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Acts 6-7
New Living Translation
Acts 6-7
New Living Translation
Seven Men Chosen to Serve
6 But as the believers[a] rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.
2 So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. 3 And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4 Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.”
5 Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith). 6 These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.
7 So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.
Stephen Is Arrested
8 Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. 9 But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. 10 None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke.
11 So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, “We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.” 12 This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council.[b]
13 The lying witnesses said, “This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses. 14 We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth[c] will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
15 At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel’s.
Stephen Addresses the Council
7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”
2 This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.[d] 3 God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’[e] 4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.
5 “But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet. 6 God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 7 ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’[f]
8 “God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.
9 “These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.
11 “But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food. 12 Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some. 13 The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers,[g] and they were introduced to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. 15 So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors. 16 Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.
17 “As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18 But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19 This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.
20 “At that time Moses was born—a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. 21 When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. 22 Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.
23 “One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24 He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.
26 “The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’
27 “But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. 28 ‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.
30 “Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him, 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’[h]
35 “So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. 36 And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.
37 “Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’[i] 38 Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.[j]
39 “But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ 41 So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made. 42 Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,
‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings
during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
43 No, you carried your pagan gods—
the shrine of Molech,
the star of your god Rephan,
and the images you made to worship them.
So I will send you into exile
as far away as Babylon.’[k]
44 “Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle[l] with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses. 45 Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.
46 “David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.[m] 47 But it was Solomon who actually built it. 48 However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,
49 ‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
asks the Lord.
‘Could you build me such a resting place?
50 Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’[n]
51 “You stubborn people! You are heathen[o] at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! 52 Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. 53 You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”
54 The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.[p] 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 56 And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”
57 Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.[q]
59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.
Footnotes
- 6:1 Greek disciples; also in 6:2, 7.
- 6:12 Greek Sanhedrin; also in 6:15.
- 6:14 Or Jesus the Nazarene.
- 7:2 Mesopotamia was the region now called Iraq. Haran was a city in what is now called Syria.
- 7:3 Gen 12:1.
- 7:5-7 Gen 12:7; 15:13-14; Exod 3:12.
- 7:13 Other manuscripts read Joseph was recognized by his brothers.
- 7:31-34 Exod 3:5-10.
- 7:37 Deut 18:15.
- 7:38 Some manuscripts read to you.
- 7:42-43 Amos 5:25-27 (Greek version).
- 7:44 Greek the tent of witness.
- 7:46 Some manuscripts read the house of Jacob.
- 7:49-50 Isa 66:1-2.
- 7:51 Greek uncircumcised.
- 7:54 Greek they were grinding their teeth against him.
- 7:58 Saul is later called Paul; see 13:9.
Acts 6-7
New King James Version
Acts 6-7
New King James Version
Seven Chosen to Serve
6 Now in those days, (A)when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the (B)Hellenists,[a] because their widows were neglected (C)in the daily distribution. 2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, (D)“It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. 3 Therefore, brethren, (E)seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this (F)business; 4 but we (G)will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, (H)a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and (I)Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and (J)Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, 6 whom they set before the apostles; and (K)when they had prayed, (L)they laid hands on them.
7 Then (M)the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many (N)of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Stephen Accused of Blasphemy
8 And Stephen, full of [b]faith and power, did great (O)wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. 10 And (P)they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. 11 (Q)Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. 13 They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak [c]blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; 14 (R)for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” 15 And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.
Stephen’s Address: The Call of Abraham
7 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, (S)“Brethren and fathers, listen: The (T)God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in (U)Haran, 3 and said to him, (V)‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then (W)he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was (X)dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. 5 And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, (Y)He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But God spoke in this way: (Z)that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into (AA)bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7 (AB)‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will (AC)judge,’ said God, (AD)‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ 8 (AE)Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; (AF)and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; (AG)and Isaac begot Jacob, and (AH)Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.
The Patriarchs in Egypt
9 (AI)“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, (AJ)sold Joseph into Egypt. (AK)But God was with him 10 and delivered him out of all his troubles, (AL)and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11 (AM)Now a famine and great [d]trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 (AN)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And the (AO)second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. 14 (AP)Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and (AQ)all his relatives to him, [e]seventy-five people. 15 (AR)So Jacob went down to Egypt; (AS)and he died, he and our fathers. 16 And (AT)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in (AU)the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
God Delivers Israel by Moses
17 “But when (AV)the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, (AW)the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 till another king (AX)arose who did not know Joseph. 19 This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, (AY)making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. 20 (AZ)At this time Moses was born, and (BA)was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. 21 But (BB)when he was set out, (BC)Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was (BD)mighty in words and deeds.
