Acts 6
English Standard Version
Seven Chosen to Serve
6 Now in these days (A)when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists[a] arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in (B)the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 (C)Therefore, brothers,[b] pick out from among you seven men (D)of good repute, (E)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But (F)we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, (G)a man full of faith and (H)of the Holy Spirit, and (I)Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, (J)a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and (K)they prayed and (L)laid their hands on them.
7 And (M)the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests (N)became obedient to (O)the faith.
Stephen Is Seized
8 And Stephen, full of grace and (P)power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But (Q)they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then (R)they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they (S)set up false (T)witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against (U)this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth (V)will destroy this place and will (W)change (X)the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face (Y)was like the face of an angel.
Acts 6
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.
Acts 6
New Catholic Bible
Jerusalem, First Center of Diffusion[a]
Chapter 6
Institution of the Seven Deacons.[b] 1 In those days, as the number of disciples grew, the Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews,[c] asserting that their own widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2 And so the Twelve called together the entire community of disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Therefore, brethren, we direct you to select from among you seven[d] men of good reputation, men filled with the Spirit and with wisdom, to whom we may assign this task. 4 We will then be able to devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
5 The entire community found this proposal to be acceptable, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch who was a convert to Judaism. 6 They then presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid hands on them.[e]
7 The word of God continued to spread ever more widely. The number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Accusation against Stephen.[f] 8 Stephen, a man filled with grace and power, began to work great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, people from Cyrene and Alexandria, as well as others from Cilicia and Asia, came forward to debate with Stephen. 10 However, they were unable to refute him because of his wisdom and the Spirit who inspired his speech.
11 So they bribed some men to say, “We heard this Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” 12 After this, stirring up the people as well as the elders and the scribes, they seized Stephen, placed him under arrest, and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
13 Then they called forward false witnesses who claimed, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the Law. 14 For we have heard him assert that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the traditions that Moses handed down to us.” 15 All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared like the face of an angel.
Footnotes
- Acts 6:1 The community at Jerusalem lived in the impetus of the Resurrection and of the Spirit. It could not stay by itself and remain sheltered from the threats of religious authorities. Its energy made it go out into the world and tell the good news.
- Acts 6:1 The Church decides on the ministers needed in order to maintain her freedom to pray and preach. The “deacons,” all of whom have Greek names, are not limited to an economic function; we also see them in the service of the Gospel, as in the case of Stephen (Acts 6:8) and Philip (Acts 8:6; 21:8), who also baptizes (Acts 8:12-13). The laying on of hands is a sign of the official investiture of those who have been appointed by the choice of the assembly.
- Acts 6:1 Hellenists . . . Hebrews: although the Church at this time was composed of Jews, these were of two types: Hellenists and Hebrews. The Hellenists were Greek-speaking Jews born outside Palestine who followed a Grecian philosophy. Hebrews spoke Aramaic and followed Jewish customs.
- Acts 6:3 Twelve . . . seven: the Twelve are representative of the twelve tribes of Israel; the Seven represent the Gentiles dwelling in Canaan (see Acts 13:19; Deut 7:1).
- Acts 6:6 Laid hands on them: the Jewish practice of assigning someone for a task and calling down God’s blessing on that person to carry it out (Num 27:18, 23; Deut 34:9).
- Acts 6:8 The first Christian martyr has his gaze fixed on Christ in profound attachment to his person (Acts 7:55) and in an interior imitation of Christ’s suffering and death. Unlike the Passion of Jesus, however, that of Stephen is accompanied by a lengthy discourse that has as its basic theme God present in the midst of humanity in Jesus Christ. The lengthy interpretation of the history of Israel, made up of citations from the Old Testament, is less a demonstration than an indictment of a religion that is locked into its past.
Acts 6
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
6 And in those days, the number of the disciples increasing, there arose a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, for that their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
2 Then the twelve calling together the multitude of the disciples, said: It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
5 And the saying was liked by all the multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch.
6 These they set before the apostles; and they praying, imposed hands upon them.
7 And the word of the Lord increased; and the number of the disciples was multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly: a great multitude also of the priests obeyed the faith.
8 And Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and signs among the people.
9 Now there arose some of that which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit that spoke.
11 Then they suborned men to say, they had heard him speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.
12 And they stirred up the people, and the ancients, and the scribes; and running together, they took him, and brought him to the council.
13 And they set up false witnesses, who said: This man ceaseth not to speak words against the holy place and the law.
14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the traditions which Moses delivered unto us.
15 And all that sat in the council, looking on him, saw his face as if it had been the face of an angel.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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