1  And the high priest[1] said, Are these things then so?

2  And he said[2], Brethren and fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in[3] Mesopotamia[4], before he dwelt in Charran[5],

3  and said to him, Go out of thy land and out of thy kindred, and come into the land which I will shew thee.

4  Then going out of the land of the Chaldeans he dwelt in Charran, and thence, after his father died, he removed him into this land in which *ye* now dwell.

5  And he did not give him an inheritance in it, not even what his foot could stand on; and promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he had no child.

6  And God spoke thus: His seed shall be a sojourner in a strange land, and they shall enslave them and evil entreat them four hundred years;[6]

7  and the nation to which they shall be in bondage will *I* judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and serve me in this place.

8  And he gave to him the covenant of circumcision; and thus he begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.

9  And the patriarchs, envying Joseph, sold him away into Egypt. And God was with him,

10  and delivered him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he appointed him chief over Egypt and all his house.

11  But a famine came upon all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great distress, and our fathers found no food.

12  But Jacob, having heard of there being corn in Egypt, sent out our fathers first;

13  and the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh.

14  And Joseph sent and called down to him his father Jacob[7] and all his kindred, seventy-five souls.

15  And Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers,[8]

16  and were carried over to Sychem and placed in the sepulchre which Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.

17  But as the time of promise drew near which God had promised to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

18  until another king over Egypt arose who did not know Joseph.

19  *He* dealt subtilly with our race, and evil entreated the fathers, casting out their infants that they might not live.

20  In which time Moses was born, and was exceedingly lovely, who was nourished three months in the house of his father.

21  And when he was cast out, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up, and brought him up for herself to be for a son.

22  And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

23  And when a period of forty years was fulfilled to him, it came into his heart to look upon his brethren, the sons of Israel;

24  and seeing a certain one wronged, he defended him , and avenged him that was being oppressed, smiting the Egyptian.

25  For he thought that his brethren would understand that God by his hand was giving them deliverance. But they understood not.

26  And on the morrow he shewed himself to them as they were contending, and compelled them to peace, saying, *Ye* are brethren, why do ye wrong one another?

27  But he that was wronging his neighbour thrust him away, saying, Who established thee ruler and judge over us?

28  Dost *thou* wish to kill me as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday?

29  And Moses fled at this saying, and became a sojourner in the land of Madiam, where he begat two sons.

30  And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in a flame of fire of a bush.

31  And Moses seeing it wondered at the vision; and as he went up to consider it, there was a voice of the Lord,

32  *I* am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not consider it .

33  And the Lord said to him, Loose the sandal of thy feet, for the place on which thou standest is holy ground.

34  I have surely seen the ill treatment of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groan, and have come down to take them out of it; and now, come, I will send thee to Egypt.

35  This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who made thee ruler and judge? him did God send to be a ruler and deliverer with the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

36  *He* led them out, having wrought wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

37  This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, A prophet shall God raise up to you out of your brethren like me him shall ye hear .

38  This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness[9], with the angel who spoke to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers; who received living oracles to give to us;

39  to whom our fathers would not be subject, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,

40  saying to Aaron, Make us gods who shall go before us; for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has happened to him.

41  And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

42  But God turned and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, Have ye offered me victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

43  Yea, ye took up the tent of Moloch[10], and the star of your god Remphan[11], the forms which ye made to do homage to them; and I will transport you beyond Babylon.

44  Our fathers had the tent of the testimony in the wilderness[12], as he that spoke to Moses commanded to make it according to the model which he had seen;

45  which also our fathers, receiving from their predecessors, brought in with Joshua when they entered into possession of the lands of the nations, whom God drove out from the face of our fathers, until the days of David;

46  who found favour before God, and asked to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob;

47  but Solomon built him a house.

48  But the Most High dwells not in places made with hands; as says the prophet,

49  The heaven is my throne and the earth the footstool of my feet: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord, or where is the place of my rest?

50  has not my hand made all these things?

51  O stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, *ye* do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers, *ye* also.