23 (BE)“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ 27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, (BF)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 (BG)Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he (BH)had two sons.
30 (BI)“And when forty years had passed, an Angel [f]of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 saying, (BJ)‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 33 (BK)‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have surely (BL)seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will (BM)send you to Egypt.” ’
35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, (BN)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer (BO)by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 (BP)He brought them out, after he had (BQ)shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, (BR)and in the Red Sea, (BS)and in the wilderness forty years.
Israel Rebels Against God
37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, (BT)‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. (BU)Him[g] you shall hear.’
38 (BV)“This is he who was in the [h]congregation in the wilderness with (BW)the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, (BX)the one who received the living (BY)oracles[i] to give to us, 39 whom our fathers (BZ)would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40 (CA)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 (CB)And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and (CC)rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then (CD)God turned and gave them up to worship (CE)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
(CF)‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness,
O house of Israel?
43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
And the star of your god Remphan,
Images which you made to worship;
And (CG)I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
God’s True Tabernacle
44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses (CH)to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 (CI)which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, (CJ)whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the (CK)days of David, 46 (CL)who found favor before God and (CM)asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47 (CN)But Solomon built Him a house.
48 “However, (CO)the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
49 ‘Heaven(CP) is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of My rest?
50 Has My hand not (CQ)made all these things?’
Israel Resists the Holy Spirit
51 “You (CR)stiff-necked[j] and (CS)uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 (CT)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of (CU)the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 (CV)who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
Stephen the Martyr
54 (CW)When they heard these things they were [k]cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, (CX)being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the (CY)glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! (CZ)I see the heavens opened and the (DA)Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And (DB)the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, (DC)receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, (DD)“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Footnotes
Acts 6-7
Christian Standard Bible
Acts 6-7
Christian Standard Bible
Seven Chosen to Serve
6 In those days, as the disciples(A) were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.(B) 2 The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation,(C) full of the Spirit(D) and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen,(E) a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch.(F) 6 They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed(G) and laid their hands on(H) them.
7 So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased(I) greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.
Stephen Accused of Blasphemy
8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from some members of the Freedmen’s Synagogue, composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, and they began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.
11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.”(J) 12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so they came, seized him, and took him to the Sanhedrin. 13 They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the law.(K) 14 For we heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”(L) 15 And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Stephen’s Sermon
7 “Are these things true?” the high priest asked.
2 “Brothers and fathers,” he replied, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,(M) 3 and said to him: Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.[a](N)
4 “Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land in which you are now living.(O) 5 He didn’t give him an inheritance in it—not even a foot of ground—but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him,(P) even though he was childless. 6 God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for four hundred years. 7 I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship me in this place.[b](Q) 8 And so he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised(R) him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.(S)
The Patriarchs in Egypt
9 “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him(T) 10 and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household.(U) 11 Now a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan,(V) and our ancestors could find no food. 12 When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time. 13 The second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all,(W) 15 and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there,(X) 16 were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.(Y)
Moses, a Rejected Savior
17 “As the time was approaching to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt(Z) 18 until a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt.[c] 19 He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them abandon their infants outside so that they wouldn’t survive.(AA) 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home for three months. 21 When he was put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son.(AB) 22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.(AC)
23 “When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He assumed his people would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. 26 The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’ (AD)
27 “But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying: Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me, the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?[d](AE)
29 “When he heard this, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.(AF) 30 After forty years had passed, an angel[e] appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came: 32 I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.[f](AG) Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.
33 “The Lord said to him: Take off the sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt.[g](AH)
35 “This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?[h]—this one God sent as a ruler and a deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.(AI) 36 This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt,(AJ) at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.(AK)
Israel’s Rebellion against God
37 “This is the Moses who said to the Israelites: God[i] will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.[j](AL) 38 He is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors.(AM) He received living oracles to give to us.(AN) 39 Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.(AO) 40 They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.[k](AP) 41 They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made.(AQ) 42 God turned away(AR) and gave them up to worship(AS) the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
House of Israel, did you bring me offerings and sacrifices
for forty years in the wilderness?
