Acts 7
1 And the high priest said, Are these things so?
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are the things that [these people are saying about you(sg)] true?”
2 And he said, Men! Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran.
Stephen replied, “Fellow Jews and respected leaders, [please] listen to me! The glorious God [whom we(inc) worship] appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was still [living] in Mesopotamia [region], before he moved to Haran [town].
3 And he said to him, Go forth out of thy land, and from thy kinfolk, and come into a land that I will show thee.
God said to him, ‘Leave this land where you [(sg)] and your relatives [are living], and go into the land to which I will lead you.’
4 Then after coming out of the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelt in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God resettled him in this land in which ye now dwell.
So Abraham left that land, [which was also called] Chaldea, and he arrived in Haran and lived there. After his father died, God told him to move to this land in which you [and I] are now living.”
5 And he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a footstep. And he promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, although there was no child by him.
“[At that time] God did not give Abraham any [land here], not even a small plot of [this] land that would belong to him. God promised that he would [later] give this land to him and his descendants, and that it would [always] belong [to them. However], at that time Abraham did not have any children [who would] ([inherit it/receive it after he died]).”
6 And God spoke thus: His seed would be alien in a foreign land, and they would enslave and mistreat them four hundred years.
“[Later] God told Abraham, ‘Your descendants will go and live in a foreign country. They [will live there] for 400 years, and [during that time their leaders] will mistreat your descendants and force them to work as slaves.’
7 And I will judge the nation to whomever they will be in bondage, God said, and after these things they will come forth and serve me in this place.
But God [also] said, ‘I will punish the people who make them work as slaves. Then, after that, your descendants will leave [that land] and they will [come and] worship me in this land.’”
8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so he begot Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. And Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
“Then God commanded Abraham that [every male in his household and all of his male descendants] should be circumcised [to show that they all belonged to God] and that they would obey what he had told Abraham to do. Later Abraham’s son, Isaac, was born, and when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. [Later] Isaac’s son, Jacob, was born, and Isaac [similarly circumcised] him. And Jacob [similarly circumcised] his twelve sons. They are the twelve men [from whom we(inc) Jews have all descended].”
9 And the patriarchs, being envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. And God was with him,
“[You know that] Jacob’s [older] sons became jealous [because their father favored their younger brother] Joseph. So they sold him [to merchants/traders who took him] [MTY] to Egypt. There he became a slave [of an official who lived there]. But God [helped] Joseph.
10 and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he appointed him governor over Egypt and his entire house.
He protected him whenever people caused him to suffer. He enabled Joseph to be wise; and he caused Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to think well of Joseph. So Pharaoh appointed him to rule [over] Egypt and to look after all of Pharaoh’s property [MTY].”
11 Now a famine came on all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers found no sustenance.
“[While Joseph was doing that work], there was a time (when there was very little food/of famine) throughout Egypt and also throughout Canaan. People did not have enough food to eat. People were suffering. [At that time] Jacob and his sons [in Canaan] also could not find [enough] food.
12 But when Jacob heard of grain being in Egypt, he sent forth our fathers the first time.
When Jacob heard [people report that] there was grain/food [that people could buy] in Egypt, he sent Joseph’s older brothers [to go there to buy grain. They went and bought grain from Joseph, but they did not recognize him. Then they returned home].
13 And during the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's race became manifest to Pharaoh.
When Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt the second time, [they again bought grain from Joseph]. But this time [he] told them who he was. [And] people told Pharaoh that Joseph’s people were Hebrews [and that those men who had come from Canaan were his brothers].
14 And Joseph having sent forth, he summoned Jacob his father. And all his kinfolk, in souls, were seventy-five.
Then after Joseph sent [his brothers back home, they] told their father Jacob [that Joseph wanted] him and his entire family to come [to Egypt. At that time] ([Jacob’s family consisted of] 75 people/there were 75 people in Jacob’s family) [SYN].
15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he perished, he and our fathers.
