New King James Version

New Living Translation

1Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

1Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”

2And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,

2This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.

3and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’

3God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’

4Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.

4So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.

5And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him.

5“But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet.

6But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years.

6God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.

7‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’

7‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’

8Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

8“God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.

9“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him

9“These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him

10and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

10and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.

11Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance.

11“But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food.

12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

12Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some.

13And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh.

13The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh.

14Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people.

14Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all.

15So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers.

15So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors.

16And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.

16Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.

17“But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt

17“As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.

18till another king arose who did not know Joseph.

18But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.

19This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.

19This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.

20At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months.

20“At that time Moses was born—a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months.

21But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son.

21When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son.

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

22Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.

23“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.

23“One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel.

24And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian.

24He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian.

25For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.

25Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.

26And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’

26“The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’

27But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

27“But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked.

28Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’

28‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’

29Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

29When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.

30“And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.

30“Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush.

31When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him,

31When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the LORD called out to him,

32saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look.

32‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.

33‘Then the LORD said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

33“Then the LORD said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.

34I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.” ’

34I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’

35“This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush.

35“So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior.

36He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

36And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.

37“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’

37“Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’

38“This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us,

38Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.

39whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,

39“But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt.

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

40They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’

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

41So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made.

42Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: ‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

42Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written, ‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?

43You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’

43No, you carried your pagan gods— the shrine of Molech, the star of your god Rephan, and the images you made to worship them. So I will send you into exile as far away as Babylon.’

44“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,

44“Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses.

45which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David,

45Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.

46who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob.

46“David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.

47But Solomon built Him a house.

47But it was Solomon who actually built it.

48“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:

48However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,

49‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest?

49‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that?’ asks the LORD. ‘Could you build me such a resting place?

50Has My hand not made all these things?’

50Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’

51“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

51“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!

52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,

52Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.

53who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

53You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”

54When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

54The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.

55But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,

55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

56and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

56And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”

57Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;

57Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him

58and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

58and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

59As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

60Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

60He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.