43 You took up the tent of Moloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship.
So I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.[l](AT)
God’s Real Tabernacle
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.(AU) 45 Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them,(AV) until the days of David. 46 He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God[m] of Jacob.(AW) 47 It was Solomon, rather, who built him a house,(AX) 48 but the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says:(AY)
49 Heaven is my throne,
and the earth my footstool.
What sort of house will you build for me?
says the Lord,
or what will be my resting place?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?[n](AZ)
Resisting the Holy Spirit
51 “You stiff-necked(BA) people with uncircumcised hearts and ears!(BB) You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also. 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?(BC) They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers(BD) you have now become. 53 You received the law under the direction of angels(BE) and yet have not kept it.”
The First Christian Martyr
54 When they heard these things, they were enraged[o] and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.(BF) 56 He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (BG)
57 They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. 58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone(BH) him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.(BI) 59 While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” (BJ) 60 He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice,(BK) “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he fell asleep.(BL)
Footnotes
- 7:3 Gn 12:1
- 7:6–7 Gn 15:13–14
- 7:18 Other mss omit over Egypt
- 7:27–28 Ex 2:14
- 7:30 Other mss add of the Lord
- 7:32 Ex 3:6,15
- 7:33–34 Ex 3:5,7–8,10
- 7:35 Ex 2:14
- 7:37 Other mss read The Lord your God
- 7:37 Dt 18:15
- 7:40 Ex 32:1,23
- 7:42–43 Am 5:25–27
- 7:46 Other mss read house
- 7:49–50 Is 66:1–2
- 7:54 Or were cut to the quick
Acts 6-7
New International Version
Acts 6-7
New International Version
The Choosing of the Seven
6 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing,(A) the Hellenistic Jews[a](B) among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows(C) were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.(D) 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples(E) together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God(F) in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters,(G) choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit(H) and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them(I) 4 and will give our attention to prayer(J) and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen,(K) a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit;(L) also Philip,(M) Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed(N) and laid their hands on them.(O)
7 So the word of God spread.(P) The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly,(Q) and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Stephen Seized
8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs(R) among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene(S) and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia(T) and Asia(U)—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.(V)
11 Then they secretly(W) persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”(X)
12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.(Y) 13 They produced false witnesses,(Z) who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place(AA) and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place(AB) and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”(AC)
15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin(AD) looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
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,(AE) listen to me! The God of glory(AF) appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran.(AG) 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’[b](AH)
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.(AI) 5 He gave him no inheritance here,(AJ) not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land,(AK) 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.(AL) 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.’[c](AM) 8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.(AN) And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth.(AO) Later Isaac became the father of Jacob,(AP) and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.(AQ)
9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph,(AR) they sold him as a slave into Egypt.(AS) But God was with him(AT) 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.(AU)
11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food.(AV) 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit.(AW) 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was,(AX) and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family.(AY) 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family,(AZ) seventy-five in all.(BA) 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.(BB) 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.(BC)
17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.(BD) 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’[d](BE) 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.(BF)
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[e] For three months he was cared for by his family.(BG) 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.(BH) 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians(BI) 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?(BJ) 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[f] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.(BK)
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:(BL) 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers,(BM) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[g] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.(BN)
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.(BO) 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.’[h](BP)
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’(BQ) 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(BR) and performed wonders and signs(BS) in Egypt, at the Red Sea(BT) and for forty years in the wilderness.(BU)
37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[i](BV) 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel(BW) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;(BX) and he received living words(BY) to pass on to us.(BZ)
39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.(CA) 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!’[j](CB) 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.(CC) 42 But God turned away from them(CD) and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.(CE) 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’[k](CF) beyond Babylon.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law(CG) with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.(CH) 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.(CI) It remained in the land until the time of David,(CJ) 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[l](CK) 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.(CL)
48 “However, the Most High(CM) does not live in houses made by human hands.(CN) As the prophet says:
49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.(CO)
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?’[m](CP)
51 “You stiff-necked people!(CQ) Your hearts(CR) 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?(CS) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him(CT)— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels(CU) but have not obeyed it.”