[So when] Jacob [heard that, he and all his family] went to [live in] Egypt.” Acts 7:15b-16 “[Later on], Jacob died [there], and our [other] ancestors, [his sons, also died there].
16 And they were carried into Shechem, and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham bought for a price of silver from the sons of Hamor of Shechem.
[But] the bodies [of Jacob and Joseph] were brought {[they] brought the bodies [of Jacob and Joseph]} [back to our land], and [Jacob’s body] was buried {they buried [Jacob’s body]} [in the tomb that Abraham had bought, and they buried Joseph’s body] in Shechem in the ground that [Jacob] had bought from Hamor’s sons.”
17 But as the time of the promise approached that God swore to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
“Our ancestors had become very numerous when it was almost time for [God to rescue them] from Egypt, [as] he had promised Abraham that he would do.
18 until another king arose who had not known Joseph.
Another king had begun to rule in Egypt. He did not know that Joseph, [long before that time, had greatly helped the people of Egypt] [MTY].
19 This man, who cunningly victimized our race, mistreated our fathers to make their infants be placed outside in order not to keep alive.
That king cruelly tried to get rid of our ancestors. He oppressed them and caused them to suffer greatly. He [even commanded] them to leave their baby [boys] outside [their homes] so that they would die.”
20 During which time Moses was born (and he was well-formed by God) who was reared three months in his father's house.
“During that time Moses was born, and he was a very beautiful [LIT] [child]. So his parents [secretly] cared for him in their house for three months.
21 And when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter took him away, and reared him for a son to herself.
Then they had to put him outside [the house, but] Pharaoh’s daughter [found him and] adopted him and cared for him as [though he were] her own son.
22 And Moses was reared in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.
Moses was taught {[The Egyptian teachers] taught Moses} many kinds of wise things [HYP] that the people in Egypt knew, and [when he grew up], he spoke powerfully and did things powerfully.”
23 But when a forty year time span was fulfilled by him, it came into his heart to go help his brothers, the sons of Israel.
“[One day] when Moses was about 40 years old, he decided that he would [go and] see his fellow Israelis. [So he went to the place where they worked].
24 And after seeing a certain man suffering wrong, he defended him, and did vengeance for the man being oppressed, having smitten the Egyptian.
He saw an Egyptian beating one of the Israelis. So he went over to help [MTY] the Israeli man who was being hurt/beat {whom [the Egyptian] was hurting/beating}, and he (got revenge on/paid back) the Israeli man by killing the Egyptian [who was hurting/beating him].
25 And he presumed his brothers understood that, by his hand, God was giving them salvation, but they did not understand.
Moses was thinking that his fellow Israelis would understand that God had sent him to free them [from being slaves]. But they did not understand that.
26 And on the next day he was seen by them as they fought, and he was reconciling them for peace, having said, Men, ye are brothers. Why is it that ye wrong each other?
The next day, Moses saw two Israeli men fighting [each other]. He tried to make them stop fighting by saying to them, ‘Men, you two are fellow [Israelis! So] (stop hurting each other!/why are you hurting each other?) [RHQ]’
27 But the man doing wrong to his neighbor thrust him away, having said, Who appointed thee a ruler and a judge over us?
But the man who was injuring the other man pushed Moses away and said to him, ‘(No one appointed you [(sg)] to rule and judge us [(exc)]!/Do you [(sg)] think someone appointed you [(sg)] to rule and judge us [(exc)]?) [RHQ]
28 Do thou not want to kill me, as thou killed the Egyptian yesterday?
Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
29 And Moses fled at this word, and became an alien in the land of Midian, where he begot two sons.
When Moses heard that, [he thought to himself, ‘Obviously, people know what I have done, and someone will kill me.’ He was afraid, so] he fled [from Egypt] to Midian land. He lived there [for some years]. He [got married, and he and his wife] had two sons.”
30 And forty years having been fulfilled, an agent of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai in a flame of fire of a bush.
“[One day] 40 years later, [the Lord God appeared as] an angel to Moses. He appeared in a bush that was burning in the desert near Sinai Mountain.
