^12 (A)for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

¹⁵ for ^(A)I will give you a mouth and ^(B)wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or ^(C)contradict.

^20 (A)For it is not you who speak, but ^(B)the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

⁸ Then Peter, ^(A)filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,

¹⁰ But ^(A)they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

⁵⁵ But he, ^(A)full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw ^(B)the glory of God, and Jesus standing ^(C)at the right hand of God.

² And Stephen said:

^(A)“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^(B)The God ^(C)of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^(D)before he lived in Haran, ³ and said to him, ^(E)‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ ^4 (F)Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And ^(G)after his father died, ^(H)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 ^(I)to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^(J)though he had no child. ⁶ And God spoke to this effect—that ^(K)his offspring would ^(L)be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^(M)four hundred years. ⁷ ‘But ^(N)I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out ^(O)and worship me in this place.’ ⁸ And ^(P)he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And ^(Q)so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and ^(R)circumcised him on the eighth day, and ^(S)Isaac became the father of Jacob, and ^(T)Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹ “And the patriarchs, ^(U)jealous of Joseph, ^(V)sold him into Egypt; but ^(W)God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him out of all his afflictions and ^(X)gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^(Y)who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. ¹¹ Now ^(Z)there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ^12 (AA)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. ¹³ And ^(AB)on the second visit ^(AC)Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^(AD)Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ And ^(AE)Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, ^(AF)seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵ And ^(AG)Jacob went down into Egypt, and ^(AH)he died, he ^(AI)and our fathers, ¹⁶ and ^(AJ)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that ^(AK)Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷ “But ^(AL)as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^(AM)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ until there arose over Egypt another king ^(AN)who did not know Joseph. ^19 (AO)He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^(AP)so that they would not be kept alive. ^20 (AQ)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 ^(AR)when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses ^(AS)was instructed in ^(AT)all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^(AU)mighty in his words and deeds.

²³ “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^(AV)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 (AW)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, ^(AX)‘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 ^(AY)Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^(AZ)where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰ “Now when forty years had passed, ^(BA)an angel appeared to him ^(BB)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 (BC)‘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, ^(BD)‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ^34 (BE)I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^(BF)have heard their groaning, and ^(BG)I have come down to deliver them. ^(BH)And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵ “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^(BI)saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^(BJ)by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^36 (BK)This man led them out, performing ^(BL)wonders and signs ^(BM)in Egypt and ^(BN)at the Red Sea and ^(BO)in the wilderness for ^(BP)forty years. ³⁷ This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^(BQ)a prophet like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸ This is the one ^(BR)who was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^(BS)the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^(BT)He received ^(BU)living ^(BV)oracles to give to us. ³⁹ Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^(BW)in their hearts they turned to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aaron, ^(BX)‘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 ^(BY)they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^(BZ)were rejoicing in ^(CA)the works of their hands. ⁴² But ^(CB)God turned away and ^(CC)gave them over to worship ^(CD)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had ^(CH)the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^(CI)directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. ⁴⁵ Our fathers in turn ^(CJ)brought it in with Joshua when they ^(CK)dispossessed the nations ^(CL)that God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^(CM)until the days of David, ^46 (CN)who found favor in the sight of God and ^(CO)asked to find a dwelling place for ^(CP)the God of Jacob.^{[a] 47} But it was ^(CQ)Solomon who built a house for him. ^48 (CR)Yet the Most High does not dwell ^(CS)in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

^51 (CV)“You stiff-necked people, ^(CW)uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^(CX)As your fathers did, so do you. ^52 (CY)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^(CZ)the Righteous One, ^(DA)whom you have now betrayed and murdered, ⁵³ you who received the law ^(DB)as delivered by angels and ^(DC)did not keep it.”

Paul's Defense Before Agrippa

26 So ^(A)Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

² “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today ^(B)against all the accusations of the Jews, ³ especially because you are familiar with all the ^(C)customs and ^(D)controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

^4 (E)“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among ^(F)my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. ⁵ They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that ^(G)according to the strictest ^(H)party of our ^(I)religion I have lived as ^(J)a Pharisee. ⁶ And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in ^(K)the promise made by God to our fathers, ^7 (L)to which ^(M)our twelve tribes hope to ^(N)attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope ^(O)I am accused by Jews, O king! ⁸ Why is it thought ^(P)incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

^9 (Q)“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of ^(R)Jesus of Nazareth. ^10 (S)And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority ^(T)from the chief priests, but ^(U)when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And ^(V)I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them ^(W)blaspheme, and ^(X)in raging fury against them I ^(Y)persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹² “In this connection ^(Z)I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me ^(AA)in the Hebrew language,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But rise and ^(AB)stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^(AC)to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ^17 (AD)delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—^(AE)to whom I ^(AF)am sending you ^18 (AG)to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^(AH)the power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^(AI)forgiveness of sins and ^(AJ)a place among those who are sanctified ^(AK)by faith in me.’

¹⁹ “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^(AL)the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but declared first ^(AM)to those in Damascus, ^(AN)then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^(AO)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(AP)repent and ^(AQ)turn to God, performing deeds ^(AR)in keeping with their repentance. ²¹ For this reason ^(AS)the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ^22 (AT)To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^(AU)I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^(AV)the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ^23 (AW)that the Christ ^(AX)must suffer and that, ^(AY)by being the first ^(AZ)to rise from the dead, ^(BA)he would proclaim ^(BB)light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ^(BC)you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵ But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, ^(BD)most excellent Festus, but I am speaking ^(BE)true and ^(BF)rational words. ²⁶ For ^(BG)the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸ And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be ^(BH)a Christian?”^{[b] 29} And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day ^(BI)might become such as I am—except for ^(BJ)these chains.”