Acts 7
Lexham English Bible
Stephen’s Defense
7 And the high priest said, “Is it so concerning these things?” 2 So he said, “Men—brothers and fathers—listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he[a] was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your relatives and come to the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and[b] settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, he caused him to move to this land in which you now live. 5 And he did not give him an inheritance in it—not even a footstep[c]—and he promised to give it[d] to him for his possession, and to his descendants after him, although he did not have[e][f] a child. 6 But God spoke like this: ‘His descendants will be foreigners in a foreign land, and they will enslave them and mistreat them[g] four hundred years, 7 and the nation that[h] they will serve as slaves, I will judge,’ God said, ‘and after these things they will come out[i] and will worship me in this place.’[j] 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac did so with[k] Jacob, and Jacob did so with[l] the twelve patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, because they[m] were jealous of Joseph, sold him[n] into Egypt. And God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he appointed him ruler over Egypt and all[o] his household. 11 And a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan and great affliction, and our fathers could not find food. 12 So when[p] Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And on the second visit[q] Joseph was made known to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. 14 So Joseph sent and[r] summoned his father Jacob and all his[s] relatives, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down to Egypt and died, he and our fathers. 16 And they were brought back to Shechem and buried in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
17 “But as the time of the promise that God had made to Abraham was drawing near, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 19 This man deceitfully took advantage of our[t] people and[u] mistreated our ancestors, causing them to abandon their infants[v] so that they would not be kept alive. 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful to God. He[w] was brought up for three months in his[x] father’s house, 21 and when[y] he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up and brought him up as her own son.[z] 22 And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was powerful in his words and deeds.
23 “But when he was forty years old,[aa] it entered in his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. 24 And when he[ab] saw one of them being unjustly harmed, he defended him[ac] and avenged[ad] the one who had been oppressed by[ae] striking down the Egyptian. 25 And he thought his[af] brothers would understand that God was granting deliverance to them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And on the following day, he made an appearance to them while they[ag] were fighting and was attempting to reconcile[ah] them in peace, saying, ‘Men and brothers, why are you doing wrong to one another?’ 27 But the one who was doing wrong to his[ai] neighbor pushed him aside, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 You do not want to do away with me the same way[aj] you did away with the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’[ak] 29 And at this statement, Moses fled and became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
30 “And when[al] forty years had been completed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush. 31 And when[am] Moses saw it,[an] he was astonished at the sight, and when[ao] he approached to look at it,[ap] the voice of the Lord came: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob!’[aq] So Moses began trembling and[ar] did not dare to look at it.[as] 33 And the Lord said to him, ‘Untie the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen[at] the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’[au] 35 This Moses whom they had repudiated, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?’[av]—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer with the help[aw] of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.
37 “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’[ax] 38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and who with our fathers received living oracles to give to us, 39 to whom our fathers were not willing to become obedient, but rejected him[ay] and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go on before us! For this Moses, who led us out from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him!’[az] 41 And they manufactured a calf in those days, and offered up a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing[ba] in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, just as it is written in the book of the prophets:
‘You did not bring offerings and sacrifices to me
for forty years in the wilderness, did you,[bb] house of Israel?
43 And you took along the tabernacle[bc] of Moloch
and the star of the god[bd] Rephan,
the images that you made, to worship them,
and I will deport you beyond Babylon!’[be]
44 The tabernacle of the testimony belonged[bf] to our fathers in the wilderness, just as the one who spoke to Moses directed him[bg] to make it according to the design that he had seen, 45 and which, after[bh] receiving it[bi] in turn, our fathers brought in with Joshua when they dispossessed the[bj] nations that God drove out from the presence of our fathers, until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.[bk] 47 But Solomon built a house for him. 48 But the Most High does not live in houses[bl] made by human hands, just as the prophet says,
49 ‘Heaven is my throne
and earth is the footstool for my feet.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’[bm]
51 “You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your[bn] ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so also do you! 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become, 53 you who received the law by directions of angels and have not observed it!”
