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Acts 7:1-53
New American Standard Bible

Stephen’s Defense

7 Now the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

2 And [a]Stephen said, “Listen to me, (A)[b]brothers and fathers! (B)The God of glory (C)appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in [c]Haran, 3 and He said to him, ‘(D)Go from your country and your relatives, and come to the land which I will show you.’ 4 (E)Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in [d]Haran. And (F)from there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. 5 But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, (G)He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child. 6 But (H)God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and [e]they would enslave and mistreat them for four hundred years. 7 ‘And whatever nation to which they are enslaved I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and (I)after that they will come out and [f]serve Me in this place.’ 8 And He (J)gave him [g]the covenant of circumcision; and so (K)Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and (L)Isaac fathered Jacob, and (M)Jacob, the twelve (N)patriarchs.

9 “The patriarchs (O)became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and (P)granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and his entire household.

11 “Now (Q)a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers [h]could find no food. 12 But (R)when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 And on the second visit, (S)Joseph [i]made himself known to his brothers, and (T)Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh. 14 Then (U)Joseph sent word and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, (V)seventy-five [j](W)people in all. 15 And (X)Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there. 16 And they were brought back from there to [k](Y)Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of [l]Hamor in [m]Shechem.

17 “But as the (Z)time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, (AA)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until (AB)another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 19 It was he who (AC)shrewdly took advantage of our nation and mistreated our fathers in order that they would (AD)abandon their infants in the Nile, so that they would not survive. 20 At this time (AE)Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father’s home. 21 And after he had been put outside, (AF)Pharaoh’s daughter [n]took him away and nurtured him as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all (AG)the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was proficient in [o]speaking and action. 23 But when he was approaching the age of forty, (AH)it entered his [p]mind to visit his countrymen, the sons of Israel. 24 And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian. 25 And he thought that his brothers understood that God was granting them [q]deliverance [r]through him; but they did not understand. 26 (AI)And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting each other, and he tried to reconcile them to peace, by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you injuring each other?’ 27 But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘(AJ)Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 28 (AK)You do not intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ 29 At this remark, (AL)Moses fled and became a stranger in the land of [s]Midian, where he (AM)fathered two sons.

30 “After forty years had passed, (AN)an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came: 32 ‘(AO)I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look closely. 33 (AP)But the Lord said to him, ‘[t](AQ)Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 34 (AR)I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them; and (AS)now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses whom they (AT)disowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God [u]sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the [v]help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 (AU)This man led them out, performing (AV)wonders and [w]signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and in the (AW)wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘(AX)God will raise up for you a prophet [x]like me from your countrymen.’ 38 This is the one who was in (AY)the [y]assembly in the wilderness together with (AZ)the angel who spoke to him at length on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received (BA)living (BB)words to pass on to you. 39 Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they (BC)rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, 40 (BD)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us [z]a god who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’ 41 [aa]At that time (BE)they made a [ab]calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in (BF)the works of their hands. 42 But God (BG)turned away and gave them over to [ac]serve the heavenly [ad]lights; as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘(BH)You did not offer Me victims and sacrifices (BI)for forty years in the wilderness, did you, house of Israel? 43 (BJ)You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god [ae]Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will deport you beyond Babylon.’

44 “Our fathers had (BK)the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it (BL)according to the pattern which he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn received it, and they also (BM)brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the [af]nations that God drove out from our fathers, until the time of David. 46 [ag](BN)David found favor in God’s sight, and (BO)asked that he might [ah]find a dwelling place for the [ai]house of Jacob. 47 But it was (BP)Solomon who built a house for Him. 48 However, (BQ)the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:

49 ‘(BR)Heaven is My throne,
And the earth is the footstool of My feet;
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My rest?
50 (BS)Was it not My hand that made all these things?’

51 “You men who are (BT)stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52 (BU)Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of (BV)the Righteous One, and (BW)you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him; 53 you who received the Law as (BX)ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 7:2 Lit he
  2. Acts 7:2 Lit men, brothers
  3. Acts 7:2 Gr Charran
  4. Acts 7:4 Gr Charran
  5. Acts 7:6 I.e., the people of the land (Egypt)
  6. Acts 7:7 Or worship
  7. Acts 7:8 Or a
  8. Acts 7:11 Lit were not finding
  9. Acts 7:13 Or was made known
  10. Acts 7:14 Lit souls
  11. Acts 7:16 Gr Sychem
  12. Acts 7:16 Gr Emmor
  13. Acts 7:16 Gr Sychem
  14. Acts 7:21 Or adopted him
  15. Acts 7:22 Lit his words and actions
  16. Acts 7:23 Lit heart
  17. Acts 7:25 Or salvation
  18. Acts 7:25 Lit through his hand
  19. Acts 7:29 Gr Madiam
  20. Acts 7:33 Lit Untie the sandal of your
  21. Acts 7:35 Lit has sent
  22. Acts 7:35 Lit hand
  23. Acts 7:36 I.e., confirming miracles
  24. Acts 7:37 Or as He raised up me
  25. Acts 7:38 Gr ekklesia
  26. Acts 7:40 Lit gods, plural, but prob. refers to a singular deity
  27. Acts 7:41 Lit in those days
  28. Acts 7:41 Or young bull
  29. Acts 7:42 Or worship
  30. Acts 7:42 Lit host
  31. Acts 7:43 Other mss spell it: Romphan, Rempham, Raiphan; or Rephan
  32. Acts 7:45 Or Gentiles
  33. Acts 7:46 Lit He who
  34. Acts 7:46 I.e., build the temple
  35. Acts 7:46 I.e., the people of Israel
Close NLT

Acts 7:1-53
New Living Translation

Stephen Addresses the Council

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

2 This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.[a] 3 God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’[b] 4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.

5 “But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet. 6 God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 7 ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’[c]

8 “God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.

9 “These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.

11 “But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food. 12 Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some. 13 The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers,[d] and they were introduced to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. 15 So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors. 16 Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.

17 “As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18 But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19 This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.

20 “At that time Moses was born—a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. 21 When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. 22 Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.

23 “One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24 He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.

26 “The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’

27 “But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. 28 ‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.

30 “Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him, 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.

33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’[e]

35 “So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. 36 And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.

37 “Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’[f] 38 Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.[g]

39 “But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ 41 So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made. 42 Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,

‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings
    during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
43 No, you carried your pagan gods—
    the shrine of Molech,
    the star of your god Rephan,
    and the images you made to worship them.
So I will send you into exile
    as far away as Babylon.’[h]

44 “Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle[i] with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses. 45 Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.

46 “David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.[j] 47 But it was Solomon who actually built it. 48 However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,

49 ‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
    asks the Lord.
‘Could you build me such a resting place?
50     Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’[k]

51 “You stubborn people! You are heathen[l] at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! 52 Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. 53 You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”

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Footnotes

  1. 7:2 Mesopotamia was the region now called Iraq. Haran was a city in what is now called Syria.
  2. 7:3 Gen 12:1.
  3. 7:5-7 Gen 12:7; 15:13-14; Exod 3:12.
  4. 7:13 Other manuscripts read Joseph was recognized by his brothers.
  5. 7:31-34 Exod 3:5-10.
  6. 7:37 Deut 18:15.
  7. 7:38 Some manuscripts read to you.
  8. 7:42-43 Amos 5:25-27 (Greek version).
  9. 7:44 Greek the tent of witness.
  10. 7:46 Some manuscripts read the house of Jacob.
  11. 7:49-50 Isa 66:1-2.
  12. 7:51 Greek uncircumcised.
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