Parallel Bible results for "acts 7"

Acts 7

Common English Bible CEB

1 The high priest asked, "Are these accusations true?"

2 Stephen responded, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran.

3 God told him, ‘Leave your homeland and kin, and go to the land that I will show you.'

4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After Abraham's father died, God had him resettle in this land where you now live.

5 God didn't give him an inheritance here, not even a square foot of land. However, God did promise to give the land as his possession to him and to his descendants, even though Abraham had no child.

6 God put it this way: His descendants will be strangers in a land that belongs to others, who will enslave them and abuse them for four hundred years.

7 And I will condemn the nation they serve as slaves, God said, and afterward they will leave that land and serve me in this place.

8 God gave him the covenant confirmed through circumcision. Accordingly, eight days after Isaac's birth, Abraham circumcised him. Isaac did the same with Jacob, and Jacob with the twelve patriarchs.

9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him into slavery in Egypt. God was with him, however,

10 and rescued him from all his troubles. The grace and wisdom he gave Joseph were recognized by Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole palace.

11 A famine came upon all Egypt and Canaan, and great hardship came with it. Our ancestors had nothing to eat.

12 When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there for the first time.

13 During their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family.

14 Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives—seventy-five in all—and invited them to live with him.

15 So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.

16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had purchased for a certain sum of money from Hamor's children, who lived in Shechem.

17 “When it was time for God to keep the promise he made to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly expanded.

18 But then another king rose to power over Egypt who didn't know anything about Joseph.

19 He exploited our people and abused our ancestors. He even forced them to abandon their newly born babies so they would die.

20 That's when Moses was born. He was highly favored by God, and for three months his parents cared for him in their home.

21 After he was abandoned, Pharaoh's daughter adopted and cared for him as though he were her own son.

22 Moses learned everything Egyptian wisdom had to offer, and he was a man of powerful words and deeds.

23 “When Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit his family, the Israelites.

24 He saw one of them being wronged so he came to his rescue and evened the score by killing the Egyptian.

25 He expected his own kin to understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn't.

26 The next day he came upon some Israelites who were caught up in an argument. He tried to make peace between them by saying, ‘You are brothers! Why are you harming each other?'

27 The one who started the fight against his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who appointed you as our leader and judge?

28 Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian yesterday?'

29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he lived as an immigrant and had two sons.

30 “Forty years later, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush in the wilderness near Mount Sinai.

31 Enthralled by the sight, Moses approached to get a closer look and he heard the Lord's voice:

32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Trembling with fear, Moses didn't dare to investigate any further.

33 The Lord continued, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

34 I have clearly seen the oppression my people have experienced in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning. I have come down to rescue them. Come! I am sending you to Egypt.'

35 “This is the same Moses whom they rejected when they asked, ‘Who appointed you as our leader and judge?' This is the Moses whom God sent as leader and deliverer. God did this with the help of the angel who appeared before him in the bush.

36 This man led them out after he performed wonders and signs in Egypt at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.

37 This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.'

38 This is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness with our ancestors and with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai. He is the one who received life-giving words to give to us.

39 He's also the one whom our ancestors refused to obey. Instead, they pushed him aside and, in their thoughts and desires, returned to Egypt.

40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will lead us. As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what's happened to him!'

41 That's when they made an idol in the shape of a calf, offered a sacrifice to it, and began to celebrate what they had made with their own hands.

42 So God turned away from them and handed them over to worship the stars in the sky, just as it is written in the scroll of the Prophets: Did you bring sacrifices and offerings to me for forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel?

43 No! Instead, you took the tent of Moloch with you, and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made in order to worship them. Therefore, I will send you far away, farther than Babylon.

44 “The tent of testimony was with our ancestors in the wilderness. Moses built it just as he had been instructed by the one who spoke to him and according to the pattern he had seen.

45 In time, when they had received the tent, our ancestors carried it with them when, under Joshua's leadership, they took possession of the land from the nations whom God expelled. This tent remained in the land until the time of David.

46 God approved of David, who asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

47 But it was Solomon who actually built a house for God.

48 However, the Most High doesn't live in houses built by human hands. As the prophet says,

49 Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. ‘What kind of house will you build for me,' says the Lord, ‘or where is my resting place?

50 Didn't I make all these things with my own hand?'

51 "You stubborn people! In your thoughts and hearing, you are like those who have had no part in God's covenant! You continuously set yourself against the Holy Spirit, just like your ancestors did.

52 Was there a single prophet your ancestors didn't harass? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one, and you've betrayed and murdered him!

53 You received the Law given by angels, but you haven't kept it."

54 Once the council members heard these words, they were enraged and began to grind their teeth at Stephen.

55 But Stephen, enabled by the Holy Spirit, stared into heaven and saw God's majesty and Jesus standing at God's right side.

56 He exclaimed, "Look! I can see heaven on display and the Human One standing at God's right side!"

57 At this, they shrieked and covered their ears. Together, they charged at him,

58 threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses placed their coats in the care of a young man named Saul.

59 As they battered him with stones, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, accept my life!"

60 Falling to his knees, he shouted, "Lord, don't hold this sin against them!" Then he died.

GOD'S WORD Translation GW

1 Then the chief priest asked Stephen, "Is this true?"

2 Stephen answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God who reveals his glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia. This happened before Abraham lived in Haran.

3 God told him, 'Leave your land and your relatives. Go to the land that I will show you.'

4 "Then Abraham left the country of Chaldea and lived in the city of Haran. After his father died, God made him move from there to this land where we now live.

