The Bible in Basic English BBE
Orthodox Jewish Bible OJB
1 Then the high priest said, Are these things true?
1
And the Kohen Gadol said, "Are these things so?"
2 And he said, My brothers and fathers, give hearing. The God of glory came to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he was living in Haran,
2
And Stefanos said, "Achim and Avot, hear me! Elohei Hakavod appeared to Avraham Avinu while he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Charan [TEHILLIM 29:3; BERESHIS 11:31; 15:7]
3 And said to him, Go out of your land, and away from your family, and come into the land to which I will be your guide.
3
“And Hashem said to Avram, ‘Depart from your country and from your people and come to the land which I shall show you.') [Gn 12:1; 48:4]
4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and went into Haran; and from there, when his father was dead, he was guided by God into this land, where you are living now:
4
"Then having departed from the land of the Chaldeans, he settled in Charan. And from there, after the mavet of his Av, he was settled by Hashem here in this land in which we now are living. [BERESHIS 12:5]
5 And God gave him no heritage in it, not even enough to put his foot on: but he gave him an undertaking that he would give it to him and to his children after him, though he had no child at that time.
5
"And Hashem did not give to him a nachalah (inheritance) in it nor AD MIDRACH KAF REGEL ("even enough to put your foot on" DEVARIM 2:5); and yet, even when he had no ben, the havtachah (promise) of Hashem to him was ES HAARETZ HAZOT E’TEN ("This land I will give") to him and to his zera (seed) after him. [DEVARIM 2:5; BERESHIS 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 26:3; 48:4]
6 And God said that his seed would be living in a strange land, and that they would make them servants, and be cruel to them for four hundred years.
6
"And Hashem spoke thus, that GER YIHIYEH ZAR’ACHA ("your seed will be strangers (aliens)") in another’s [i.e., foreign] land and them they will enslave and they will mistreat them ARBA ME’OT SHANAH ("four hundred years"). [Gn 15:13f; Ex 1:811; 12:40]
7 And I will be the judge, said God, of that nation which made them servants: and after that, they will come out and give me worship in this place.
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"V’GAM ES HAGOY ASHER YA’AVODU DAN ANOCHI ("And whatever nation to which they shall be in bondage I myself will judge" said Hashem, VACHAREI KHEN YETZU ("And after that they will come out") and serve me in this place." [BERESHIS 15:13,14; SHEMOT 3:12]
8 And he made with him the agreement of which circumcision was the sign. And so Abraham had a son, Isaac, and gave him circumcision on the eighth day; and Isaac had a son, Jacob, and Jacob was the father of the twelve heads of the families of Israel.
8
"And he gave to him bris milah. And thus Avraham Avinu became the father of Yitzchak and he did his bris milah on the Yom HaShemini and Yitzchak became the father of Ya’akov and Ya’akov of the Sheneym Asar HaAvot. [BERESHIS 17:9-14; 21:2-4; 25:26; 29:31-35; 30:5-13, 17-24; 35:16-26]
9 And the brothers, moved with envy against Joseph, gave him to the Egyptians for money: but God was with him,
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"And the Avot had kinah toward Yosef and sold him into Mitzrayim (Egypt), and Hashem was with him. [Gn 37:4,11:28; 37:28; Ps 105:17; Gn 39:1,2,21,23; 45:4; Hag 2:4]
10 And made him free from all his troubles, and gave him wisdom and the approval of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and all his house.
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"And Hashem delivered Yosef from all his tzoros and gave to him Chen v’Chesed Hashem and chochmah before Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim (Egypt) and he appointed him his grand vizier to rule over Mitzrayim and over his whole bais. [Gn 41:37-45; Ps 105:20-22]
11 Now there was no food to be had in all Egypt and Canaan, and there was great trouble: and our fathers were not able to get food.
11
"Now a famine came over all Mitzrayim (Egypt) and Canaan and tzarah gedolah (great tribulation) and Avoteinu were not finding okhel. [Gn 41:54; 42:2,5]
12 But Jacob, hearing that there was grain in Egypt, sent out our fathers the first time.
12
"And when Ya’akov Avinu heard that there was grain in Mitzrayim (Egypt), he sent Avoteinu there pa’am harishonah (the first time). [BERESHIS 42:1,2]
13 And the second time his brothers had a meeting with Joseph, and Pharaoh had knowledge of Joseph's family.
13
"And on the second visit Yosef was recognized by his Achim, and Yosef’s mishpochah became known to Pharaoh. [Gn 45:14, 16]
