The Arrest of Stephen

⁸ Stephen, a man richly blessed by God and full of power, performed great miracles and wonders among the people. ⁹ But he was opposed by some men who were members of the synagogue of the Freedmen^[a] (as it was called), which had Jews from Cyrene and Alexandria. They and other Jews from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia started arguing with Stephen. ¹⁰ But the Spirit gave Stephen such wisdom that when he spoke, they could not refute him. ¹¹ So they bribed some men to say, “We heard him speaking against Moses and against God!” ¹² In this way they stirred up the people, the elders, and the teachers of the Law. They seized Stephen and took him before the Council. ¹³ Then they brought in some men to tell lies about him. “This man,” they said, “is always talking against our sacred Temple and the Law of Moses. ¹⁴ We heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will tear down the Temple and change all the customs which have come down to us from Moses!” ¹⁵ All those sitting in the Council fixed their eyes on Stephen and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.