Acts 7
Common English Bible
7 The high priest asked, “Are these accusations true?”
2 Stephen responded, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran. 3 God told him, ‘Leave your homeland and kin, and go to the land that I will show you.’[a] 4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After Abraham’s father died, God had him resettle in this land where you now live. 5 God didn’t give him an inheritance here, not even a square foot of land. However, God did promise to give the land as his possession to him and to his descendants, even though Abraham had no child. 6 God put it this way: His descendants will be strangers in a land that belongs to others, who will enslave them and abuse them for four hundred years.[b] 7 And I will condemn the nation they serve as slaves, God said, and afterward they will leave[c] that land and serve me in this place. 8 God gave him the covenant confirmed through circumcision. Accordingly, eight days after Isaac’s birth, Abraham circumcised him. Isaac did the same with Jacob, and Jacob with the twelve patriarchs.
9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him into slavery in Egypt. God was with him, however, 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. The grace and wisdom he gave Joseph were recognized by Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole palace. 11 A famine came upon all Egypt and Canaan, and great hardship came with it. Our ancestors had nothing to eat. 12 When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there for the first time. 13 During their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives—seventy-five in all—and invited them to live with him. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had purchased for a certain sum of money from Hamor’s children, who lived in Shechem.
17 “When it was time for God to keep the promise he made to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly expanded. 18 But then another king rose to power over Egypt who didn’t know anything about Joseph.[d] 19 He exploited our people and abused our ancestors. He even forced them to abandon their newly born babies so they would die. 20 That’s when Moses was born. He was highly favored by God, and for three months his parents cared for him in their home. 21 After he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and cared for him as though he were her own son. 22 Moses learned everything Egyptian wisdom had to offer, and he was a man of powerful words and deeds.
23 “When Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit his family, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being wronged so he came to his rescue and evened the score by killing the Egyptian. 25 He expected his own kin to understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn’t. 26 The next day he came upon some Israelites who were caught up in an argument. He tried to make peace between them by saying, ‘You are brothers! Why are you harming each other?’ 27 The one who started the fight against his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who appointed you as our leader and judge? 28 Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’[e] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he lived as an immigrant and had two sons.
30 “Forty years later, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush in the wilderness near Mount Sinai. 31 Enthralled by the sight, Moses approached to get a closer look and he heard the Lord’s voice: 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’[f] Trembling with fear, Moses didn’t dare to investigate any further. 33 The Lord continued, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have clearly seen the oppression my people have experienced in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning. I have come down to rescue them. Come! I am sending you to Egypt.’[g]
35 “This is the same Moses whom they rejected when they asked, ‘Who appointed you as our leader and judge?’ This is the Moses whom God sent as leader and deliverer. God did this with the help of the angel who appeared before him in the bush. 36 This man led them out after he performed wonders and signs in Egypt at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness. 37 This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[h] 38 This is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness with our ancestors and with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai. He is the one who received life-giving words to give to us. 39 He’s also the one whom our ancestors refused to obey. Instead, they pushed him aside and, in their thoughts and desires, returned to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will lead us. As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him!’[i] 41 That’s when they made an idol in the shape of a calf, offered a sacrifice to it, and began to celebrate what they had made with their own hands. 42 So God turned away from them and handed them over to worship the stars in the sky, just as it is written in the scroll of the Prophets:
Did you bring sacrifices and offerings to me
for forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel?
43 No! Instead, you took the tent of Moloch with you,
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made in order to worship them.
Therefore, I will send you far away, farther than Babylon.[j]
44 “The tent of testimony was with our ancestors in the wilderness. Moses built it just as he had been instructed by the one who spoke to him and according to the pattern he had seen. 45 In time, when they had received the tent, our ancestors carried it with them when, under Joshua’s leadership, they took possession of the land from the nations whom God expelled. This tent remained in the land until the time of David. 46 God approved of David, who asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[k] 47 But it was Solomon who actually built a house for God. 48 However, the Most High doesn’t live in houses built by human hands. As the prophet says,
49 Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
‘What kind of house will you build for me,’ says the Lord,
‘or where is my resting place?
50 Didn’t I make all these things with my own hand?’[l]
51 “You stubborn people! In your thoughts and hearing, you are like those who have had no part in God’s covenant! You continuously set yourself against the Holy Spirit, just like your ancestors did. 52 Was there a single prophet your ancestors didn’t harass? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one, and you’ve betrayed and murdered him! 53 You received the Law given by angels, but you haven’t kept it.”