14 Then Joseph sent for Jacob his father and all his family, seventy-five persons.
14
"And having sent, Yosef summoned Ya’akov his Abba and all his mishpochah, SHIVIM (Seventy, BERESHIS 46:27) nefashot (souls). [Gn 45:9,10; 46:26,27; Ex 1:5; Dt 10:22]
15 And Jacob went down to Egypt, and came to his end there, and so did our fathers;
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"And Ya’akov Avinu went down to Mitzrayim (Egypt) and he died, as did Avoteinu. [Gn 46:57; 49:33; Ex 1:6]
16 And they were taken over to Shechem, and put to rest in the place which Abraham got for a price in silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
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"And they were brought back to Shechem and were placed in the kever (tomb) which Avraham bought for a sum of silver from the banim of Chamor in Shechem. [Gn 23:16-20; 33:18, 19; 50:13; Josh 24:32]
17 But when the time was near for putting into effect the undertaking which God had given to Abraham, the people were increasing in Egypt,
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"Now as the time of the havtachah (promise) was drawing near, which Hashem promised to Avraham Avinu, the people grew and were multiplied in Mitzrayim [Ex 1:7; Ps 105:24]
18 Till another king came to power, who had no knowledge of Joseph.
18
"Until over Mitzrayim there appeared a MELECH CHADASH ASHER LO YADA ES YOSEF ("a new king who knew not Yosef"). [Ex 1:7,8]
19 He, having evil designs against our nation, was cruel to our fathers, and they were forced to put out their young children, so that they might not go on living.
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"This king exploited by his shrewdness our nation and mistreated Avoteinu so as to make their ollelim (infants) exposed in order not to keep them alive. [Ex 1:10-22]
20 At which time Moses came to birth, and he was very beautiful; and he was kept for three months in his father's house:
20
"And at this time Moshe Rabbenu was born and he was well pleasing to Hashem; and he was nurtured for shloshah chodashim in the bais of his abba. [Ex 2:2]
21 And when he was put out, Pharaoh's daughter took him and kept him as her son.
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"And after he had been exposed, the bat Pharaoh took Moshe Rabbeinu away, and brought him up as her own son.[Ex 2:3-10]
22 And Moses was trained in all the wisdom of Egypt, and was great in his words and works.
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"And Moshe Rabbenu was instructed in all the chochmah of the Egyptians and in dvarim (words) and pe’ulot (deeds) he was given ko’ach. [1Kgs 4:30; Isa 19:11]
23 But when he was almost forty years old, it came into his heart to go and see his brothers, the children of Israel.
23
"But when arba’im shanah of his days were completed, it entered into his lev (heart) to visit his Achim of the Bnei Yisroel. [Ex 2:11]
24 And seeing one of them being attacked, he went to his help and gave the Egyptian a death-blow:
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"And having seen one of them being treated unjustly he retaliated and brought yashrus (justice) for the one being oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. [Ex 2:12]
25 And he was hoping that his brothers would see that God had sent him to be their saviour; but they did not see.
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"Now he was assuming that his achim had binah that Hashem by the hand of Moshe was giving Yeshu’at Eloheinu to them, but they did not have binah (understanding).
26 And the day after, he came to them, while they were having a fight, and would have made peace between them, saying, Sirs, you are brothers; why do you do wrong to one another?
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"And on the next day he came to them as they were fighting and Moshe was trying to reconcile them in shalom, saying, ‘Anashim, you are achim, why are you injuring one another?’ [Ex 2:13]
27 But the man who was doing wrong to his neighbour, pushing him away, said, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
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"But the one injuring his re’a pushed Moshe aside, saying MI SAMECHA L’ISH SAR V’SHOFET ALENU ("Who made you ruler and judge over us?"—Ex 2:14)
28 Will you put me to death as you did the Egyptian yesterday?
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"HALEHARGENI ATAH OMER KA’ASHER HARAGTA yesterday ES HAMITZRI ("You do not mean to kill me in the same manner as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?")
29 And at these words, Moses went in flight to the land of Midian, and was living there for a time, and had two sons.
29
"And Moshe Rabbenu fled at this dvar and became a stranger in eretz Midyan, where he became the father of shnei banim. [Ex 2:11-15]
30 At the end of forty years, an angel came to him in the waste land of Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn-tree.
30
"And at the fulfillment of arba’im shanah a MALACH appeared to him BELABAT EISH MITOCH HASENEH ("in flame of fire from within a burning thorn bush") in the desert of the mountain Sinai. [Ex 3:1-2]
31 And Moses, seeing it, was full of wonder, and when he came up to have a nearer view of it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying,
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"And Moshe Rabbenu having seen this, was mishpoyel (standing in awe) at the chazon and, as he was approaching it to look more closely, there came the kol (voice) of Hashem, [Ex 3:1-4]
32 I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. And Moses, shaking with fear, kept his eyes from looking at it.
