7:17 “But as the time drew near for God to fulfill the promise he had declared to Abraham, 41 the people increased greatly in number 42 in Egypt, 7:18 until another king who did not know about 43 Joseph ruled 44 over Egypt. 45 7:19 This was the one who exploited 46 our people 47 and was cruel to our ancestors, 48 forcing them to abandon 49 their infants so they would die. 50 7:20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful 51 to God. For 52 three months he was brought up in his father’s house, 7:21 and when he had been abandoned, 53 Pharaoh’s daughter adopted 54 him and brought him up 55 as her own son. 7:22 So Moses was trained 56 in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful 57 in his words and deeds. 7:23 But when he was about forty years old, it entered his mind 58 to visit his fellow countrymen 59 the Israelites. 60 7:24 When 61 he saw one of them being hurt unfairly, 62 Moses 63 came to his defense 64 and avenged the person who was mistreated by striking down the Egyptian. 7:25 He thought his own people 65 would understand that God was delivering them 66 through him, 67 but they did not understand. 68 7:26 The next day Moses 69 saw two men 70 fighting, and tried to make peace between 71 them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why are you hurting one another?’ 7:27 But the man who was unfairly hurting his neighbor pushed 72 Moses 73 aside, saying, ‘Who made 74 you a ruler and judge over us? 7:28 You don’t want to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ 75 7:29 When the man said this, 76 Moses fled and became a foreigner 77 in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
7:30 “After 78 forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert 79 of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. 80 7:31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached to investigate, there came the voice of the Lord, 7:32 ‘I am the God of your forefathers, 81 the God of Abraham, Isaac, 82 and Jacob.’ 83 Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look more closely. 84 7:33 But the Lord said to him, ‘Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 85 7:34 I have certainly seen the suffering 86 of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. 87 Now 88 come, I will send you to Egypt.’ 89 7:35 This same 90 Moses they had rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ 91 God sent as both ruler and deliverer 92 through the hand of the angel 93 who appeared to him in the bush. 7:36 This man led them out, performing wonders and miraculous signs 94 in the land of Egypt, 95 at 96 the Red Sea, and in the wilderness 97 for forty years. 7:37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, 98 ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’ 99 7:38 This is the man who was in the congregation 100 in the wilderness 101 with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, 102 and he 103 received living oracles 104 to give to you. 105 7:39 Our 106 ancestors 107 were unwilling to obey 108 him, but pushed him aside 109 and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, 7:40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go in front of us, for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt 110 – we do not know what has happened to him!’ 111 7:41 At 112 that time 113 they made an idol in the form of a calf, 114 brought 115 a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing 116 in the works of their hands. 117 7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over 118 to worship the host 119 of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices 120 forty years in the wilderness, was it, 121 house of Israel? 7:43 But you took along the tabernacle 122 of Moloch 123 and the star of the 124 god Rephan, 125 the images you made to worship, but I will deport 126 you beyond Babylon.’ 127 7:44 Our ancestors 128 had the tabernacle 129 of testimony in the wilderness, 130 just as God 131 who spoke to Moses ordered him 132 to make it according to the design he had seen. 7:45 Our 133 ancestors 134 received possession of it and brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors, 135 until the time 136 of David. 7:46 He 137 found favor 138 with 139 God and asked that he could 140 find a dwelling place 141 for the house 142 of Jacob. 7:47 But Solomon built a house 143 for him. 7:48 Yet the Most High 144 does not live in houses made by human hands, 145 as the prophet says,
7:49 ‘Heaven is my throne,
and earth is the footstool for my feet.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is my resting place? 146
7:50 Did my hand 147 not make all these things?’ 148
7:51 “You stubborn 149 people, with uncircumcised 150 hearts and ears! 151 You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors 152 did! 7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors 153 not persecute? 154 They 155 killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, 156 whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! 157 7:53 You 158 received the law by decrees given by angels, 159 but you did not obey 160 it.” 161
7:54 When they heard these things, they became furious 162 and ground their teeth 163 at him. 7:55 But Stephen, 164 full 165 of the Holy Spirit, looked intently 166 toward heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing 167 at the right hand of God. 7:56 “Look!” he said. 168 “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 7:57 But they covered their ears, 169 shouting out with a loud voice, and rushed at him with one intent. 7:58 When 170 they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him, 171 and the witnesses laid their cloaks 172 at the feet of a young man named Saul. 7:59 They 173 continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 7:60 Then he fell 174 to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” 175 When 176 he had said this, he died. 177