31 And when Moses looked, he wondered at the sight. And as he approached to examine, a voice of the Lord came to him,
When Moses saw that, he was greatly surprised, [because the bush was not burning up]. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord [God] say [to him],
32 I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. But Moses, who developed trembling, dared not examine.
‘I [am] the God [whom] your ancestors [worshipped]. I [am] the God that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob [worship].’ Moses [was so afraid that he] began to shake. He was afraid to look [at the bush any longer].
33 And the Lord said to him, Put off the shoes from thy feet, for the place on which thou stand is holy ground.
Then the Lord [God] said to him, ‘Take your sandals off [to show that you(sg) revere me]. Because I [am here], the place where you are standing is holy/sacred.
34 Having looked, I saw the oppression of my people in Egypt, and I heard their groaning, and I came down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
I have surely seen how the people of Egypt are continually causing my people to suffer. I have heard my people when they groan [because those people continually oppress them]. So I have come down to rescue them [from Egypt]. Now get ready, because I am going to send you [back] to Egypt [to do that].’”
35 This Moses whom they refused, having said, Who appointed thee a ruler and a judge? This man God sent, a ruler and a liberator by the hand of the agent who appeared to him in the bush.
“This Moses [is the one who had tried to help our Israeli people, but] whom they rejected [by saying], ‘No one [RHQ] appointed you to rule and judge [us!’] Moses [is the one whom] God [himself] sent to rule them and to free them [from being slaves. He is the one whom] an angel in the bush [commanded to do that].
36 This man brought them forth after performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
Moses [is the one who] led our ancestors out [from Egypt]. He did many kinds of miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and during the 40 years [that the Israelite people lived] in the desert.
37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you, from your brothers, like me.
This Moses is the one who said to the Israelite people, ‘God will appoint a prophet for you from among your own people. [He will speak words from God], just like I [speak his words to you].’
38 This is he who became in the congregation in the wilderness with the agent who spoke to him on the mount Sinai, and of our fathers who received living oracles to give to us.
This man [Moses] was [our people’s leader] when they gathered together in the desert. It is Moses to whom [God sent] the angel on Sinai Mountain to [give him our laws], and [he was the one who told] our [other] ancestors [what the angel had said]. He was the one who received [from God] words that tell us how to live [eternally, and Moses] passed [them] on to us.”
39 To whom our fathers did not want to become obedient, but they thrust away, and turned back in their heart to Egypt,
“[However], our ancestors did not want to obey [Moses]. Instead, [while he was still on the mountain], they rejected him [as their leader] and decided that they wanted to return to Egypt.
40 after saying to Aaron, Make gods for us who will lead us. For this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has happened to him.
So they told [his older brother] Aaron, ‘Make idols for us who will be our gods to lead us [back to Egypt]! As for that fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt we [(exc)] do not know what has happened to him!’
41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered up sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
So, they made [out of gold] an image [that looked like] a calf. Then they sacrificed [animals and offered other things] to [honor] that idol, and they sang and danced to honor the idol that they themselves had made.
42 But God turned, and gave them over to serve the host of heaven, just as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did ye offer to me slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
So God rejected them. He abandoned them to worship the sun, moon and stars in the sky. This agrees with the words that one of the prophets wrote that God said, You Israelite [people] [MTY], when you [repeatedly] killed animals and offered them as sacrifices during those 40 years [that you were] in the desert, (you [most certainly] were not offering them to me!/what makes you think that you were offering them to me?) [RHQ]
43 And ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, the images that ye made to worship them. And I will deport you beyond Babylon.
[On the contrary], you carried [with you from place to place] the tent [that contained the idol] representing [the god] Molech [that you worshipped]. You also [carried with you] the image of the star [called] Rephan. [Those] were idols that you had made, [and you] worshipped [them instead of me]. So I will [cause you to] be taken away {[people to] take you} [from your own country. You will be taken] {[They will take you]} [far from your homes to regions] even farther than Babylon [Country].”
