²² “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly ^(A)at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And ^(B)he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. ²³ And ^(C)as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. ²⁴ And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and ^(D)greatness, and ^(E)we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man ^(F)still live. ²⁵ Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. ^(G)If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. ^26 (H)For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? ²⁷ Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and ^(I)speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

²⁸ “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. ^(J)They are right in all that they have spoken. ^29 (K)Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, ^(L)that it might go well with them and with their descendants^[a] forever! ³⁰ Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” ³¹ But you, stand here by me, and ^(M)I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ ³² You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. ^(N)You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ^33 (O)You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and ^(P)that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

Seven Chosen to Serve

6 Now in these days ^(A)when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists^[a] arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in ^(B)the daily distribution. ² And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. ^3 (C)Therefore, brothers,^[b] pick out from among you seven men ^(D)of good repute, ^(E)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. ⁴ But ^(F)we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵ And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, ^(G)a man full of faith and ^(H)of the Holy Spirit, and ^(I)Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, ^(J)a proselyte of Antioch. ⁶ These they set before the apostles, and ^(K)they prayed and ^(L)laid their hands on them.

⁷ And ^(M)the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests ^(N)became obedient to ^(O)the faith.

Stephen Is Seized

⁸ And Stephen, full of grace and ^(P)power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹ Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. ¹⁰ But ^(Q)they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. ¹¹ Then ^(R)they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹² And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, ¹³ and they ^(S)set up false ^(T)witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against ^(U)this holy place and the law, ¹⁴ for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth ^(V)will destroy this place and will ^(W)change ^(X)the customs that Moses delivered to us.” ¹⁵ And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face ^(Y)was like the face of an angel.

Stephen's Speech

7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ² And Stephen said:

^(Z)“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^(AA)The God ^(AB)of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^(AC)before he lived in Haran, ³ and said to him, ^(AD)‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ ^4 (AE)Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And ^(AF)after his father died, ^(AG)God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. ⁵ Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised ^(AH)to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^(AI)though he had no child. ⁶ And God spoke to this effect—that ^(AJ)his offspring would ^(AK)be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^(AL)four hundred years. ⁷ ‘But ^(AM)I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out ^(AN)and worship me in this place.’ ⁸ And ^(AO)he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And ^(AP)so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and ^(AQ)circumcised him on the eighth day, and ^(AR)Isaac became the father of Jacob, and ^(AS)Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹ “And the patriarchs, ^(AT)jealous of Joseph, ^(AU)sold him into Egypt; but ^(AV)God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him out of all his afflictions and ^(AW)gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^(AX)who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. ¹¹ Now ^(AY)there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ^12 (AZ)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. ¹³ And ^(BA)on the second visit ^(BB)Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^(BC)Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ And ^(BD)Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, ^(BE)seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵ And ^(BF)Jacob went down into Egypt, and ^(BG)he died, he ^(BH)and our fathers, ¹⁶ and ^(BI)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that ^(BJ)Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

The Greatest Commandment

6 “Now this is ^(A)the commandment—the statutes and the rules^[a]—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, ² that ^(B)you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and ^(C)that your days may be long. ³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, ^(D)as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: ^(E)The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[b] 5} You ^(F)shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And ^(G)these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ^7 (H)You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ^8 (I)You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ^9 (J)You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰ “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities ^(K)that you did not build, ¹¹ and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, ^12 (L)then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹³ It is ^(M)the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and ^(N)by his name you shall swear. ¹⁴ You shall not ^(O)go after other gods, ^(P)the gods of the peoples who are around you— ¹⁵ for ^(Q)the Lord your God in your midst ^(R)is a jealous God—^(S)lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

^16 (T)“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, ^(U)as you tested him at Massah. ¹⁷ You shall ^(V)diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. ^18 (W)And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers ^19 (X)by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.

^20 (Y)“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ ²¹ then you shall say to your son, ^(Z)‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² And ^(AA)the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. ²³ And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. ²⁴ And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, ^(AB)to fear the Lord our God, ^(AC)for our good always, that ^(AD)he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. ²⁵ And ^(AE)it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’

¹⁷ “But ^(A)as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^(B)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ until there arose over Egypt another king ^(C)who did not know Joseph. ^19 (D)He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^(E)so that they would not be kept alive. ^20 (F)At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, ²¹ and ^(G)when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses ^(H)was instructed in ^(I)all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^(J)mighty in his words and deeds.

²³ “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^(K)to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. ^26 (L)And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ ²⁷ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ^(M)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ At this retort ^(N)Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^(O)where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰ “Now when forty years had passed, ^(P)an angel appeared to him ^(Q)in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ^32 (R)‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. ³³ Then the Lord said to him, ^(S)‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ^34 (T)I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^(U)have heard their groaning, and ^(V)I have come down to deliver them. ^(W)And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’