Acts 7

Then said the high priest, Are these things so? ²And he said,

^aMen, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in ^bMesopotamia, ^cbefore he dwelt in Charran, ³and said unto him, ^dGet thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. ⁴Then ^ccame he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, ^ewhen his father was dead, ^fhe ^gremoved him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. ⁵And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that ^hhe would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, ⁱwhen as yet he had no child. ⁶And God spake on this wise, That ^khis seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil ^lfour hundred years. ⁷And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and ^mserve me in this place. ⁸And ⁿhe gave him the covenant of circumcision: and ^oso Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and ^pIsaac begat Jacob; and ^qJacob begat the twelve ^rpatriarchs. ⁹And ^rthe patriarchs, ^smoved with envy, ^tsold Joseph into Egypt: but ^uGod was with him, ¹⁰and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and ^xgave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ^11yNow there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. ^12zBut when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. ¹³And ^aat the second time Joseph ^bwas made known to his brethren; and ^cJoseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. ^14dThen sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and ^eall his kindred, ^fthreescore and fifteen ^gsouls. ¹⁵So Jacob ^hwent down into Egypt, and ⁱdied, he, and ^jour fathers, ¹⁶and ^kwere carried over into ^lSychem, and laid in the sepulchre that ^mAbraham bought for a sum of money ^mnof the sons of Emmor ^othe father of Sychem. ¹⁷But when ^pthe time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, ^qthe people grew and multiplied in Egypt, ¹⁸till another king arose, ^rwhich knew not Joseph. ¹⁹The same ^sdealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, ^tso that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not ^ulive. ²⁰In which time ^xMoses was born, and was exceeding ^yfair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: ²¹and ^zwhen he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. ²²And Moses was learned in all ^athe wisdom of the Egyptians, and was ^bmighty in words and in deeds. ²³And when he was full forty years old, ^cit came into his heart ^dto visit his brethren the children of Israel. ²⁴And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: ²⁵for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. ^26eAnd the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? ²⁷But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, ^fWho made thee a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? ^29gThen fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, ^hwhere he begat two sons. ³⁰And when forty years were expired, ⁱthere appeared to him in the wilderness ^kof mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. ³¹When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to ^lbehold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, ³²saying, ^mI am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then ⁿMoses trembled, and durst not ^lbehold. ³³Then said the Lord to him, ^oPut off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. ^34pI have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. ³⁵This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer ^qby the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. ^36rHe brought them out, after that he had shewed ^swonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and ^tin the Red sea, and ^uin the wilderness ^wforty years. ³⁷This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, ^xA prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. ³⁸This is he, ^ythat was in the ^zchurch in the wilderness with ^athe angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: ^bwho received the lively ^coracles to give unto us: ³⁹to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts ^dturned back again into Egypt, ⁴⁰saying unto Aaron, ^eMake us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. ⁴¹And ^fthey made a calf in those days, and ^foffered sacrifice unto the idol, and ^grejoiced in ^hthe works of their own hands. ⁴²Then God ⁱturned, and ^jgave them up to worship ^kthe host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ^lO ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? ⁴³Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of ^mMoloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will ⁿcarry you away beyond Babylon. ⁴⁴Our fathers had ^othe tabernacle of Witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, ^pthat he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. ⁴⁵Which also our fathers that came after ^qbrought in with ^rJesus into the possession of the Gentiles, ^swhom God drave out before the face of our fathers, ^tunto the days of David; ⁴⁶who ^ufound favour before God, and ^wdesired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. ^47xBut Solomon built him a house. ^48yHowbeit ^zthe most High ^adwelleth not in temples ^bmade with hands; as saith the prophet, ^49cHeaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? ⁵⁰Hath not my hand made all these things? ⁵¹Ye ^destiffnecked and ^dfuncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always ^gresist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. ^52hWhich of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of ⁱthe Just One; of whom ^kye have been now the betrayers and murderers: ⁵³who have received the law ^lby the disposition of angels, and have not ^mkept it.

⁵⁴ⁿWhen they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they ^ognashed on him with their teeth. ⁵⁵But he, ^pbeing full of the Holy Ghost, ^qlooked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing ^ron the right hand of God, ⁵⁶and said, Behold, I see ^sthe heavens opened, and ^tthe Son of man standing ^ron the right hand of God. ⁵⁷Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, ⁵⁸and cast him ^uout of the city, and ^xstoned him: and ^ythe witnesses ^zlaid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. ⁵⁹And ^xthey stoned Stephen, ^acalling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, ^breceive my spirit. ⁶⁰And he ^ckneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, ^dLord, ^elay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, ^fhe fell asleep.

VIII.