Acts 7
1 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
And the High-priest said—Are these things, so?
2 And Stephen declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
And, he, said—Brethren and fathers, hearken! The God of Glory, appeared unto our father Abraham, while he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, —
3 and told him, ‘Leave your country and your kindred and go to the land I will show you.’
And said unto him—Get thee forth, out of thy land, and from among thy kindred, and come unto the land which, unto thee, I will point out.
4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God brought him out of that place and into this land where you are now living.
Then, coming forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelt in Haran; and, from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, in which, ye, now dwell;
5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a child.
And gave him no inheritance therein, not even a place to set his foot on; and yet promised to give it unto him in possession, and unto his seed after him, when as yet he had not a child.
6 God told him that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
But God, spake thus—His seed shall be a sojourner in a foreign land, and they will bring it into bondage, and ill-treat it four-hundred years;
7 ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come forth and worship Me in this place.’
And, the nation unto which they shall be in bondage, will, I, judge—said God; and, after these things, shall they come forth, and render divine service unto me, in this place.
8 Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
And he gave unto him a covenant of circumcision; and, thus, he begat Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs.
9 Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
And, the patriarchs, being jealous of Joseph, gave him up into Egypt; and, God, was, with him,
10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.
And rescued him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favour and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he appointed him governor over Egypt and all his house.
11 Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.
And there came a famine upon all Egypt and Canaan, and great tribulation, and our fathers could not find pasture.
12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit.
But Jacob, hearing there was corn in Egypt, sent off our fathers, first;
13 On their second visit, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh.
And, the second time, Joseph was made known unto his brethren, and, the race of Joseph was made, manifest, unto Pharaoh.
14 Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.
And Joseph, sending forth, called for Jacob his father, and all the kindred, consisting of seventy-five souls;
15 So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.
And Jacob went down [into Egypt]. And he died, he, and our fathers;
16 Their bones were carried back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver.
And were brought over into Shechem, and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased, for a price of silver, of the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
17 As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.
Now, just as the time of the promise was drawing near wherewith God had agreed with Abraham, the people grew, and were multiplied in Egypt, —
18 Then another king, who knew nothing of Joseph, arose over Egypt.
Until there arose another sort of king over Egypt, who had not known Joseph.
19 He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.
The same, dealing craftily with our race, ill-treated our fathers, so as to cause their babes to be exposed, to the end they might not be suffered to live.
20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God. For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house.
In which season, Moses, was born, and was exceeding goodly, —who was nourished up three months in the house of his father;
21 When he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
But, when he was exposed, the daughter of Pharaoh rescued him, and nourished him for herself, as a son.
22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
And, so Moses was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in his words and works.
23 When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
And, when there was being fulfilled unto him a period of forty years, it came up on his heart to look after his brethren the sons of Israel;
24 And when he saw one of them being mistreated, Moses went to his defense and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian who was oppressing him.
And, seeing one being wronged, he defended him, and avenged him that was getting worn out, smiting the Egyptian.
25 He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.
But he supposed his brethren would understand that, God, through his hand, would give them deliverance; whereas they understood not.
26 The next day he came upon two Israelites who were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’
On the following day also, he appeared unto them, as they were contending, and would have reconciled them in peace, saying—Men! ye are, brothers! Wherefore wrong ye one another?
27 But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
But, he that was wronging his neighbour, thrust him away, saying—Who hath appointed, thee, to be ruler and judge over us?
28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
Art, thou, wishing, to kill me, in the same way thou didst kill, yesterday, the Egyptian?
29 At this remark, Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he lived as a foreigner and had two sons.
And Moses fled at this saying, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons.
30 After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
And, when forty years were fulfilled, there appeared unto him, in the desert of Mount Sinai, a messenger, in a flame of fire, in a bush.
31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came to him:
And, Moses, seeing it, marvelled at the sight; and, as he was going near to observe, there came a voice of the Lord—
32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
I, am the God of thy fathers, The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And Moses becoming, terrified, durst not observe.
33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
And the Lord said unto him—Loose the sandals of thy feet; for, the place whereon thou art standing, is, hallowed ground.
34 I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’
I have, indeed seen, the ill-treatment of my people that is in Egypt, and, unto their groaning, have I hearkened, and have come down to rescue them. Now, therefore, come! I will send thee into Egypt.
35 This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
The same Moses whom they had refused, saying—Who hath appointed thee to be ruler and judge? the same, both as ruler and redeemer, did God send, by the hand of the messenger who had appeared unto him in the bush:
36 He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
The same, led them forth, doing wonders and signs in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the desert, forty years:
37 This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’
The same, is the Moses that said unto the sons of Israel—A prophet, unto you, will God raise up, from among your brethren, like unto me:
38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.
The same, is he that came to be in the assembly in the desert, with the messenger who was speaking with him in Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, he who welcomed living utterances, to give unto us:
39 But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
Unto whom, our fathers would not become obedient, but thrust him away, and turned in their hearts unto Egypt,
40 They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’
Saying unto Aaron—Make as gods who shall go before us; for, as for this Moses who brought us forth out of Egypt, we know not what hath befallen him!
41 At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.
And so they fell to calf-making in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
But God, turned, and delivered them up to be doing divine service unto the host of heaven, —just as it is written in a book of the prophets—Victims and sacrifices did ye offer unto me, forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?
43 You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
Nay! but ye took with you the tent of Moloch, and the star of the god Rephan, —the forms which ye made to bow down unto them: therefore will I carry you away beyond Babylon.
44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
The tent of witness, was with our fathers in the desert, according as he who was speaking unto Moses, gave instructions, to make it, according to the model which he had seen.
45 And our fathers who received it brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations God drove out before them. It remained until the time of David,
Which our fathers succeeding to, also brought in, with Joshua, when taking possession of the nations, which God put out from before our fathers until the days of David;
46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
Who found favour before God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.
47 But it was Solomon who built the house for Him.
But, Solomon, built him a house.
48 However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
Although indeed, the Most High, not in hand-made places, dwelleth; just as, the prophet, saith—
49 ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or where will My place of repose be?
Heaven is my thrown, and, the earth, is my footstool: What manner of house, will ye build me, saith the Lord, —Or what shall be the place of my resting?
50 Has not My hand made all these things?’
Hath not, my hand, made all these things?
51 You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and in ears, ye, always, against the Holy Spirit, do strive! As your fathers, ye also:
52 Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—
Which of the prophets, did not your fathers persecute? Yea they slew them who declared beforehand concerning the coming of the Righteous One—of whom, now, ye, have become, betrayers and murderers!
53 you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”
Who, indeed, received the law through ranks of messengers, —and guarded it not.
54 On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.
And, while they were hearing these things, they were being pierced in their hearts, and began gnashing their teeth against him.
55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
But he, being already full of Holy Spirit, looking steadfastly into heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God;
56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
And said—Lo! I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man, standing, on the right hand of God.
57 At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him.
And, crying out with a loud voice, they held their ears, and rushed with one accord upon him;
58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And, thrusting him forth outside the city, proceeded to stone him. And, the witnesses, laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
And they stoned Stephen, as he was invoking and saying—Lord Jesus! give welcome unto my spirit.
60 Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
And, kneeling down, he cried out with a loud voice—Lord! do not charge against them, this sin. And, having said this, he fell asleep.
