45
They had it with them as they followed Joshua, when God cleared the land of pagans, and still had it right down to the time of David.
46
David asked God for a permanent place for worship.
48
"Yet that doesn't mean that Most High God lives in a building made by carpenters and masons. The prophet Isaiah put it well when he wrote,
49
"Heaven is my throne room; I rest my feet on earth. So what kind of house will you build me?" says God. "Where I can get away and relax?
50
It's already built, and I built it."
51
"And you continue, so bullheaded! Calluses on your hearts, flaps on your ears! Deliberately ignoring the Holy Spirit, you're just like your ancestors.
52
Was there ever a prophet who didn't get the same treatment? Your ancestors killed anyone who dared talk about the coming of the Just One. And you've kept up the family tradition - traitors and murderers, all of you.
53
You had God's Law handed to you by angels - gift-wrapped! - and you squandered it!"
54
At that point they went wild, a rioting mob of catcalls and whistles and invective.
55
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, hardly noticed - he only had eyes for God, whom he saw in all his glory with Jesus standing at his side.