32
"I am the G-d of your Avot, I am the G-d of Avraham and the G-d of Yitzchak and the G-d of Ya’akov". But Moshe Rabbenu was trembling with pachad and was not daring to look. [SHEMOT 3:6]
33 And the Lord said, Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy.
33
"And Hashem said to him, SAL NE’ALECHA ME’AL RAGLECHA ("Take off your sandals from your feet") for the place on which you have stood is admat kodesh (holy ground)." [Ex 3:5; Josh 5:15]
34 Truly, I have seen the sorrows of my people in Egypt, and their cries have come to my ears, and I have come down to make them free: and now, come, I will send you to Egypt.
34
"I have seen the ONI AMMI ASHER B’MITZRAYIM ("misery of my people in Mitzrayim [Egypt]") and the groaning of them I heard and I came down to deliver them. And now come that I may send you to Mitzrayim (Egypt). [SHEMOT 3:5,7-10; 2:24]
35 This Moses, whom they would not have, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? him God sent to be a ruler and a saviour, by the hand of the angel whom he saw in the thorn-tree.
35
"This Moshe whom they denied, having said MI SAMECHA L’ISH SAR V’SHOFET? ("Who made you a ruler and a judge?") is the one whom G-d sent to be both SAR (ruler) and GO’EL (redeemer) with the help of the malach having appeared to him in the thorn bush. [SHEMOT 2:14]
36 This man took them out, having done wonders and signs in Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the waste land, for forty years.
36
"This one led them out, effecting moftim and otot in eretz Mitzrayim (Egypt) and in the Yam Suf and in the midbar arba’im shanah. [SHEMOT 7:3, 12:41; 33:1; 11:10; 14:21; 15:25; 17:5,6; BAMIDBAR 14:33]
37 This is the same Moses, who said to the children of Israel, God will give you a prophet from among your brothers, like me.
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"This is the Moshe who said to the Bnei Yisroel NAVI MIKIRBECHA ME’ACHECHA KAMONI YAKIM ("A prophet from among you from your brothers like me [Moshe] Hashem will raise up.") [DEVARIM 18:15,18]
38 This is the man who was in the church in the waste land with the angel who was talking to him in Sinai, and with our fathers; and to him were given the living words of God, so that he might give them to you.
38
"This is the one having been in the kahal (assembly) in the midbar together with the malach speaking to him at the mountain of Sinai, who was with Avoteinu; he is the one who received torat chayyim to give to us. [SHEMOT 19:17; VAYIKRA 27:34; DEVARIM 32:45-47]
39 By whom our fathers would not be controlled; but they put him on one side, turning back in their hearts to Egypt,
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"And Avoteinu were not willing to have mishma’at (obedience) to Moshe Rabbenu, but they pushed him aside and they turned their levavot back to Mitzrayim, (Egypt) [BAMIDBAR 14:3,4]
40 And saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: as for this Moses, who took us out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has become of him.
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"Having said to Aharon, Make for us g-ds who will go before us; for this Moshe who led us out of the land of Egypt we do not know what happened to him"). [SHEMOT 32:1,23]
41 And they made the image of a young ox in those days, and made an offering to it, and had joy in the work of their hands.
41
"And at that time they made an egel (calf) and brought a sacrifice offering to the elil (idol) and were taking delight in the ma’asim (works) of their hands. [SHEMOT 32:4-6; TEHILLIM 106:19,20]
42 But God was turned from them and let them give worship to the stars of heaven, as it says in the book of the prophets, Did you make offerings to me of sheep and oxen for forty years in the waste land, O house of Israel?
42
"But Hashem turned away and handed them over to serve the tzeva Shomayim, just as it has been written in the sefer haNevi’im, HAZEVACHIM UMINCHAH HIGASHTEM LI BAMIDBAR ARBA’IM SHANAH, BET YISROEL ("It was not to me that you offered victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, O House of Israel?") [AMOS 5:25-27; YEHOSHUA 24:20; YESHAYAH 63:10; YIRMEYAH 19:13]
43 And you took up the tent of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan, images which you made to give worship to them: and I will take you away, farther than Babylon.
43
"You also took up the ohel of Moloch and the KOKHAV of your g-d Reifan, the tzelamim (idols) which you made to worship them; therefore N’HIGLEITI ETKHEM MEHALAH ("I will exile you beyond") Babylon. [YIRMEYAH 7:18, TARGUM HASHIVIM 19:13; AMOS 5:27]
44 Our fathers had the Tent of witness in the waste land, as God gave orders to Moses to make it after the design which he had seen.
