Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

² To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers,^(A) listen to me! The God of glory^(B) appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran.^{(C) 3} ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’^[a](D)

⁴ “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.^{(E) 5} He gave him no inheritance here,^(F) not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land,^(G) even though at that time Abraham had no child. ⁶ God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.^{(H) 7} But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’^{[b](I) 8} Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.^(J) And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth.^(K) Later Isaac became the father of Jacob,^(L) and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.^(M)

⁹ “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph,^(N) they sold him as a slave into Egypt.^(O) But God was with him^{(P) 10} and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.^(Q)

¹¹ “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food.^{(R) 12} When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit.^{(S) 13} On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was,^(T) and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family.^{(U) 14} After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family,^(V) seventy-five in all.^{(W) 15} Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.^{(X) 16} Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.^(Y)

¹⁷ “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.^{(Z) 18} Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’^{[c](AA) 19} He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.^(AB)

²⁰ “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.^[d] For three months he was cared for by his family.^{(AC) 21} When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.^{(AD) 22} Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians^(AE) and was powerful in speech and action.

²³ “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. ²⁴ He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. ²⁵ Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. ²⁶ The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’

²⁷ “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?^{(AF) 28} Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’^{[e] 29} When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.^(AG)

³⁰ “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. ³¹ When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:^{(AH) 32} ‘I am the God of your fathers,^(AI) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’^[f] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.^(AJ)

³³ “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.^{(AK) 34} I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’^[g](AL)

³⁵ “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’^(AM) He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ He led them out of Egypt^(AN) and performed wonders and signs^(AO) in Egypt, at the Red Sea^(AP) and for forty years in the wilderness.^(AQ)

³⁷ “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’^{[h](AR) 38} He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel^(AS) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;^(AT) and he received living words^(AU) to pass on to us.^(AV)

³⁹ “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.^{(AW) 40} They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’^{[i](AX) 41} That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.^{(AY) 42} But God turned away from them^(AZ) and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.^(BA) This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:

⁴⁴ “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law^(BC) with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.^{(BD) 45} After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them.^(BE) It remained in the land until the time of David,^{(BF) 46} who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.^{[k](BG) 47} But it was Solomon who built a house for him.^(BH)

⁴⁸ “However, the Most High^(BI) does not live in houses made by human hands.^(BJ) As the prophet says:

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people!^(BM) Your hearts^(BN) and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! ⁵² Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?^(BO) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him^(BP)— ⁵³ you who have received the law that was given through angels^(BQ) but have not obeyed it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

⁵⁴ When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious^(BR) and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit,^(BS) looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.^{(BT) 56} “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open^(BU) and the Son of Man^(BV) standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city^(BW) and began to stone him.^(BX) Meanwhile, the witnesses^(BY) laid their coats^(BZ) at the feet of a young man named Saul.^(CA)

⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”^{(CB) 60} Then he fell on his knees^(CC) and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”^(CD) When he had said this, he fell asleep.^(CE)

The Guilt Offering

7 “‘These are the regulations for the guilt offering,^(A) which is most holy: ² The guilt offering is to be slaughtered in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and its blood is to be splashed against the sides of the altar. ³ All its fat^(B) shall be offered: the fat tail and the fat that covers the internal organs, ⁴ both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which is to be removed with the kidneys.^{(C) 5} The priest shall burn them on the altar^(D) as a food offering presented to the Lord. It is a guilt offering. ⁶ Any male in a priest’s family may eat it,^(E) but it must be eaten in the sanctuary area; it is most holy.^(F)

⁷ “‘The same law applies to both the sin offering^[a](G) and the guilt offering:^(H) They belong to the priest^(I) who makes atonement with them.^{(J) 8} The priest who offers a burnt offering for anyone may keep its hide^(K) for himself. ⁹ Every grain offering baked in an oven^(L) or cooked in a pan^(M) or on a griddle^(N) belongs to the priest who offers it, ¹⁰ and every grain offering, whether mixed with olive oil or dry, belongs equally to all the sons of Aaron.

The Fellowship Offering

¹¹ “‘These are the regulations for the fellowship offering anyone may present to the Lord:

¹² “‘If they offer it as an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering^(O) they are to offer thick loaves^(P) made without yeast^(Q) and with olive oil mixed in, thin loaves^(R) made without yeast and brushed with oil,^(S) and thick loaves of the finest flour well-kneaded and with oil mixed in. ¹³ Along with their fellowship offering of thanksgiving^(T) they are to present an offering with thick loaves of bread made with yeast.^{(U) 14} They are to bring one of each kind as an offering, a contribution to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the fellowship offering against the altar. ¹⁵ The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning.^(V)

¹⁶ “‘If, however, their offering is the result of a vow^(W) or is a freewill offering,^(X) the sacrifice shall be eaten on the day they offer it, but anything left over may be eaten on the next day.^{(Y) 17} Any meat of the sacrifice left over till the third day must be burned up.^{(Z) 18} If any meat of the fellowship offering^(AA) is eaten on the third day, the one who offered it will not be accepted.^(AB) It will not be reckoned^(AC) to their credit, for it has become impure; the person who eats any of it will be held responsible.^(AD)

¹⁹ “‘Meat that touches anything ceremonially unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned up. As for other meat, anyone ceremonially clean may eat it. ²⁰ But if anyone who is unclean^(AE) eats any meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the Lord, they must be cut off from their people.^{(AF) 21} Anyone who touches something unclean^(AG)—whether human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean creature that moves along the ground^[b]—and then eats any of the meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the Lord must be cut off from their people.’”

Eating Fat and Blood Forbidden

²² The Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Say to the Israelites: ‘Do not eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep or goats.^{(AH) 24} The fat of an animal found dead or torn by wild animals^(AI) may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it. ²⁵ Anyone who eats the fat of an animal from which a food offering may be^[c] presented to the Lord must be cut off from their people. ²⁶ And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood^(AJ) of any bird or animal. ²⁷ Anyone who eats blood^(AK) must be cut off from their people.’”

The Priests’ Share

²⁸ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁹ “Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who brings a fellowship offering to the Lord is to bring part of it as their sacrifice to the Lord. ³⁰ With their own hands they are to present the food offering to the Lord; they are to bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast before the Lord as a wave offering.^{(AL) 31} The priest shall burn the fat on the altar,^(AM) but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons.^{(AN) 32} You are to give the right thigh of your fellowship offerings to the priest as a contribution.^{(AO) 33} The son of Aaron who offers the blood and the fat of the fellowship offering shall have the right thigh as his share. ³⁴ From the fellowship offerings of the Israelites, I have taken the breast that is waved and the thigh^(AP) that is presented and have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons^(AQ) as their perpetual share from the Israelites.’”

³⁵ This is the portion of the food offerings presented to the Lord that were allotted to Aaron and his sons on the day they were presented to serve the Lord as priests. ³⁶ On the day they were anointed,^(AR) the Lord commanded that the Israelites give this to them as their perpetual share for the generations to come.

³⁷ These, then, are the regulations for the burnt offering,^(AS) the grain offering,^(AT) the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering^(AU) and the fellowship offering, ³⁸ which the Lord gave Moses^(AV) at Mount Sinai^(AW) in the Desert of Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to bring their offerings to the Lord.^(AX)