1And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”2And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, (Ge 11:31; Ge 15:7; Jos 24:3; Ne 9:7; Ps 29:3; Ac 22:1; 1Co 2:8; Jas 2:1)3and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ (Ge 12:1)4Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. (Ge 11:32; Ge 12:4; Ac 7:2)5Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. (Ge 12:7; Ge 13:15; Ge 15:3; Ge 15:18; Ge 17:8; Ge 18:10; Ge 48:4; Heb 11:8)6And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. (Ge 15:13; Ex 2:22; Ex 12:40; Ac 7:17; Heb 11:9)7‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ (Ex 3:12; Jer 25:12; Jer 30:20)8And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. (Ge 17:9; Ge 21:2; Ge 25:26; Ge 29:31; Ge 30:5; Ge 35:18; Ge 35:23; Lu 1:59)9“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him (Ge 37:11; Ge 37:28; Ge 39:2; Ge 39:21; Ge 39:23; Ge 45:4; Ps 105:17)10and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. (Ge 41:37; Ge 41:41; Ge 41:43; Ge 41:46; Ge 42:6; Ps 105:21)11Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. (Ge 41:54; Ge 42:5; Ps 105:16)12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. (Ge 42:1)13And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. (Ge 43:2; Ge 45:1; Ge 45:16)14And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. (Ge 45:9; Ge 45:27; Ge 46:26; Ex 1:5; De 10:22)15And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, (Ge 46:5; Ge 46:28; Ge 49:33; Ex 1:6; Ps 105:23)16and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. (Ge 23:16; Ge 33:19; Ge 50:25; Ex 13:19; Jos 24:32)17“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt (Ex 1:7; Ex 1:12; Ps 105:24; Ac 7:5; Ac 13:17)18until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. (Ex 1:8)19He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. (Ex 1:9; Ex 1:16; Ex 1:22; Ps 105:25)20At 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, (Ex 2:2; Heb 11:23)21and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. (Ex 2:3)22And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. (1Ki 4:30; Isa 19:11; Da 1:4; Da 1:17; Lu 24:19)23“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. (Ex 2:11)24And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.25He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.26And 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?’ (Ex 2:13)27But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? (Lu 12:14; Ac 7:35)28Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’29At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. (Ex 2:15; Ex 2:22; Ex 18:3)30“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. (Ex 3:1; Ex 3:2)31When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord:32‘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. (Ex 3:6)33Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. (Ex 3:5; Jos 5:15)34I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’ (Ex 2:24; Ex 3:7; Ex 3:8; Ex 3:10)35“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. (Ex 3:2; Ex 14:19; Ex 23:20; Nu 20:16; Ac 7:27)36This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. (Ex 7:3; Ex 12:41; Ex 14:21; Ex 14:27; Ex 16:1; Ex 16:35; Ex 17:1; Ex 33:1; Nu 14:33; Ps 78:15; Ps 78:43; Ps 78:53; Ps 95:10; Ps 105:27; Ps 106:9; Ac 7:42; Ac 13:18; Heb 3:9; Heb 3:17; Heb 8:9)37This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ (De 18:15; Ac 3:22)38This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. (Ex 19:3; Ex 19:17; De 5:27; De 5:31; De 32:47; De 33:4; Isa 63:9; Joh 1:17; Ac 7:53; Ro 3:2; Heb 5:12; 1Pe 4:11)39Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, (Ex 16:3; Nu 11:4; Nu 14:3; Eze 20:8; Eze 20:24)40saying to Aaron, ‘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.’ (Ex 32:1; Ex 32:23)41And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. (Ex 32:4; Ex 32:35; De 9:16; Ps 106:19; Isa 2:8; Jer 1:16; Jer 25:6; Am 6:13)42But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? (De 4:19; Jos 24:20; 2Ki 17:16; 2Ki 21:3; 2Ki 23:5; Ps 81:12; Isa 63:10; Jer 19:13; Eze 20:39; Am 5:25; Zep 1:5; Ac 7:36; Ro 1:28)43You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’ (1Ki 11:7)44“Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. (Ex 25:40; Ex 38:21; Re 15:5)45Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, (Nu 32:5; De 32:49; Jos 3:10; Jos 3:14; Jos 23:9; Jos 24:18; 2Sa 7:1; 2Ch 20:7; Ac 13:19)46who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[1] (Ge 49:24; 1Sa 16:1; 1Ki 8:17; 1Ch 22:7; Ps 89:19; Ps 132:5; Isa 49:26; Ac 13:22)47But it was Solomon who built a house for him. (2Sa 7:13; 1Ki 6:1; 1Ki 8:20; 2Ch 3:1)48Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, (1Ki 8:27; 2Ch 2:6; Ac 17:24)49“‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? (Ps 11:4; Isa 66:1; Mt 5:34)50Did not my hand make all these things?’51“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. (Ex 32:9; Le 26:41; De 10:16; Jer 6:10; Jer 9:26; Eze 44:7; Eze 44:9; Mal 3:7)52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, (1Ki 19:10; 2Ch 36:16; Jer 2:30; Mt 5:12; Mt 21:35; Mt 23:31; Mt 23:37; Ac 3:14; Ac 5:28)53you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” (De 33:2; Joh 7:19; Ac 7:38; Ga 3:19; Heb 2:2)
1Then said the high priest, Are these things so?2And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,3And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.4Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.5And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.6And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.7And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.8And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.9And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,10And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.11Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.12But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.13And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.14Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.15So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,16And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.17But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,18Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.19The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.20In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months:21And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.22And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.23And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.24And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:25For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.26And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?27But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?28Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?29Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.30And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.31When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,32Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.33Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.34I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.35This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.36He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.37This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.38This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:39To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,40Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.41And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.42Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?43Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.44Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.45Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;46Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.47But Solomon built him an house.48Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,49Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?50Hath not my hand made all these things?51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:53Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.54When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.55But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,56And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.57Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,58And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.60And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.