Acts
Chapter 7
1 Then the high priest asked, “Is this true?”
2 He said, “Listen, men and fathers, the glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran.
3 God told him, “Leave your country and your relatives, and go to the land I will show you.”
4 He left the land of the Chaldeans, lived in Haran, and after his father died, God moved him to this land where you live now.
5 God did not give him any land to own, not even a place to step on. But God promised to give it to him and to his children after him, even though he had no child yet.
6 God said in this way: That his descendants would live in a foreign land; and they would be made slaves and treated badly for four hundred years.
7 God said: I will judge the nation where they are slaves, and afterwards, they will come out and worship me here.
8 God made a promise with Abraham about circumcision: So Abraham had a son, Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; Isaac had Jacob; and Jacob had twelve sons who became leaders.
9 The family leaders, jealous of Joseph, sold him as a slave to Egypt; but God stayed with him.
10 God saved him from all his troubles, gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and his whole house.
11 A famine spread over all of Egypt and Canaan, bringing much suffering, and our ancestors couldn’t find food.
12 When Jacob found out there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there first.
13 Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers a second time, and his family became known to Pharaoh.
14 Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, 75 people in total.
15 Jacob went to Egypt and he and our ancestors died there.
16 They were taken to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father.
17 As the time for God’s promise to Abraham came near, the people increased and became many in Egypt.
18 A new king came to power who did not know about Joseph.
19 This person tricked our relatives and treated our ancestors badly, making them throw out their babies so they would not survive.
20 During this time, Moses was born, was very beautiful, and was cared for in his father’s home for three months.
21 When he was thrown away, Pharaoh’s daughter picked him up and cared for him as her own son.
22 Moses knew all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speaking and acting.
23 When he was 40 years old, he felt the urge to see his fellow Israelites.
24 He saw someone being treated unfairly, so he defended him, took revenge for the one who was hurt, and struck down the Egyptian.
25 He thought his brothers would realize that God would use him to save them, but they didn’t understand.
26 The next day he appeared to them as they were fighting, wanting to reconcile them, saying, “Friends, you are brothers; why are you hurting each other?”
27 The person who wronged his neighbor pushed him away, asking, “Who made you our ruler and judge?”
28 Will you kill me like you killed the Egyptian yesterday?
29 Moses ran away after hearing this and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.
30 After forty years passed, he saw an angel of God in a fire inside a bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went closer to look, God’s voice spoke to him.
32 I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look.
33 God said to him, “Take off your shoes because the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
34 I have seen my people’s suffering in Egypt, heard their cries, and have come to rescue them. Now go, I will send you to Egypt.
35 They rejected Moses, asking, “Who made you a leader and judge?” But God chose him to be their leader and rescuer, with the help of the angel who met him in the bush.
36 God led them out after showing them amazing things and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for forty years.
37 This is Moses, who told the Israelites, “God will bring up a prophet like me from among your brothers; you must listen to him.”
38 This is the one who was with the angel in the church in the wilderness, on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors: he received the living messages to give to us.
39 Our ancestors did not want to obey him. Instead, they pushed him away and wanted to return to Egypt in their hearts.
40 Tell Aaron to make us gods to lead us: for this Moses who took us out of Egypt, we don’t know what happened to him.
41 They made a calf back then, gave offerings to the idol and were happy with what they had done.
42 God let them worship the stars of the sky. As the prophets wrote, “People of Israel, did you bring me animal sacrifices for forty years in the desert?”
43 Yes, you carried the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan, idols you made to worship them: and I will take you away beyond Babylon.
44 Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the desert, as God commanded, telling Moses to make it like the design he had seen.
45 Our ancestors, including Joshua, took over the land of the nations, which God had cleared away for them, all the way until the time of David.
46 He found favor with God and wanted to build a home for the God of Jacob.
47 Solomon built a house for God.
48 However, the highest does not live in buildings made by hands, as the prophet says.
49 Heaven is where I sit as king, and the earth is a place to rest my feet. What kind of home could you build for me? What place could be my resting spot?
50 Didn’t my hand make all these things?
51 You are stubborn and closed in your heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors did.
52 Which prophets did your ancestors not attack? They killed those who told about the arrival of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered.
53 They received the law given through angels but have not followed it.
54 When they heard this, they felt deep pain in their hearts and gritted their teeth at him.
55 He, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw God’s glory, with Jesus standing at God’s right side.
56 And said, Look, I see the sky opened, and the Son of man standing at God’s right side.
57 They shouted loudly, covered their ears, and all rushed at him together.
58 They threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses left their coats near a young man named Saul.
59 They threw stones at Stephen, who called out to God, saying, “Lord Jesus, take my spirit.”
60 He kneeled and shouted, “God, do not hold this sin against them.” After he said this, he passed away.