Seven Chosen to Serve

6 Now in those days, awhen the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the bHellenists, 1because their widows were neglected cin the daily distribution. 2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, d“It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. 3 Therefore, brethren, eseek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this fbusiness; 4 but we gwill give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, ha man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and iPhilip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and jNicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, 6 whom they set before the apostles; and kwhen they had prayed, lthey laid hands on them.

7 Then mthe word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many nof the priests were obedient to the faith.

Stephen Accused of Blasphemy

8 And Stephen, full of 2faith and power, did great owonders and signs among the people. 9 Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. 10 And pthey were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. 11 qThen they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. 13 They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak 3blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; 14 rfor we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” 15 And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.

Stephen’s Address: The Call of Abraham

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

2 And he said, a“Brethren and fathers, listen: The bGod of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in cHaran, 3 and said to him, d‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then ehe came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was fdead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. 5 And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, gHe promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But God spoke in this way: hthat his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into ibondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7 j‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will kjudge,’ said God, l‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ 8 mThen He gave him the covenant of circumcision; nand so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; oand Isaac begot Jacob, and pJacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

The Patriarchs in Egypt

9 q“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, rsold Joseph into Egypt. sBut God was with him 10 and delivered him out of all his troubles, tand gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11 uNow a famine and great 1trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 vBut when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And the wsecond time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. 14 xThen Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and yall his relatives to him, 2seventy-five people. 15 zSo Jacob went down to Egypt; aand he died, he and our fathers. 16 And bthey were carried back to Shechem and laid in cthe tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.

God Delivers Israel by Moses

17 “But when dthe time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, ethe people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 till another king farose who did not know Joseph. 19 This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, gmaking them expose their babies, so that they might not live. 20 hAt this time Moses was born, and iwas well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. 21 But jwhen he was set out, kPharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was lmighty in words and deeds.

23 m“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ 27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, n‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 oThen, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he phad two sons.

30 q“And when forty years had passed, an Angel 3of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 saying, r‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 33 s‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have surely tseen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will usend you to Egypt.” ’

35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, v‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer wby the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 xHe brought them out, after he had yshown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, zand in the Red Sea, aand in the wilderness forty years.

Israel Rebels Against God

37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, b‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. cHim 4you shall hear.’

38 d“This is he who was in the 5congregation in the wilderness with ethe Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, fthe one who received the living goracles 6to give to us, 39 whom our fathers hwould not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40 isaying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 jAnd they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and krejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then lGod turned and gave them up to worship mthe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:

n‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness,

O house of Israel?

43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch,

And the star of your god Remphan,

Images which you made to worship;

And oI will carry you away beyond Babylon.’

God’s True Tabernacle

44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses pto make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 qwhich our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, rwhom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the sdays of David, 46 twho found favor before God and uasked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47 vBut Solomon built Him a house.

48 “However, wthe Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:

49 ‘Heaven xis My throne,

And earth is My footstool.

What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,

Or what is the place of My rest?

50 Has My hand not ymade all these things?’

Israel Resists the Holy Spirit

51 “You zstiff-necked 7and auncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 bWhich of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of cthe Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 dwho have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Stephen the Martyr

54 eWhen they heard these things they were 8cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, fbeing full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the gglory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! hI see the heavens opened and the iSon of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And jthe witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, kreceive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, l“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.