A Chosen People

7 “When the ^(A)Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, ^(B)the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations ^(C)more numerous and mightier than you, ^2 (D)and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must ^(E)devote them to complete destruction.^{[a] (F)}You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. ^3 (G)You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, ⁴ for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. ^(H)Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you ^(I)quickly. ⁵ But thus shall you deal with them: ^(J)you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their ^(K)pillars and chop down their ^(L)Asherim and ^(M)burn their carved images with fire.

⁶ “For ^(N)you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be ^(O)a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. ⁷ It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, ⁸ but ^(P)it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping ^(Q)the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, ^(R)the faithful God ^(S)who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, ¹⁰ and ^(T)repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. ^(U)He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. ^11 (V)You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

³⁵ “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^(A)saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^(B)by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^36 (C)This man led them out, performing ^(D)wonders and signs ^(E)in Egypt and ^(F)at the Red Sea and ^(G)in the wilderness for ^(H)forty years. ³⁷ This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^(I)a prophet like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸ This is the one ^(J)who was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^(K)the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^(L)He received ^(M)living ^(N)oracles to give to us. ³⁹ Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^(O)in their hearts they turned to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aaron, ^(P)‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ⁴¹ And ^(Q)they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^(R)were rejoicing in ^(S)the works of their hands. ⁴² But ^(T)God turned away and ^(U)gave them over to worship ^(V)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had ^(Z)the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^(AA)directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. ⁴⁵ Our fathers in turn ^(AB)brought it in with Joshua when they ^(AC)dispossessed the nations ^(AD)that God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^(AE)until the days of David, ^46 (AF)who found favor in the sight of God and ^(AG)asked to find a dwelling place for ^(AH)the God of Jacob.^{[a] 47} But it was ^(AI)Solomon who built a house for him. ^48 (AJ)Yet the Most High does not dwell ^(AK)in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

^51 (AN)“You stiff-necked people, ^(AO)uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^(AP)As your fathers did, so do you. ^52 (AQ)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^(AR)the Righteous One, ^(AS)whom you have now betrayed and murdered, ⁵³ you who received the law ^(AT)as delivered by angels and ^(AU)did not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

⁵⁴ Now when they heard these things ^(AV)they were enraged, and they ^(AW)ground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But he, ^(AX)full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw ^(AY)the glory of God, and Jesus standing ^(AZ)at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, “Behold, I see ^(BA)the heavens opened, and ^(BB)the Son of Man standing ^(BC)at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together^[b] at him. ⁵⁸ Then ^(BD)they cast him out of the city and ^(BE)stoned him. And ^(BF)the witnesses laid down their garments ^(BG)at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And as they were stoning Stephen, ^(BH)he called out, “Lord Jesus, ^(BI)receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ And ^(BJ)falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ^(BK)“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, ^(BL)he fell asleep.

Saul Ravages the Church

8 And ^(BM)Saul ^(BN)approved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and ^(BO)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. ³ But ^(BP)Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he ^(BQ)dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

⁴ Now ^(BR)those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

^12 (A)“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you ^(B)the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. ¹³ He will ^(C)love you, bless you, and multiply you. ^(D)He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. ¹⁴ You shall be blessed above all peoples. ^(E)There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. ¹⁵ And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil ^(F)diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. ¹⁶ And ^(G)you shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. ^(H)Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be ^(I)a snare to you.

¹⁷ “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ ^18 (J)you shall not be afraid of them but you shall ^(K)remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, ¹⁹ the great trials that your eyes saw, ^(L)the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So will the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. ²⁰ Moreover, ^(M)the Lord your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. ²¹ You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is ^(N)in your midst, ^(O)a great and awesome God. ^22 (P)The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once,^[a] lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. ^23 (Q)But the Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. ²⁴ And ^(R)he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall ^(S)make their name perish from under heaven. ^(T)No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. ²⁵ The carved images of their gods ^(U)you shall burn with fire. You ^(V)shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ^(W)ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. ²⁶ And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction^[b] like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, ^(X)for it is devoted to destruction.

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

⁴ Now ^(A)those who were scattered went about preaching the word. ^5 (B)Philip went down to the city^[a] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. ^6 (C)And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him ^(D)and saw the signs that he did. ⁷ For ^(E)unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So ^(F)there was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

⁹ But there was a man named Simon, ^(G)who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, ^(H)saying that he himself was somebody great. ¹⁰ They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ^(I)“This man is the power of God that is called ^(J)Great.” ¹¹ And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had ^(K)amazed them with his magic. ¹² But when ^(L)they believed Philip as he preached good news ^(M)about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, ^(N)they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And ^(O)seeing signs and ^(P)great miracles^[b] performed, ^(Q)he was amazed.

¹⁴ Now when ^(R)the apostles at Jerusalem heard that ^(S)Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(T)that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ for ^(U)he had not yet ^(V)fallen on any of them, but ^(W)they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then ^(X)they laid their hands on them and ^(Y)they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, ^(Z)“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God ^(AA)with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for ^(AB)your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(AC)if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are in ^(AD)the gall^[c] of bitterness and in ^(AE)the bond of iniquity.” ²⁴ And Simon answered, ^(AF)“Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

²⁵ Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, ^(AG)preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.