7
The word of God was continuing to spread. The group of followers in Jerusalem increased, and a great number of the Jewish priests believed and obeyed.
8
Stephen was richly blessed by God who gave him the power to do great miracles and signs among the people.
9
But some Jewish people were against him. They belonged to the synagogue of Free Menn (as it was called), which included Jewish people from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia. They all came and argued with Stephen.
10
But the Spirit was helping him to speak with wisdom, and his words were so strong that they could not argue with him.
11
So they secretly urged some men to say, "We heard Stephen speak against Moses and against God."
12
This upset the people, the older Jewish leaders, and the teachers of the law. They came and grabbed Stephen and brought him to a meeting of the Jewish leaders.
13
They brought in some people to tell lies about Stephen, saying, "This man is always speaking against this holy place and the law of Moses.
14
We heard him say that Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and that Jesus will change the customs Moses gave us."
15
All the people in the meeting were watching Stephen closely and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.