Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options Listen to Acts 7
Close LEB

Acts 7
Lexham English Bible

Stephen’s Defense

7 And the high priest said, “Is it so concerning these things?” 2 So he said, “Men—brothers and fathers—listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he[a] was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your relatives and come to the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and[b] settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, he caused him to move to this land in which you now live. 5 And he did not give him an inheritance in it—not even a footstep[c]—and he promised to give it[d] to him for his possession, and to his descendants after him, although he did not have[e][f] a child. 6 But God spoke like this: ‘His descendants will be foreigners in a foreign land, and they will enslave them and mistreat them[g] four hundred years, 7 and the nation that[h] they will serve as slaves, I will judge,’ God said, ‘and after these things they will come out[i] and will worship me in this place.’[j] 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac did so with[k] Jacob, and Jacob did so with[l] the twelve patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, because they[m] were jealous of Joseph, sold him[n] into Egypt. And God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he appointed him ruler over Egypt and all[o] his household. 11 And a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan and great affliction, and our fathers could not find food. 12 So when[p] Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And on the second visit[q] Joseph was made known to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. 14 So Joseph sent and[r] summoned his father Jacob and all his[s] relatives, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down to Egypt and died, he and our fathers. 16 And they were brought back to Shechem and buried in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

17 “But as the time of the promise that God had made to Abraham was drawing near, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 19 This man deceitfully took advantage of our[t] people and[u] mistreated our ancestors, causing them to abandon their infants[v] so that they would not be kept alive. 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful to God. He[w] was brought up for three months in his[x] father’s house, 21 and when[y] he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up and brought him up as her own son.[z] 22 And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was powerful in his words and deeds.

23 “But when he was forty years old,[aa] it entered in his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. 24 And when he[ab] saw one of them being unjustly harmed, he defended him[ac] and avenged[ad] the one who had been oppressed by[ae] striking down the Egyptian. 25 And he thought his[af] brothers would understand that God was granting deliverance to them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And on the following day, he made an appearance to them while they[ag] were fighting and was attempting to reconcile[ah] them in peace, saying, ‘Men and brothers, why are you doing wrong to one another?’ 27 But the one who was doing wrong to his[ai] neighbor pushed him aside, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 You do not want to do away with me the same way[aj] you did away with the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’[ak] 29 And at this statement, Moses fled and became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

30 “And when[al] forty years had been completed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush. 31 And when[am] Moses saw it,[an] he was astonished at the sight, and when[ao] he approached to look at it,[ap] the voice of the Lord came: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob!’[aq] So Moses began trembling and[ar] did not dare to look at it.[as] 33 And the Lord said to him, ‘Untie the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen[at] the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’[au] 35 This Moses whom they had repudiated, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?’[av]—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer with the help[aw] of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

37 “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’[ax] 38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and who with our fathers received living oracles to give to us, 39 to whom our fathers were not willing to become obedient, but rejected him[ay] and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go on before us! For this Moses, who led us out from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him!’[az] 41 And they manufactured a calf in those days, and offered up a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing[ba] in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, just as it is written in the book of the prophets:

‘You did not bring offerings and sacrifices to me
    for forty years in the wilderness, did you,[bb] house of Israel?
43 And you took along the tabernacle[bc] of Moloch
    and the star of the god[bd] Rephan,
the images that you made, to worship them,
    and I will deport you beyond Babylon!’[be]

44 The tabernacle of the testimony belonged[bf] to our fathers in the wilderness, just as the one who spoke to Moses directed him[bg] to make it according to the design that he had seen, 45 and which, after[bh] receiving it[bi] in turn, our fathers brought in with Joshua when they dispossessed the[bj] nations that God drove out from the presence of our fathers, until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.[bk] 47 But Solomon built a house for him. 48 But the Most High does not live in houses[bl] made by human hands, just as the prophet says,

49 ‘Heaven is my throne
    and earth is the footstool for my feet.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
    or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’[bm]

51 “You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your[bn] ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so also do you! 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become, 53 you who received the law by directions of angels and have not observed it!”

