^7:1 Now the high-priest said, So then if these things are holding up.

             ^7:2 Now he {i.e., Stephen} was saying, Men, brethren and fathers, listen^°: the God of glory was seen by our father Abraham, while being in Mesopotamia, before he himself was to dwell in Haran, ^7:3 and said to him, Come out-of your land and from your relatives and come-here into the land whatever I will be showing you. {Gen 12:1,2,4} ^7:4 Then he went forth out-of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran and after his father died, God exiled him from there into this land in which you^° are now dwelling. {Gen 13:14-18} ^7:5 And he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a step of his foot, and he promised to give it to him and to his seed after him ^*for his territory, even not being a child yet to him. {Gen 15:13, 14} ^7:6 Now God spoke thus: That his seed will be a foreigner in an alien land, and they will enslave it and will be mistreating them four hundred years. ^7:7 And God said, I will be judging the nation to which they would be enslaved, and they will be coming forth and will be giving-divine-service to me in this place after these things. {Gen 17:10-14} ^7:8 And he gave him the covenant^* of circumcision and so he fathered Isaac and he circumcised him on the eighth day, and to Isaac was born Jacob and to Jacob the twelve patriarchs. {Gen 21:4, 25:20-26, 46:8-26} ^7:9 And the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph and gave him into Egypt. And God was with him, ^7:10 and liberated him from all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom in front of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who designated him leader over Egypt and his whole house. {Gen 37:23-25, 36} ^7:11 Now a famine and great affliction came upon the whole land of Egypt and Canaan and our fathers were finding no sustenances. {Gen 41:54-57} ^7:12 But Jacob heard of grain being in Egypt and sent our fathers out the first time. {Gen 42:1, 2} ^7:13 And Joseph was recognized at the second meeting by his brethren, and Joseph’s race became apparent to the Pharaoh. {Gen 43:2, 45:16} ^7:14 But Joseph himself sent them and called Jacob his father and all the relatives, in souls seventy-five. ^7:15 Now Jacob went-down into Egypt and died^*, he himself and our fathers; {Exodus 1:1-6} ^7:16 and were transferred to Shechem and were placed in the tomb which Abraham purchased from set price of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. {Jos 24:32} ^7:17 Now just-as the time of the promise was drawing near, which God swore to Abraham, the people grew and were multiplied in Egypt, ^7:18 till a different king rose^* up over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. {Exodus 1:7, 8} ^7:19 This one dealt craftily with our race and mistreated our fathers, to make^* them place their babies outside in the elements, ^*that^* they should not live. {Exo 2:2} ^7:20 In which season, Moses was born and was handsome to God, and he was reared three months in his father’s house. {Exodus 1:7, 8, 10-22, 2:1-10} ^7:21 Now after he was placed outside in the elements, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and reared him ^*for a son for herself.

             ^7:22 Now Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in works. ^7:23 Now as the time of forty years was being fulfilled to him, it came-up upon his heart to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. ^7:24 And he saw a certain one of them being hurt, and retaliated and did^* the avenging for the one who is subjugated, and struck the Egyptian; {Exo 2:11} ^7:25 and he was supposing that his brethren are to understand that God is giving them salvation through his hand. But they did not understand. ^7:26 And he was seen the next day by them while they were quarreling and drove them to make peace, and said, Men, you^° are brethren! Why are you^° wronging one another? {Exo 2:13,14} ^7:27 But the one hurting the neighbor shoved him away and said, Who designated you a ruler and a justice over us? ^7:28 You do not wish to assassinate me in the manner which you assassinated the Egyptian yesterday, do you?

