ACTS Chapter 7 - Stephen's Speech To The Sanhedrin

Stephen's Speech To The Sanhedrin

Then the High Priest asked him,

'ARE THESE CHARGES TRUE?'

2 To this he replied”

'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.

3 'LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR PEOPLE,' GOD SAID,

AND GO TO THE LAND I WILL SHOW YOU.'

4 So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran.

After the death of his father,

God sent him to this land where you are now living.

5 He gave him no Inheritance here,

Not even a foot of ground.

But God Promised him

That he wand his Descendants after him

Would possess the land,

Even though at the time Abraham had no child.

6 God spoke to him in this way;

'YOUR DECENDANTS WILL BE STRANGERS

IN A COUNTRY NOT THEIR OWN,

AND THEY WILL BE ENSLAVED

AND MISTREATED FOUR HUNDRED YEARS.

7 But I will Punish the Nation they serve as slaves,'

God said,

And afterward they will come out of that country

And worship me in this place.'

8 THEN HE GAVE ABRAHM THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION.

And Abraham became the father of Isaac

And circumcised him eight days after his birth.

Later Isaac became the father of Jacob,

And Jacob became the father of the Twelve Patriarchs.

9 Because the Patriarchs were Jealous of Joseph,

They Sold him as a Slave into Egypt.

But God was with him

10 And Rescued him from all his Troubles.

He gave Joseph wisdom

And enabled him to gain the good will of Pharaoh

King of Egypt;

So he made him Ruler over Egypt and all his Palace.

11 Then a Famine struck all Egypt and Canaan,

Bringing Great Suffering,

And our fathers could not find food.

12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt,

He sent our fathers on their first Visit,

Joseph told his brother who he was,

And Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family.

14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family,

Seventy-five in all.

15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt,

Where he and our fathers died.

16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem

And placed in the Tomb the sons of Hamor

At Shechem for a certain sum of money.

17 As the time drew near

For God to Fulfill His Promise to Abraham,

The number of our people on Egypt greatly increased.

18 Then another king,

Who knew nothing about Joseph,

Became Ruler of Egypt.

19 He dealt Treacherously with our people

And Oppressed our forefathers

By forcing them to throw out their new born babies

So that they would die.

20 At that time Moses was born,

And he was no Ordinary Child.

For three months he was cared for in his father's house.

21 When he was placed outside,

Pharaoh's Daughter took him

And brought him up as her own son.

22 Moses was Educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians

And was Powerful in Speech and Action.

23 When Moses was forty years old,

He decided to visit his fellow Israelites.

24 He saw one of them being mistreated by and Egyptian,

So he went to his Defense

And Avenged him by Killing the Egyptian.

25 Moses thought that his own people

Would realize that God was using him to Rescue them,

But they did not.

26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites

Who were fighting.

He tried to reconcile them by saying,

'Men, you are brothers;

Why do you want to hurt each other?'

But the man who was Mistreating the other

Pushed Moses aside and said,

'Who made you Ruler and Judge over us?

28 Do you want to Kill me

As you Killed the Egyptian yesterday?'

29 When Moses heard this,

He Fled to Midian,

Where he settled as a Foreigner and had two sons.

30 After Forty years had passed,

AN ANGEL APPEARED TO MOSES

IN THE FLAMES OF A BURNING BUSH

IN THE DESERT NEAR MOUNT SINAI.

WHEN HE SAW THIS HE WAS AMAZED AT THE SIGHT.

Ashe went over to look more closely,

He heard the Lord's Voice:

32 'I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS,

THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB.'

MOSES TREMBLED WITH FEAR

AND DID NOT DARE TO LOOK.

33 Then the Lord said to him,

'TAKE OFF YOUR SANDALS;

THE PLACE WHERE YOU ARE STANDING

IS HOLY GROUND.

34 I HAVE INDEED SEEN THE OPPRESSION

OF MY PEOPLE IN EGYPT.

I HAVE HEARD THEIR GROANING

AND HAVE COME DOWN TO SET THEM FREE.

