Chapter 6

Choosing of the Seven

1 Now 1at this time while the adisciples were bincreasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the 2cHellenistic Jews against the native dHebrews, because their ewidows were being overlooked in fthe daily serving of food.

2 So the twelve summoned the 1congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

3 “Therefore, abrethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, bfull of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

4 “But we will adevote ourselves to prayer and to the 1ministry of the word.”

5 The statement found approval with the whole 1congregation; and they chose aStephen, a man bfull of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and cPhilip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and 2Nicolas, a 3dproselyte from eAntioch.

6 And these they brought before the apostles; and after apraying, they blaid their hands on them.

7 aThe word of God kept on spreading; and bthe number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to cthe faith.

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great awonders and 1signs among the people.

9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both aCyrenians and bAlexandrians, and some from cCilicia and 1dAsia, rose up and argued with Stephen.

10 But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

12 And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they acame up to him and dragged him away and brought him 1before bthe 2Council.

13 They put forward afalse witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this bholy place and the Law;

14 for we have heard him say that athis Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter bthe customs which Moses handed down to us.”

15 And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the 1aCouncil saw his face like the face of an angel.

Chapter 7

Stephen’s Defense

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

2 And he said, “Hear me, abrethren and fathers! bThe God of glory cappeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in 1Haran,

3 and said to him, ‘aLeave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’

4 “aThen he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in 1Haran. bFrom there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.

5 “But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, aHe promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.

6 “But aGod spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would 1be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

7 “ ‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and aafter that they will come out and 1serve Me in this place.’

8 “And He agave him 1the covenant of circumcision; and so bAbraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and cIsaac became the father of Jacob, and dJacob of the twelve epatriarchs.

9 “The patriarchs abecame jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him,

10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and agranted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.

11 “Now aa famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers 1could find no food.

12 “But awhen Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.

13 “On the second visit aJoseph 1made himself known to his brothers, and bJoseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh.

14 “Then aJoseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, bseventy-five 1cpersons in all.

15 “And aJacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died.

16 “From there they were removed to 1aShechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of 2Hamor in 1Shechem.

17 “But as the atime of the promise was approaching which God had assured to Abraham, bthe people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

18 until athere arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.

19 “It was he who took ashrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would 1bexpose their infants and they would not survive.

20 “It was at this time that aMoses was born; and he was lovely 1in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home.

21 “And after he had been set outside, aPharaoh’s daughter 1took him away and nurtured him as her own son.

22 “Moses was educated in all athe learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.

23 “But when he was approaching the age of forty, ait entered his 1mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel.

24 “And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian.

25 “And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them 1deliverance 2through him, but they did not understand.

26 “aOn the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?’

27 “But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘aWho made you a ruler and judge over us?

28 ‘aYou do not mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’

29 “At this remark, aMoses fled and became an alien in the land of 1Midian, where he bbecame the father of two sons.

30 “After forty years had passed, aan angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.

31 “When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord:

32 ‘aI am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look.

33 “aBut the Lord said to him, ‘bTake off the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

34 ‘aI have certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them; 1bcome now, and I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses whom they adisowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God 1sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the 2help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.

36 “aThis man led them out, performing bwonders and 1signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the cwilderness for forty years.

37 “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘aGod will raise up for you a prophet 1like me from your brethren.’

38 “This is the one who was in athe 1congregation in the wilderness together with bthe angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received cliving doracles to pass on to you.

39 “Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but arepudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,

40 asaying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’

41 “1At that time athey made a 2calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in bthe works of their hands.

42 “But God aturned away and delivered them up to 1serve the 2host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘bIt was not to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices cforty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?

43 ‘aYou also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god 1Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will remove you beyond Babylon.’

44 “Our fathers had athe tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it baccording to the pattern which he had seen.

45 “And having received it in their turn, our fathers abrought it in with 1Joshua upon dispossessing the 2nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David.

46 “aDavid found favor in God’s sight, and basked that he might find a dwelling place for the 1God of Jacob.

47 “But it was aSolomon who built a house for Him.

48 “However, athe Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:

49 ‘aHeaven is My throne,

And earth is the footstool of My feet;

What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,

‘Or what place is there for My repose?

50 ‘aWas it not My hand which made all these things?’

51 “You men who are astiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.

52 “aWhich one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of bthe Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers cyou have now become;

53 you who received the law as aordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

Stephen Put to Death

54 Now when they heard this, they were acut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.

55 But being afull of the Holy Spirit, he bgazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing cat the right hand of God;

56 and he said, “Behold, I see the aheavens opened up and bthe Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse.

58 When they had adriven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and bthe witnesses claid aside their robes at the feet of da young man named Saul.

59 They went on stoning Stephen as he acalled on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

60 Then afalling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, bdo not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he 1cfell asleep.

Chapter 8

Saul Persecutes the Church

1 aSaul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.

And on that day a great persecution 1began against bthe church in Jerusalem, and they were all cscattered throughout the regions of Judea and dSamaria, except the apostles.

2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him.

3 But aSaul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and bdragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

4 Therefore, those awho had been scattered went about 1bpreaching the word.

5 aPhilip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming 1Christ to them.

6 The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the 1signs which he was performing.

7 For in the case of many who had aunclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been bparalyzed and lame were healed.

8 So there was amuch rejoicing in that city.

9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing amagic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, bclaiming to be someone great;

10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “aThis man is what is called the Great Power of God.”

11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his amagic arts.

12 But when they believed Philip apreaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being bbaptized, men and women alike.

13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed asigns and bgreat miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

14 Now when athe apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them bPeter and John,

15 who came down and prayed for them athat they might receive the Holy Spirit.

16 For He had anot yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been bbaptized 1in the name of the Lord Jesus.

17 Then they abegan laying their hands on them, and they were breceiving the Holy Spirit.

18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could aobtain the gift of God with money!

21 “You have ano part or portion in this 1matter, for your heart is not bright before God.

22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, aif possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.

23 “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in athe 1bondage of iniquity.”

24 But Simon answered and said, “aPray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

An Ethiopian Receives Christ

25 So, when they had solemnly atestified and spoken bthe word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were cpreaching the gospel to many villages of the dSamaritans.

26 But aan angel of the Lord spoke to bPhilip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to cGaza.” (1This is a desert road.)

27 So he got up and went; and athere was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he bhad come to Jerusalem to worship,

28 and he was returning and sitting in his 1chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.

29 Then athe Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this 1chariot.”

30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

“aHe was led as a sheep to slaughter;

And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

So He does not open His mouth.

33 “aIn humiliation His judgment was taken away;

Who will 1relate His 2generation?

For His life is removed from the earth.”

34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?”

35 Then Philip aopened his mouth, and bbeginning from this Scripture he cpreached Jesus to him.

36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch * said, “Look! Water! aWhat prevents me from being baptized?”

37 [1And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]

38 And he ordered the 1chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

39 When they came up out of the water, athe Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, 1but went on his way rejoicing.

40 But Philip 1found himself at 2aAzotus, and as he passed through he bkept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to cCaesarea.