Stephen’s Martyrdom

54 Now when they[bo] heard these things, they were infuriated in their hearts and gnashed their[bp] teeth at him. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and[bq] saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 But crying out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and rushed at him with one purpose. 58 And after they[br] had driven him[bs] out of the city, they began to stone[bt] him,[bu] and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they kept on stoning Stephen as he[bv] was calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 And falling to his[bw] knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after he[bx] said this, he fell asleep.[by]

Footnotes

  1. Acts 7:2 Here “while” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was”) which is understood as temporal
  2. Acts 7:4 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went out”) has been translated as a finite verb
  3. Acts 7:5 Literally “a step of a foot”
  4. Acts 7:5 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  5. Acts 7:5 Literally “not being to him”
  6. Acts 7:5 Here “although” is supplied in the translation as a component of the participle (“was”) which is understood as concessive
  7. Acts 7:6 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  8. Acts 7:7 Literally “to which”
  9. Acts 7:7 Verses 6–7 are a quotation from Gen 15:13–14
  10. Acts 7:7 The final phrase is an allusion to Exod 3:12
  11. Acts 7:8 Here the words “did so with” are not in the Greek text but are implied; in view of the “covenant of circumcision” mentioned earlier in the verse, it is probable that circumcision and not just fatherhood is involved
  12. Acts 7:8 Here the words “did so with” are not in the Greek text but are implied; see the note on the same phrase earlier in this verse
  13. Acts 7:9 Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“were jealous of”) which is understood as causal
  14. Acts 7:9 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  15. Acts 7:10 Some manuscripts have “over all”
  16. Acts 7:12 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
  17. Acts 7:13 The word “visit” is not in the Greek text but is implied
  18. Acts 7:14 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“sent”) has been translated as a finite verb
  19. Acts 7:14 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  20. Acts 7:19 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  21. Acts 7:19 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“deceitfully took advantage of”) has been translated as a finite verb
  22. Acts 7:19 Literally “making their infants be abandoned”
  23. Acts 7:20 Literally “who”
  24. Acts 7:20 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  25. Acts 7:21 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“was abandoned”)
  26. Acts 7:21 Literally “for a son to herself”
  27. Acts 7:23 Literally “a period of time of forty years was fulfilled for him”
  28. Acts 7:24 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
  29. Acts 7:24 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  30. Acts 7:24 Literally “produced vengeance for”
  31. Acts 7:24 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“striking down”) which is understood as means
  32. Acts 7:25 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  33. Acts 7:26 Here “while” is supplied as a component of the participle (“were fighting”) which is understood as temporal
  34. Acts 7:26 Here the imperfect verb has been translated as conative (“was attempting to reconcile”)
  35. Acts 7:27 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  36. Acts 7:28 Literally “in the manner in which”
  37. Acts 7:28 A quotation from Exod 2:14; the negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated by “do you”
  38. Acts 7:30 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“had been completed”)
  39. Acts 7:31 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
  40. Acts 7:31 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  41. Acts 7:31 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“approached”)
  42. Acts 7:31 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  43. Acts 7:32 A quotation from Exod 3:6
  44. Acts 7:32 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“began”) has been translated as a finite verb
  45. Acts 7:32 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  46. Acts 7:34 Literally “seeing I have seen”
  47. Acts 7:34 A quotation from Exod 3:5, 7–8, 10
  48. Acts 7:35 A quotation from Exod 2:14 (see v. 27 above)
  49. Acts 7:35 Literally “hand”
  50. Acts 7:37 A quotation from Deut 18:15
  51. Acts 7:39 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  52. Acts 7:40 A quotation from Exod 32:1, 23
  53. Acts 7:41 The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began rejoicing”)
  54. Acts 7:42 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated by “did you”
  55. Acts 7:43 Or “tent”
  56. Acts 7:43 Some manuscripts have “of your god”
  57. Acts 7:43 A quotation from Amos 5:25–27
  58. Acts 7:44 Literally “was”
  59. Acts 7:44 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  60. Acts 7:45 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“receiving”) which is understood as temporal
  61. Acts 7:45 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  62. Acts 7:45 Literally “in the possession of the”
  63. Acts 7:46 Some manuscripts have “for the house of Jacob”
  64. Acts 7:48 Or “temples made by human hands”; either word (“houses” or “temples”) is understood here
  65. Acts 7:50 A quotation from Isa 66:1–2
  66. Acts 7:51 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  67. Acts 7:54 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
  68. Acts 7:54 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  69. Acts 7:55 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“looked intently”) has been translated as a finite verb
  70. Acts 7:58 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had driven”) which is understood as temporal
  71. Acts 7:58 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  72. Acts 7:58 The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began stoning”)
  73. Acts 7:58 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  74. Acts 7:59 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was calling out”) which is understood as temporal
  75. Acts 7:60 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  76. Acts 7:60 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“said”) which is understood as temporal
  77. Acts 7:60 Or “he passed away”
Close ISV