The Stoning of Stephen
54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious(CV) and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit,(CW) looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.(CX) 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open(CY) and the Son of Man(CZ) 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(DA) and began to stone him.(DB) Meanwhile, the witnesses(DC) laid their coats(DD) at the feet of a young man named Saul.(DE)
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”(DF) 60 Then he fell on his knees(DG) and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”(DH) When he had said this, he fell asleep.(DI)
Footnotes
- Acts 6:1 That is, Jews who had adopted the Greek language and culture
- Acts 7:3 Gen. 12:1
- Acts 7:7 Gen. 15:13,14
- Acts 7:18 Exodus 1:8
- Acts 7:20 Or was fair in the sight of God
- Acts 7:28 Exodus 2:14
- Acts 7:32 Exodus 3:6
- Acts 7:34 Exodus 3:5,7,8,10
- Acts 7:37 Deut. 18:15
- Acts 7:40 Exodus 32:1
- Acts 7:43 Amos 5:25-27 (see Septuagint)
- Acts 7:46 Some early manuscripts the house of Jacob
- Acts 7:50 Isaiah 66:1,2
Acts 6-7
The Voice
Acts 6-7
The Voice
These emissaries of Jesus inspire us with their passion to serve Jesus and advance the gospel in the face of torture and abuse. After a night in prison and a public flogging, they moved forward with smiles on their faces. Believers in the Western church often enjoy the benefits of social and political power and are unwilling to suffer persecution for their faith as these men did. At the same time, many believers throughout the world face daily pressure to renounce their faith but choose boldly to remain faithful despite social, economic, and even physical persecution. These believers follow closely the path trodden by the Anointed One and His early followers.
6 Things were going well, and the number of disciples was growing. But a problem arose. The Greek-speaking believers became frustrated with the Hebrew-speaking believers. The Greeks complained that the Greek-speaking widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. 2 The twelve convened the entire community of disciples.
The Twelve: We could solve this problem ourselves, but that wouldn’t be right. We need to focus on proclaiming God’s message, not on distributing food. 3 So, friends, find seven respected men from the community of faith. These men should be full of the Holy Spirit and full of wisdom. Whomever you select we will commission to resolve this matter 4 so we can maintain our focus on praying and serving—not meals—but the message.
Life in the new community isn’t perfect. However, the believers don’t allow their linguistic and social barriers to divide the church; instead, the emissaries seize this opportunity to create greater unity between disparate groups. They appoint seven leaders, mostly Greek-speaking (based on their names), to oversee the distribution of food. This movement toward unity will be a challenge to the future church that will so easily be divided by any problem, real or perceived.
5 The whole community—Greek-speaking and Hebrew-speaking—was very pleased with this plan, so they chose seven men: Stephen (a man full of faith and full of the Holy Spirit), Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (a Greek-speaking convert from Antioch). 6 These men were presented to the apostles, who then prayed for them and commissioned them by laying their hands on them. 7 The message of God continued to spread, and the number of disciples continued to increase significantly there in Jerusalem. Even priests in large numbers became obedient to the faith.
8 Stephen continually overflowed with extraordinary grace and power, and he was able to perform a number of miraculous signs and wonders in public view. 9 But eventually a group arose to oppose Stephen and the message to which his signs and wonders pointed. (These men were from a group called the Free Synagogue and included Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians, and Asians.) 10 The Holy Spirit gave Stephen such wisdom in responding to their arguments that they were humiliated; 11 in retaliation, they spread a vicious rumor: “We heard Stephen speak blasphemies against Moses and God.”
12 Their rumor prompted an uprising that included common people, religious officials, and scholars. They surprised Stephen, grabbed him, and hauled him before the council. 13 They convinced some witnesses to give false testimony.
False Witnesses: This fellow constantly degrades the holy temple and mocks our holy law. 14 With our own ears, we’ve heard him say this Jesus fellow, this Nazarene he’s always talking about, will actually destroy the holy temple and will try to change the sacred customs we received from Moses.
15 The entire council turned its gaze on Stephen to see how he would respond. They were shocked to see his face radiant with peace—as if he were a heavenly messenger.
