1 ARST Then the high priest asked Stephen,“Are the things that these people are saying about you true?” BSB BSB: Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
2 ARST Stephen replied,“Fellow Jews and respected leaders, please listen to me! The glorious God whom we worship appeared to our forefather Abraham while he was still living in the region of Mesopotamia, before he moved to the city of Haran. BSB BSB: And Stephen declared: “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 ARST God said to him,‘Leave this land where you and your relatives are living and go into the land to which I will direct you.’ BSB BSB: and told him, ‘Leave your country and your kindred and go to the land I will show you.’
4 ARST So Abraham left that land, which was also called Chaldea, and he arrived in Haran and lived there. After his father died, God told him to move to this land where our people are now living. BSB BSB: So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God brought him out of that place and into this land where you are now living.
5 ARST At that time God did not give Abraham any land to own here, not even a small plot of this land. But God promised that later he would give this land to him and his descendants, and that it would always belong to them. However, at that time Abraham did not have any children who would inherit it. BSB BSB: He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a child.
6 ARST Later God told Abraham,‘Your descendants will go and live in a foreign country. They will live there for four hundred years. During that time, the rulers will mistreat your descendants and force them to work as slaves. BSB BSB: God told him that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
7 ARST But I will punish the people who make them work as slaves,’ said God.‘After that, your descendants will leave that land, and they will come and worship me in this land.’ BSB BSB: ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come forth and worship Me in this place.’
8 ARST Then God commanded that every male in Abraham’ s household and all of his male descendants should be circumcised to show that they all belonged to God. Later Abraham’ s son, Isaac, was born, and when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. Later Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacob was the father of the 12 men whom we Jews call the patriarchs, our forefathers. BSB BSB: Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
9 ARST You know that Jacob’ s older sons became jealous because their father favored their younger brother Joseph. So they sold him to merchants who took him to Egypt, where he became a slave. But God took care of Joseph. BSB BSB: Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
10 ARST God protected him whenever people caused him to suffer. He enabled Joseph to be wise, and he caused Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to think well of Joseph. So Pharaoh appointed him to rule over Egypt and to look after all of Pharaoh’ s property. BSB BSB: and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.
11 ARST { While Joseph was doing that work,} there was a time when there was very little food anywhere in Egypt and also in Canaan. People were suffering badly. At that time Jacob and his sons in Canaan could not find enough food to eat. BSB BSB: Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food.
12 ARST When Jacob heard a report that there was grain in Egypt that people could buy, he sent Joseph’ s older brothers there to buy grain.{ They went and bought grain from Joseph, but they did not recognize him. Then they returned home.} BSB BSB: When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit.
13 ARST When Joseph’ s brothers went to Egypt again, they bought grain from Joseph once more. But this time he told them who he was. And so Pharaoh found out that these men who had come from Canaan were Joseph’ s brothers. BSB BSB: On their second visit, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh.
14 ARST Joseph sent his brothers back home to tell their father Jacob that Joseph wanted him and his entire family to come to Egypt. At that time Jacob’ s family consisted of 75 people. BSB BSB: Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.
15 ARST So when Jacob heard that, he and all his family went to live in Egypt.{ Later on,} Jacob died there, and our other ancestors, his sons, also died there. BSB BSB: So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.
16 ARST Their descendants brought their bodies back to our land and buried them in the tomb that Abraham bought from Hamor’ s sons in the city of Shechem. BSB BSB: Their bones were carried back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver.
17 ARST Our ancestors had become very numerous by the time God was about to rescue them from Egypt. That is what God had promised Abraham he would do. BSB BSB: As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.
18 ARST Another king had begun to rule in Egypt. He did not know that Joseph had greatly helped the people of Egypt{ long before his own time}. BSB BSB: Then another king, who knew nothing of Joseph, arose over Egypt.
19 ARST That king tried to get rid of our ancestors in cruel ways. He oppressed them and caused them to suffer greatly. He even commanded them to abandon their newborn babies outside their homes so that the babies would die. BSB BSB: He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.
20 ARST During that time Moses was born, and God saw that he was a very beautiful child. His parents secretly cared for him in their house for three months. BSB BSB: At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God. For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house.
21 ARST Then they had to abandon him outside the house. But Pharaoh’ s daughter found him and cared for him as her own son. BSB BSB: When he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
22 ARST The Egyptians taught Moses the many things that they had learned. When he grew up, he spoke and did things powerfully. BSB BSB: So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23 ARST One day when Moses was about forty years old, he decided to see how his relatives, the people of Israel, were doing. BSB BSB: When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
24 ARST He saw an Egyptian mistreating one of the Israelites. So he went over to help the Israelite man. He avenged him by killing the Egyptian. BSB BSB: And when he saw one of them being mistreated, Moses went to his defense and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian who was oppressing him.
25 ARST Moses expected that his fellow Israelites would understand that God had sent him to free them from being slaves. But they did not understand. BSB BSB: He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.
26 ARST The next day, Moses saw two of his fellow Israelites fighting each other. He tried to make them stop by saying to them,‘Now you two are both Israelites! You must stop hurting each other!’ BSB BSB: The next day he came upon two Israelites who were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’
27 ARST But the man who was injuring the other man pushed Moses away. He said to him,‘You have no authority over us! BSB BSB: But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
28 ARST You probably want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday!’ BSB BSB: Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
29 ARST When Moses heard that, he fled from Egypt to the land of Midian. He lived there for some years.{ He got married, and} he{ and his wife} had two sons. BSB BSB: At this remark, Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he lived as a foreigner and had two sons.