44 The tabernacle of the testimony was with our fathers in the wilderness, just as he arranged (he who spoke to Moses), to make it according to the pattern that he had seen.
“While our ancestors were in the desert, they worshipped God at the tent that showed [that he was there with them]. They had made the tent exactly like God had commanded Moses [to make it. It was] exactly like the model that Moses had seen [when he was up on the mountain].
45 Which also our fathers, having received in succession, brought in with Joshua into the possession of the nations whom God drove out from the presence of our fathers, until the days of David
[Later on], other ancestors of ours carried that tent with them when Joshua led them [into this land]. That was during the time that they took this land for themselves, when God forced the people [who previously lived here] to leave. So the Israelis were able to possess this land. [The tent remained in this land and was still here] when [King] David ruled.
46 who found favor in the sight of God. And he asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.
David pleased God, and he asked God to let him build a house where [he and] all of our Israeli people could worship God.
47 But Solomon built him a house.
But [instead, God let David’s son] Solomon build a house [where people could worship] God.”
48 However the Most High does not dwell in man-made temples, just as the prophet says,
“However, [we(inc) know that] God is greater than everything, and he does not live in [houses that] people [SYN] have made. It is like the prophet [Isaiah] wrote. He wrote [these words that God had spoken: ]
49 The heaven is to me a throne, and the earth a footstool of my feet. What house will ye build for me? says the Lord. Or what is the place of my rest?
Heaven is (my throne/the place from which I rule the entire universe), and the earth is (my footstool/[merely like] a stool on which I may rest my feet). I myself [SYN] have made everything [both in heaven and on the earth]. So you [human beings], ([you] really cannot build a house that would be [adequate] for me!/do you think you can build a house that would be [appropriate] for me?) [RHQ] You cannot [RHQ] make a place good enough for me [to live in]!”
50 Did not my hand make all these things?
51 Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers, ye also.
“You people are extremely stubborn [MET], not wanting to obey God or listen [MTY] [to him!] You are exactly like your ancestors! You always resist the Holy Spirit [as they did]!
52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold about the coming of the Righteous man, of whom ye now have become betrayers and murderers,
Your ancestors caused [RHQ] every prophet to suffer, [including Moses]. They even killed those who long ago announced [that the Messiah] would come, the one who always did what pleased God. [And the Messiah has come! He is the one whom] you [recently] turned over [to his enemies] and [insisted that] they kill him!
53 who received the law at directions of agents, and did not keep it.
You [are the people] who have received God’s laws. [Those were laws] that God caused angels to give [to our ancestors]. However, [incredibly], you have not obeyed them!”
54 Now when they heard these things, they were split with a saw in their hearts, and they gnashed their teeth against him.
When the Jewish Council members [and others there] heard all that [Stephen said], they became very angry. They were grinding their teeth [together because they were so angry] at him!
55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, having gazed into heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
But the Holy Spirit completely controlled Stephen. He looked up into heaven and saw a dazzling light from God, and [he saw] Jesus standing at God’s right side.
56 And he said, Look, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open, and I [see] the one who came from heaven standing at God’s right side!”
57 But they, having cried out in a great voice, held their ears shut, and rushed upon him with one accord.
[When the Jewish Council members and others heard that], they shouted loudly. They put their hands over their ears [so that they could not hear Stephen, and immediately] they all rushed at him.
58 And having expelled him out of the city, they stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments beside the feet of a young man called Saul.
They dragged him outside the city [of Jerusalem] and started to throw stones at him. The people who were accusing him [took off] their outer garments [in order to throw stones more easily, and] they put their clothes [on the ground] next to a young man whose name was Saul, [so that he could guard them].
59 And they stoned Stephen, who was calling and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
While they continued to throw stones at Stephen, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
60 And having knelt down, he cried out in a great voice, Lord, place not this sin to them. And after saying this, he slept.
Then Stephen fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not punish them (OR, forgive them) [LIT] for this sin!” After he had said that, he died.