Stephen’s Martyrdom
54 Now when they[bo] heard these things, they were infuriated in their hearts and gnashed their[bp] teeth at him. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and[bq] saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 But crying out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and rushed at him with one purpose. 58 And after they[br] had driven him[bs] out of the city, they began to stone[bt] him,[bu] and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they kept on stoning Stephen as he[bv] was calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 And falling to his[bw] knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after he[bx] said this, he fell asleep.[by]
Footnotes
- Acts 7:2 Here “while” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 7:4 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went out”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 7:5 Literally “a step of a foot”
- Acts 7:5 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:5 Literally “not being to him”
- Acts 7:5 Here “although” is supplied in the translation as a component of the participle (“was”) which is understood as concessive
- Acts 7:6 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:7 Literally “to which”
- Acts 7:7 Verses 6–7 are a quotation from Gen 15:13–14
- Acts 7:7 The final phrase is an allusion to Exod 3:12
- Acts 7:8 Here the words “did so with” are not in the Greek text but are implied; in view of the “covenant of circumcision” mentioned earlier in the verse, it is probable that circumcision and not just fatherhood is involved
- Acts 7:8 Here the words “did so with” are not in the Greek text but are implied; see the note on the same phrase earlier in this verse
- Acts 7:9 Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“were jealous of”) which is understood as causal
- Acts 7:9 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:10 Some manuscripts have “over all”
- Acts 7:12 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 7:13 The word “visit” is not in the Greek text but is implied
- Acts 7:14 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“sent”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 7:14 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 7:19 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 7:19 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“deceitfully took advantage of”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 7:19 Literally “making their infants be abandoned”
- Acts 7:20 Literally “who”
- Acts 7:20 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 7:21 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“was abandoned”)
- Acts 7:21 Literally “for a son to herself”
- Acts 7:23 Literally “a period of time of forty years was fulfilled for him”
- Acts 7:24 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 7:24 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:24 Literally “produced vengeance for”
- Acts 7:24 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“striking down”) which is understood as means
- Acts 7:25 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 7:26 Here “while” is supplied as a component of the participle (“were fighting”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 7:26 Here the imperfect verb has been translated as conative (“was attempting to reconcile”)
- Acts 7:27 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 7:28 Literally “in the manner in which”
- Acts 7:28 A quotation from Exod 2:14; the negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated by “do you”
- Acts 7:30 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“had been completed”)
- Acts 7:31 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 7:31 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:31 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“approached”)
- Acts 7:31 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:32 A quotation from Exod 3:6
- Acts 7:32 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“began”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 7:32 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:34 Literally “seeing I have seen”
- Acts 7:34 A quotation from Exod 3:5, 7–8, 10
- Acts 7:35 A quotation from Exod 2:14 (see v. 27 above)
- Acts 7:35 Literally “hand”
- Acts 7:37 A quotation from Deut 18:15
- Acts 7:39 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:40 A quotation from Exod 32:1, 23
- Acts 7:41 The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began rejoicing”)
- Acts 7:42 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated by “did you”
- Acts 7:43 Or “tent”
- Acts 7:43 Some manuscripts have “of your god”
- Acts 7:43 A quotation from Amos 5:25–27
- Acts 7:44 Literally “was”
- Acts 7:44 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:45 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“receiving”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 7:45 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:45 Literally “in the possession of the”
- Acts 7:46 Some manuscripts have “for the house of Jacob”
- Acts 7:48 Or “temples made by human hands”; either word (“houses” or “temples”) is understood here
- Acts 7:50 A quotation from Isa 66:1–2
- Acts 7:51 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 7:54 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 7:54 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 7:55 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“looked intently”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 7:58 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had driven”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 7:58 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:58 The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began stoning”)
- Acts 7:58 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 7:59 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was calling out”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 7:60 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 7:60 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“said”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 7:60 Or “he passed away”
Acts 7
The Voice
7 High Priest: What do you have to say for yourself? Are these accusations accurate?
Stephen: 2 Brothers, fathers, please listen to me. Our glorious God revealed Himself to our common ancestor Abraham, when he lived far away in Mesopotamia before he immigrated to Haran. 3 God gave him this command: “Leave your country. Leave your family and your inheritance. Move into unknown territory, where I will show you a new homeland.”[a] 4 First, he left Chaldea in southern Mesopotamia and settled in Haran until his father died. Then God led him still farther from his original home—until he settled here, in our land. 5 But at that point, God still hadn’t given him any of this land as his permanent possession—not even the footprint under his sandal actually belonged to him yet. But God did give Abraham a promise—a promise that yes, someday, the entire land would indeed belong to him and his descendants. Of course, this promise was all the more amazing because at that moment, Abraham had no descendants at all.
