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.