Acts 7

₁Then said the high priest, Are these things so? ₂And he said,

Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, ₃and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. ₄Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed 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 he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.

₆And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four 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 serve me in this place. ₈And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. ₉And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, ₁₀and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ₁₁Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. ₁₂But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. ₁₃And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. ₁₄Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. ₁₅So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, ₁₆and were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem. ₁₇But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, ₁₈Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. ₁₉The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.

₂₀In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months: ₂₁and when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. ₂₂And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. ₂₃And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to 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. ₂₆And 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, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? ₂₈Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? ₂₉Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. ₃₀And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of 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 behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, ₃₂saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. ₃₃Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. ₃₄I 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 by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. ₃₆He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

₃₇This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. ₃₈This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: ₃₉to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, ₄₀saying unto Aaron, Make 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 they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. ₄₂Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets,

₄₈Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

₅₁Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. ₅₂Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: ₅₃who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

₅₄When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. ₅₅But 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, ₅₆and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on 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 out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. ₅₉And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. ₆₀And 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.