“Brothers and fathers,” he said, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,(A) and said to him:

Get out of your country
and away from your relatives,
and come to the land
that I will show you.(B)[a]

“Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land you now live in.(C) He didn’t give him an inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, but He promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him,(D) even though he was childless. God spoke in this way:

His descendants would be strangers
in a foreign country,
and they would enslave
and oppress them 400 years.
I will judge the nation
that they will serve as slaves, God said.
After this, they will come out
and worship Me in this place.(E)[b]

Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised(F) him on the eighth day; Isaac did the same with Jacob, and Jacob with the 12 patriarchs.(G)

The Patriarchs in Egypt

“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him(H) 10 and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household.(I) 11 Then a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan,(J) and our ancestors could find no food. 12 When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors the first time. 13 The second time, Joseph was revealed to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Joseph then invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, 75 people in all,(K) 15 and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there,(L) 16 were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.(M)

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God’s Real Tabernacle

44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.(A) 45 Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers,(B) until the days of David. 46 He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God[a] of Jacob.(C) 47 But it was Solomon who built Him a house.(D) 48 However, the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says:(E)

49 Heaven is My throne,
and earth My footstool.
What sort of house will you build for Me?
says the Lord,
or what is My resting place?
50 Did not My hand make all these things?(F)[b]

Resisting the Holy Spirit

51 “You stiff-necked(G) people with uncircumcised hearts and ears!(H) You are always resisting the Holy Spirit; as your ancestors did, so do you.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 7:46 Other mss read house
  2. Acts 7:50 Is 66:1-2

52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?(A) They even killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers(B) you have now become. 53 You received the law under the direction of angels(C) and yet have not kept it.”

The First Christian Martyr

54 When they heard these things, they were enraged in their hearts[a] and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, filled by the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw God’s glory, with[b] Jesus standing at the right hand of God,(D) and he said, 56 “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”(E)

57 Then they screamed at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. 58 They threw him out of the city and began to stone(F) him. And the witnesses laid their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.(G) 59 They were stoning Stephen as he called out: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”(H) 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice,(I) “Lord, do not charge them with this sin!” And saying this, he fell asleep.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 7:54 Or were cut to the quick
  2. Acts 7:55 Lit and

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