7 High Priest: What do you have to say for yourself? Are these accusations accurate?
Stephen: 2 Brothers, fathers, please listen to me. Our glorious God revealed Himself to our common ancestor Abraham, when he lived far away in Mesopotamia before he immigrated to Haran. 3 God gave him this command: “Leave your country. Leave your family and your inheritance. Move into unknown territory, where I will show you a new homeland.”[a] 4 First, he left Chaldea in southern Mesopotamia and settled in Haran until his father died. Then God led him still farther from his original home—until he settled here, in our land. 5 But at that point, God still hadn’t given him any of this land as his permanent possession—not even the footprint under his sandal actually belonged to him yet. But God did give Abraham a promise—a promise that yes, someday, the entire land would indeed belong to him and his descendants. Of course, this promise was all the more amazing because at that moment, Abraham had no descendants at all.
6 God said that Abraham’s descendants would first live in a foreign country as resident aliens, as refugees, for 400 years. During this time, they would be enslaved and treated horribly. But that would not be the end of the story. 7 God promised, “I will judge the nation that enslaves them,”[b] and “I will bring them to this mountain to serve Me.”[c] 8 God gave him the covenant ritual of circumcision as a sign of His sacred promise. When Abraham fathered his son, Isaac, he performed this ritual of circumcision on the eighth day. Then Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered the twelve patriarchs.
9 The patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, so they sold him as a slave into Egypt. Even so, God was with him; 10 and time after time, God rescued Joseph from whatever trials befell him. God gave Joseph the favor and wisdom to overcome each adversity and eventually to win the confidence and respect of his captors, including Pharaoh, the king of Egypt himself. So Pharaoh entrusted his whole nation and his whole household to Joseph’s stewardship. 11 Some time later, a terrible famine spread through the entire region—from Canaan down to Egypt—and everyone suffered greatly. Our ancestors, living here in the region of Canaan, could find nothing to eat. 12 Jacob heard that Egypt had stores of grain; so he sent our forefathers, his sons, to procure food there. 13 Later, when they returned to Egypt a second time, Joseph revealed his true identity to them. He also told Pharaoh his family story.
14-16 Joseph then invited his father Jacob and all his clan to come and live with him in Egypt. So Jacob came, along with 75 extended family members. After their deaths, their remains were brought back to this land so they could be buried in the same tomb where Abraham had buried Sarah (he had purchased the tomb for a certain amount of silver from the family of Hamor in the town of Shechem).
17 Still God’s promise to Abraham had not yet been fulfilled, but the time for that fulfillment was drawing very near. In the meantime, our ancestors living in Egypt rapidly multiplied. 18 Eventually a new king came to power—one who had not known Joseph when he was the most powerful man in Egypt. 19 This new leader feared the growing population of our ancestors and manipulated them for his own benefit, eventually seeking to control their population by forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die. 20 Into this horrible situation our ancestor Moses was born, and he was a beautiful child in God’s eyes. He was raised for three months in his father’s home, 21 and then he was abandoned as the brutal regime required. However, Pharaoh’s daughter found, adopted, and raised him as her own son. 22 So Moses learned the culture and wisdom of the Egyptians and became a powerful man—both as an intellectual and as a leader. 23 When he reached the age of 40, his heart drew him to visit his kinfolk, our ancestors, the Israelites. 24 During his visit, he saw one of our people being wronged, and he took sides with our people by killing an Egyptian. 25 He thought his kinfolk would recognize him as their God-given liberator, but they didn’t realize who he was and what he represented.
26 The next day Moses was walking among the Israelites again when he observed a fight—but this time, it was between two Israelites. He intervened and tried to reconcile the men. “You two are brothers,” he said. “Why do you attack each other?” 27 But the aggressor pushed Moses away and responded with contempt: “Who made you our prince and judge? 28 Are you going to slay me and hide my body as you did with the Egyptian yesterday?”[d] 29 Realizing this murder had not gone unnoticed, he quickly escaped Egypt and lived as a refugee in the land of Midian. He married there and had two sons.