             ^7:29 But at this speech, Moses fled and became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons. {Exo 18:3} ^7:30 And after forty years were fulfilled, a messenger of Lord was seen by him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of a fiery bush. {Exo 3:6} ^7:31 But after Moses saw it and was marveling at the vision of it. And while coming near to consider what it was, a voice of the Lord came^* to him, ^7:32 I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. {Exo 3:6} And Moses became trembling and was not daring to consider what it was. ^7:33 Now the Lord said to him, Loose the shoes from your feet; for^* the place in which you are standing is holy land. ^7:34 Having seen, I saw {a Hebraism} the mistreatment of my people who were in Egypt and heard their groaning and I descended to liberate them. And now come-here, I will be sending you into Egypt. {Exo 3:1-10} ^7:35 This Moses whom they denied, said, Who designated you a ruler and a justice? God sent this one as a ruler and a redeemer by the hand of the messenger who was seen by him in the bush. {Exo 14:21, 12:41, 15:23, 16:1-36} ^7:36 This one led them out after he did^* wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. ^7:37 This is the Moses, the one who said to the sons of Israel, The Lord our God will raise^* up to you^° a prophet out-of your^° brethren, like me. {Deu 18:15} ^7:38 This is he who came^* to be in the congregation^* in the wilderness with the messenger, the one speaking to him on Mount Sinai and from our fathers. This is he who accepted the living word to give to us; {Exo 19:3, 20:1-24:18} ^7:39 to whom our fathers willed not to become obedient^*, but shoved God away from themselves and turned themselves back toward Egypt in their heart, ^7:40 and said to Aaron, Make^* us gods which will travel before us. For^* this Moses, who led us forth out-of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him. {Exo 32:1-6} ^7:41 And they made^* a calf in those days and brought^* a sacrifice to the idol and were being joyous in the works of their hands. {Exo 32:19} ^7:42 But God turned and gave them up to give-divine-service to the army of heaven; just-as it has been written in the book of the prophets, ‘You^° did not offer slaughtered beasts and sacrifices to me for forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel, did you^°? ^7:43 And you^° took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Remphan, the patterns which you^° made^* to worship them and I will be exiling you^° past Babylon.’ {Amos 5:25-27} ^7:44 The tabernacle of the testimony was with our fathers in the wilderness, just-as he speaks with Moses and commanded him to make^* it according-to the pattern which he had seen. {Exo 25:9,40, 26:30} ^7:45 Which also our fathers, accepted in succession, brought^* in with Joshua, in the territory of the nations, which God shoved out away from the face of our fathers, until the days of David. {Jos 3:14, 18:1} ^7:46 David, who found favor in God’s sight, and asked to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. {2Sa 7:2, 2Ch 17:1-4} ^7:47 But Solomon built him a house. {1Ki 8:1-66, 2Ch 5:1} ^7:48 But the Highest is not dwelling in handmade temples; just-as the prophet says, ^7:49 ‘The heaven is my throne and the earth the footstool of my feet. What sort of house will you^° be building me? says the Lord. Or what is the place of my rest? ^7:50 Did my hand not make^* all these things?’ {Isa 66:1-2}

             ^7:51 You^° are stiff-necked and non-circumcised in heart and ears. You^° are habitually defying the Holy Spirit, like your^° fathers, like you^° do also! ^7:52 Which of the prophets did your^° fathers not persecute? And they killed the ones who proclaimed beforehand God’s message concerning the coming of the Righteous One; of whom you^° have now become betrayers and murderers. ^7:53 You^° who received the law at the directions from God’s messengers and did not observe it. {Ex 20:1-7, Exo 25:2-31:18}

             ^7:54 Now hearing these things, they were being infuriated in their hearts and they were gnashing their teeth at him. ^7:55 But possessing the fullness of the Holy Spirit, he stared into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, ^7:56 and said, Behold, I am viewing the heavens which have been opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. ^7:57 But they cried out in a loud voice and held together their ears, and united, rushed upon him. ^7:58 And they cast him outside the city and were stoning him. And the witnesses placed their garments beside the feet of a young-man called Saul. ^7:59 And they were stoning Stephen, who was calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, accept my spirit. ^7:60 Now he placed his knees down and cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not weigh this, their sin, to them. And he said this and fell-asleep.