Acts 6
Lexham English Bible
The First Seven Deacons Appointed
6 Now in these days, as[a] the disciples were increasing in number,[b] a complaint arose by the Greek-speaking Jews[c] against the Hebraic Jews[d] because[e] their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.[f] 2 So the twelve summoned the community of disciples and[g] said, “It is not desirable that we neglect the word of God to serve tables. 3 So, brothers, select from among you seven men of good reputation,[h] full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we will put in charge of this need. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And the statement pleased the whole group, and they chose Stephen (a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit), and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus (a convert from Antioch), 6 whom they stood before the apostles. And they prayed and[i] placed their[j] hands on them.
7 And the word of God kept spreading, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem was increasing greatly, and a large number of priests began obeying[k] the faith.
Stephen Arrested
8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But some of those from the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called),[l] both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia,[m] stood up and[n] disputed with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God!” 12 And they incited the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came up and[o] seized him and brought him[p] to the Sanhedrin.[q] 13 And they put forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop speaking words against the holy place[r] and the law! 14 For we have heard him saying that this Nazarene Jesus will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” 15 And as they[s] looked intently at him, all those who were sitting in the Sanhedrin[t] saw his face was like the face of an angel.
Footnotes
- Acts 6:1 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“were increasing”)
- Acts 6:1 *The words “in number” are not in the Greek text but are implied
- Acts 6:1 Literally “Hellenists”
- Acts 6:1 Literally “Hebrews”
- Acts 6:1 Or “that”
- Acts 6:1 *The words “of food” are not in the Greek text but are implied
- Acts 6:2 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“summoned”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 6:3 Literally “well spoken of”
- Acts 6:6 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“prayed”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 6:6 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 6:7 The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began obeying”)
- Acts 6:9 Literally “called”
- Acts 6:9 A reference to the Roman province of Asia (modern Asia Minor)
- Acts 6:9 Here “and” is supplied because the participle (“disputed”) has been translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style
- Acts 6:12 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came up”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 6:12 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 6:12 Or “council”
- Acts 6:13 Some manuscripts have “this holy place”
- Acts 6:15 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“looked intently”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 6:15 Or “council”
Acts 6
International Standard Version
Seven Men are Chosen to Help the Apostles
6 In those days, as the number of the disciples was growing larger and larger, a complaint was made by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve called the whole group of disciples together and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect messages from[a] God in order to wait on tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, appoint seven men among you who have a good reputation, who are full of the Spirit and wisdom, and we’ll put them in charge of this work. 4 Then we’ll devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
5 This suggestion pleased the whole group. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch. 6 They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God[b] continued to spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem continued to grow rapidly. Even a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Stephen is Arrested
8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But some men who belonged to the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), as well as some Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and began to debate with Stephen. 10 But they could neither refute the wisdom nor withstand the Spirit by which he kept speaking. 11 So they secretly got some men to say, “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes. Then they rushed at Stephen,[c] grabbed him, and brought him before the Council.[d]
13 They had false witnesses stand up and say, “This man never stops saying things against this Holy Place and against the Law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus from Nazareth[e] will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” 15 Then everyone who was seated in the Council[f] glared at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
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