Chapter 7

Stephen’s Discourse. ¹ Then the high priest asked him, “Are these things true?” ² He replied, “Brethren and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, ³ and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.’

⁴ “Therefore, he departed from the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And after his father died, God led him to the land where you now dwell. ⁵ He did not give him any of this land as a heritage, not even as little as a foot, but he promised to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless.

⁶ “This is what God said: ‘His descendants will reside in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. ⁷ But I will bring judgment on the nation that enslaved them,’ God said, ‘and after that they will come out and worship me in this place.’ ⁸ Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so, when he became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day, as Isaac did for Jacob, and Jacob did for the twelve patriarchs.

⁹ “The patriarchs were jealous of Joseph and they sold him into Egypt, but God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his afflictions. He gave Joseph wisdom and the favor of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who appointed him governor of Egypt and his entire household.

¹¹ “Then a severe famine struck all of Egypt and Canaan, causing severe affliction, and our ancestors could find no food. ¹² However, when Jacob learned that there was grain available in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit. ¹³ During their second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and his ancestry became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his entire family, seventy-five people in all.

¹⁵ “Jacob migrated to Egypt, and after he and our ancestors had died there, ¹⁶ they were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had purchased from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a sum of money.

¹⁷ “When the time of the promise that God had pledged to Abraham drew near, our people in Egypt had greatly increased in number. ¹⁸ Then a new king came to power who had never heard of Joseph. ¹⁹ He dealt treacherously with our people and forced our ancestors to abandon their infants so that they could not survive.

²⁰ “It was at this time that Moses was born, who was pleasing to God. For three months he was nursed in his father’s house, ²¹ but after he had been abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²² Moses was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful both in word and in deed.

²³ “When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow countrymen, the children of Israel. ²⁴ When he saw one of them being maltreated, he went to his aid and avenged the victim by slaying the Egyptian. ²⁵ He thought that his brethren would realize that God was offering them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.

²⁶ “The next day, he came upon two of them fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren! Why are you trying to hurt one another?’ ²⁷ But the man who had wronged his neighbor pushed him aside, saying, ‘Who appointed you to be our ruler and judge? ²⁸ Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ Moses fled when he heard this, and he dwelt as an alien in Midian and became the father of two sons.

³⁰ “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed, and as he approached to examine it, the voice of the Lord said to him, ³² ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’

“Moses was terrified and did not dare to look. ³³ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. ³⁴ I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and have heard their sighs, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come! I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵ “This Moses whom they rejected by saying ‘Who appointed you to be our ruler and judge?’ God now sent forth as both ruler and liberator through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ It was he who led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the desert. ³⁷ It was this Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you, from your own people, a prophet like me.’ ³⁸ It was he who was in the assembly in the desert with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our ancestors, and who received words of life to hand on to us.

³⁹ “This is the man whom our ancestors refused to obey. Instead they thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will lead us on the way. As for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’

⁴¹ “It was then that they made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced over the work of their hands. ⁴² So God turned away from them and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:

⁴⁴ “While they were in the desert, our ancestors had the Tent of Testimony, as God commanded when he directed Moses to make it according to the pattern he had been shown. ⁴⁵ Our ancestors with Joshua brought it with them when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. It remained there until the time of David, ⁴⁶ who found favor with God and desired to provide a dwelling for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷ “However, it was Solomon who built a house for him. ⁴⁸ Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands. As the prophet says,

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. ⁵² Was there ever a prophet whom your fathers did not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. ⁵³ You received the Law through God’s angels, and yet you have not observed it.”

⁵⁴ Stephen’s Martyrdom. When they heard this, they became enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ⁵⁶ “Look!” he cried. “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷ On hearing these words, they covered their ears, cried out loudly, and rushed en masse against him. ⁵⁸ Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. The witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.^[a]

⁵⁹ While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed aloud, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he knelt down and cried out in a clear voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And with these words he fell asleep.