Beginning
7 Then the High Priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, “You men! Brothers and fathers! Listen! The God of Glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia (before he lived in Haran),
3 “and said to him, ‘Come out of our country, and from your kindred. And come into the land which I shall show you.’
4 “Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And after his father died, God brought him from there into this land wherein you now dwell.
5 “And He gave him no inheritance in it; no, not the breadth of a foot. Yet, He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he still had no child.
6 “But God said this: ‘that his seed would be a sojourner in a strange land. And that they would keep it in bondage and mistreat it four hundred years.
7 ‘But the nation to whom they shall be in bondage, I will judge,’ says God, ‘And after that, they shall come forth and serve Me in this place.’
8 “He also gave him the Covenant of Circumcision. And Abraham begat Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve Patriarchs.
9 “And the Patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him,
10 “and delivered him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, King of Egypt; who made him Governor over Egypt and his whole house.
11 “Then there came a famine over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, so that our fathers found no sustenance.
12 “But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent our fathers first.
13 “And the second time, Joseph was known by his brethren, and Joseph’s kindred were made known to Pharaoh.
14 “Then Joseph had his father and all his kindred brought, even seventy-five souls.
15 “So Jacob went down into Egypt, and he and our fathers died.
16 “And they were removed to Shechem and were put in the sepulcher which Abraham had bought for money from the sons of Hamor of Shechem.
17 “But when the time of the promise which God had sworn to Abraham drew near, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt.
18 “Until another King arose who did not know Joseph.
19 “The same dealt craftily with our kindred, and mistreated our fathers, and made them abandon their young children, so that they would not live.
20 “At the same time, Moses was born, and was acceptable to God. He was nursed in his father’s house for three months.
21 “And when he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and brought him up as her own son.
22 “And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds.
23 “Now when he was fully forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
24 “And when he saw one of them being wronged, he defended him, and avenged the one who had been harmed, and killed the Egyptian.
25 “For he assumed that his brothers would have understood that God, by His hand, would give them deliverance. But they did not understand that.
26 “And the next day, he showed himself to them as they fought, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Sirs, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’
27 “But the one who had wronged his neighbor thrust him away, saying, ‘Who made you a prince and a judge over us?
28 ‘Will you kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’
29 “Then Moses fled at those words, and was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.
30 “And after forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord in a flame of fire appeared to him in a bush, in the wilderness of mount Sinai.
31 “And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. And as he drew near to examine it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying,
32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Then Moses trembled, and dared not look at it.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your shoes from your feet. For the place where you stand is Holy Ground.
34 ‘Seeing, I have seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt. And I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now, come, and I will send you into Egypt.
35 “This Moses whom they forsook, saying, ‘Who made you a prince and a judge?’ The same man God sent as a prince and a deliverer, by the hand of the Angel which appeared to him in the bush.
36 “He brought them out, doing wonders and miracles in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness, forty years.
37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God shall raise up to you a Prophet like me from your brothers. Him you shall hear.
38 “This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness, with the Angel which spoke to him on mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received the living oracles to give to us;
39 “whom our fathers would not obey, but refused, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
40 ‘saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that may go before us. For we do not know what has become of this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt.’
41 “And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42 “Then God turned Himself away, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven, as it is written in the Book of the Prophets, ‘O House of Israel, have you offered to Me slain beasts and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness?
43 “‘And you took up the Tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan - figures which you made to worship them. Therefore, I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He had appointed; speaking to Moses so that he would make it according to the pattern which he had seen,
45 “which our fathers also received and (with Joshua) brought into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before our fathers until the days of David,
46 “who found favor before God, and desired that he might find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
47 “But Solomon built him a house.
48 “However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands. As says the Prophet,
49 ‘Heaven is My throne. And Earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me?’, says the Lord. ‘Or, what place is it that I should rest in?
50 ‘Has not My hand made all these things?’
51 “You stiff-necked! With uncircumcised hearts and ears! You have always resisted the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do you!
52 “Which of the Prophets have your fathers not persecuted? And they have killed those who foretold of the coming of the Just One, Of Whom you are now the betrayers and murderers.
53 “Who have received the law by the ordinance of angels and have not kept it.”
54 And when they heard these things, they were cut to the quick. And they gnashed at him with their teeth.
55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked steadfastly into Heaven, and saw the Glory of God; and Jesus, standing at the right hand of God,
56 and said, “Behold, I see the heavens open! And the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of God!”
57 Then they gave a shout with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him violently all at once,
58 and cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen, who called out, saying, “Lord Jesus! Receive my spirit!”
60 And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord! Do not lay this sin to their charge!” And when he had spoken this, he slept.
8 And Saul consented to his death. And at that time, there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles.
2 Then God-fearing men carried Stephen to be buried and made great lamentation for him.
3 But Saul defiled the Church, and entered into every house, and drew out both men and women, and put them into prison.
4 Therefore, those who were scattered throughout, went to and fro preaching the word.
5 Then Philip came into the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.
6 And the people paid attention to those things which Philip spoke, with one mind, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed. And many taken with palsies, and who were lame, were healed.
8 And there was great joy in that city.
9 And there had been in the city, a certain man called Simon, who used witchcraft, and bewitched the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was some great man;
10 to whom they paid attention, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God!”
11 And they paid attention to him because he had bewitched them with sorceries for a long time.
12 But as soon as they believed Philip (who preached things concerning the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ), they were baptized, both men and women.
13 Then Simon himself also believed and was baptized. And he continued with Philip. And when he saw the signs and great miracles which were done, he wondered.
14 Now when the Apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
15 Who, when they had come down, prayed for them to receive the Holy Ghost.
16 For as yet He had not fallen down on any of them. But they had been baptized only in the Name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then they laid their hands on them. And they received the Holy Ghost.
18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostles’ hands, the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
19 saying, “Give me this power also! So that whomever I lay hands upon may receive the Holy Ghost!”
20 Then Peter said to him, “Your money dies with you because you think that the gift of God may be obtained with money.
21 “You have neither part nor fellowship in this Word. For your heart is not right in the sight of God.
22 “Therefore repent of this, your wickedness. And pray to God that if it be possible, the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
23 “For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.”
24 Then Simon answered, and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of these things which you have spoken come upon me!”
25 So after they had testified and preached the Word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem and preached the Gospel in many Samaritan towns.
26 Then the Angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise, and go towards the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is a wasteland.”
27 And he arose and went on. And behold, a certain eunuch of Ethiopia (Candace the Queen of the Ethiopians’ Chief Governor, who had the rule over all her treasure) who came to Jerusalem to worship,
28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he read Isaiah the Prophet.
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and enjoin this chariot.”
30 And Philip ran there, and heard him read the Prophet Isaiah, and said, “But do you understand what you read?”
31 And he said, “How can I unless I have a guide?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 Now the place of the Scripture which he read was this, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. And like a lamb, mute before his shearer, so also did He not open His mouth.
33 “In His humility, His judgment has been exalted. But who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the Earth.”
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, “I ask you, of Whom does the Prophet say this, of himself, or of some other Man?”
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached Jesus to him.
36 And as they went on their way, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What must I do to be baptized?”
37 And Philip said to him, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” Then he answered, and said, “I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 Then he commanded the chariot to stop. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water. And he baptized him.
39 And as soon as they had come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more. So, he went on his way, rejoicing.
40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And he walked to and fro, preaching in all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
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