Acts 7
International Standard Version

Stephen Defends Himself

7 Then the high priest asked, “Is this true?”

2 Stephen replied:

“Listen, brothers and fathers!

“The glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. 3 God[a] told him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land I’ll show you.’[b] 4 So he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. Then after the death of his father, God had him move to this country where you now live. 5 God[c] gave him no property here,[d] not even a foot of land,[e] yet he promised to give it to him and to his descendants[f] after him as a permanent possession, even though he had no child.

6 “This is what God promised: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and its people[g] would enslave them and oppress them for 400 years. 7 ‘But I will punish the nation they serve,’ said God, ‘and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.’[h]

8 Later, God[i] gave Abraham[j] the covenant of circumcision. Later, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Then Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered[k] the twelve patriarchs.

9 “Joseph’s brothers[l] became jealous of him and sold Joseph as a slave[m] in Egypt. However, God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler of Egypt and of his whole household.

11 “But a famine spread throughout Egypt and Canaan, and with it great suffering, and our ancestors couldn’t find any food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors on their first trip. 13 On their second trip, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph introduced his family[n] to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him in Egypt[o]—75 persons in all. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt. Then he and our ancestors died. 16 They were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought at a high price[p] from Hamor’s descendants in Shechem.

17 “Now as the time approached for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people’s population increased a great deal in Egypt. 18 Eventually, a different king who had not known Joseph became ruler of Egypt.[q] 19 By shrewdly scheming against our people, he oppressed our ancestors and forced them to abandon their infants to the elements, so that they wouldn’t live.

20 “At this time Moses was born. He was beautiful in the sight of God, and for three months he was cared for in his father’s house. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 So Moses learned all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man, both in words and in deeds.

23 “When he was 40 years old, he decided[r] to visit his brothers, the descendants of Israel. 24 When he saw one of them being mistreated, he defended him[s] and avenged the man who was being mistreated by killing the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn’t understand. 26 The next day, he presented himself to some of them while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why should you be hurting another?’

27 “But the man who was harming his neighbor pushed Moses[t] away and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 You don’t want to kill me like you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’[u] 29 Because of this, Moses fled and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There he had two sons.

30 “After 40 years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached the bush[v] to look at it, the voice of the Lord said,[w] 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’[x] Moses became terrified and didn’t dare to look. 33 Then the Lord told him, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I’ve heard their groans, and I’ve come down to rescue them. Now come, I’ll send you to Egypt.’[y]

35 “This same Moses—whom they rejected by saying, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’[z]—was the man whom God sent to be both their ruler and deliverer with the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. 36 It was he who led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for 40 years. 37 It was this Moses who told the Israelis, ‘God will raise up a prophet for you from among your own brothers, just as he did[aa] me.’[ab] 38 This Moses[ac] is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and to our ancestors. He received living truths to give to us,[ad] 39 but our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and wished to return to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will lead us. This Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we don’t know what happened to him!’[ae]

