Acts 7

Stephen's Address to the Sanhedrin

1 Then the high priest asked [Stephen] , “Are these [charges] true?” 2 And [Stephen] declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen [to me] ! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was [still] in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and told him, ‘Leave your country and your kindred and go to the land I will show you.’ ▼

▼Genesis 12:1

4 [So] [Abraham] left [the] land of the Chaldeans [and] settled in Haran. After his father died, [God] brought him out of that place, into this land where you {are} now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance [here] , not even a foot of ground. [But] [God] promised to give possession of [the land] to [Abraham] and his descendants, [even though] he did not yet have a child. 6 God told [him] that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 7 ‘ [But] I will punish the nation [that] enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come forth and worship Me in this place.’ ▼

▼Genesis 15:13,14

8 Then [God] gave [Abraham] [the] covenant of circumcision, and [Abraham] became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac [became the father of] Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 9 [Because] the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. [He] granted [Joseph] favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, [who] appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household. 11 Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food. 12 [When] Jacob heard that [there] was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers [on their] first [visit] . 13 On [their] second [visit] , Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and [his] family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all [his] relatives, seventy-five in all. 15 [So] Jacob went down to Egypt, [where] he and our fathers died. 16 [Their bones] were carried back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver. 17 As the time drew near for God [to fulfill] His promise to Abraham, [our] people in Egypt increased greatly in number. 18 Then another king, who knew nothing of Joseph, arose over Egypt. 19 He exploited our people [and] oppressed our fathers, forcing [them] to abandon their infants so they would die. 20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God. ▼

▼Or he was of great status in God's eyes

[For] three months [he] was nurtured in [his] father’s house. 21 [When] he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 So Moses was educated in all [the] wisdom of [the] Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. 23 When [Moses] [was] forty years [old] , he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And when he saw one [of them] being mistreated, [Moses] went to his defense and avenged [him] by striking down the Egyptian who was oppressing [him] . 25 He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but [they did not] . 26 The next day he came upon [two Israelites who] were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating one another?’ 27 But the [man who] was abusing [his] neighbor pushed [Moses] aside [and] said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 {Do} you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ▼

▼Exodus 2:14

29 At this remark, Moses fled to [the] land of Midian, where he lived as a foreigner [and] had two sons. 30 [After] forty years had passed, an angel appeared to [Moses] in [the] flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 [When] Moses saw [it] , he marveled at the sight. [As] he approached to look [more closely] , [the] voice of [the] Lord came [to him] : 32 ‘I [am] the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ ▼

▼Exodus 3:6

Moses trembled with fear [and] did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off [your] sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’ ▼

▼Exodus 3:5-10

35 This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ [is] the one God sent to be [their] ruler and redeemer, through [the] angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 [He] led them out [and] performed wonders and signs in [the] land of Egypt, at [the] Red Sea, and [for] forty years in the wilderness. 37 This is the [same] Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your [own] brothers.’ ▼

▼Deuteronomy 18:15

38 [He] was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and [with] our fathers. [And] he received living words to pass on to us. 39 [But] our fathers refused to obey [him] . Instead, they rejected [him] and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ ▼

▼Exodus 32:1

41 At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away [from them] and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in [the] book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 43 You took along the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. [Therefore] I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’ ▼

▼Amos 5:25-27

44 Our fathers [had] the tabernacle of the testimony with [them] in the wilderness. [It was] constructed exactly as [God] had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 And our fathers who received it brought [it in] with Joshua [when] they dispossessed the nations God drove out before [them] . [It remained] until the time of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. ▼

▼NE, NA and Tischendorf the house of Jacob

47 But [it was] Solomon [who] built [the] house for Him. 48 However, the Most High {does} not dwell in [houses] made by human hands. As the prophet says: 49 ‘ - Heaven [is] My throne and the earth [is] My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says [the] Lord, or where [will] My place of repose [be] ? 50 {Has} not My hand made all these things?’ ▼

▼Isaiah 66:1,2

51 [You] stiff-necked [people] [with] uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers [did] . 52 Which of the prophets {did} your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are [His] betrayers and murderers— 53 [you] who have received the Law ordained by angels, yet have not kept [it] .”

The Stoning of Stephen

54 On hearing this, [the members of the Sanhedrin] were enraged, and they gnashed [their] teeth at him. 55 But [Stephen] , full of [the] Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven [and] saw [the] glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right [hand] of God.” 57 At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him. 58 They dragged [him] out of the city [and] began to stone [him] . Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 [While] they were stoning [him] , Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Falling on [his] knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, {do} not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.