The Acts of the Apostles

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 7 -

(Genesis 12:1–9)

Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

And Stephen declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

and told him, ‘Leave your country and your kindred and go to the land I will show you.’(a)

So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God brought him out of that place and into this land where you are now living.

He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a child.

God told him that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come forth and worship Me in this place.’(b)

Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

Joseph Sold into Egypt

(Genesis 37:12–30)

Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him

and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.

When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit.

On their second visit, Joseph revealed his identity to

(c)

his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh.

Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.

Israel Oppressed in Egypt

(Exodus 1:8–22)

So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.

Their bones were carried back

(d)

to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver.

As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.

Then another king, who knew nothing of Joseph, arose over Egypt.

He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.

The Birth and Adoption of Moses

(Exodus 2:1–10; Hebrews 11:23–29)

At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God.(e) For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house.

When he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.

So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

The Rejection and Flight of Moses

(Exodus 2:11–22)

When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.

And when he saw one of them being mistreated, Moses went to his defense and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian who was oppressing him.

He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.

The next day he came upon two Israelites who were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’

But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?

Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’(f)

At this remark, Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he lived as a foreigner and had two sons.

The Call of Moses

(Exodus 3:1–22)

After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.

When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came to him:

‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’(g) Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’(h)

This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’(i) is the one whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel (j) who appeared to him in the bush.

He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.

This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’(k)

He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.(l)

The Rebellion of Israel

(Exodus 32:1–35; Deuteronomy 9:7–29; Amos 5:16–27)

But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’(m)

At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.

But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’(n)

The Tabernacle of the Testimony

(Exodus 40:1–33; Hebrews 9:1–10)

Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.

And our fathers who received it brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations God drove out before them. It remained until the time of David,

who found favor in the sight of God and asked to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.(o)

But it was Solomon who built the house for Him.

However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or where will My place of repose be?

Has not My hand made all these things?’(p)

You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.

Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—

you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged,(q) and they gnashed their teeth at him.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into 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, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him.

They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Footnotes

(a)7:3 Genesis 12:1

(b)7:7 Genesis 15:13–14; Exodus 3:12

(d)7:16 Literally And they were carried back

(e)7:20 Or he was of great status in God’s eyes or he was no ordinary child

(f)7:28 Exodus 2:13–14 (see also LXX)

(g)7:32 Exodus 3:6

(h)7:34 Exodus 3:5–10

(i)7:35 Exodus 2:14

(j)7:35 Or Angel; also in verse 38

(k)7:37 Deuteronomy 18:15

(l)7:38 NE and WH to you

(m)7:40 Exodus 32:1

(n)7:43 Amos 5:25–27 (see also LXX)

(o)7:46 SBL, WH, BYZ, and TR; see also LXX for Psalms 132:5; ECM, NA, and NE a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.

(p)7:50 Isaiah 66:1–2

(q)7:54 Literally On hearing these things, they were cut in their hearts,

(Genesis 12:1–9)

The high priest said, “Are these things so?”

He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

and said to him, ‘Get out of your land and away from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’(a)

Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land where you are now living.

He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when he still had no child.

God spoke in this way: that his offspring would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve me in this place.’(b)

He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

Joseph Sold into Egypt

(Genesis 37:12–30)

“The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him

and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food.

But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time.

On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh.

Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his relatives, seventy-five souls.

Israel Oppressed in Egypt

(Exodus 1:8–22)

Jacob went down into Egypt and he died, himself and our fathers;

and they were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor of Shechem.

“But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

until there arose a different king who didn’t know Joseph.

The same took advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to abandon their babies, so that they wouldn’t stay alive.

The Birth and Adoption of Moses

(Exodus 2:1–10; Hebrews 11:23–29)

At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome to God. He was nourished three months in his father’s house.

When he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up and reared him as her own son.

Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works.

The Rejection and Flight of Moses

(Exodus 2:11–22)

But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers,(c) the children of Israel.

Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian.

He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they didn’t understand.

“The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, ‘Sirs, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?’

But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’(d)

Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

The Call of Moses

(Exodus 3:1–22)

“When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.

When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, the voice of the Lord came to him,

‘I am the God of your fathers: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’(e) Moses trembled and dared not look.

The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.’(f)

“This Moses whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.’(g)

(h)

This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living revelations to give to us,

The Rebellion of Israel

(Exodus 32:1–35; Deuteronomy 9:7–29; Amos 5:16–27)

to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,

saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’(i)

They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.

But God turned away and gave them up to serve the army of the sky,(j) as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, the star of your god Rephan, the figures which you made to worship, so I will carry you away

(k)

beyond Babylon.’

The Tabernacle of the Testimony

(Exodus 40:1–33; Hebrews 9:1–10)

“Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen;

which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations whom God drove out before the face of our fathers to the days of David,

who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.

But Solomon built him a house.

However, the Most High doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says,

‘heaven is my throne, and the earth a footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?’ says the Lord. ‘Or what is the place of my rest?

Didn’t my hand make all these things?’(l)

“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.

Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.

You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”

The Stoning of Stephen

Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly 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 at the right hand of God!”

But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord.

They threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

He kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Footnotes

(a)7:3 ℘ Genesis 12:1

(b)7:7 ℘ Genesis 15:13-14

(c)7:23 The word for “brothers” here and where the context allows may be also correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”

(d)7:28 ℘ Exodus 2:14

(e)7:32 ℘ Exodus 3:6

(f)7:34 ℘ Exodus 3:5,7-8,10

(g)7:37 TR adds “You shall listen to him.”

(h)7:37 ℘ Deuteronomy 18:15

(i)7:40 ℘ Exodus 32:1

(j)7:42 This idiom could also be translated “host of heaven”, or “angelic beings”, or “heavenly bodies.”

(k)7:43 ℘ Amos 5:25-27

(l)7:50 ℘ Isaiah 66:1-2