6 God said that Abraham’s descendants would first live in a foreign country as resident aliens, as refugees, for 400 years. During this time, they would be enslaved and treated horribly. But that would not be the end of the story. 7 God promised, “I will judge the nation that enslaves them,”[b] and “I will bring them to this mountain to serve Me.”[c] 8 God gave him the covenant ritual of circumcision as a sign of His sacred promise. When Abraham fathered his son, Isaac, he performed this ritual of circumcision on the eighth day. Then Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered the twelve patriarchs.
9 The patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, so they sold him as a slave into Egypt. Even so, God was with him; 10 and time after time, God rescued Joseph from whatever trials befell him. God gave Joseph the favor and wisdom to overcome each adversity and eventually to win the confidence and respect of his captors, including Pharaoh, the king of Egypt himself. So Pharaoh entrusted his whole nation and his whole household to Joseph’s stewardship. 11 Some time later, a terrible famine spread through the entire region—from Canaan down to Egypt—and everyone suffered greatly. Our ancestors, living here in the region of Canaan, could find nothing to eat. 12 Jacob heard that Egypt had stores of grain; so he sent our forefathers, his sons, to procure food there. 13 Later, when they returned to Egypt a second time, Joseph revealed his true identity to them. He also told Pharaoh his family story.
14-16 Joseph then invited his father Jacob and all his clan to come and live with him in Egypt. So Jacob came, along with 75 extended family members. After their deaths, their remains were brought back to this land so they could be buried in the same tomb where Abraham had buried Sarah (he had purchased the tomb for a certain amount of silver from the family of Hamor in the town of Shechem).
17 Still God’s promise to Abraham had not yet been fulfilled, but the time for that fulfillment was drawing very near. In the meantime, our ancestors living in Egypt rapidly multiplied. 18 Eventually a new king came to power—one who had not known Joseph when he was the most powerful man in Egypt. 19 This new leader feared the growing population of our ancestors and manipulated them for his own benefit, eventually seeking to control their population by forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die. 20 Into this horrible situation our ancestor Moses was born, and he was a beautiful child in God’s eyes. He was raised for three months in his father’s home, 21 and then he was abandoned as the brutal regime required. However, Pharaoh’s daughter found, adopted, and raised him as her own son. 22 So Moses learned the culture and wisdom of the Egyptians and became a powerful man—both as an intellectual and as a leader. 23 When he reached the age of 40, his heart drew him to visit his kinfolk, our ancestors, the Israelites. 24 During his visit, he saw one of our people being wronged, and he took sides with our people by killing an Egyptian. 25 He thought his kinfolk would recognize him as their God-given liberator, but they didn’t realize who he was and what he represented.
26 The next day Moses was walking among the Israelites again when he observed a fight—but this time, it was between two Israelites. He intervened and tried to reconcile the men. “You two are brothers,” he said. “Why do you attack each other?” 27 But the aggressor pushed Moses away and responded with contempt: “Who made you our prince and judge? 28 Are you going to slay me and hide my body as you did with the Egyptian yesterday?”[d] 29 Realizing this murder had not gone unnoticed, he quickly escaped Egypt and lived as a refugee in the land of Midian. He married there and had two sons.
30 Forty more years passed. One day while Moses was in the desert near Mount Sinai, a heavenly messenger appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush. 31 The phenomenon intrigued Moses; and as he approached for a closer look, he heard a voice—the voice of the Lord: 32 “I am the God of your own fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”[e] This terrified Moses—he began to tremble and looked away in fear. 33 The voice continued: “Take off your sandals and stand barefoot on the ground in My presence, for this ground is holy ground. 34 I have avidly watched how My people are being mistreated by the Egyptians. I have heard their groaning at the treatment of their oppressors. I am descending personally to rescue them. So get up. I’m sending you to Egypt.”[f]
35 Now remember: this was the same Moses who had been rejected by his kinfolk when they said, “Who made you our prince and judge?” This man, rejected by his own people, was the one God had truly sent and commissioned by the heavenly messenger who appeared in the bush, to be their leader and deliverer.
