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AICNT ACTs Chapter 7

◄ ACTs 7 ► ║ ═ ©

7 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

2 And he replied, “Men, brothers, and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.’

4 Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God moved him to this land in which you now live. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child.

6 “God spoke [to him][fn] in this way: that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land, and they would enslave and mistreat them for four hundred years; 7 ‘and the nation to which they will be in bondage I will judge,’[fn] God said, ‘and after that they will come out and serve me in this place.’[fn] 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.

9 “The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and [over][fn] his entire household. 11 Then a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great distress, and our fathers could find no food.

12 “But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 On the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five persons in all. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died, 16 and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of {Hamor in Shechem}.[fn]

17 “As the time of the promise which God had made to Abraham approached, the people increased and multiplied [in Egypt][fn] 18 until another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 19 This one, having deceived our race, mistreated {our}[fn] fathers [by] making their infants exposed so that they would not be kept alive. 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God. He was brought up for three months in his father's house, 21 and when he had been laid out, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated [in][fn] all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in [his][fn] words and deeds.

23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. 24 Seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them deliverance through his hand, but they did not understand. 26 The next day he appeared to them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the one who was wronging his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ [fn] 29 At this remark, Moses fled and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons.

30 “And when forty years had passed, an angel [[of the Lord]][fn] appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, {he marveled}[fn] at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, [[the God of]][fn] Isaac, and [[the God of]][fn] Jacob.’ Moses became terrified and did not dare to look.[fn] 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.[fn] 34 I have certainly seen the oppression 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.’[fn]

35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ This one God [also][fn] sent as ruler and deliverer by the hand of an angel who appeared to him in the bush. [fn] 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘[[the Lord your]][fn] God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers; [[to him shall you listen]]’[fn][fn] 38 This is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; the one who received living oracles to give to us, 39 to whom our fathers were unwilling to be obedient, but pushed him away and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’[fn] 41 And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you offer to me slain beasts and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of {the god}[fn] Rephan, the images which you made to worship them; and I will remove you beyond Babylon.’[fn]

44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. 45 And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua when they took possession of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the {God of Jacob}.[fn] 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

48 “But the Most High does not dwell in {things}[fn] made by hands, just as the prophet says, 49 ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet; what kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what place is there for my rest? 50 Did not my hand make all these things?’[fn]

51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53 you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

54 Now when they heard these things, they were infuriated in their hearts and gnashed their teeth at him.

55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57 But crying out with a loud voice, they covered their ears and rushed at him with one accord. 58 And having cast him out of the city, they began to stone him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he called out and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”

Having said this, he fell asleep.

◄ ACTs 7 ► ║ ═ ©

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