7:1 AND THE high priest asked [Stephen], Are these charges true? |
7:2 And he answered, Brethren and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before he [went to] live in Haran, |
7:3 And He said to him, Leave your own country and your relatives and come into the land (region) that I will point out to you. |
7:4 So then he went forth from the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, [God] transferred him to this country in which you are now dwelling. |
7:5 Yet He gave him no inheritable property in it, [no] not even enough ground to set his foot on; but He promised that He would give it to Him for a permanent possession and to his descendants after him, even though [as yet] he had no child. |
7:6 And this is [in effect] what God told him: That his descendants would be aliens (strangers) in a land belonging to other people, who would bring them into bondage and ill-treat them 400 years. |
7:7 But I will judge the nation to whom they will be slaves, said God, and after that they will escape {and} come forth and worship Me in this [very] place. |
7:8 And [God] made with Abraham a covenant (an agreement to be religiously observed) of which circumcision was the seal. And under these circumstances [Abraham] became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [did so] when he became the father of Jacob, and Jacob [when each of his sons was born], the twelve patriarchs. |
7:9 And the patriarchs [Jacob's sons], boiling with envy {and} hatred {and} anger, sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt; but God was with him, |
7:10 And delivered him from all his distressing afflictions and won him goodwill {and} favor and wisdom {and} understanding in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him governor over Egypt and all his house. |
7:11 Then there came a famine over all of Egypt and Canaan, with great distress, and our forefathers could find no fodder [for the cattle] {or} vegetable sustenance [for their households]. |
7:12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our forefathers [to go there on their] first trip. |
7:13 And on their second visit Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh {and} his origin {and} race. |
7:14 And Joseph sent an invitation calling to himself Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. |
7:15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, where he himself died, as did [also] our forefathers; |
7:16 And their bodies [Jacob's and Joseph's] were taken back to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of [silver] money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. |
7:17 But as the time for the fulfillment of the promise drew near which God had made to Abraham, the [Hebrew] people increased and multiplied in Egypt, |
7:18 Until [the time when] there arose over Egypt another {and} a different king who did not know Joseph [neither knowing his history and services nor recognizing his merits]. |
7:19 He dealt treacherously with {and} defrauded our race; he abused {and} oppressed our forefathers, forcing them to expose their babies so that they might not be kept alive. |
7:20 At this juncture Moses was born, and was exceedingly beautiful in God's sight. For three months he was nurtured in his father's house; |
7:21 Then when he was exposed [to perish], the daughter of Pharaoh rescued him and took him {and} reared him as her own son. |
7:22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom {and} culture of the Egyptians, and he was mighty (powerful) in his speech and deeds. |
7:23 And when he was in his fortieth year, it came into his heart to visit his kinsmen the children of Israel [to help them and to care for them]. |
7:24 And on seeing one of them being unjustly treated, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian {and} slaying [him]. |
7:25 He expected his brethren to understand that God was granting them deliverance by his hand [taking it for granted that they would accept him]; but they did not understand. |
7:26 Then on the next day he suddenly appeared to some who were quarreling {and} fighting among themselves, and he urged them to make peace {and} become reconciled, saying, Men, you are brethren; why do you abuse {and} wrong one another? |
7:27 Whereupon the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed [Moses] aside, saying, Who appointed you a ruler (umpire) and a judge over us? |
7:28 Do you intend to slay me as you slew the Egyptian yesterday? |
7:29 At that reply Moses sought safety by flight and he was an exile {and} an alien in the country of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. |
7:30 And when forty years had gone by, there appeared to him in the wilderness (desert) of Mount Sinai an angel, in the flame of a burning bramblebush. |
7:31 When Moses saw it, he was astonished {and} marveled at the sight; but when he went close to investigate, there came to him the voice of the Lord, saying, |
7:32 I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. And Moses trembled {and} was so terrified that he did not venture to look. |
7:33 Then the Lord said to him, Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground {and} worthy of veneration. |
7:34 Because I have most assuredly seen the abuse {and} oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their sighing {and} groaning, I have come down to rescue them. So, now come! I will send you back to Egypt [as My messenger]. |
7:35 It was this very Moses whom they had denied (disowned and rejected), saying, Who made you our ruler (referee) and judge? whom God sent to be a ruler and deliverer {and} redeemer, by {and} with the [protecting and helping] hand of the Angel that appeared to him in the bramblebush. |
7:36 He it was who led them forth, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and during the forty years in the wilderness (desert). |
7:37 It was this [very] Moses who said to the children of Israel, God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren as He raised me up. |
7:38 This is he who in the assembly in the wilderness (desert) was the go-between for the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and our forefathers, and he received living oracles (words that still live) to be handed down to us. |
7:39 [And yet] our forefathers determined not to be subject to him [refusing to listen to {or} obey him]; but thrusting him aside they rejected him, and in their hearts yearned for {and} turned back to Egypt. |
7:40 And they said to Aaron, Make us gods who shall [be our leaders and] go before us; as for this Moses who led us forth from the land of Egypt--we have no knowledge of what has happened to him. |
7:41 And they [even] made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol and made merry {and} exulted in the work of their [own] hands. |
7:42 But God turned [away from them] and delivered them up to worship {and} serve the host (stars) of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: Did you [really] offer to Me slain beasts and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness (desert), O house of Israel? |
7:43 [No!] You took up the tent (the portable temple) of Moloch {and} carried it [with you], and the star of the god Rephan, the images which you [yourselves] made that you might worship them; and I will remove you [carrying you away into exile] beyond Babylon. |
7:44 Our forefathers had the tent (tabernacle) of witness in the wilderness, even as He Who directed Moses to make it had ordered, according to the pattern {and} model he had seen. |
7:45 Our forefathers in turn brought it [this tent of witness] in [with them into the land] with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations which God drove out before the face of our forefathers. [So it remained here] until the time of David, |
7:46 Who found grace (favor and spiritual blessing) in the sight of God and prayed that he might be allowed to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. [II Sam. 7:8-16; Ps. 132:1-5.] |
7:47 But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. [I Kings 6.] |
7:48 However, the Most High does not dwell in houses {and} temples made with hands; as the prophet says, |
7:49 Heaven [is] My throne, and earth the footstool for My feet. What [kind of] house can you build for Me, says the Lord, or what is the place in which I can rest? |
7:50 Was it not My hand that made all these things? |
7:51 You stubborn {and} stiff-necked people, still heathen {and} uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. As your forefathers [were], so you [are and so you do]! |
7:52 Which of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? And they slew those who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, Whom you now have betrayed and murdered-- |
7:53 You who received the Law as it was ordained {and} set in order {and} delivered by angels, and [yet] you did not obey it! |
7:54 Now upon hearing these things, they [the Jews] were cut to the heart {and} infuriated, and they ground their teeth against [Stephen]. |
7:55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit {and} controlled by Him, gazed into heaven and saw the glory (the splendor and majesty) of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand; |
7:56 And he said, Look! I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at God's right hand! |
7:57 But they raised a great shout and put their hands over their ears and rushed together upon him. |
7:58 Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him, and the witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. |
7:59 And while they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, Lord Jesus, receive {and} accept {and} welcome my spirit! |
7:60 And falling on his knees, he cried out loudly, Lord, fix not this sin upon them [lay it not to their charge]! And when he had said this, he fell asleep [in death]. |