The Book of the Acts of the
Apostles
Acts Chapter 7
1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so?
2 And 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,
3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy
kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in
Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this
land, wherein ye now dwell.
5 And 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.
6 And 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.
7 And 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.
8 And 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.
9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but
God was with him,
10 And 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.
11 Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan,
and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
12 But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out
our fathers first.
13 And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren;
and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.
14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all
his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.
15 So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,
16 And 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.
17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn
to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.
19 The 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.
20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and
nourished up in his father's house three months:
21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and
nourished him for her own son.
22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and
was mighty in words and in deeds.
23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to
visit his brethren the children of Israel.
24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and
avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:
25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God
by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
26 And 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?
27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who
made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?
29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land
of Madian, where he begat two sons.
30 And 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.
31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near
to behold it, the voice of the LORD came unto him,
32 Saying, 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.
33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for
the place where thou standest is holy ground.
34 I 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.
35 This 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.
36 He 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.
37 This 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.
38 This 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:
39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them,
and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
40 Saying 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.
41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto
the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven;
as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye
offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the
wilderness?
43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your
god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away
beyond Babylon.
44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as
he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the
fashion that he had seen.
45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus
into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our
fathers, unto the days of David;
46 Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle
for the God of Jacob.
47 But Solomon built him an house.
48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
as saith the prophet,
49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will
ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
50 Hath not my hand made all these things?
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always
resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which 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:
53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have
not kept it.
54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and
they gnashed on him with their teeth.
55 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,
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man
standing on the right hand of God.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears,
and ran upon him with one accord,
58 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.
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 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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