NOW COME, I WILL SEND YOU BACK TO EGYPT.'

35 This same Moses

Whom they had Rejected with the words,

'WHO MADE YOU RULER AND JUDGE?'

He was sent to be their ruler and Deliverer

By God Himself,

Through the Angel

Who appeared to him in the Bush.

36 He led them out of Egypt

And did Wonders and Miraculous Signs in Egypt,

At the Red Sea

And for forty years in the desert.

37 This is that Moses who told the Israelites,

'GO WILL SEND YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME

FROM YOUR OWN PEOPLE.'

38 He was in the Assembly in the Desert,

With our fathers and with the Angel

Who spoke to him on Mount Sinai;

AND HE RECEIVED LIVING WORDS

TO PASS ON TO US.

39 BUT OUR FATHERS REFUSED TO OBEY HIM.

INSTEAD THEY REJECTED HIM

AND IN THEIR HEARTS TURNED BACK TO EGYPT.

40 They told Aaron,

'MAKE US GODS WHO WILL GO BEFORE US.

As for this fellow Moses

Who led us out of Egypt--

We don't know what has happened to him!'

41 That was the time they made an Idol

In the form of a Calf.

They brought Sacrifices to it

AND HELD A CELEBRATION IN HONOR

OF WHAT THEIR HANDS HAD MADE.

42 BUT GOD TURNED AWAY

AND GAVE THEM OVER TO THE WORSHIP

OF THE HEAVENLY BODIES.

This agrees with what is written

In the book of the Prophets:

'Did you bring Me Sacrifices and Offerings

Forty years in the Desert, O House of Israel?

43 You have lifted up the Shrine of Moloch

and the Star of your god Rephan,

the Idols you made to worship.

THEREFORE I WILL SEND YOU INTO EXILE

BEYOND BABYLON.

44 Our forefathers

Had the Tabernacle of Testimony with them in the Desert.

I had been made as God directed Moses,

According to the Pattern he had seen.

45 Having received the Tabernacle,

Our fathers under Joshua

Brought it with them when they took the land

From the Nations God Drove Out before them.

It remained in the land until the time of David,

Who enjoyed God's Favor

And asked that he might provide a Dwelling Place

For the God of Jacob.

But it was Solomon who built the House for him.

48 However, the Most High does not live

In Houses made by men.

As the Prophet says:

49 Heaven is My Throne

And Earth is My Footstool.

What kind of House will you build for Me?

Says the Lord.

Or where will My Resting Place be?

50 Has not My Hand made all these things?

51 YOU STIFF-NECKED PEOPLE,

WITH UNCIRCUMCISED HEARTS AND EARS!

YOU ARE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHERS:

YOU ALWAYS RESIST THE HOLY SPIRIT!

52 WAS THERE EVER A PROPHET

YOUR FATHERS DID NOT PERSECUTE?

THEY EVEN KILLED THOSE WHO PREDICTED

THE COMING OF THE RIGHTEOUS ONE.

AND NOW YOU HAVE BETRAYED AND MURDERED HIM--

53 YOU WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE LAW

THAT WAS PUT INTO EFFECT TRHOUGH ANGELS

BUT HAVE NOT OBEYED IT.

The Stoning Of Stephen

54 WHEN THEY HEARD THIS,

THEY WERE FURIOUS

AND GNASHED THEIR TEETH AT HIM.

BUT STEPHEN, FULL OW THE HOLY SPIRIT,

LOOKED UP TO HEAVEN

AND SAW THE GLORY OF GOD,

AND JESUS STANDING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD.

56 'LOOK,' he said,

'I SEE HEAVEN OPEN

AND THE SON OF MAN STANDING

AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD.'

57 At this they Covered their ears and,

Yelling at the top of their voices

They all rushed at him,

58 Dragged him out of the City

And began to Stone him.

Meanwhile, the Witnesses

Laid their clothes at the feet

Of a young man named Saul.

While they were Stoning him,

Stephen prayed,

'LORD JESUS, RECEIVE MY SPIRIT.'

60 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.

(Acts 7)