CHAPTER 7
And
Stephen declared:
“Brothers
and
fathers,
listen to me!
The
God
of glory
appeared
to
our
father
Abraham
while he was still
in
Mesopotamia,
before
he
lived
in
Haran,
So
Abraham left
the land
of the Chaldeans
and settled
in
Haran.
After
his
father
died,
God brought
him
out of that place,
into
this
land
where
you
are now
living.
He gave
him
no
inheritance
here,
not even
a foot of ground.
But
God promised
to give
possession
of the land
to Abraham
and
his
descendants,
even though he did not yet have
a child.
God
told him
that
his
descendants
would be
foreigners
in
a strange
land,
and
they would be enslaved
and
mistreated
four hundred
years.
‘But
I
will punish
the
nation
that
enslaves them,’
God
said,
‘and
afterward
they will come forth
and
worship
Me
in
this
place.’
Then
God gave
Abraham
the covenant
of circumcision,
and
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.
Because
the
patriarchs
were jealous
of Joseph,
they sold him as a slave
into
Egypt.
But
God
was
with
him
and
rescued
him
from
all
his
troubles.
He granted
Joseph
favor
and
wisdom
in the sight of
Pharaoh
king
of Egypt,
who
appointed
him
ruler
over
Egypt
and
all
his
household.
Then
famine
and
great
suffering
swept
across
Egypt
and
Canaan,
and
our
fathers
could not find
food.
On
their
second visit,
Joseph
revealed his identity
to
his
brothers,
and
his
family
became
known
to Pharaoh.
Their bones
were carried back
to
Shechem
and
placed
in
the
tomb
that
Abraham
had bought
from
the
sons
of Hamor
at
Shechem
for a price he paid
in silver.
As
the
time
drew near
for
God
to fulfill His promise
to Abraham,
our
people
in
Egypt
increased
greatly in number.
He
exploited
our
people
and oppressed
our
fathers,
forcing them
to abandon
their
infants
so
they would die.
At
that
time
Moses
was born,
and
he was
beautiful
in the sight of God.
For three
months
he
was nurtured
in
his
father’s
house.
And
when he saw
one of them
being wronged,
Moses went to his defense
and
avenged him
by striking down
the
Egyptian
who was oppressing him.
He assumed
his
brothers
would understand
that
God
was using him
to deliver them,
but
they did not.
The
next
day
he came upon
two Israelites who
were fighting,
and he tried to reconcile them,
saying,
‘Men,
you are
brothers.
Why
are you mistreating
one another?’
But
the man who
was abusing
his
neighbor
pushed Moses aside
and said,
‘Who
made
you
ruler
and
judge
over
us?
At
this
remark,
Moses
fled
to
the land
of Midian,
where
he lived as
a foreigner
and had
two
sons.
After
forty
years
had passed,
an angel
appeared
to Moses
in
the flames
of a burning
bush
in
the
desert
near
Mount
Sinai.
When
Moses
saw it,
he marveled at
the
sight.
As he
approached
to look more closely,
the voice
of the Lord
came to him:
‘I am
the
God
of your
fathers,
the
God
of Abraham,
Isaac,
and
Jacob.’
Moses
trembled with fear
and did not dare
to look.
Then
the
Lord
said
to him,
‘Take off
your
sandals,
for
the
place
where
you are standing
is
holy
ground.
I have indeed seen
the
oppression
of
My
people
in
Egypt.
I have heard
their
groaning
and
have come down
to deliver
them.
Now
come,
I will send
you
back to
Egypt."
This
Moses,
whom
they had rejected
with the words,
‘Who
made
you
ruler
and
judge?’
is the one
God
sent
to be their ruler
and
redeemer,
through
the angel
who
appeared
to him
in
the
bush.
He
led them out
and performed
wonders
and
signs
in
the land
of Egypt,
at
the Red
Sea,
and
for forty
years
in
the
wilderness.
This
is
the same
Moses
who
told
the
Israelites,
‘God
will raise up
for you
a prophet
like
me
from among
your
own
brothers.’
He
was
in
the
assembly
in
the
wilderness
with
the
angel
who
spoke
to him
on
Mount
Sinai,
and
with
our
fathers.
And he received
living
words
to pass on
to us.
But our
fathers
refused
to
obey
him.
Instead,
they rejected him
and
in
their
hearts
turned back
to
Egypt.
They said
to Aaron,
‘Make
us
gods
who
will go before
us!
As for
this
Moses
who
led us
out of
Egypt,
we do not know
what
has happened
to him.’
At
that
time
they made a calf
and
offered
a sacrifice
to the
idol,
rejoicing
in
the
works
of
their
hands.
But
God
turned away from them
and
gave them over
to the worship
of the
heavenly bodies,
as
it is written
in
the book
of the
prophets:
‘Did you offer
Me
slain beasts
and
sacrifices
forty
years
in
the
wilderness,
O house
of Israel?
You took along
the
tent
of Moloch
and
the
star
of
your
god
Rephan,
the
idols
you made
to worship.
Therefore
I will carry you away
beyond
Babylon.’
Our
fathers
had
the
tabernacle
of the
testimony
with them
in
the
wilderness.
It was constructed
exactly as
God
had directed
Moses,
according to
the
pattern
he had seen.
And
our
fathers
who
received it
brought it in
with
Joshua
when
they dispossessed
the
nations
God
drove out
before
them.
It remained until
the
time
of David,
‘Heaven is
My
throne
and
the
earth
is My
footstool.
What kind of
house
will you build
for Me,
says
the Lord,
or
where will
My
place
of repose be?
You stiff-necked people
with
uncircumcised
hearts
and
ears!
You
always
resist
the
Holy
Spirit,
just
as
your
fathers did.
Which
of the
prophets
did your
fathers
fail
to persecute?
They even killed
those who
foretold
the
coming
of the
Righteous One.
And now
you
are
His
betrayers
and
murderers—
But
Stephen,
full
of the Holy Spirit,
looked intently
into
heaven
and saw
the glory
of God
and
Jesus
standing
at
the right hand
of God.
They dragged him
out of
the
city
and began to stone him.
Meanwhile,
the
witnesses
laid
their
garments
at
the
feet
of a young man
named
Saul.
Falling
on his
knees,
he cried out
in a loud voice,
“Lord,
do not
hold
this
sin
against them.”
And
when he had said
this,
he fell asleep.