30 Forty more years passed. One day while Moses was in the desert near Mount Sinai, a heavenly messenger appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush. 31 The phenomenon intrigued Moses; and as he approached for a closer look, he heard a voice—the voice of the Lord: 32 “I am the God of your own fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”[e] This terrified Moses—he began to tremble and looked away in fear. 33 The voice continued: “Take off your sandals and stand barefoot on the ground in My presence, for this ground is holy ground. 34 I have avidly watched how My people are being mistreated by the Egyptians. I have heard their groaning at the treatment of their oppressors. I am descending personally to rescue them. So get up. I’m sending you to Egypt.”[f]
35 Now remember: this was the same Moses who had been rejected by his kinfolk when they said, “Who made you our prince and judge?” This man, rejected by his own people, was the one God had truly sent and commissioned by the heavenly messenger who appeared in the bush, to be their leader and deliverer.
36 Moses indeed led our ancestors to freedom, and he performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness over a period of 40 years. 37 This Moses promised our ancestors, “The Eternal One your God will raise up from among your people a Prophet who will be like me.”[g] 38 This is the same one who led the people to Mount Sinai, where a heavenly messenger spoke to him and our ancestors, and who received the living message of God to give to us.
39 But our ancestors still resisted. They again pushed Moses away and refused to follow him. In their hearts, they were ready to return to their former slavery in Egypt. 40 While Moses was on the mountain communing with God, they begged Aaron to make idols to lead them. “We have no idea what happened to this fellow, Moses, who brought us from Egypt,”[h] they said. 41 So they made a calf as their new god, and they even sacrificed to it and celebrated an object they had fabricated as if it was their God.
42 And you remember what God did next: He let them go. He turned from them and let them follow their idolatrous path—worshiping sun, moon, and stars just as their unenlightened neighbors did. The prophet Amos spoke for God about this horrible betrayal:
Did you offer Me sacrifices or give Me offerings
during your 40-year wilderness journey, you Israelites?
43 No, but you have taken along your sacred tent for the worship of Moloch,
and you honored the star of Rompha, your false god.
So, if you want to worship your man-made images,
you may do so—beyond Babylon.[i]
44 Now recall that our ancestors had a sacred tent in the wilderness, the tent God directed Moses to build according to the pattern revealed to him. 45 When Joshua led our ancestors to dispossess the nations God drove out before them, our ancestors carried this sacred tent. It remained here in the land until the time of David. 46 David found favor with God and asked Him for permission to build a permanent structure (rather than a portable tent) to honor Him. 47 It was, of course, Solomon who actually built God’s house. 48 Yet we all know the Most High God doesn’t actually dwell in structures made by human hands, as the prophet Isaiah said,
49 “Since My throne is heaven
and since My footstool is earth—
What kind of structure can you build to contain Me?
What man-made space could provide Me a resting place?” asks the Eternal One.
50 “Didn’t I make all things with My own hand?”[j]
As Stephen recounts how God has worked with the Jews in spite of their faltering fidelity, his speech up to this point sounds like any good synagogue sermon. In the stories of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, he narrates the history of God’s work of salvation among the Jewish people in the midst of their repeated struggle with unfaithfulness and idolatry. However, it is one thing for his audience to agree that idolatry was a problem in the past and another when they are charged with the accusation of the same idolatry in the present. According to Stephen, those who reject Jesus are following the same path as the people who rejected Moses to follow idols. Such a strong message strikes a nerve, and Stephen becomes the first martyr of the church because of it.
Stephen: 51 You stubborn, stiff-necked people! Sure, you are physically Jews, but you are no different from outsiders in your hearts and ears! You are just like your ancestors, constantly fighting against the Holy Spirit. 52 Didn’t your ancestors persecute the prophets? First, they killed those prophets who predicted the coming of the Just One; and now, you have betrayed and murdered the Just One Himself! 53 Yes, you received the law as given by heavenly messengers, but you haven’t kept the law which you received.
54 Upon hearing this, his audience could contain themselves no longer. They boiled in fury at Stephen; they clenched their jaws and ground their teeth. 55 But Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. Gazing upward into heaven, he saw something they couldn’t see: the glory of God, and Jesus standing at His right hand.
Stephen: 56 Look, I see the heavens opening! I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!
57 At this, they covered their ears and started shouting. The whole crowd rushed at Stephen, converged on him, 58 dragged him out of the city, and stoned him.
They laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul, 59 while they were pelting Stephen with rocks.
Stephen (as rocks fell upon him): Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 Then he knelt in prayer, shouting at the top of his lungs,
Stephen: Lord, do not hold this evil against them!
Those were his final words; then he fell asleep in death.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
The Voice (VOICE)
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.