Acts 7
1 And the chief priest said, “Are then these things so?”
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
2 And he said, “Men, brothers, and fathers, listen! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, being in Mesopotamia, before his dwelling in Haran,
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,
3 and He said to him, Go forth out of your land, and out of your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.
and told him, ‘Leave your country and your kindred and go to the land I will show you.’
4 Then having come forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelt in Haran, and from there, after the death of his father, He removed him to this land wherein you now dwell,
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.
5 and He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a footstep, and promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him—he having no child.
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.
6 And God spoke thus, that his seed will be sojourning in a strange land, and they will cause it to serve, and will do it evil [for] four hundred years.
God told him that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
7 And the nation whom they will serve I will judge, said God; And after these things they will come forth and will do Me service in this place.
‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come forth and worship Me in this place.’
8 And He gave to him a covenant of circumcision, and so he begot Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac [begot] Jacob, and Jacob—the twelve patriarchs;
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.
9 and the patriarchs, having been moved with jealousy, sold Joseph to Egypt, and God was with him,
Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
10 and delivered him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he set him—governor over Egypt and all his house.
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.
11 And there came a scarcity on all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great tribulation, and our fathers were not finding sustenance,
Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.
12 and Jacob having heard that there was grain in Egypt, sent forth our fathers a first time;
When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit.
13 and at the second time was Joseph made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became disclosed to Pharaoh,
On their second visit, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh.
14 and Joseph having sent, called for his father Jacob, and all his relatives—with seventy-five souls—
Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.
15 and Jacob went down to Egypt, and died, himself and our fathers,
So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.
16 and they were carried over into Shechem, and were laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in money from the sons of Emmor, of Shechem.
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.
17 And according as the time of the promise was drawing near, which God swore to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,
As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.
18 until another king rose, who had not known Joseph;
Then another king, who knew nothing of Joseph, arose over Egypt.
19 this one, having dealt subtly with our family, did evil to our fathers, causing to expose their babies, that they might not live;
He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.
20 in which time Moses was born, and he was fair to God, and he was brought up [for] three months in the house of his father;
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.
21 and he having been set outside, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up, and reared him to herself for a son;
When he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
22 and Moses was taught in all wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in words and in works.
So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23 And when forty years were fulfilled to him, it came on his heart to look after his brothers, the sons of Israel;
When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
24 and having seen a certain one suffering injustice, he defended, and did justice to the oppressed, having struck the Egyptian;
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.
25 and he was supposing his brothers to understand that God gives salvation through his hand; and they did not understand.
He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.
26 On the succeeding day, also, he showed himself to them as they are striving, and urged them to peace, saying, Men, you are brothers, why do you do injustice to one another?
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?’
27 And he who is doing injustice to the neighbor, thrusted him away, saying, Who set you a ruler and a judge over us?
But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
28 Do you wish to kill me, as you 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 a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begot two sons,
At this remark, Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he lived as a foreigner and had two sons.
30 and forty years having been fulfilled, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai [the] Messenger of the LORD, in a flame of fire of a bush,
After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
31 and Moses having seen, wondered at the sight; and he drawing near to behold, there came a voice of the LORD to him,
When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came to him:
32 I [am] the God of your fathers; the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses having become terrified, did not dare behold,
‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
33 and the LORD said to him, Loose the sandal of your feet, for the place in which you have stood is holy ground;
Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
34 seeing I have seen the affliction of My people that [is] in Egypt, and I heard their groaning, and came down to deliver them; and now come, I will send you to Egypt.
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.’
35 This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who set you a ruler and a judge? This one God sent [as] a ruler and a redeemer, by the hand of [the] Messenger who appeared to him in the bush;
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.
36 this one brought them forth, having done wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years;
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.
37 this is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel: The LORD your God will raise up to you a Prophet out of your brothers, like to me, Him will you hear.
This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’
38 This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the Messenger who is speaking to him in Mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received the living oracles to give to us;
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.
39 to whom our fathers did not wish to become obedient, but thrusted away, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,
But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
40 saying to Aaron, Make to us gods who will go on before us, for this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we have not known what has happened to him.
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.’
41 And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands,
At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.
42 and God turned, and gave them up to do service to the host of Heaven, according as it has been written in the scroll of the Prophets: Did you offer slain beasts and sacrifices to Me forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
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?
43 And you took up the dwelling place of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan—the figures that you made to worship them, and I will remove your dwelling beyond Babylon.
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.’
44 The Dwelling Place of the Testimony was among our fathers in the wilderness, according as He directed, who is speaking to Moses, to make it according to the figure that he had seen;
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.
45 which also our fathers having in succession received, 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,
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,
46 who found favor before God, and requested to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob;
who found favor in the sight of God and asked to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
47 and Solomon built Him a house.
But it was Solomon who built the house for Him.
48 But the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, according as the prophet says:
However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 Heaven [is] My throne, And the earth My footstool, What house will you build to Me? Says the LORD; Or what [is] the place of My rest?
‘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?
50 Has My hand not made all these things?
Has not My hand made all these things?’
51 You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers—also you;
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
52 which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who declared before about the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers,
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—
53 who received the Law by arrangement of messengers, and did not keep [it].”
you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”
54 And hearing these things, they were cut to the hearts, and gnashed the teeth at him;
On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.
55 and being full of the Holy Spirit, having looked steadfastly to the sky, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
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.
56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens having been opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.”
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57 And they, having cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and rushed with one accord on him,
At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him.
58 and having cast him forth outside of the city, they were stoning [him]—and the witnesses put down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul—
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.
59 and they were stoning Stephen, [as he was] calling and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”;
While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
60 and having bowed the knees, he cried with a loud voice, “LORD, may You not lay to them this sin”; and having said this, he fell asleep.
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.
