HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1356
ACTS 7
believers. They said, “We apostles should spend
our time teaching the word of God, not running
a food program. 3 And so, brothers, select seven
men who are well respected and are full of the
Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4 Then we apostles can spend our
time in prayer and teaching the word.”
5 Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the
following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the
Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon,
Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier
convert to the Jewish faith). 6 These seven were
presented to the apostles, who prayed for them
as they laid their hands on them.
7 So God’s message continued to spread. The
number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were
converted, too.
Stephen Is Arrested
8 Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power,
performed amazing miracles and signs among
the people. 9 But one day some men from the
Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called,
started to debate with him. They were Jews
from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. 10 None of them could stand against
the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen
spoke.
11 So they persuaded some men to lie about
Stephen, saying, “We heard him blaspheme
Moses, and even God.” 12 This roused the
people, the elders, and the teachers of religious
law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him
before the high council.*
13 The lying witnesses said, “This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and
against the law of Moses. 14 We have heard him
say that this Jesus of Nazareth* will destroy the
Temple and change the customs Moses handed
down to us.”
15 At this point everyone in the high council
stared at Stephen, because his face became as
bright as an angel’s.
Stephen Addresses the Council
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are
these accusations true?”
2 This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared
to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.* 3 God told him, ‘Leave
your native land and your relatives, and come
into the land that I will show you.’* 4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in
Haran until his father died. Then God brought
him here to the land where you now live.
5 “But God gave him no inheritance here, not
even one square foot of land. God did promise,
however, that eventually the whole land would
belong to Abraham and his descendants—even
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though he had no children yet. 6 God also told
him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as
slaves for 400 years. 7 ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the
end they will come out and worship me here in
this place.’*
8 “God also gave Abraham the covenant of
circumcision at that time. So when Abraham
became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him
on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob,
and when Jacob became the father of the twelve
patriarchs of the Israelite nation.
9 “These patriarchs were jealous of their
brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave
in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued
him from all his troubles. And God gave him
favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also
gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh
appointed him governor over all of Egypt and
put him in charge of the palace.
11 “But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan.
There was great misery, and our ancestors ran
out of food. 12 Jacob heard that there was still
grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some. 13 The second time they went,
Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers,* and
they were introduced to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph
sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to
come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. 15 So
Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our
ancestors. 16 Their bodies were taken to Shechem
and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for
a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.
17 “As the time drew near when God would
fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of
our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18 But
then a new king came to the throne of Egypt
who knew nothing about Joseph. 19 This king
exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so
they would die.
20 “At that time Moses was born—a beautiful
child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him
at home for three months. 21 When they had to
abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him
and raised him as her own son. 22 Moses was
taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he
was powerful in both speech and action.
23 “One day when Moses was forty years old, he
decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel.
24 He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So
Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged
him, killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses assumed his
fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent
him to rescue them, but they didn’t.
6:12 Greek Sanhedrin; also in 6:15. 6:14 Or Jesus the
Nazarene. 7:2 Mesopotamia was the region now called Iraq.
Haran was a city in what is now called Syria. 7:3 Gen 12:1.
7:5-7 Gen 12:7; 15:13-14; Exod 3:12. 7:13 Other manuscripts
read Joseph was recognized by his brothers.