7 Then said the high priest, Are these things so? 2 And 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, 3 And said unto him, dGet thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. 4 Then ccame he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, ewhen his father was dead, fhe gremoved him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. 5 And 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. 6 And 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. 7 And 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. 8 And 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. 9 And rthe patriarchs, smoved with envy, tsold Joseph into Egypt: but uGod was with him, 10 And 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. 11 yNow there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 zBut when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And aat the second time Joseph bwas made known to his brethren; and cJoseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. 14 dThen sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and eall his kindred, fthreescore and fifteen gsouls. 15 So Jacob hwent down into Egypt, and idied, he, and jour fathers, 16 And 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. 17 But when pthe time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, qthe people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 Till another king arose, rwhich knew not Joseph. 19 The 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. 20 In which time xMoses was born, and was ||exceeding yfair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: 21 And zwhen he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all athe wisdom of the Egyptians, and was bmighty in words and in deeds. 23 And when he was full forty years old, cit came into his heart dto visit his brethren the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: 25 ||For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. 26 eAnd 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? 27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, fWho made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? 29 gThen fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, hwhere he begat two sons. 30 And 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. 31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to lbehold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, 32 Saying, 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. 33 Then said the Lord to him, oPut off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. 34 pI 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. 35 This 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. 36 rHe 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. 37 This 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. 38 This 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: 39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts dturned back again into Egypt, 40 Saying 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. 41 And fthey made a calf in those days, and foffered sacrifice unto the idol, and grejoiced in hthe works of their own hands. 42 Then 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? 43 Yea, 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. 44 Our 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. 45 Which 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; 46 Who ufound favour before God, and wdesired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 47 xBut Solomon built him an house. 48 yHowbeit zthe most High adwelleth not in temples bmade with hands; as saith the prophet, 49 cHeaven 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? 50 Hath not my hand made all these things? 51 Ye destiffnecked and dfuncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always gresist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 hWhich 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: 53 Who have received the law lby the disposition of angels, and have not mkept it.

54 nWhen they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they ognashed on him with their teeth. 55 But 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, 56 And said, Behold, I see sthe heavens opened, and tthe Son of man standing ron the right hand of God. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And 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. 59 And xthey stoned Stephen, acalling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, breceive my spirit. 60 And 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.