New Testament in a Year

Chapter 7

Stephen’s Discourse. ¹ Then the high priest asked him, “Are these things true?” ² He replied, “Brethren and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, ³ and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.’

⁴ “Therefore, he departed from the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And after his father died, God led him to the land where you now dwell. ⁵ He did not give him any of this land as a heritage, not even as little as a foot, but he promised to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless.

⁶ “This is what God said: ‘His descendants will reside in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. ⁷ But I will bring judgment on the nation that enslaved them,’ God said, ‘and after that they will come out and worship me in this place.’ ⁸ Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so, when he became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day, as Isaac did for Jacob, and Jacob did for the twelve patriarchs.

⁹ “The patriarchs were jealous of Joseph and they sold him into Egypt, but God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his afflictions. He gave Joseph wisdom and the favor of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who appointed him governor of Egypt and his entire household.

¹¹ “Then a severe famine struck all of Egypt and Canaan, causing severe affliction, and our ancestors could find no food. ¹² However, when Jacob learned that there was grain available in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit. ¹³ During their second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and his ancestry became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his entire family, seventy-five people in all.

¹⁵ “Jacob migrated to Egypt, and after he and our ancestors had died there, ¹⁶ they were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had purchased from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a sum of money.

¹⁷ “When the time of the promise that God had pledged to Abraham drew near, our people in Egypt had greatly increased in number. ¹⁸ Then a new king came to power who had never heard of Joseph. ¹⁹ He dealt treacherously with our people and forced our ancestors to abandon their infants so that they could not survive.

²⁰ “It was at this time that Moses was born, who was pleasing to God. For three months he was nursed in his father’s house, ²¹ but after he had been abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh adopted him and brought him up as her own son.