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Stephen Is Accused

Stephen was richly blessed by God who gave him the power to do great miracles and signs among the people. But some people were against him. They belonged to the synagogue of Free Men[a] (as it was called), which included people from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia. They all came and argued with Stephen.

10 But the Spirit was helping him to speak with wisdom, and his words were so strong that they could not argue with him. 11 So they secretly urged some men to say, “We heard Stephen speak against Moses and against God.”

12 This upset the people, the elders, and the teachers of the law. They came and grabbed Stephen and brought him to a meeting of the leaders. 13 They brought in some people to tell lies about Stephen, saying, “This man is always speaking against this holy place and the law of Moses. 14 We heard him say that Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and that Jesus will change the customs Moses gave us.” 15 All the people in the meeting were watching Stephen closely and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:9 Free Men Jewish people who had been slaves or whose fathers had been slaves, but were now free.

Stephen Seized

Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs(A) among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene(B) and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia(C) and Asia(D)—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.(E)

11 Then they secretly(F) persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”(G)

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.(H) 13 They produced false witnesses,(I) who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place(J) and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place(K) and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”(L)

15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin(M) looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

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