54 Once the council members heard these words, they were enraged and began to grind their teeth at Stephen. 55 But Stephen, enabled by the Holy Spirit, stared into heaven and saw God’s majesty and Jesus standing at God’s right side. 56 He exclaimed, “Look! I can see heaven on display and the Human One[m] standing at God’s right side!” 57 At this, they shrieked and covered their ears. Together, they charged at him, 58 threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses placed their coats in the care of a young man named Saul. 59 As they battered him with stones, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, accept my life!” 60 Falling to his knees, he shouted, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” Then he died.
Footnotes
- Acts 7:3 Gen 12:1
- Acts 7:6 Gen 15:13
- Acts 7:7 Gen 15:14
- Acts 7:18 Exod 1:8
- Acts 7:28 Exod 2:14
- Acts 7:32 Exod 3:6
- Acts 7:34 Exod 3:5, 7
- Acts 7:37 Deut 18:15
- Acts 7:40 Exod 32:1
- Acts 7:43 Amos 5:25-27
- Acts 7:46 Critical editions of the Gk New Testament read house of Jacob.
- Acts 7:50 Isa 66:1-2
- Acts 7:56 Or Son of Man
Acts 7
New King James Version
Stephen’s Address: The Call of Abraham
7 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, (A)“Brethren and fathers, listen: The (B)God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in (C)Haran, 3 and said to him, (D)‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then (E)he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was (F)dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. 5 And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, (G)He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But God spoke in this way: (H)that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into (I)bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7 (J)‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will (K)judge,’ said God, (L)‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ 8 (M)Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; (N)and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; (O)and Isaac begot Jacob, and (P)Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.
The Patriarchs in Egypt
9 (Q)“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, (R)sold Joseph into Egypt. (S)But God was with him 10 and delivered him out of all his troubles, (T)and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11 (U)Now a famine and great [a]trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 (V)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And the (W)second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. 14 (X)Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and (Y)all his relatives to him, [b]seventy-five people. 15 (Z)So Jacob went down to Egypt; (AA)and he died, he and our fathers. 16 And (AB)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in (AC)the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
God Delivers Israel by Moses
17 “But when (AD)the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, (AE)the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 till another king (AF)arose who did not know Joseph. 19 This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, (AG)making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. 20 (AH)At this time Moses was born, and (AI)was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. 21 But (AJ)when he was set out, (AK)Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was (AL)mighty in words and deeds.
23 (AM)“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ 27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, (AN)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 (AO)Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he (AP)had two sons.
30 (AQ)“And when forty years had passed, an Angel [c]of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 saying, (AR)‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 33 (AS)‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have surely (AT)seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will (AU)send you to Egypt.” ’
35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, (AV)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer (AW)by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 (AX)He brought them out, after he had (AY)shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, (AZ)and in the Red Sea, (BA)and in the wilderness forty years.
Israel Rebels Against God
37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, (BB)‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. (BC)Him[d] you shall hear.’
38 (BD)“This is he who was in the [e]congregation in the wilderness with (BE)the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, (BF)the one who received the living (BG)oracles[f] to give to us, 39 whom our fathers (BH)would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40 (BI)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 (BJ)And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and (BK)rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then (BL)God turned and gave them up to worship (BM)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
(BN)‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness,
O house of Israel?
43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
And the star of your god Remphan,
Images which you made to worship;
And (BO)I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
God’s True Tabernacle
44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses (BP)to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 (BQ)which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, (BR)whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the (BS)days of David, 46 (BT)who found favor before God and (BU)asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47 (BV)But Solomon built Him a house.
48 “However, (BW)the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
49 ‘Heaven(BX) is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of My rest?
