< Acts 7 >
1 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
And the chief of the priests demanded if these (things) were 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,
But he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hear! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was between the rivers, he had not yet come to dwell in Charan,
3 and told him, ‘Leave your country and your kindred and go to the land I will show you.’
and said to him, Go forth from thy country and from (being) with the sons of thy family, and come to the land that I will show thee.
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 went forth Abraham from the land of the Kaldoyee, and came and dwelt in Charan: and from thence, his father being dead, Aloha caused him to pass into this land in which you dwell to-day.
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 (yet) he gave him no inheritance in it, nor a place of the feet, but he promised to give it to him for an heritage to himself and to his seed, while as yet he had not a son.
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.
And Aloha spake with him, telling him that his seed should be a sojourner in a strange land, and that they would enslave and ill-treat them 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 whom they will serve (in) bondage will I judge, saith Aloha: and afterward they shall come forth and serve 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 to him the covenant of circumcision. And then begat he Ishok, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Ishok begat Jakub, and Jakub begat our twelve fathers.
9 Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
And these our fathers were incited against Jauseph, and sold him into Mitsreen. And Aloha 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 he delivered him from all his afflictions, and gave him grace and wisdom before Pherun king of Mitsreen, and he appointed him prince over Mitsreen, and over all his house.
11 Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.
AND there was a famine and great affliction in all Mitsreen, and in the land of Kenaan, and our fathers had nothing to satisfy them.
12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit.
And when Jakub heard that there was corn in Mitsreen, he sent forth our fathers before.
13 On their second visit, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh.
And when they had gone the second time, Jauseph made himself known to his brethren, and the family of Jauseph were made known unto Pherun.
14 Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.
And Jauseph sent and brought his father Jakub and all his family, and they were in number seventy and five souls.
15 So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.
And Jakub went down into Mitsreen and died there; 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 he was removed to Shechem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought with silver from the B'nai Chamur.
17 As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.
And when was come the time of that which Aloha promised with an oath unto Abraham, the people had multiplied and increased in Mitsreen
18 Then another king, who knew nothing of Joseph, arose over Egypt.
until another king had arisen over Mitsreen, who knew not Jauseph,
19 He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.
and he dealt fraudulently against our kindred, and shamefully entreated our fathers, and commanded that their children should be cast away, that they might not 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 that time Musha was born, and was beloved of Aloha, and was brought 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.
And when he was outcast from his people, the daughter of Pherun found him, and brought him up unto her for a son.
22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
And Musha was instructed in all the wisdom of the Mitsroyee, and was excellent in words (and) also in deeds.
23 When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
And when he became a son of forty years, it arose upon his heart to visit 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 he saw one of the sons of his tribe treated with violence, and he avenged him, and did him justice, and he killed the Mitsroya who had offended him and
25 He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.
hoped that his brethren, the sons of Israel, would understand that Aloha by his hand would give them deliverance; but 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?’
And the day after he appeared to them while they strove one with another: and he persuaded them to be pacified, saying, Men, you are brethren; why offend you one the other?
27 But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
But he who had offended his neighbour removed himself from him, and said to him, Who appointed thee over us a prince and a judge?
28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
Seekest thou to kill me as thou killedst the Mitsroya yesterday?
29 At this remark, Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he lived as a foreigner and had two sons.
And Musha fled at that word, and became a sojourner in the land of Median, and there were to him 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 there fulfilled to him, there appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai the angel of the Lord in a flame that burned 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 while Musha looked, he wondered at the sight. And as he drew near to gaze, the Lord spake to him with the voice:
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 of Ishok and of Jakub. And Musha, trembling, dared not look upon the sight.
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 to him, Loose thy sandals from thy feet: for the ground on which thou standest is holy.
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.’
Seeing I have seen the affliction of my people who in Mitsreen, and his groaning I have heard, and I have descended that I may deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Mitsreen.
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.
This Musha whom they denied, when they said, Who appointed thee over us a prince and a judge? this, sent Aloha unto them a prince and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him at 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.
This brought them out, when he had wrought signs and wonders and mighty deeds in the land of Mitsreen, and at the Sea of Suph, 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.’
THIS is that Musha, who said to the sons of Israel, A Prophet will Aloha the Lord raise up unto you from your brethren, like me; him shall you hear.
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.
This is he who was with the congregation in the desert, with the angel himself who spake with him and with our fathers at the mountain of Sinai; and he it was who received the words of life to give (them) to us.
39 But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
And our fathers willed not to give heed to him, but left him, and in their hearts turned back to Mitsreen,
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 to Aharun, Make us alohee that may go before us, because this Musha, who brought us forth from the land of Mitsreen, we know not what is become of him.
41 At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.
And he made them the calf in those days, and they sacrificed sacrifices to idols, and were delighted with the work 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?
And Aloha turned, and delivered them up to be worshippers of the hosts of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, Forty years in the desert Victims or sacrifices did you offer to me, Sons 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.’
But you took up the tabernacle of Malkum, And the star of the god of Raphan, Images you have made to worship them; I will remove you beyond Babel.
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.
BEHOLD, the tabernacle of testimony of our fathers was in the desert, as He who spake with Musha had commanded to make it after the pattern 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,
And this tabernacle also our fathers bringing brought in with Jeshu to the land which Aloha had given to them, an inheritance from those peoples whom he had expelled from before them, and it was carried 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 Aloha, and asked to find a tabernacle for the God of Jakub.
47 But it was Solomon who built the house for Him.
But Shelemun builded the house.
48 However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
But the Most High dwelleth not in the work of hands, as saith the prophet,
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 throne, And earth the footstool beneath my feet: What house will you build me? saith the Lord: Or what is the place of my rest?
50 Has not My hand made all these things?’
Hath not my hand made all these?
51 You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
O, hardened of neck and uncircumcised in your hearts and in your hearing, you at all times against the Spirit of Holiness stand up; as your fathers, so you 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—
For which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted and slain? they who before announced the coming of the Righteous; him whom you delivered up and slew.
53 you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”
And you have received the law by the precept of angels. and have not kept it.
54 On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.
AND when they heard these they were filled with wrath in themselves, and they gnashed their teeth upon 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.
And he, being full of faith and of the Spirit of Holiness, looked up to heaven, and saw the glory of Aloha, and Jeshu standing at the right hand of Aloha.
56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of Aloha.
57 At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him.
And they cried with a high voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him, all of them,
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 seizing they brought him out of the city and stoned him. And they who witnessed against him laid their garments before the feet of a certain young man named Shaol.
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
And they stoned Estephanos, (he) praying and saying, Our Lord Jeshu, receive 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 with a high voice, and said, Our Lord, let not this sin arise against them. And when this he had said, he slept.