Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

7 Then the high priest asked, `Is this true?'

² Stephen replied, `Men, brothers and fathers, listen to me. When our father Abraham was in the country of Mesopotamia, before he lived in the country of Haran, the God who is great and wonderful came to him.

³ God said, "Leave your country and your family and come to the country that I will show you."

⁴ Then Abraham came out of the country of the Chaldeans and lived for a while in the country of Haran. After his father died, God led him from there to this country where you are living now.

⁵ But God did not give any of the land to Abraham, not even a small part. But he promised that the land would belong to him. After him it would belong to his children, even though he did not have a child then.

⁶ This is what God told Abraham. He told him that his children would travel and live in another land. They would be slaves to the people there. They would have a hard time for four hundred years.

⁷ And God said, "I will judge the people who make them slaves. After that, they will come out of that land and serve me here."

⁸ God made the agreement of circumcision with Abraham. Abraham had a son Isaac. He made the mark of circumcision on the child's body and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac had a son Jacob, and Jacob had twelve sons who were our fathers.