50 Has My hand not (BY)made all these things?’
Israel Resists the Holy Spirit
51 “You (BZ)stiff-necked[g] and (CA)uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 (CB)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of (CC)the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 (CD)who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
Stephen the Martyr
54 (CE)When they heard these things they were [h]cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, (CF)being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the (CG)glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! (CH)I see the heavens opened and the (CI)Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And (CJ)the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, (CK)receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, (CL)“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Gevurot 7
Orthodox Jewish Bible
7 And the Kohen Gadol said, "Are these things so?"
2 And Stefanos said, "Achim and Avot, hear me! Elohei Hakavod appeared to Avraham Avinu while he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Charan [TEHILLIM 29:3; BERESHIS 11:31; 15:7]
3 “And Hashem said to Avram, ‘Depart from your country and from your people and come to the land which I shall show you.') [Gn 12:1; 48:4]
4 "Then having departed from the land of the Chaldeans, he settled in Charan. And from there, after the mavet of his Av, he was settled by Hashem here in this land in which we now are living. [BERESHIS 12:5]
5 "And Hashem did not give to him a nachalah (inheritance) in it nor AD MIDRACH KAF REGEL ("even enough to put your foot on" DEVARIM 2:5); and yet, even when he had no ben, the havtachah (promise) of Hashem to him was ES HAARETZ HAZOT E’TEN ("This land I will give") to him and to his zera (seed) after him. [DEVARIM 2:5; BERESHIS 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 26:3; 48:4]
6 "And Hashem spoke thus, that GER YIHIYEH ZAR’ACHA ("your seed will be strangers (aliens)") in another’s [i.e., foreign] land and them they will enslave and they will mistreat them ARBA ME’OT SHANAH ("four hundred years"). [Gn 15:13f; Ex 1:8 11; 12:40]
7 "V’GAM ES HAGOY ASHER YA’AVODU DAN ANOCHI ("And whatever nation to which they shall be in bondage I myself will judge" said Hashem, VACHAREI KHEN YETZU ("And after that they will come out") and serve me in this place." [BERESHIS 15:13,14; SHEMOT 3:12]
8 "And he gave to him bris milah. And thus Avraham Avinu became the father of Yitzchak and he did his bris milah on the Yom HaShemini and Yitzchak became the father of Ya’akov and Ya’akov of the Sheneym Asar HaAvot. [BERESHIS 17:9-14; 21:2-4; 25:26; 29:31-35; 30:5-13, 17-24; 35:16-26]
9 "And the Avot had kinah toward Yosef and sold him into Mitzrayim (Egypt), and Hashem was with him. [Gn 37:4,11:28; 37:28; Ps 105:17; Gn 39:1,2,21,23; 45:4; Hag 2:4]
10 "And Hashem delivered Yosef from all his tzoros and gave to him Chen v’Chesed Hashem and chochmah before Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim (Egypt) and he appointed him his grand vizier to rule over Mitzrayim and over his whole bais. [Gn 41:37-45; Ps 105:20-22]
11 "Now a famine came over all Mitzrayim (Egypt) and Canaan and tzarah gedolah (great tribulation) and Avoteinu were not finding okhel. [Gn 41:54; 42:2,5]
12 "And when Ya’akov Avinu heard that there was grain in Mitzrayim (Egypt), he sent Avoteinu there pa’am harishonah (the first time). [BERESHIS 42:1,2]
13 "And on the second visit Yosef was recognized by his Achim, and Yosef’s mishpochah became known to Pharaoh. [Gn 45:1 4, 16]
14 "And having sent, Yosef summoned Ya’akov his Abba and all his mishpochah, SHIVIM (Seventy, BERESHIS 46:27) nefashot (souls). [Gn 45:9,10; 46:26,27; Ex 1:5; Dt 10:22]
15 "And Ya’akov Avinu went down to Mitzrayim (Egypt) and he died, as did Avoteinu. [Gn 46:5 7; 49:33; Ex 1:6]
16 "And they were brought back to Shechem and were placed in the kever (tomb) which Avraham bought for a sum of silver from the banim of Chamor in Shechem. [Gn 23:16-20; 33:18, 19; 50:13; Josh 24:32]
17 "Now as the time of the havtachah (promise) was drawing near, which Hashem promised to Avraham Avinu, the people grew and were multiplied in Mitzrayim [Ex 1:7; Ps 105:24]
18 "Until over Mitzrayim there appeared a MELECH CHADASH ASHER LO YADA ES YOSEF ("a new king who knew not Yosef"). [Ex 1:7,8]
19 "This king exploited by his shrewdness our nation and mistreated Avoteinu so as to make their ollelim (infants) exposed in order not to keep them alive. [Ex 1:10-22]
20 "And at this time Moshe Rabbenu was born and he was well pleasing to Hashem; and he was nurtured for shloshah chodashim in the bais of his abba. [Ex 2:2]
21 "And after he had been exposed, the bat Pharaoh took Moshe Rabbeinu away, and brought him up as her own son.[Ex 2:3-10]
22 "And Moshe Rabbenu was instructed in all the chochmah of the Egyptians and in dvarim (words) and pe’ulot (deeds) he was given ko’ach. [1Kgs 4:30; Isa 19:11]
23 "But when arba’im shanah of his days were completed, it entered into his lev (heart) to visit his Achim of the Bnei Yisroel. [Ex 2:11]
24 "And having seen one of them being treated unjustly he retaliated and brought yashrus (justice) for the one being oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. [Ex 2:12]
25 "Now he was assuming that his achim had binah that Hashem by the hand of Moshe was giving Yeshu’at Eloheinu to them, but they did not have binah (understanding).