5 "Yet, God didn't give Abraham anything in this land to call his own, not even a place to rest his feet. But God promised to give this land to him and to his descendants, even though Abraham didn't have a child.

6 God told Abraham that his descendants would be foreigners living in another country and that the people there would make them slaves and mistreat them for 400 years.

7 God also told him, 'I will punish the people whom they will serve. After that, they will leave that country and worship me here.'

8 "God gave Abraham circumcision to confirm his promise. So when Abraham's son Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac did the same to his son Jacob, and Jacob did the same to his twelve sons (the ancestors of our tribes).

9 "Jacob's sons were jealous of their brother Joseph. They sold him into slavery, and he was taken to Egypt. But God was with Joseph

10 and rescued him from all his suffering. When Joseph stood in the presence of Pharaoh (the king of Egypt), God gave Joseph divine favor and wisdom so that he became ruler of Egypt and of Pharaoh's whole palace.

11 Then a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan brought a lot of suffering. Our ancestors couldn't find any food.

12 When Jacob heard that Egypt had food, he sent our ancestors there. That was their first trip.

13 On the second trip, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family.

14 Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his relatives, 75 people in all.

15 So Jacob went to Egypt, and he and our ancestors died there.

16 They were taken to Shechem for burial in the tomb that Abraham purchased in Shechem from Hamor's sons.

17 "When the time that God had promised to Abraham had almost come, the number of our people in Egypt had grown very large.

18 Then a different king, who knew nothing about Joseph, began to rule in Egypt.

19 This king was shrewd in the way he took advantage of our people. He mistreated our ancestors. He made them abandon their newborn babies outdoors, where they would die.

20 "At that time Moses was born, and he was a very beautiful child. His parents took care of him for three months.

21 When Moses was abandoned outdoors, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and raised him as her son.

22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man in what he said and did.

23 When he was 40 years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites.

24 When he saw an Israelite man being treated unfairly by an Egyptian, he defended the Israelite. He took revenge by killing the Egyptian.

25 Moses thought his own people would understand that God was going to use him to give them freedom. But they didn't understand.

26 The next day Moses saw two Israelites fighting, and he tried to make peace between them. He said to them, 'Men, you are brothers. Why are you treating each other unfairly?'

27 "But one of the men pushed Moses aside. He asked Moses, 'Who made you our ruler and judge?

28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'

29 After he said that, Moses quickly left Egypt and lived in Midian as a foreigner. In Midian he fathered two sons.

30 "Forty years later, a messenger appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush in the desert of Mount Sinai.

31 Moses was surprised when he saw this. As he went closer to look at the bush, the voice of the Lord said to him,

32 'I am the God of your ancestors--the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses began to tremble and didn't dare to look at the bush.

33 The Lord told him, 'Take off your sandals. The place where you're standing is holy ground.

34 I've seen how my people are mistreated in Egypt. I've heard their groaning and have come to rescue them. So now I'm sending you to Egypt.'

35 "This is the Moses whom the Israelites rejected by saying, 'Who made you our ruler and judge?' This is the one God sent to free them and to rule them with the help of the messenger who appeared to him in the bush.

36 This is the man who led our ancestors out of Egypt. He is the person who did amazing things and worked miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for 40 years.

37 This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me.'

38 This is the Moses who was in the assembly in the desert. Our ancestors and the messenger who spoke to him on Mount Sinai were there with him. Moses received life-giving messages to give to us,

39 but our ancestors were not willing to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt.

40 They told Aaron, 'We don't know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of Egypt. So make gods who will lead us.'

41 That was the time they made a calf. They offered a sacrifice to that false god and delighted in what they had made.

42 "So God turned away from them and let them worship the sun, moon, and stars. This is written in the book of the prophets: 'Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel?

43 You carried along the shrine of Moloch, the star of the god Rephan, and the statues you made for yourselves to worship. I will send you into exile beyond the city of Babylon.'

44 "In the desert our ancestors had the tent of God's promise. Moses built this tent exactly as God had told him. He used the model he had seen.

45 After our ancestors received the tent, they brought it into this land. They did this with Joshua's help when they took possession of the land from the nations that God forced out of our ancestors' way. This tent remained here until the time of David,

46 who won God's favor. David asked that he might provide a permanent place for the family of Jacob.

47 But Solomon was the one who built a house for God.

48 "However, the Most High doesn't live in a house built by humans, as the prophet says:

49 'The Lord says, "Heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. What kind of house are you going to build for me? Where will I rest?

50 Didn't I make all these things?"'

51 "How stubborn can you be? How can you be so heartless and disobedient? You're just like your ancestors. They always opposed the Holy Spirit, and so do you!

52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors didn't persecute? They killed those who predicted that a man with God's approval would come. You have now become the people who betrayed and murdered that man.

53 You are the people who received Moses' Teachings, which were put into effect by angels. But you haven't obeyed those teachings."

54 As council members listened to Stephen, they became noticeably furious.

55 But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked into heaven, saw God's glory, and Jesus in the position of authority that God gives.

56 So Stephen said, "Look, I see heaven opened and the Son of Man in the position of authority that God has given him!"

57 But the council members shouted and refused to listen. Then they rushed at Stephen with one purpose in mind,

58 and after they had thrown him out of the city, they began to stone him to death. The witnesses left their coats with a young man named Saul.

59 While council members were executing Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, welcome my spirit."

60 Then he knelt down and shouted, "Lord, don't hold this sin against them." After he had said this, he died.