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Acts 7
Disciples’ Literal New Testament

7 1 And the high priest said, “Do these things hold so?”

Stephen Defends Himself Before The Sanhedrin:

2 And the one said, “Men, brothers, and fathers, listen—

God Promised Abraham’s Descendants Would Inherit The Land

“The God of [a] glory appeared to our father Abraham while being in Mesopotamia, before he dwelled in Haran, 3 and said to him [in Gen 12:1], ‘Go out from your land and from your relatives, and come to the land which I will show you’. 4 Then having gone out from the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, He removed[b] him to this land in which you are now dwelling. 5 And He did not give him an inheritance in it, not even the step of a foot. And He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him— there not being a child for him! 6 But God spoke as follows [in Gen 15:13-14]: that his seed ‘will be a foreigner in a land belonging-to-another. And they will enslave it[c] and mistreat it for four-hundred years. 7 And I will judge the nation in whichever they will serve-as-slaves’, said God. ‘And after these things, they will come out and worship Me’ in this place. 8 And He gave him the covenant of circumcision.

Abraham’s Children Moved To Egypt During a Famine

“And so he fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac, Jacob; and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, having become-jealous-of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. And God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he appointed him to be ruling over Egypt, and over his whole house. 11 And a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and a great affliction. And our fathers were not finding food. 12 But Jacob, having heard-of grain being in Egypt, sent-forth our fathers first. 13 And during the second visit, Joseph was made-known-again to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. 14 And having sent-forth his brothers, Joseph summoned Jacob his father and all his relatives, amounting-to seventy five[d] souls. 15 And Jacob went down to Egypt. And he came-to-an-end[e], and our fathers. 16 And they were transferred to Shechem, and placed in the tomb which Abraham bought for a price of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

When The Time Came, God Raised Up Moses, Whom The People Rejected

17 “Now as the time of the promise which God declared to Abraham was drawing-near, our people grew and were multiplied in Egypt, 18 until which time another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 19 This one, having dealt-shrewdly-with our nation[f], mistreated our fathers, so that he[g] caused their babies to be exposed[h] that they might not be kept-alive; 20 at which time Moses was born— and he was beautiful to God— who was brought-up for three months in the house of his father. 21 And he having been exposed, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up, and brought him up for herself for a son. 22 And Moses was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And he was powerful in his words and deeds. 23 And as a forty-year period was being fulfilled for him, it came-up[i] on his heart to visit[j] his brothers, the sons of Israel. 24 And having seen someone being wronged[k], he defended him, and executed vengeance for the one being oppressed, having struck the Egyptian. 25 Now he was thinking that his brothers were understanding that God was granting them deliverance by his hand. But the ones did not understand. 26 And on the following day, he appeared to them while they were fighting. And he was reconciling[l] them to peace, having said, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you wronging one another?’ [Ex 2:13]. 27 But the one wronging his neighbor rejected him, having said, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? 28 You do not intend to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ [Ex 2:14]. 29 And Moses fled at this word. And he became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons. 30 And forty years having been fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of fire of a bush. 31 And having seen it, Moses was marveling-at the sight. And while he was approaching to look-closely, the voice of the Lord came: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob’. And having become trembling, Moses was not daring to look-closely. 33 And the Lord said to him, ‘Untie the sandal from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy ground. 34 Having seen, I saw[m] the mistreatment of My people in Egypt, and I heard their groaning, and I came down to rescue them. And now, come, I will[n] send you forth to Egypt’.

This Moses Whom Israel Denied, God Sent To Be Both Ruler And Deliverer

35 “This Moses whom they denied, having said, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge?’ [Ex 2:14]— this one God has sent-forth to be both ruler and deliverer[o], with[p] the hand of the angel having appeared to him in the bush. 36 This one led them out, having done wonders and signs in Egypt land, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

This Moses Said That God Would Raise Up a Prophet Like Him

37 “This one is the Moses having said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise-up a prophet like me for you from your brothers’ [Deut 18:15].

This Moses Brought Israel God’s Word, Which They Rejected

38 “This one is the one having been in the congregation in the wilderness, with the angel speaking to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living oracles[q] to give to us— 39 to whom our fathers were not willing to become obedient, but they rejected him and turned-away in their hearts to Egypt, 40 having said to Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will go before us. For this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what happened to him’ [Ex 32:1]. 41 And they made-a-calf in those days, and brought-up a sacrifice to the idol. And they were celebrating in the works of their hands.

So God Turned Away From Them And Handed Them Over To Idolatry

42 “And God turned-away, and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, just as it has been written in the book of the prophets [in Amos 5:25-27]: ‘House of Israel, you did not offer victims[r] and sacrifices to Me for forty years in the wilderness, did you? 43 Indeed you took-up the tabernacle of Moloch[s] and the star of your god Rephan[t]— the images which you made to give-worship to them. Indeed I will remove[u] you beyond Babylon!’

The Fathers Had The Tabernacle And The Temple. But God Does Not Dwell In Either

44 “The tabernacle of testimony was with our fathers in the wilderness, just as the One speaking to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen; 45 which our fathers, having received-it-in-succession, also brought in with Joshua during the taking-possession of the nations whom God drove-out from the presence of our fathers— until the days of David, 46 who found favor before God. And he asked that he might find a dwelling-place[v] for the house of Jacob, 47 but Solomon built a house for Him. 48 But the Most-High does not dwell in things made-by-human-hands, just as the prophet says [in Isa 66:1-2]: 49 ‘The heaven is a throne for Me, and the earth is a footstool of My feet. What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord, ‘or what will be the place of My rest? 50 Did not My hand make all these things?’

