The Fall

3 Now ^(A)the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You^[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³ but God said, ^(B)‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” ^4 (C)But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,^[b] she took of its fruit ^(D)and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, ^(E)and he ate. ^7 (F)Then the eyes of both were opened, ^(G)and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool^[c] of the day, and the man and his wife ^(H)hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”^{[d] 10} And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, ^(I)because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, ^(J)“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, ^(K)“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent,

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

¹⁷ And to Adam he said,

²⁰ The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.^{[g] 21} And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

²² Then the Lord God said, ^(W)“Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand ^(X)and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden ^(Y)to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the ^(Z)cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Stephen Is Seized

⁸ And Stephen, full of grace and ^(A)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 ^(B)they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. ¹¹ Then ^(C)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 ^(D)set up false ^(E)witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against ^(F)this holy place and the law, ¹⁴ for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth ^(G)will destroy this place and will ^(H)change ^(I)the customs that Moses delivered to us.” ¹⁵ And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face ^(J)was like the face of an angel.

Stephen's Speech

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

^(K)“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^(L)The God ^(M)of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^(N)before he lived in Haran, ³ and said to him, ^(O)‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ ^4 (P)Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And ^(Q)after his father died, ^(R)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 ^(S)to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^(T)though he had no child. ⁶ And God spoke to this effect—that ^(U)his offspring would ^(V)be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^(W)four hundred years.

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had ^(A)the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^(B)directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. ⁴⁵ Our fathers in turn ^(C)brought it in with Joshua when they ^(D)dispossessed the nations ^(E)that God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^(F)until the days of David, ^46 (G)who found favor in the sight of God and ^(H)asked to find a dwelling place for ^(I)the God of Jacob.^{[a] 47} But it was ^(J)Solomon who built a house for him. ^48 (K)Yet the Most High does not dwell ^(L)in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

^51 (O)“You stiff-necked people, ^(P)uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^(Q)As your fathers did, so do you. ^52 (R)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^(S)the Righteous One, ^(T)whom you have now betrayed and murdered, ⁵³ you who received the law ^(U)as delivered by angels and ^(V)did not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

⁵⁴ Now when they heard these things ^(W)they were enraged, and they ^(X)ground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But he, ^(Y)full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw ^(Z)the glory of God, and Jesus standing ^(AA)at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, “Behold, I see ^(AB)the heavens opened, and ^(AC)the Son of Man standing ^(AD)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 ^(AE)they cast him out of the city and ^(AF)stoned him. And ^(AG)the witnesses laid down their garments ^(AH)at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And as they were stoning Stephen, ^(AI)he called out, “Lord Jesus, ^(AJ)receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ And ^(AK)falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ^(AL)“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, ^(AM)he fell asleep.

The Parable of the Tenants

^33 (A)“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^(B)a vineyard ^(C)and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^(D)leased it to tenants, and ^(E)went into another country. ³⁴ When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants^[a] to the tenants ^(F)to get his fruit. ^35 (G)And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^(H)stoned another. ^36 (I)Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^(J)‘This is the heir. Come, ^(K)let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹ And they took him and ^(L)threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ^40 (M)When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, ^(N)“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^(O)let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, ^(P)“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^(R)will be taken away from you and given to a people ^(S)producing its fruits. ⁴⁴ And ^(T)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^(U)when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”^[c]

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ And ^(V)although they were seeking to arrest him, ^(W)they feared the crowds, because they held him to be ^(X)a prophet.