1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so? 2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3 And said to him, Depart from thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. 4 Then he came from the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran. And from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land in which ye now dwell. 5 And he gave him no inheritance in it, no not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when as yet he had no child. 6 And God spoke on this wise, That his offspring should sojourn in a foreign land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and treat them ill four hundred years. 7 And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that they shall come forth, and serve me in this place. 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, 10 And delivered him from all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt, and all his house. 11 Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction; and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren: and Joseph's kindred was made known to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, seventy five souls. 15 So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, 16 And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem. 17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 Till another king arose, who knew not Joseph. 19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and ill-treated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. 20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished in his father's house three months: 21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. 23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: 25 For he supposed his brethren to understand that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. 26 And the next day he showed himself to them as they were contending, and would have constrained them to be at peace again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren: why do ye wrong one to another? 27 But he that did his neighbor wrong, thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? 29 Then Moses fled at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. 30 And when forty years had expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina, an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight; and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. 33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. 34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. 35 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 by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. 37 This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, A prophet will the Lord your God raise up to you of your brethren, like me; him will ye hear. 38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the living oracles to give to us: 39 Whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, 40 Saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness? 43 Yes, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your God Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. 44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking to Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. 45 Which also our fathers, that came after, brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, to the days of David; 46 Who found favor before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built him a house. 48 Yet, the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet, 49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: What house will ye build for me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? 50 Hath not my hand made all these things? 51 Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them who showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers; 53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. 54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. | |