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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Acts 7 NET Bible</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/acts/7.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/acts/7-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NET Bible</a> > Acts 7</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../acts/6.htm" title="Acts 6">◄</a> Acts 7 <a href="../acts/8.htm" title="Acts 8">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">NET Bible</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/net/esv/acts/7.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="title">Stephen’s Defense Before the Council</p><p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Then the high priest said, “Are these things true?” <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>So he replied, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>and said to him, ‘<b><i>Go out from your country and from your relatives, and come to the land I will show you</i></b>.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Then he went out from the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this country where you now live. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>He did not give any of it to him for an inheritance, not even a foot of ground, yet God promised <i>to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him</i>, even though Abraham as yet had no child. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>But God spoke as follows: ‘Your <b><i>descendants will be foreigners</i></b> <b><i>in a foreign country, whose citizens will enslave them and mistreat them for four hundred years</i></b>. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span><b><i>But I will punish</i></b> <b><i>the nation they serve as slaves</i></b>,’ said God, ‘<b><i>and after these things they will come out of there</i></b> and <i>worship</i> <i>me in this place</i>.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>The patriarchs, because they were jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. But God was with him, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Then a famine occurred throughout Egypt and Canaan, causing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>So when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers again, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>So Joseph sent a message and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come, seventy-five people in all. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>So Jacob went down to Egypt and died there, along with our ancestors, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>and their bones were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>“But as the time drew near for God to fulfill the promise he had declared to Abraham, the people increased greatly in number in Egypt, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>until <b><i>another king who did not know about</i></b> <b><i>Joseph ruled</i></b> <b><i>over Egypt</i></b>. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>This was the one who exploited our people and was cruel to our ancestors, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful to God. For three months he was brought up in his father’s house, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>and when he had been abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>So Moses was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>But when he was about forty years old, it entered his mind to visit his fellow countrymen the Israelites. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>When he saw one of them being hurt unfairly, Moses came to his defense and avenged the person who was mistreated by striking down the Egyptian. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>He thought his own people would understand that God was delivering them through him, but they did not understand. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>The next day Moses saw two men fighting, and tried to make peace between them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why are you hurting one another?’ <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>But the man who was unfairly hurting his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying, ‘<b><i>Who made</i></b> <b><i>you a ruler and judge over us?</i></b> <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span><b><i>You don’t want to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?</i></b>’ <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>When the man said this, Moses fled and became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>“After forty years had passed, <i>an angel appeared to him in the desert</i> <i>of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush</i>. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached to investigate, there came the voice of the Lord, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>‘<b><i>I am the God of your forefathers,</i></b> <b><i>the God of Abraham, Isaac,</i></b> <b><i>and Jacob</i></b>.’ Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look more closely. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span><b><i>But the Lord said to him,</i></b> ‘<i><b>Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground</b>.</i> <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span><b><i>I have certainly seen the suffering</i></b> <b><i>of my people who are in Egypt and</i></b> <i><b>have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them</b>.</i> <b><i>Now</i></b> <b><i>come, I will send you to Egypt</i></b>.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>This same Moses they had rejected, saying, ‘<b><i>Who made you a ruler and judge?</i></b>’ God sent as both ruler and deliverer through the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>This man led them out, performing wonders and miraculous signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘<b><i>God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers</i></b>.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>This is the man who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, and he received living oracles to give to you. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span>Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him, but pushed him aside and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-40.htm"><b>40</b></a></span>saying to Aaron, ‘<b><i>Make us gods who will go in front of us, for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt</i></b> <b><i>– we do not know what has happened to him!</i></b>’ <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-41.htm"><b>41</b></a></span>At that time they made an idol in the form of a calf, brought a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing in the works of their hands. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-42.htm"><b>42</b></a></span>But God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘<b><i>It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices</i></b> <b><i>forty years in the wilderness, was it,</i></b> <b><i>house of Israel?</i></b> <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-43.htm"><b>43</b></a></span><i>But you took along the tabernacle</i> <b><i>of Moloch</i></b> <b><i>and the star of the</i></b> <b><i>god Rephan,</i></b> <b><i>the images you made to worship, but I will deport</i></b> <b><i>you beyond Babylon</i></b>.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-44.htm"><b>44</b></a></span>Our ancestors had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as God who spoke to Moses ordered him to make it according to the design he had seen. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-45.htm"><b>45</b></a></span>Our ancestors received possession of it and brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors, until the time of David. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-46.htm"><b>46</b></a></span>He found favor with God and asked that he could find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-47.htm"><b>47</b></a></span>But Solomon built a house for him. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-48.htm"><b>48</b></a></span>Yet the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands, as the prophet says,</p> <p class="otpoetry1"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-49.htm"><b>49</b></a></span>‘<b><i>Heaven is my throne,</i></b></p><p class="otpoetry2"><i><b>and earth is the footstool for my feet</b>.</i></p><p class="otpoetry2"><b><i>What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,</i></b></p><p class="otpoetry2"><b><i>or what is my resting place?</i></b></p> <p class="otpoetry1"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-50.htm"><b>50</b></a></span><b><i>Did my hand</i></b> <b><i>not make all these things?</i></b>’</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-51.htm"><b>51</b></a></span>“You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did! <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-52.htm"><b>52</b></a></span>Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-53.htm"><b>53</b></a></span>You received the law by decrees given by angels, but you did not obey it.”</p> <p class="title">Stephen is Killed</p><p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-54.htm"><b>54</b></a></span>When they heard these things, they became furious and ground their teeth at him. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-55.htm"><b>55</b></a></span>But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently toward heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-56.htm"><b>56</b></a></span>“Look!” he said. “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-57.htm"><b>57</b></a></span>But they covered their ears, shouting out with a loud voice, and rushed at him with one intent. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-58.htm"><b>58</b></a></span>When they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him, and the witnesses laid their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-59.htm"><b>59</b></a></span>They continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/7-60.htm"><b>60</b></a></span>Then he fell to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he died.</div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><a href="http://netbible.com/">NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com.<br />Used by permission. 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