36 Moses indeed led our ancestors to freedom, and he performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness over a period of 40 years. 37 This Moses promised our ancestors, “The Eternal One your God will raise up from among your people a Prophet who will be like me.”[g] 38 This is the same one who led the people to Mount Sinai, where a heavenly messenger spoke to him and our ancestors, and who received the living message of God to give to us.
39 But our ancestors still resisted. They again pushed Moses away and refused to follow him. In their hearts, they were ready to return to their former slavery in Egypt. 40 While Moses was on the mountain communing with God, they begged Aaron to make idols to lead them. “We have no idea what happened to this fellow, Moses, who brought us from Egypt,”[h] they said. 41 So they made a calf as their new god, and they even sacrificed to it and celebrated an object they had fabricated as if it was their God.
42 And you remember what God did next: He let them go. He turned from them and let them follow their idolatrous path—worshiping sun, moon, and stars just as their unenlightened neighbors did. The prophet Amos spoke for God about this horrible betrayal:
Did you offer Me sacrifices or give Me offerings
during your 40-year wilderness journey, you Israelites?
43 No, but you have taken along your sacred tent for the worship of Moloch,
and you honored the star of Rompha, your false god.
So, if you want to worship your man-made images,
you may do so—beyond Babylon.[i]
44 Now recall that our ancestors had a sacred tent in the wilderness, the tent God directed Moses to build according to the pattern revealed to him. 45 When Joshua led our ancestors to dispossess the nations God drove out before them, our ancestors carried this sacred tent. It remained here in the land until the time of David. 46 David found favor with God and asked Him for permission to build a permanent structure (rather than a portable tent) to honor Him. 47 It was, of course, Solomon who actually built God’s house. 48 Yet we all know the Most High God doesn’t actually dwell in structures made by human hands, as the prophet Isaiah said,
49 “Since My throne is heaven
and since My footstool is earth—
What kind of structure can you build to contain Me?
What man-made space could provide Me a resting place?” asks the Eternal One.
50 “Didn’t I make all things with My own hand?”[j]
As Stephen recounts how God has worked with the Jews in spite of their faltering fidelity, his speech up to this point sounds like any good synagogue sermon. In the stories of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, he narrates the history of God’s work of salvation among the Jewish people in the midst of their repeated struggle with unfaithfulness and idolatry. However, it is one thing for his audience to agree that idolatry was a problem in the past and another when they are charged with the accusation of the same idolatry in the present. According to Stephen, those who reject Jesus are following the same path as the people who rejected Moses to follow idols. Such a strong message strikes a nerve, and Stephen becomes the first martyr of the church because of it.
Stephen: 51 You stubborn, stiff-necked people! Sure, you are physically Jews, but you are no different from outsiders in your hearts and ears! You are just like your ancestors, constantly fighting against the Holy Spirit. 52 Didn’t your ancestors persecute the prophets? First, they killed those prophets who predicted the coming of the Just One; and now, you have betrayed and murdered the Just One Himself! 53 Yes, you received the law as given by heavenly messengers, but you haven’t kept the law which you received.
54 Upon hearing this, his audience could contain themselves no longer. They boiled in fury at Stephen; they clenched their jaws and ground their teeth. 55 But Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. Gazing upward into heaven, he saw something they couldn’t see: the glory of God, and Jesus standing at His right hand.
Stephen: 56 Look, I see the heavens opening! I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!
57 At this, they covered their ears and started shouting. The whole crowd rushed at Stephen, converged on him, 58 dragged him out of the city, and stoned him.
They laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul, 59 while they were pelting Stephen with rocks.
Stephen (as rocks fell upon him): Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 Then he knelt in prayer, shouting at the top of his lungs,
Stephen: Lord, do not hold this evil against them!
Those were his final words; then he fell asleep in death.
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