26 "And on the next day he came to them as they were fighting and Moshe was trying to reconcile them in shalom, saying, ‘Anashim, you are achim, why are you injuring one another?’ [Ex 2:13]
27 "But the one injuring his re’a pushed Moshe aside, saying MI SAMECHA L’ISH SAR V’SHOFET ALENU ("Who made you ruler and judge over us?"—Ex 2:14)
28 "HALEHARGENI ATAH OMER KA’ASHER HARAGTA yesterday ES HAMITZRI ("You do not mean to kill me in the same manner as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?")
29 "And Moshe Rabbenu fled at this dvar and became a stranger in eretz Midyan, where he became the father of shnei banim. [Ex 2:11-15]
30 "And at the fulfillment of arba’im shanah a MALACH appeared to him BELABAT EISH MITOCH HASENEH ("in flame of fire from within a burning thorn bush") in the desert of the mountain Sinai. [Ex 3:1-2]
31 "And Moshe Rabbenu having seen this, was mishpoyel (standing in awe) at the chazon and, as he was approaching it to look more closely, there came the kol (voice) of Hashem, [Ex 3:1-4]
32 "I am the G-d of your Avot, I am the G-d of Avraham and the G-d of Yitzchak and the G-d of Ya’akov". But Moshe Rabbenu was trembling with pachad and was not daring to look. [SHEMOT 3:6]
33 "And Hashem said to him, SAL NE’ALECHA ME’AL RAGLECHA ("Take off your sandals from your feet") for the place on which you have stood is admat kodesh (holy ground)." [Ex 3:5; Josh 5:15]
34 "I have seen the ONI AMMI ASHER B’MITZRAYIM ("misery of my people in Mitzrayim [Egypt]") and the groaning of them I heard and I came down to deliver them. And now come that I may send you to Mitzrayim (Egypt). [SHEMOT 3:5,7-10; 2:24]
35 "This Moshe whom they denied, having said MI SAMECHA L’ISH SAR V’SHOFET? ("Who made you a ruler and a judge?") is the one whom G-d sent to be both SAR (ruler) and GO’EL (redeemer) with the help of the malach having appeared to him in the thorn bush. [SHEMOT 2:14]
36 "This one led them out, effecting moftim and otot in eretz Mitzrayim (Egypt) and in the Yam Suf and in the midbar arba’im shanah. [SHEMOT 7:3, 12:41; 33:1; 11:10; 14:21; 15:25; 17:5,6; BAMIDBAR 14:33]
37 "This is the Moshe who said to the Bnei Yisroel NAVI MIKIRBECHA ME’ACHECHA KAMONI YAKIM ("A prophet from among you from your brothers like me [Moshe] Hashem will raise up.") [DEVARIM 18:15,18]
38 "This is the one having been in the kahal (assembly) in the midbar together with the malach speaking to him at the mountain of Sinai, who was with Avoteinu; he is the one who received torat chayyim to give to us. [SHEMOT 19:17; VAYIKRA 27:34; DEVARIM 32:45-47]
39 "And Avoteinu were not willing to have mishma’at (obedience) to Moshe Rabbenu, but they pushed him aside and they turned their levavot back to Mitzrayim, (Egypt) [BAMIDBAR 14:3,4]
40 "Having said to Aharon, Make for us g-ds who will go before us; for this Moshe who led us out of the land of Egypt we do not know what happened to him"). [SHEMOT 32:1,23]
41 "And at that time they made an egel (calf) and brought a sacrifice offering to the elil (idol) and were taking delight in the ma’asim (works) of their hands. [SHEMOT 32:4-6; TEHILLIM 106:19,20]
