²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,”^(A) he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”^(B)

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!^(A)

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!^(A)

⁶ They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed^(A) and laid their hands on them.^(B)

⁷ So the word of God spread.^(C) The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly,^(D) 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^(E) among the people. ⁹ Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene^(F) and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia^(G) and Asia^(H)—who began to argue with Stephen. ¹⁰ But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.^(I)