30 ARST One day forty years later, the Lord God came to Moses in the form of an angel. This was in the desert near Mount Sinai. He appeared in the flames of a bush that was on fire. BSB BSB: After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
31 ARST When Moses saw it, he was amazed because the bush was not burning up. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord God say to him, BSB BSB: When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came to him:
32 ARST ‘I am the God whom your ancestors worshiped. I am the God whom Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worship.’ Moses was so afraid that he began to shake. He was afraid to look at the bush any longer. BSB BSB: ‘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 ARST Then the Lord God said to him,‘Take your sandals off to show that you honor me. Because I am here, the place where you are standing is especially mine. BSB BSB: Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
34 ARST I have seen clearly how the people of Egypt are continually causing my people to suffer. I have heard my people when they groan because of it. So I am taking action to rescue them from Egypt. Now get ready, because I am going to send you back to Egypt.’ BSB BSB: I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’
35 ARST This Moses is the one who had tried to help our Israelite people. But they rejected him by saying,‘You have no authority over us!’ Moses is the one whom God himself sent to rule them and to free them from being slaves. He did that with the help of the angel who spoke to him from the bush. BSB BSB: This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
36 ARST Moses is the one who led our ancestors out from Egypt. He did many kinds of miracles in Egypt, at the Sea of Reeds, and during the forty years that the Israelite people lived in the wilderness. BSB BSB: He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
38 ARST It was this man Moses who was among the Israelites who were together in the wilderness. God spoke through the angel on Mount Sinai to give Moses our laws. Moses was the one who told our ancestors what the angel had said. He was the one to whom God gave commandments and who passed them on to us. Those commandments are still powerful today. BSB BSB: He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us.
39 ARST However, our ancestors did not want to obey Moses. Instead, they rejected him as their leader and wanted to return to Egypt. BSB BSB: But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
40 ARST So they told his older brother Aaron,‘Make idols for us who will be our gods to lead us. As for that fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!’ BSB BSB: They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’
41 ARST When the Israelites rejected Moses, they made an image that looked like a calf. Then they offered sacrifices to honor that idol. They sang and danced to worship something that they themselves had made. BSB BSB: At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.
42 ARST So God stopped correcting them. He left them to worship the stars in the sky. This agrees with what one of the prophets wrote: God said,‘You Israelite people repeatedly killed animals and offered them to me with grain as sacrifices during those forty years that you were in the wilderness. But you certainly were not truly offering them to me! BSB BSB: But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43 ARST On the contrary, you carried with you the tent that contained the idol representing the god Molech that you worshiped. You also carried with you the image of the star called Rephan. Those were idols that you had made, and you worshiped them instead of me. So I will cause you to be taken away far from your homes to regions even farther than the country of Babylon.’ BSB BSB: You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
44 ARST While our ancestors were in the desert, they worshiped God at the sacred tent that showed that he was there with them. They had made the tent exactly like God had commanded Moses to make it. It was exactly like the model that Moses had seen when he was up on the mountain. BSB BSB: Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
45 ARST Later on, other ancestors of ours carried that tent with them when Joshua led them into this land. That was during the time when they took this land for themselves, when God forced the people who previously lived here to leave. So the Israelites were able to possess this land. The tent remained in this land and was still here when King David ruled. BSB BSB: And our fathers who received it brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations God drove out before them. It remained until the time of David,
46 ARST David pleased God, and he asked God to let him build a temple where he and all of our Israelite people could worship God. BSB BSB: who found favor in the sight of God and asked to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
47 ARST But instead, God told David’ s son Solomon to build a temple where people could worship him. BSB BSB: But it was Solomon who built the house for Him.
48 ARST However, we know that God, who is greater than everything, does not live in temples that people build. It is as the prophet Isaiah wrote: BSB BSB: However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 ARST God said,‘I created everything in heaven and on earth. My presence fills all of creation. So you human beings cannot make a place good enough for me to live in!’ BSB BSB: ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or where will My place of repose be?
51 ARST You people are disobedient to God, as if you did not even know God! You are exactly like your ancestors! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as they did! BSB BSB: You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
52 ARST Your ancestors caused every prophet to suffer. They even killed those who long ago announced that the Messiah would come, the one who always did what pleased God. And the Messiah has come! He is the one whom you recently turned over to his enemies and insisted that they kill him! BSB BSB: Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—
53 ARST You are the people who have received God’ s laws. Those were laws that God caused angels to give to our ancestors. However, you have not obeyed them!” BSB BSB: you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.”
54 ARST When the Jewish council members and others there heard all that Stephen said, they became very angry. They were grinding their teeth together because they were so angry at him! BSB BSB: On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.
55 ARST But the Holy Spirit completely controlled Stephen. He looked up into heaven and saw a dazzling light from God, and he saw Jesus standing at God’ s right side. BSB BSB: But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
56 ARST “Look,” he said,“I see right into heaven, and I see the Son of Man{ in human form} standing where God rules!” BSB BSB: “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57 ARST { When the Jewish council members and others heard that,} they shouted loudly. They put their hands over their ears so that they would not hear him. All together they ran up to Stephen and grabbed him. BSB BSB: At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him.
58 ARST They dragged him outside the city of Jerusalem and started to throw stones at him to kill him. The people who were accusing him took off their outer garments in order to throw stones more easily. They put these garments on the ground next to a young man whose name was Saul so that he could guard them. BSB BSB: They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 ARST While they continued to throw stones at Stephen, Stephen prayed out loud,“Lord Jesus, welcome me when I die!” BSB BSB: While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
60 ARST Then Stephen knelt down and cried out loud,“Lord, do not punish them for this sin!” After he had said this, he died. BSB BSB: Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.