Act 7 | NASB1995 | STEP | The high priest said , “ Are these things so ?”

Acts 7

Stephen’s Defense

1 The high priest said, “Are these things so?”

2 And he said, “Hear me, ^abrethren and fathers! ^bThe God of glory ^cappeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in ^{▼▼ Gr Charran}Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘ ^e Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ 4 ^f“Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in ^{▼▼ Gr Charran}Haran. ^hFrom there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. 5 “But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, ⁱHe promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 “But ^jGod spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would ^{▼▼ Lit enslave them and mistreat them} be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7 “‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and ^l after that they will come out and ^{▼▼ Or worship} serve Me in this place.’ 8 “And He ⁿgave him ^{▼▼ Or a}the covenant of circumcision; and so ^p Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and ^qIsaac became the father of Jacob, and ^rJacob of the twelve ^spatriarchs.

9 “The patriarchs ^tbecame jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and ^ugranted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.

11 “Now ^va famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers ^{▼▼ Lit were not finding}could find no food. 12 “But ^xwhen Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 “On the second visit ^yJoseph ^{▼▼ Or was made known}made himself known to his brothers, and ^aaJoseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh. 14 “Then ^abJoseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, ^acseventy-five ^{▼▼ Lit souls
,} ^aepersons in all. 15 “And ^afJacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died. 16 “From there they were removed to ^{▼▼ Gr Sychem
,} ^ahShechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of ^{▼▼ Gr Emmor}Hamor in ^{▼▼ Gr Sychem}Shechem.

17 “But as the ^aktime of the promise was approaching which God had assured to Abraham, ^althe people increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until ^am there arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19 “It was he who took ^anshrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would ^{▼▼ Or put out to die
,} ^apexpose their infants and they would not survive. 20 “It was at this time that ^aqMoses was born; and he was lovely ^{▼▼ Lit to God}in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home. 21 “And after he had been set outside, ^asPharaoh’s daughter ^{▼▼ Or adopted him}took him away and nurtured him as her own son. 22 “Moses was educated in all ^authe learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds. 23 “But when he was approaching the age of forty, ^avit entered his ^{▼▼ Lit heart}mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. 24 “And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. 25 “And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them ^{▼▼ Or salvation}deliverance ^{▼▼ Lit through his hand}through him, but they did not understand. 26 ^az“On the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?’ 27 “But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘ ^ba Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 28 ‘ ^bb You do not mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ 29 “At this remark, ^bc Moses fled and became an alien in the land of ^{▼▼ Gr Madiam} Midian, where he ^bebecame the father of two sons.

30 “After forty years had passed, ^bf an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. 31 “When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ‘ ^bgI am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look. 33 ^bh“But the Lord said to him, ‘ ^bi Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 34 ‘ ^bjI have certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them; ^{▼▼ Lit and now come!
,} ^bl come now, and I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses whom they ^bmdisowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God ^{▼▼ Lit has sent}sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the ^{▼▼ Lit hand}help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 ^bp“This man led them out, performing ^bqwonders and ^{▼▼ Or attesting miracles}signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the ^bswilderness for forty years. 37 “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘ ^bt God will raise up for you a prophet ^{▼▼ Or as He raised up me} like me from your brethren.’ 38 “This is the one who was in ^bvthe ^{▼▼ Gr ekklesia}congregation in the wilderness together with ^bxthe angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received ^byliving ^bzoracles to pass on to you. 39 “Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but ^carepudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, 40 ^cb saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt— we do not know what happened to him.’ 41 ^{▼▼ Lit in those days}“At that time ^cdthey made a ^{▼▼ Or young bull}calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in ^cfthe works of their hands. 42 “But God ^cgturned away and delivered them up to ^{▼▼ Or worship}serve the ^{▼▼ I.e. heavenly bodies}host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘ ^cj It was not to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices ^ck forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel? 43 ‘ ^cl You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god ^{▼▼ Other mss spell it: Romphan, or Rempham, or Raiphan, or Rephan} Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will remove you beyond Babylon.’

44 “Our fathers had ^cnthe tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it ^coaccording to the pattern which he had seen. 45 “And having received it in their turn, our fathers ^cpbrought it in with ^{▼▼ Gr Jesus}Joshua upon dispossessing the ^{▼▼ Or Gentiles}nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. 46 ^cs“David found favor in God’s sight, and ^ctasked that he might find a dwelling place for the ^{▼▼ The earliest mss read house instead of God; the Septuagint reads God}God of Jacob. 47 “But it was ^cvSolomon who built a house for Him. 48 “However, ^cwthe Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says: 49 ‘ ^cx Heaven is My throne,
And earth is the footstool of My feet;
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My repose?
50 ‘ ^cy Was it not My hand which made all these things?’

51 “You men who are ^czstiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52 ^da“Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of ^dbthe Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers ^dcyou have now become; 53 you who received the law as ^ddordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

Stephen Put to Death

54 Now when they heard this, they were ^decut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But being ^dffull of the Holy Spirit, he ^dggazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing ^dhat the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the ^diheavens opened up and ^djthe Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. 58 When they had ^dkdriven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and ^dlthe witnesses ^dmlaid aside their robes at the feet of ^dna young man named Saul. 59 They went on stoning Stephen as he ^docalled on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then ^dpfalling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, ^dqdo not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he ^{▼▼ I.e. died
,} ^dsfell asleep.