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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=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Acts 7 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</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" /></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="/bmcc/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/catholic">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NRSVCE</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">New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</td><td width="1%" valign="top"></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><div class="text-html"> <h3><span id="en" class="text">Stephen’s Speech to the Council</span></h3><p class="chapter-1"><span class="text"><span class="versenum">1</span>Then the high priest asked him, “Are these things so?” </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">2</span>And Stephen replied:</span></p><p><span class="text">“Brothers<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-31380a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote a">a</a>]</span> and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">3</span>and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.’ </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">4</span>Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God had him move from there to this country in which you are now living. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">5</span>He did not give him any of it as a heritage, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as his possession and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">6</span>And God spoke in these terms, that his descendants would be resident aliens in a country belonging to others, who would enslave them and mistreat them during four hundred years. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">7</span>‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">8</span>Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-31386b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote b">b</a>]</span> 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.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">9</span>“The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">10</span>and rescued him from all his afflictions, and enabled him to win favor and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">11</span>Now there came a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan, and great suffering, and our ancestors could find no food. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">12</span>But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">13</span>On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">14</span>Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in all; </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">15</span>so Jacob went down to Egypt. He himself died there as well as our ancestors, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">16</span>and their bodies<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-31394c" title="See footnote c">c</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote c">c</a>]</span> were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">17</span>“But as the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased and multiplied </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">18</span>until another king who had not known Joseph ruled over Egypt. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">19</span>He dealt craftily with our race and forced our ancestors to abandon their infants so that they would die. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">20</span>At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful before God. For three months he was brought up in his father’s house; </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">21</span>and when he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">22</span>So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">23</span>“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his relatives, the Israelites.<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-31401d" title="See footnote d">d</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote d">d</a>]</span> </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">24</span>When he saw one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">25</span>He supposed that his kinsfolk would understand that God through him was rescuing them, but they did not understand. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">26</span>The next day he came to some of them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong each other?’ </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">27</span>But the man who was wronging his neighbor pushed Moses<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-31405e" title="See footnote e">e</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote e">e</a>]</span> aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">28</span>Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">29</span>When he heard this, Moses fled and became a resident alien in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">30</span>“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">31</span>When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to look, there came the voice of the Lord: </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">32</span>‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">33</span>Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">34</span>I have surely seen the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.’</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">35</span>“It was this Moses whom they rejected when they said, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ and whom God now sent as both ruler and liberator through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">36</span>He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">37</span>This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up a prophet for you from your own people<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-31415f" title="See footnote f">f</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote f">f</a>]</span> as he raised me up.’ </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">38</span>He is the one 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 us. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">39</span>Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">40</span>saying to Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will lead the way for us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">41</span>At that time they made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">42</span>But God turned away from them and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:</span></p><div class="poetry"><p class="line"><span class="text">‘Did you offer to me slain victims and sacrifices</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks">    </span><span class="text">forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">43</span>No; you took along the tent of Moloch,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks">    </span><span class="text">and the star of your god Rephan,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-2"><span class="indent-2-breaks">        </span><span class="text">the images that you made to worship;</span></span><br /><span class="text">so I will remove you beyond Babylon.’</span></p></div> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">44</span>“Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-31422g" title="See footnote g">g</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote g">g</a>]</span> directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">45</span>Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">46</span>who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-31424h" title="See footnote h">h</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote h">h</a>]</span> </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">47</span>But it was Solomon who built a house for him. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">48</span>Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands;<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-31426i" title="See footnote i">i</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote i">i</a>]</span> as the prophet says,</span></p> <div class="poetry"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">49</span>‘Heaven is my throne,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks">    </span><span class="text">and the earth is my footstool.</span></span><br /><span class="text">What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks">    </span><span class="text">or what is the place of my rest?</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">50</span>Did not my hand make all these things?’</span></p></div> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">51</span>“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">52</span>Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">53</span>You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.”</span></p> <h3><span id="en" class="text">The Stoning of Stephen</span></h3><p><span class="text"><span class="versenum">54</span>When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-31432j" title="See footnote j">j</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote j">j</a>]</span> </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">55</span>But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">56</span>“Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">57</span>But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">58</span>Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">59</span>While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">60</span>Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-31438k" title="See footnote k">k</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote k">k</a>]</span> </span> </p><A name="fen"></a><div class="footnotes"><h4>Footnotes</h4><ol><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Acts 7:2">Acts 7:2</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk <i>Men, brothers</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Acts 7:8">Acts 7:8</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk <i>he</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Acts 7:16">Acts 7:16</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk <i>they</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Acts 7:23">Acts 7:23</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk <i>his brothers, the sons of Israel</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Acts 7:27">Acts 7:27</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk <i>him</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Acts 7:37">Acts 7:37</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk <i>your brothers</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Acts 7:44">Acts 7:44</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk <i>he</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Acts 7:46">Acts 7:46</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Other ancient authorities read <i>for the God of Jacob</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Acts 7:48">Acts 7:48</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk <i>with hands</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Acts 7:54">Acts 7:54</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk <i>him</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Acts 7:60">Acts 7:60</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk <i>fell asleep</i></span></li></ol></div> </div></div></div></div></div> </div> </div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 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