1THE
ACTS
OF THE APOSTLES
WRITTEN BY
2LUKE
Acts 7 ©
1 Stephen, defending himself before the council, relates how God had brought Abraham out of Chaldea, made a covenant with him and his seed, and promised them the land of Canaan. 9 That Joseph was sold into Egypt, and there was made a prince. 11 And that Jacob, because of the dearth, with his progeny went thither and died there. 17 How his posterity multiplied, and were cruelly handled there. 20 How Moses was born, cast out, and taken up by the daughter of Pharaoh and educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. 23 That he visits his brethren and smote the Egyptian which wronged one of them. 27 With which he was upbraided. 29 And therefore fled into Midian. 30 Where God appeared to him in a burning bush, and sends him into Egypt to deliver the people. 37 Who prophesies of Christ, 38 And receives the law. 39 How the golden calf was made, and idolatry committed therewith, as also with Moloch. 44 How the tabernacle was set up, and remained among them until the time of Solomon, who built the temple. 51 Further upbraids them that they are like unto their fathers in stubbornness and cruelty. 54 Wherefore they are embittered against him, and stone him, but he, seeing the heaven open, commends his soul unto Christ, prays for them, and falls asleep.
THEN said the high priest, Are 1these things so?
And he said, Men, 2brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto 3our father Abraham, when he was in 4Mesopotamia, 5before he dwelt in 6Charran,
And said unto him, Geta thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come 7into the land which I shall shew thee.
Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, 8not so much as to set his foot on: 9yetb he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his 10seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
And God spake on this wise, Thatc his seed should 11sojourn 12in a strange land; and that 13they should bring them into 14bondage, and entreat them evil 15fourd hundred years.
16And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I 17judge, said God: and aftere that shall they come forth, andf serve me in this place.
And he gave 18him 19the covenant ofg circumcision: 20and so Abraham begath Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begati Jacob; and Jacob begat thej twelve patriarchs.
And the patriarchs, movedk with envy, soldl Joseph into Egypt: but God 21was with him,
And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him 22favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he madem him 23governor over Egypt and all his house.
Nown there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found 24no sustenance.
Buto when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out 25our fathers first.
Andp at the second 26time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.
Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his 27kindred, 28threescore and fifteen souls.
Soq Jacob went down into Egypt, and died,r he, and our fathers,
Ands29were carried over 30into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre thatt31Abraham bought for 32a sum of money of the sons of Emmor 33the father of Sychem.
But when 34the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grewu and multiplied in Egypt,
Till another king arose, 35which knew not Joseph.
The same 36dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not 37live.
Inv which time Moses was born, and was 38exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months:
And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him 39for her own son.
And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
And whenw he was 40full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit 41his brethren the children of Israel.
Andx seeing 42one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:
For he supposed his brethren would have 43understood how that God 44by his hand would 45deliver them: but they 46understood not.
Andy the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and 47would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Whoz made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?
Then fled Moses 48at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
Andaa when 49forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina 50an angel of the Lord 51in a flame of fire in a bush.
When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near 52to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
Saying, Iabam the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and 53durst not 54behold.
Then said the Lord to him, Putac off 55thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is 56holy ground.
I have 57seen, I have seen the afflictionad of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am 58come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer 59by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
Heae brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, andaf in the wilderness forty years.
¶This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, 60A prophet shall theag Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; himah shall ye hear.
Thisai is he, that was in the 61church in the wilderness withaj62the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the 63lively 64oracles to give unto us:
To whom our fathers would not obey, 65but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again 66into Egypt,
Saying unto Aaron, Makeak us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice 67unto the idol, and 68rejoiced in the 69works of their own hands.
Then God 70turned, and 71gave them up to worship 72the host of heaven; as it is written 73in the book of the prophets, 74Oal ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
Yea,am ye 75took up the tabernacle 76of Moloch, and 77the star of your god 78Remphan, 79figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond 80Babylon.
Our fathers had the tabernacle 81of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it accordingan to the fashion that he had seen.
Whichao also our fathers that 82came after brought in with 83Jesus 84into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave outap85before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
Whoaq found 86favour before God, and desiredar87to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
Butas Solomon built him 88an house.
Howbeitat the most High 89dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
Heavenauis my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
Hathav not my hand made all these things?
¶Yeaw stiffnecked and 90uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always 91resist the Holy Ghost: 92as your fathers did, so do ye.
Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming 93of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the 94betrayers and 95murderers:
Whoax have received the law 96by the dispositionay of angels, and have 97not kept it.
¶When they heard these things, they were 98cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw 99the glory of God, and Jesus 100standing 101on the right hand of God,
And said, Behold, I see the heavens 102opened, and 103the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
104Andaz cast him out of the city, and stoned him: andba the 105witnesses laid down their 106clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was 107Saul.
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lordbb Jesus, receive my 108spirit.
And he kneeled down, and cried 109with a loud voice, Lord,bc110lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, 111he fell asleep.