession of
the nations whom
God drove out
before the face
of our fathers
to the days
of David,
46 who
found favor in
the sight of
God, and asked to
find a habitation
for the God
of Jacob.
47 But
Solomon built him
a house.
48 However,
the Most
High doesn’t dwell
in temples made
with hands, as
the prophet says,
49 ‘heaven
is my throne,
and the earth
a footstool for
my feet.
What kind of
house will you
build me?’ says
the Lord.
‘Or what is
the place of
my rest?
50 Didn’t
my hand make
all these
things?’
51 “You
stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and
ears, you always resist
the Holy Spirit!
As your fathers
did, so you
do.
52 Which
of the
prophets didn’t
your fathers
persecute? They killed
those who foretold
the coming of
the Righteous One,
of whom you
have now become
betrayers and
murderers.
53 You
received the law
as it was
ordained by angels,
and didn’t keep
it!”
54 Now
when they heard
these things, they
were cut to
the heart, and
they gnashed at
him with their
teeth.
55 But
he, being full
of the Holy
Spirit, looked
up steadfastly into
heaven and saw
the glory of
God, and Jesus
standing on the
right hand of
God,
56 and
said, “Behold, I
see the heavens
opened and the
Son of Man
standing at the
right hand of
God!”
57 But
they cried out
with a loud
voice and stopped
their ears, then
rushed at him
with one accord.
58 They
threw him out
of the city
and stoned him.
The witnesses placed
their garments at
the feet of
a young man
named Saul.
59 They
stoned Stephen as
he called out,
saying, “Lord
Jesus, receive my
spirit!”
60 He
kneeled down and
cried with a
loud voice, “Lord,
don’t hold this sin
against them!”
When he had
said this, he
fell asleep.