^7:55But Stephen,¹⁶⁸ full¹⁶⁹ of the Holy Spirit, looked intently¹⁷⁰ toward heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing¹⁷¹ at the right hand of God. ^7:56“Look!” he said.¹⁷² “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” ^7:57But they covered their ears,¹⁷³ shouting out with a loud voice, and rushed at him with one intent. ^7:58When¹⁷⁴ they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him,¹⁷⁵ and the witnesses laid their cloaks¹⁷⁶ at the feet of a young man named Saul. ^7:59They¹⁷⁷ continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ^7:60Then he fell¹⁷⁸ to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”¹⁷⁹ When¹⁸⁰ he had said this, he died.¹⁸¹

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Footnotes

168 Grk “he”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
169 Grk “being full,” but the participle ὑπάρχων (huparchōn) has not been translated since it would be redundant in English.
170 Grk “looking intently toward heaven, saw.” The participle ἀτενίσας (atenisas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
171 The picture of Jesus standing (rather than seated) probably indicates his rising to receive his child. By announcing his vision, Stephen thoroughly offended his audience, who believed no one could share God’s place in heaven. The phrase is a variation on Ps 110:1.
172 Grk “And he said, ‘Look!’ ” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.
173 They covered their ears to avoid hearing what they considered to be blasphemy.
174 Grk “And when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.
175 They began to stone him. The irony of the scene is that the people do exactly what the speech complains about in v. 52.
176 Or “outer garments.” Laid their cloaks. The outer garment, or cloak, was taken off and laid aside to leave the arms free (in this case for throwing stones).
177 Grk “And they.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.
178 Grk “Then falling to his knees he cried out.” The participle θείς (theis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
179 The remarks Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and Lord, do not hold this sin against them recall statements Jesus made on the cross (Luke 23:34, 46).
180 Grk “And when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.
181 The verb κοιμάω (koimaō) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he fell asleep.

NLTNew Living Translation

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”

Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.

As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But crying out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and rushed at him with one purpose. And after they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him, and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they kept on stoning Stephen as he was calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after he said this, he fell asleep.

KJV 1900King James Version

But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

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