Act 6:12-7:60 | ESV | STEP | And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes , and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council ,

12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they ^aset up false ^bwitnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against ^cthis holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth ^dwill destroy this place and will ^echange ^fthe customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face ^gwas like the face of an angel.

Acts 7

Stephen’s Speech

1 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said:

^h“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ⁱThe God ^jof glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^kbefore he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ^l‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 ^mThen he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And ⁿafter his father died, ^oGod removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised ^pto give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^qthough he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that ^rhis offspring would ^sbe sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^tfour hundred years. 7 ‘But ^uI will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out ^vand worship me in this place.’ 8 And ^whe gave him the covenant of circumcision. And ^xso Abraham became the father of Isaac, and ^ycircumcised him on the eighth day, and ^zIsaac became the father of Jacob, and ^aaJacob of the twelve patriarchs.

9 “And the patriarchs, ^abjealous of Joseph, ^acsold him into Egypt; but ^adGod was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and ^aegave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^afwho made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now ^agthere came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 ^ahBut when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And ^aion the second visit ^ajJoseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^akJoseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And ^alJoseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, ^amseventy-five persons in all. 15 And ^anJacob went down into Egypt, and ^aohe died, he ^apand our fathers, 16 and ^aqthey were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that ^arAbraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

17 “But ^asas the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^atthe people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until there arose over Egypt another king ^auwho did not know Joseph. 19 ^avHe dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^awso that they would not be kept alive. 20 ^axAt this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, 21 and ^aywhen he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses ^azwas instructed in ^baall the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^bbmighty in his words and deeds.

23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^bcto visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 ^bdAnd on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ^be‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 At this retort ^bfMoses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^bgwhere he became the father of two sons.

30 “Now when forty years had passed, ^bhan angel appeared to him ^biin the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ^bj‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ^bk‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 ^blI have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^bmhave heard their groaning, and ^bnI have come down to deliver them. ^boAnd now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^bpsaying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^bqby the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 ^brThis man led them out, performing ^bswonders and signs ^btin Egypt and ^buat the Red Sea and ^bvin the wilderness for ^bwforty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^bxa prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one ^bywho was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^bzthe angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^caHe received ^cbliving ^ccoracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^cdin their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ^ce‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And ^cfthey made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^cgwere rejoicing in ^chthe works of their hands. 42 But ^ciGod turned away and ^cjgave them over to worship ^ckthe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

^cl“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
^cmduring the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43 You took up the tent of ^cnMoloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship;
and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our fathers had ^cothe tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^cpdirected him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn ^cqbrought it in with Joshua when they ^crdispossessed the nations ^csthat God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^ctuntil the days of David, 46 ^cuwho found favor in the sight of God and ^cvasked to find a dwelling place for ^cwthe God of Jacob. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob} 47 But it was ^cySolomon who built a house for him. 48 ^czYet the Most High does not dwell ^dain houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

49 ^db“‘Heaven is my throne,
^dcand the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’
51 ^dd“You stiff-necked people, ^deuncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^dfAs your fathers did, so do you. 52 ^dgWhich of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^dhthe Righteous One, ^diwhom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law ^djas delivered by angels and ^dkdid not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

54 Now when they heard these things ^dlthey were enraged, and they ^dmground their teeth at him. 55 But he, ^dnfull of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw ^dothe glory of God, and Jesus standing ^dpat the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see ^dqthe heavens opened, and ^drthe Son of Man standing ^dsat the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together ^{▼▼Or rushed with one mind} at him. 58 Then ^duthey cast him out of the city and ^dvstoned him. And ^dwthe witnesses laid down their garments ^dxat the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, ^dyhe called out, “Lord Jesus, ^dzreceive my spirit.” 60 And ^eafalling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ^eb“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, ^eche fell asleep.