Mat 23, Act 7 | ESV | STEP | Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples ,

1 Then Jesus ^asaid to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 ^b“The scribes and the Pharisees ^csit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, ^dbut not the works they do. ^eFor they preach, but do not practice. 4 ^fThey tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts omit hard to bear} and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 ^hThey do all their deeds ⁱto be seen by others. For they make ^jtheir phylacteries broad and ^ktheir fringes long, 6 and they ^llove the place of honor at feasts and ^mthe best seats in the synagogues 7 and ⁿgreetings in ^othe marketplaces and being called ^prabbi ^{▼▼ Rabbi means my teacher, or my master; also verse 8} by others. 8 ^rBut you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are ^sall brothers. ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters} 9 ^uAnd call no man your father on earth, for ^vyou have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, ^wthe Christ. 11 ^xThe greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 ^yWhoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

13 “But woe ^zto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you ^aashut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you ^abneither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add here (or after verse 12) verse 14: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation} 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single ^adproselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a ^aechild of ^afhell ^{▼▼Greek Gehenna; also verse 33} as yourselves.

16 “Woe to ^ahyou, ^aiblind guides, who say, ^aj‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or ^akthe temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by ^althe gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ^amthe altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by ^anhim who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by ^aoheaven swears by ^apthe throne of God and by ^aqhim who sits upon it.

23 ^ar“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^asyou tithe mint and dill and ^atcumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: ^aujustice and mercy and faithfulness. ^avThese you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ^awa camel!

25 ^ax“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^ayyou clean the outside of ^azthe cup and the plate, but inside they are full of ^bagreed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of ^bbthe cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

27 ^bc“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like ^bdwhitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and ^beall uncleanness. 28 So you also ^bfoutwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of ^bghypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 ^bh“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are ^bisons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 ^bjFill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, ^bkyou brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to ^blhell? 34 ^bmTherefore ^bnI send you ^boprophets and wise men and ^bpscribes, ^bqsome of whom you will kill and crucify, and ^brsome you will ^bsflog in your synagogues and ^btpersecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all ^buthe righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^bvAbel to the blood of ^bwZechariah the son of Barachiah, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts omit the son of Barachiah} whom you murdered between ^bythe sanctuary and ^bzthe altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, ^caall these things will come upon this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

37 ^cb“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that ^cckills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have ^cdgathered ^ceyour children together ^cfas a hen gathers her brood ^cgunder her wings, and ^chyou were not willing! 38 See, ^ciyour house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ^cj‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Acts 7

Stephen’s Speech

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

^ck“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^clThe God ^cmof glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^cnbefore he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ^co‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 ^cpThen he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And ^cqafter his father died, ^crGod 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 ^csto give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^ctthough he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that ^cuhis offspring would ^cvbe sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^cwfour hundred years. 7 ‘But ^cxI will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out ^cyand worship me in this place.’ 8 And ^czhe gave him the covenant of circumcision. And ^daso Abraham became the father of Isaac, and ^dbcircumcised him on the eighth day, and ^dcIsaac became the father of Jacob, and ^ddJacob of the twelve patriarchs.

9 “And the patriarchs, ^dejealous of Joseph, ^dfsold him into Egypt; but ^dgGod was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and ^dhgave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^diwho made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now ^djthere came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 ^dkBut when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And ^dlon the second visit ^dmJoseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^dnJoseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And ^doJoseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, ^dpseventy-five persons in all. 15 And ^dqJacob went down into Egypt, and ^drhe died, he ^dsand our fathers, 16 and ^dtthey were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that ^duAbraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

17 “But ^dvas the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^dwthe people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until there arose over Egypt another king ^dxwho did not know Joseph. 19 ^dyHe dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^dzso that they would not be kept alive. 20 ^eaAt 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 ^ebwhen he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses ^ecwas instructed in ^edall the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^eemighty in his words and deeds.

23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^efto 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 ^egAnd 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, ^eh‘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 ^eiMoses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^ejwhere he became the father of two sons.

30 “Now when forty years had passed, ^ekan angel appeared to him ^elin 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 ^em‘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, ^en‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 ^eoI have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^ephave heard their groaning, and ^eqI have come down to deliver them. ^erAnd now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^essaying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^etby the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 ^euThis man led them out, performing ^evwonders and signs ^ewin Egypt and ^exat the Red Sea and ^eyin the wilderness for ^ezforty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^faa prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one ^fbwho was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^fcthe angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^fdHe received ^feliving ^fforacles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^fgin their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ^fh‘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 ^fithey made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^fjwere rejoicing in ^fkthe works of their hands. 42 But ^flGod turned away and ^fmgave them over to worship ^fnthe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

^fo“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
^fpduring the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43 You took up the tent of ^fqMoloch
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 ^frthe tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^fsdirected him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn ^ftbrought it in with Joshua when they ^fudispossessed the nations ^fvthat God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^fwuntil the days of David, 46 ^fxwho found favor in the sight of God and ^fyasked to find a dwelling place for ^fzthe God of Jacob. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob} 47 But it was ^gbSolomon who built a house for him. 48 ^gcYet the Most High does not dwell ^gdin houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

49 ^ge“‘Heaven is my throne,
^gfand 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 ^gg“You stiff-necked people, ^ghuncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^giAs your fathers did, so do you. 52 ^gjWhich of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^gkthe Righteous One, ^glwhom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law ^gmas delivered by angels and ^gndid not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

54 Now when they heard these things ^gothey were enraged, and they ^gpground their teeth at him. 55 But he, ^gqfull of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw ^grthe glory of God, and Jesus standing ^gsat the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see ^gtthe heavens opened, and ^guthe Son of Man standing ^gvat 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 ^gxthey cast him out of the city and ^gystoned him. And ^gzthe witnesses laid down their garments ^haat the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, ^hbhe called out, “Lord Jesus, ^hcreceive my spirit.” 60 And ^hdfalling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ^he“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, ^hfhe fell asleep.