Deacon Stephen is killed at the hands of angry Jews - Acts 7

Deacon Stephen defends himself against unjust accusations

1 - And the high priest said, Is this so?

2 - And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, being in Mesopotamia, before dwelling in Haran,

3 - And he saith unto him, Come forth out of thy land, and out of thy kindred, and go into the land which I will shew thee.

4 - And he left the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Haran. And from there, after his father passed away, God brought him to this land where you now live.

5 - And he gave him no inheritance in it, neither was the space of one foot; but he promised that he would give her possession, and after him, to his seed, and he had not yet a son.

6 - And God spake thus, That her seed should be a stranger in another's land, and they would bring her into bondage, and would mistreat her for four hundred years.

7 And I will judge the nation that hath enslaved them, saith God. And after this shall they come out and serve me in this place.

8 - And he gave him the covenant of the circumcision; and he begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac to Jacob; and Jacob to the twelve patriarchs.

9 - And the patriarchs moved with envy, and sold Joseph to Egypt; but God was with him.

10 - And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom to Pharaoh king of Egypt, which made him ruler over Egypt, and all his house.

11 - And there came over all the land of Egypt, and of Canaan, famine and great tribulation; and our parents did not find food.

12 - But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.

13 And the second time Joseph was known to his brethren, and his seed was made manifest to Pharaoh.

14 - And Joseph sent and called his father Jacob, and all his kindred, seventy and five souls.

15 - And Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died;

16 - And they were transported to Shechem, and laid in the tomb which Abraham bought for a certain sum of money unto the children of Emor, the father of Shechem.

17 - And when the time of the promise which God had made to Abraham drew near, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt;

18 - And there arose another king, that knew not Joseph.

19 - He that hath dealt treacherously with our race, hath mistreated our fathers, to the point of having them cast out their children, that they should not multiply.

20 - At that time Moses was born, and was very beautiful, and was three months in the house of his father.

21 - And when he was cast out, he took the daughter of Pharaoh, and made him his son.

22 - And Moses was instructed in all the knowledge of the Egyptians; and was mighty in his words and deeds.

23 - And when he was forty years old, it came to his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.

24 - And when he saw one of them beaten, he defended him, and avenged the offended, and slew the Egyptian.

25 And he thought that his brethren would understand that God would give them liberty by his hand; but they did not understand.

26 - And the next day, when they had fought, he saw them, and desired to bring them to the peace, saying, Men, ye are brethren; why do you wrong one another?

27 - And he that reproached his neighbor hath reviled him, saying, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?

28 - Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?

29 - And Moses fled at this word, and was a stranger in the land of Midian, and begot two sons.

30 - And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him forty years old in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush.

31 - And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the vision; and coming to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him,

32 - And I said, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: and Moses trembled not to look.

33 - And the LORD said unto him, Take off the sandal from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

34 - I have seen the affliction of my people that are in Egypt, and I have heard their groanings, and I have come down to deliver them. Now therefore, come, and I will send thee into Egypt.

35 - To this Moses, whom they had denied, saying, Who made thee a prince and a judge? to him God sent as prince and deliverer by the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush.

36 - And he led them out, doing 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 that said unto the children of Israel, The LORD thy God shall raise up unto you from among your brethren a prophet like unto me; to him shall ye hear.

38 - This is the thing that was between the congregation in the wilderness, with the angel that spake unto him in mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the words of life, that he might not give them.

39 - Which our fathers would not obey, but rejected him, and returned to Egypt in their hearts,

40 - Saying to Aaron, Make us gods that go before us; because to this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what happened to him.

41 - And they made the calf in those days, and offered sacrifices unto the idol, and rejoiced at the works of their hands.

42 - But God turned aside, and forsook them that they should serve the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets, Hast thou offered me sacrifices and sacrifices in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

43 - And ye took the tabernacle of Molech, and the star of your god Rephan, which ye did to worship them. And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

44 - And the tabernacle of the testimony was among our fathers in the wilderness, as the LORD commanded Moses to do according to the pattern which he had seen.

45 - And our fathers received him also, and carried him with Joshua, when they came into the possession of the heathen, which God sent out of the presence of our fathers, unto the days of David,

46 - And he found grace before God, and desired that he might find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

47 - And Solomon built him a house;

48 - But the Most High dwelleth not in temples made by the hand of men, as the prophet saith,

49 - Heaven is my throne, and earth is the footstool of my feet. What house will you build for me? saith the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?

50 - Did not my hand do all these things?

51 - Ye stiffnecked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, ye always resist the Holy Ghost; so you are like your fathers.

52 Which of the prophets did not pursue your fathers? They even killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you were now traitors and murderers;

53 - Ye who received the law by the order of the angels, and did not keep it.

Deacon Stephen is killed at the hands of angry Jews

54 - And when they heard this, they were furious in their hearts, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

55 - But when he was filled with the Holy Ghost, and looked upon the heavens, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

56 - And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

57 - And they cried with a loud voice, and covered their ears, and came upon him with one accord.

58 And they cast him out of the city, and stoned him. And the witnesses laid their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59And they stoned Stephen, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

60And he fell upon his knees, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin upon them. And when he had said these things, he fell asleep.