44
"Avoteinu had the Mishkan HaEdut in the midbar just as the One who spoke to Moshe [Rabbeinu] directed him to make it according to the TAVNIT (pattern) which he had seen. [Ex 27:21; 38:21; Num 1:50; 17:7; Ex 25:8,9,40; Josh 3:14; 18:1]
45 Which our fathers, in their turn, took with them when, with Joshua, they came into the heritage of the nations whom God was driving out before the face of our fathers, till the time of David,
45
"And having received it in their turn, Avoteinu brought it in with Yehoshua (Joshua) upon the dispossessing of the land of the Goyim, which Hashem drove out from the presence of Avoteinu until the yamim of Dovid. [Josh 3:14-17; 18:1; 23:9; 24:18; Ps 44:2; 2Sm 7:2,6; Gn 17:8; 48:4; Dt 32:49]
46 Who was pleasing to God; and he had a desire to make a holy tent for the God of Jacob.
46
"And Dovid found Chen v’Chesed Hashem before G-d, and asked that he might find a mishkan for Elohei Ya’akov. [SHMUEL BAIS 7:2, 8-16;MELACHIM ALEF 8:17; TEHILLIM 132:1-5]
47 But Solomon was the builder of his house.
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"And Sh’lomo (Solomon) built for him a Beis. [MELACHIM ALEF 6:1-38]
48 But still, the Most High has not his resting-place in houses made with hands, as the prophet says,
48
"But HaElyon does not dwell in battim made by human hands, just as the Navi (prophet) says, [MELACHIM ALEF 8:27; MELACHIM BAIS 2:6]
49 Heaven is the seat of my power, and earth is a resting-place for my feet: what sort of house will you make for me, says the Lord, or what is my place of rest?
49
"HASHOMAYIM KISSI V’HAARETZ HADOM RAGLAI ("Heaven is my throne and earth is the footstool for my feet"). EI-ZEH BAYIT ASHER TIVNU LI ("What kind of House will you build for me?") says Hashem, V’EI ZEH MAKOM MENUCHATI ("Or where will my resting place be?")
50 Did not my hand make all these things?
50
"Did not my hand ASATAH (make) all these things?" [YESHAYAH 66:1,2]
51 You whose hearts are hard and whose ears are shut to me; you are ever working against the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
51
"You AM KESHEH OREF ("stiff-necked people" SHEMOT 33:5), you who are without the “bris milah” of the lev (heart) and of the oznayim (ears), you always resist the Ruach Hakodesh; you are doing like your Avot. [Ex 32:9; 33:3,5; Lv 26:41; Dt 10:16; Jer 4:4; 9:26; Isa 63:10]
52 Which of the prophets was not cruelly attacked by your fathers? and they put to death those who gave them the news of the coming of the Upright One; whom you have now given up and put to death;
52
"Which of the Nevi’im (prophets) did your Avot not persecute? And they killed the ones having announced beforehand about the Bias HaMoshiach, the coming of the Tzaddik of whom now you became bogedim and rotzechim (murderers);
53 You, to whom the law was given as it was ordered by angels, and who have not kept it.
53
"You who received the Torah at the directions of malachim and were not shomer of it."
54 Hearing these things, they were cut to the heart and moved with wrath against him.
54
And hearing these things, they were infuriated in their levavot, and they were grinding their teeth at him.
55 But he was full of the Holy Spirit, and looking up to heaven, he saw the glory of God and Jesus at the right hand of God.
55
But being full of the Ruach Hakodesh and having gazed into Shomayim, Stefanos saw the kavod (glory) of Hashem and Yehoshua standing limin Hashem.
56 And he said, Now I see heaven open, and the Son of man at the right hand of God.
56
And Stefanos said, "Hinei, I see Shomayim having been opened and the Ben HaAdam (Moshiach, DANIEL 7:13-14) standing limin Hashem."
57 But with loud cries, and stopping their ears, they made an attack on him all together,
57
And having cried out with a kol gadol, they shut their oznayim and they rushed down with one impulse upon Stefanos.
58 Driving him out of the town and stoning him: and the witnesses put their clothing at the feet of a young man named Saul.
58
And having driven Stefanos outside the Ir (City), they were stoning him. And the edim took off their garments at the feet of a bochur named Sha’ul. [Lv 24:14,16; Dt 17:7]
59 And Stephen, while he was being stoned, made prayer to God, saying, Lord Jesus, take my spirit.
59
And they went on stoning Stefanos as he called upon Hashem, saying, "Adoneinu, receive my neshamah." [TEHILLIM 31:5]
60 And going down on his knees, he said in a loud voice, Lord, do not make them responsible for this sin. And when he had said this, he went to his rest.
60
And having fallen down, he cried out in a kol gadol, "Adoneinu, may this aveirah not be held against them!" And having said this, Stefanos fell asleep.
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