41 “At that time they even made a calf to be their idol, offered a sacrifice to it, and delighted in what they had made with their hands. 42 So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the heavenly bodies. As it is written in the book of the Prophets:

‘O house of Israel,
    you didn’t offer me slaughtered animals and
        sacrifices those 40 years in the wilderness, did you?
43 You even took along the tent of Moloch,
    the star of your god Rephan,
and the images you made in order to worship them.
    So I will take you into exile as far as Babylon.’[af]

44 “Our ancestors had the Tent of Testimony[ag] in the wilderness constructed,[ah] just as the one who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. 45 Our ancestors brought it here with Joshua when they replaced the nations that God drove out in front of our ancestors, and it was here until the time of David. 46 He found favor with God and asked to design a dwelling for the house[ai] of Jacob, 47 but it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 However, the Most High does not live in buildings made by human[aj] hands. As the prophet says,

49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house can you build for me,’ declares the Lord,[ak]
    “or what place is there in which I can rest?
50 It was my hand that made all these things, wasn’t it?’”[al]

51 “You stubborn people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors fail to persecute? They killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. 53 You received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet you haven’t obeyed it!”

Stephen is Stoned to Death

54 While they were listening to these things, they became more and more furious and began to grind their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen,[am] filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 He said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

57 But they shouted out loud, stopped listening, and together they all rushed at him, 58 ran him outside of the city, and began to stone him to death. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 As they continued to stone Stephen, he kept praying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” After he had said this, he died.[an]

Footnotes

  1. Acts 7:3 Lit. He
  2. Acts 7:3 Cf. Gen 12:1
  3. Acts 7:5 Lit. He
  4. Acts 7:5 Lit. in it
  5. Acts 7:5 I.e. about half of a single stride, or about 1.5 feet
  6. Acts 7:5 Lit. seed
  7. Acts 7:6 Lit. they
  8. Acts 7:7 Cf. Gen 15:13-14; Exod 3:12
  9. Acts 7:8 Lit. he
  10. Acts 7:8 Lit. him
  11. Acts 7:8 The Gk. lacks fathered
  12. Acts 7:9 Lit. The patriarchs
  13. Acts 7:9 The Gk. lacks as a slave
  14. Acts 7:13 Lit. Joseph’s family became known
  15. Acts 7:14 The Gk. lacks in Egypt
  16. Acts 7:16 Lit. Abraham for a sum of money
  17. Acts 7:18 Other mss. lack of Egypt
  18. Acts 7:23 Lit. old, his heart was moved
  19. Acts 7:24 The Gk. lacks him
  20. Acts 7:27 Lit. him
  21. Acts 7:28 Cf. Exod 2:14
  22. Acts 7:31 The Gk. lacks the bush
  23. Acts 7:31 Lit. came
  24. Acts 7:32 Cf. Exod 3:6
  25. Acts 7:34 Cf. Exod 3:4-10
  26. Acts 7:35 Cf. Exod 2:14
  27. Acts 7:37 The Gk. lacks he did
  28. Acts 7:37 Cf. Deut 18:15
  29. Acts 7:38 Lit. one
  30. Acts 7:38 Other mss. read to you
  31. Acts 7:40 Cf. Exod 32:1, 23
  32. Acts 7:43 Cf. Amos 5:25-27
  33. Acts 7:44 I.e. the tent containing the Ark of the Covenant
  34. Acts 7:44 The Gk. lacks constructed
  35. Acts 7:46 Other mss. read God
  36. Acts 7:48 The Gk. lacks human
  37. Acts 7:49 MT source citation reads Lord
  38. Acts 7:50 Cf. Isa 66:1-2
  39. Acts 7:55 Lit. he
  40. Acts 7:60 Lit. fell asleep
Next
Acts 6
Acts 8
Next
dropdown
Lexham English Bible (LEB)

2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software

International Standard Version (ISV)

Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.

ISV Bible