Acts 6

CHAPTER 6

Selection of the Seven

¹Now in those days, while the ^adisciples were ^bmultiplying in number, there was grumbling from the ^1cHellenists against the ^dHebrews, because their ^ewidows were being overlooked in ^fthe daily serving of food.

²So the twelve summoned the ¹congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not pleasing to God for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

³“Therefore, ^abrothers, select from among you seven men of good reputation, ^bfull of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this need.

⁴“But we will ^adevote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.”

⁵And this word pleased the whole ¹congregation, and they chose ^aStephen, a man ^bfull of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and ^cPhilip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a ^2dproselyte from ^eAntioch.

⁶And these they stood before the apostles, and after ^apraying, they ^blaid their hands on them.

^7aAnd the word of God kept on spreading, and ^bthe number of the disciples continued to multiply greatly in Jerusalem, and a great ¹many of the priests were becoming obedient to ^cthe faith.

Stephen Accused of Blasphemy

⁸And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great ^awonders and ¹signs among the people.

⁹But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both ^aCyrenians and ^bAlexandrians, and some from ^cCilicia and ^1dAsia, rose up and were arguing with Stephen.

¹⁰But they were unable to oppose the wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

¹¹Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

¹²And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they ^acame up to him, dragged him away, and brought him to ^bthe Sanhedrin.

¹³And they put forward ^afalse witnesses who said, “This man never ceases speaking words against this ^bholy place and the Law;

¹⁴for we have heard him say that ^athis Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and alter ^bthe customs which Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the ^aSanhedrin saw his face like the face of an angel.