42 "But Hashem turned away and handed them over to serve the tzeva Shomayim, just as it has been written in the sefer haNevi’im, HAZEVACHIM UMINCHAH HIGASHTEM LI BAMIDBAR ARBA’IM SHANAH, BET YISROEL ("It was not to me that you offered victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, O House of Israel?") [AMOS 5:25-27; YEHOSHUA 24:20; YESHAYAH 63:10; YIRMEYAH 19:13]
43 "You also took up the ohel of Moloch and the KOKHAV of your g-d Reifan, the tzelamim (idols) which you made to worship them; therefore N’HIGLEITI ETKHEM MEHALAH ("I will exile you beyond") Babylon. [YIRMEYAH 7:18, TARGUM HASHIVIM 19:13; AMOS 5:27]
44 "Avoteinu had the Mishkan HaEdut in the midbar just as the One who spoke to Moshe [Rabbeinu] directed him to make it according to the TAVNIT (pattern) which he had seen. [Ex 27:21; 38:21; Num 1:50; 17:7; Ex 25:8,9,40; Josh 3:14; 18:1]
45 "And having received it in their turn, Avoteinu brought it in with Yehoshua (Joshua) upon the dispossessing of the land of the Goyim, which Hashem drove out from the presence of Avoteinu until the yamim of Dovid. [Josh 3:14-17; 18:1; 23:9; 24:18; Ps 44:2; 2Sm 7:2,6; Gn 17:8; 48:4; Dt 32:49]
46 "And Dovid found Chen v’Chesed Hashem before G-d, and asked that he might find a mishkan for Elohei Ya’akov. [SHMUEL BAIS 7:2, 8-16;MELACHIM ALEF 8:17; TEHILLIM 132:1-5]
47 "And Sh’lomo (Solomon) built for him a Beis. [MELACHIM ALEF 6:1-38]
48 "But HaElyon does not dwell in battim made by human hands, just as the Navi (prophet) says, [MELACHIM ALEF 8:27; MELACHIM BAIS 2:6]
49 "HASHOMAYIM KISSI V’HAARETZ HADOM RAGLAI ("Heaven is my throne and earth is the footstool for my feet"). EI-ZEH BAYIT ASHER TIVNU LI ("What kind of House will you build for me?") says Hashem, V’EI ZEH MAKOM MENUCHATI ("Or where will my resting place be?")
50 "Did not my hand ASATAH (make) all these things?" [YESHAYAH 66:1,2]
51 "You AM KESHEH OREF ("stiff-necked people" SHEMOT 33:5), you who are without the “bris milah” of the lev (heart) and of the oznayim (ears), you always resist the Ruach Hakodesh; you are doing like your Avot. [Ex 32:9; 33:3,5; Lv 26:41; Dt 10:16; Jer 4:4; 9:26; Isa 63:10]
52 "Which of the Nevi’im (prophets) did your Avot not persecute? And they killed the ones having announced beforehand about the Bias HaMoshiach, the coming of the Tzaddik of whom now you became bogedim and rotzechim (murderers);
53 "You who received the Torah at the directions of malachim and were not shomer of it."
54 And hearing these things, they were infuriated in their levavot, and they were grinding their teeth at him.
55 But being full of the Ruach Hakodesh and having gazed into Shomayim, Stefanos saw the kavod (glory) of Hashem and Yehoshua standing limin Hashem.
56 And Stefanos said, "Hinei, I see Shomayim having been opened and the Ben HaAdam (Moshiach, DANIEL 7:13-14) standing limin Hashem."
57 And having cried out with a kol gadol, they shut their oznayim and they rushed down with one impulse upon Stefanos.
58 And having driven Stefanos outside the Ir (City), they were stoning him. And the edim took off their garments at the feet of a bochur named Sha’ul. [Lv 24:14,16; Dt 17:7]
59 And they went on stoning Stefanos as he called upon Hashem, saying, "Adoneinu, receive my neshamah." [TEHILLIM 31:5]
60 And having fallen down, he cried out in a kol gadol, "Adoneinu, may this aveirah not be held against them!" And having said this, Stefanos fell asleep.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International