You Always Resist God! Your Fathers Killed The Prophets, And You The Messiah

51 “Stiff-necked ones, and uncircumcised in your hearts and ears— you are always resisting[w] the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, you also[x] are doing. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed the ones having announced-beforehand about the coming of the righteous One, of Whom you now became[y] betrayers[z] and murderers— 53 you who received the Law by the directions[aa] of [ab] angels and did not keep it!”

Stephen Reports Seeing Jesus At The Right Hand of God. The Jews Stone Him To Death

54 And hearing these things, they were infuriated in their hearts, and were grinding their teeth at him. 55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, having looked-intently into heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right side of God. 56 And he said, “Behold— I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right side of God!” 57 And having cried-out with a loud voice, they held-shut their ears, and rushed against him with-one-accord. 58 And having driven him outside of the city, they were stoning him. And the witnesses laid-aside their garments at the feet of a young-man being called Saul. 59 And they were stoning Stephen while he was calling-upon Jesus and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”. 60 And having put down his knees, he cried-out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not set this sin against them”. And having said this, he fell-asleep.

Footnotes

  1. Acts 7:2 That is, characterized by. The glorious God.
  2. Acts 7:4 Or, resettled.
  3. Acts 7:6 That is, Abraham’s seed (descendants), viewed as a collective whole.
  4. Acts 7:14 Stephen is quoting from the Septuagint.
  5. Acts 7:15 That is, died.
  6. Acts 7:19 Or, people, race.
  7. Acts 7:19 Or, they.
  8. Acts 7:19 Or, put-out, abandoned.
  9. Acts 7:23 Or, arose.
  10. Acts 7:23 Or, look-after.
  11. Acts 7:24 Or, harmed, injured.
  12. Acts 7:26 That is, was trying to reconcile.
  13. Acts 7:34 Having seen, I saw. This is a Hebrew way of speaking, meaning, I have surely seen.
  14. Acts 7:34 Lit, Let Me, a command spoken to Himself, an expression of His own resolve. God is not asking permission from Moses.
  15. Acts 7:35 Or, redeemer.
  16. Acts 7:35 Or, together-with, accompanied-by.
  17. Acts 7:38 Or, sayings, declarations.
  18. Acts 7:42 That is, slaughtered animals.
  19. Acts 7:43 A Canaanite god.
  20. Acts 7:43 Some manuscripts spell this Rompha or Remphan.
  21. Acts 7:43 Or, deport, resettle.
  22. Acts 7:46 That is, a permanent temple for the people of Israel.
  23. Acts 7:51 Or, opposing.
  24. Acts 7:51 Both rejected God’s appointed messenger and put an improper value on a man-made temple.
  25. Acts 7:52 Or, proved-to-be.
  26. Acts 7:52 Or, traitors.
  27. Acts 7:53 Or, decrees, ordinances.
  28. Acts 7:53 That is, given to; or, given by.
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Acts 7
New International Version

Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers,(A) listen to me! The God of glory(B) appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran.(C) 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’[a](D)

4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.(E) 5 He gave him no inheritance here,(F) not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land,(G) even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.(H) 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’[b](I) 8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.(J) And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth.(K) Later Isaac became the father of Jacob,(L) and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.(M)

9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph,(N) they sold him as a slave into Egypt.(O) But God was with him(P) 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.(Q)

11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food.(R) 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit.(S) 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was,(T) and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family.(U) 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family,(V) seventy-five in all.(W) 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.(X) 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.(Y)

17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.(Z) 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’[c](AA) 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.(AB)

20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[d] For three months he was cared for by his family.(AC) 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.(AD) 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians(AE) and was powerful in speech and action.

23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’

27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?(AF) 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[e] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.(AG)

30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:(AH) 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers,(AI) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[f] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.(AJ)

33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.(AK) 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’[g](AL)

35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’(AM) He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of Egypt(AN) and performed wonders and signs(AO) in Egypt, at the Red Sea(AP) and for forty years in the wilderness.(AQ)

37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[h](AR) 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel(AS) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;(AT) and he received living words(AU) to pass on to us.(AV)

39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.(AW) 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’[i](AX) 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.(AY) 42 But God turned away from them(AZ) and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.(BA) This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:

“‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
    forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
    and the star of your god Rephan,
    the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’[j](BB) beyond Babylon.

44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law(BC) with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.(BD) 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them.(BE) It remained in the land until the time of David,(BF) 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[k](BG) 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.(BH)

48 “However, the Most High(BI) does not live in houses made by human hands.(BJ) As the prophet says:

49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.(BK)
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
    Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?’[l](BL)

51 “You stiff-necked people!(BM) Your hearts(BN) and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?(BO) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him(BP)— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels(BQ) but have not obeyed it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious(BR) and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit,(BS) looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.(BT) 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open(BU) and the Son of Man(BV) standing at the right hand of God.”

57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city(BW) and began to stone him.(BX) Meanwhile, the witnesses(BY) laid their coats(BZ) at the feet of a young man named Saul.(CA)

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”(CB) 60 Then he fell on his knees(CC) and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”(CD) When he had said this, he fell asleep.(CE)

Footnotes

  1. Acts 7:3 Gen. 12:1
  2. Acts 7:7 Gen. 15:13,14
  3. Acts 7:18 Exodus 1:8
  4. Acts 7:20 Or was fair in the sight of God
  5. Acts 7:28 Exodus 2:14
  6. Acts 7:32 Exodus 3:6
  7. Acts 7:34 Exodus 3:5,7,8,10
  8. Acts 7:37 Deut. 18:15
  9. Acts 7:40 Exodus 32:1
  10. Acts 7:43 Amos 5:25-27 (see Septuagint)
  11. Acts 7:46 Some early manuscripts the house of Jacob
  12. Acts 7:50 Isaiah 66:1,2
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