Acts 6:5

5And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, ^aa man full of faith and ^bof the Holy Spirit, and ^cPhilip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, ^da proselyte of Antioch.

Acts 6:8

Stephen Is Seized

8And Stephen, full of grace and ^epower, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

Acts 6:15

15And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face ^fwas like the face of an angel.

Acts 7:1-53

Stephen’s Speech

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

^g“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^hThe God ⁱof glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^jbefore he lived in Haran, 3and said to him, ^k‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 ^lThen he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And ^mafter his father died, ⁿGod removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised ^oto give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^pthough he had no child. 6And God spoke to this effect—that ^qhis offspring would ^rbe sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^sfour hundred years. 7‘But ^tI will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out ^uand worship me in this place.’ 8And ^vhe gave him the covenant of circumcision. And ^wso Abraham became the father of Isaac, and ^xcircumcised him on the eighth day, and ^yIsaac became the father of Jacob, and ^zJacob of the twelve patriarchs.

9“And the patriarchs, ^aajealous of Joseph, ^absold him into Egypt; but ^acGod was with him 10and rescued him out of all his afflictions and ^adgave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^aewho made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11Now ^afthere came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 ^agBut when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13And ^ahon the second visit ^aiJoseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^ajJoseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14And ^akJoseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, ^alseventy-five persons in all. 15And ^amJacob went down into Egypt, and ^anhe died, he ^aoand our fathers, 16and ^apthey were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that ^aqAbraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

17“But ^aras the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^asthe people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18until there arose over Egypt another king ^atwho did not know Joseph. 19 ^auHe dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^avso that they would not be kept alive. 20 ^awAt 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, 21and ^axwhen he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22And Moses ^aywas instructed in ^azall the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^bamighty in his words and deeds.

23“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^bbto visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 ^bcAnd 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?’ 27But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ^bd‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29At this retort ^beMoses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^bfwhere he became the father of two sons.

30“Now when forty years had passed, ^bgan angel appeared to him ^bhin the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ^bi‘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. 33Then the Lord said to him, ^bj‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 ^bkI have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^blhave heard their groaning, and ^bmI have come down to deliver them. ^bnAnd now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

35“This Moses, whom they rejected, ^bosaying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^bpby the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 ^bqThis man led them out, performing ^brwonders and signs ^bsin Egypt and ^btat the Red Sea and ^buin the wilderness for ^bvforty years. 37This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^bwa prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38This is the one ^bxwho was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^bythe angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^bzHe received ^caliving ^cboracles to give to us. 39Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^ccin their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40saying to Aaron, ^cd‘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.’ 41And ^cethey made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^cfwere rejoicing in ^cgthe works of their hands. 42But ^chGod turned away and ^cigave them over to worship ^cjthe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

^ck“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
^clduring the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43You took up the tent of ^cmMoloch
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 ^cnthe tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^codirected him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45Our fathers in turn ^cpbrought it in with Joshua when they ^cqdispossessed the nations ^crthat God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^csuntil the days of David, 46 ^ctwho found favor in the sight of God and ^cuasked to find a dwelling place for ^cvthe God of Jacob. ▼

▼Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob

47But it was ^cxSolomon who built a house for him. 48 ^cyYet the Most High does not dwell ^czin houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

49 ^da“‘Heaven is my throne,
^dband 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?
50Did not my hand make all these things?’
51 ^dc“You stiff-necked people, ^dduncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^deAs your fathers did, so do you. 52 ^dfWhich of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^dgthe Righteous One, ^dhwhom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53you who received the law ^dias delivered by angels and ^djdid not keep it.”

Philippians 1:14

14And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold ^dkto speak the word ▼

▼Some manuscripts add of God

without fear.

1 Thessalonians 2:2

2But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated ^dmat Philippi, as you know, ^dnwe had boldness in our God ^doto declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much ^dpconflict.

2 Timothy 2:1

A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

1You then, ^dqmy child, ^drbe strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,