52  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain those who announced beforehand concerning the coming of the Just One, of whom *ye* have now become deliverers up and murderers!

53  who have received the law as ordained by the ministry of angels, and have not kept it .

54  And hearing these things they were cut to the heart, and gnashed their teeth against him.

55  But being full of the Holy Spirit, having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,[13]

56  and said, Lo, I behold the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.

57  And they cried out with a loud voice, and held their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord;

58  and having cast him out of the city, they stoned him . And the witnesses[14] laid aside their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul.[15]

59  And they stoned Stephen, praying, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

60  And kneeling down, he cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And having said this, he fell asleep.[16]

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[1] (7:1). high priest. This was Caiaphas.

[2] (7:2). And he said.The sermon Stephen preached is the longest in the Book of Acts.

[3] (7:2). he was in. God called Abraham first when he was in Mesopotamia (Gen 15:7).

[4] (7:2). Mesopotamia. The English word Mesopotamia comes from the Greek phrase meaning “between the rivers,” which refers to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In the Old Testament, this word appears only five times.

[5] (7:2). Charran. Also known as Haran. A significant junction and trading hub in Syria, located approximately 20 miles south of Edessa along the Belias (currently Belikh) River, along the primary route that connected Nineveh to Carchemish and further to the Mediterranean coastline. The name (Heb. ḥārān, Akkad. ḥarrānu) translates to “road, route, caravan.” In Hittite, it evolved into Havana, which is the root of the English word caravan. Haran is first referenced in the Bible as the destination Terah travelled to from Ur of the Chaldeans.

[6] (7:6). four hundred years. Likely a round figure indicating 430 years (Gal. 3:17).

[7] (7:14). The House of Jacob were seventy, with the wives of Jacob’s sons there were seventy five persons.

[8] (7:15). Jacob went down into Egypt and died. Jacob was buried in a cave at Hebron.

[9] (7:38). the assembly in the wilderness. Assembly/church. Israel in the land is never called a church. In the wilderness Israel was a true church, but in contrast with the New Testament assembly/church. (Gr. ecclesia = called out assembly).

[10] (7:43). Moloch. Associated with pagan worship and human sacrifices.

[11] (7:43). Remphan. A false god associated with the planet Saturn.

[12] (7:44). testiomy in the wilderness. Testament to the presence of God.

[13] (7:55) Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Jesus completed His sacrificial role for sin on the cross; hence, He is occasionally depicted as sitting at God’s right hand (Heb. 1:3). However, His ongoing role in supporting His people persists (as seen with Stephen); thus, He is shown as standing to serve (Rev. 2:1).

[14] (7:58). And the witnesses. The reference to witnesses indicates that they performed the actions of a legal execution (Lev. 24:14), likely without obtaining Pilate’s formal consent. During stoning, the first official witness would push the unclothed victim from a nine-foot platform. Following that, the second official witness would drop a heavy stone onto the victim’s head or chest, while others threw stones at the man as he lay dying.

[15] (7:58). Saul of Tarsus/Paul the Apostle. A Roman citizen, Pharisee, and persecutor of the church, he played a role in endorsing Stephen’s martyrdom. Nevertheless, he underwent a profound conversion on the road to Damascus when he experienced a vision of the resurrected Christ and became blind. He began spreading the gospel in Galatia, Damascus, and Jerusalem before embarking on various missionary journeys. To sustain himself, he worked as a tentmaker. He established numerous churches along the Mediterranean and wrote many letters (Romans–Philemon) to maintain contact with the congregations he had founded and the individuals he had entrusted with responsibilities. He felt a particular calling for ministry among the Gentiles. He was imprisoned in Caesarea and later sent to Rome for trial, where he faced additional imprisonment and house arrest. It is believed that he was martyred during Nero’s reign.

[16] (7:60). fell asleep. This phrase refers to the physical passing of believers (John 11:11; 1 Thess. 4:13, 15). They are said to sleep in Jesus because one day they will rise again.