Parallel Bible results for "acts 7"

Acts 7

New Revised Standard NRS

1 Then the high priest asked him, "Are these things so?"

2 And Stephen replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

3 and said to him, "Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.'

4 Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God had him move from there to this country in which you are now living.

5 He did not give him any of it as a heritage, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as his possession and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child.

6 And God spoke in these terms, that his descendants would be resident aliens in a country belonging to others, who would enslave them and mistreat them during four hundred years.

7 "But I will judge the nation that they serve,' said God, "and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.'

8 Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

9 "The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him,

10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and enabled him to win favor and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

11 Now there came a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan, and great suffering, and our ancestors could find no food.

12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit.

13 On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh.

14 Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in all;

15 so Jacob went down to Egypt. He himself died there as well as our ancestors,

16 and their bodies were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

17 "But as the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased and multiplied

18 until another king who had not known Joseph ruled over Egypt.

19 He dealt craftily with our race and forced our ancestors to abandon their infants so that they would die.

20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful before God. For three months he was brought up in his father's house;

21 and when he was abandoned, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

22 So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.

23 "When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his relatives, the Israelites.

24 When he saw one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.

25 He supposed that his kinsfolk would understand that God through him was rescuing them, but they did not understand.

26 The next day he came to some of them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, "Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong each other?'

27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying, "Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

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

29 When he heard this, Moses fled and became a resident alien in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.

30 "Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.

31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to look, there came the voice of the Lord:

32 "I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.

33 Then the Lord said to him, "Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

34 I have surely seen the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.'

35 "It was this Moses whom they rejected when they said, "Who made you a ruler and a judge?' and whom God now sent as both ruler and liberator through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

36 He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, "God will raise up a prophet for you from your own people as he raised me up.'

38 He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living oracles to give to us.

39 Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,

40 saying to Aaron, "Make gods for us who will lead the way for us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.'

41 At that time they made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands.

42 But God turned away from them and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: "Did you offer to me slain victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

43 No; you took along the tent of Moloch, and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; so I will remove you beyond Babylon.'

44 "Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.

45 Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David,

46 who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.

47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with 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 what is the place of my rest?

50 Did not my hand make all these things?'

51 "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.

52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers.

53 You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it."

54 When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.

55 But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

56 "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

57 But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.

58 Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59 While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

60 Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 Then the high priest said, Are these things true?

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,

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

9 And the brothers, moved with envy against Joseph, gave him to the Egyptians for money: but God was with him,

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.

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.

12 But Jacob, hearing that there was grain in Egypt, sent out our fathers the first time.

13 And the second time his brothers had a meeting with Joseph, and Pharaoh had knowledge of Joseph's family.

14 Then Joseph sent for Jacob his father and all his family, seventy-five persons.

15 And Jacob went down to Egypt, and came to his end there, and so did our fathers;

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.

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,

18 Till another king came to power, who had no knowledge of Joseph.

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.

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:

21 And when he was put out, Pharaoh's daughter took him and kept him as her son.

22 And Moses was trained in all the wisdom of Egypt, and was great in his words and works.

23 But when he was almost forty years old, it came into his heart to go and see his brothers, the children of Israel.

24 And seeing one of them being attacked, he went to his help and gave the Egyptian a death-blow:

25 And he was hoping that his brothers would see that God had sent him to be their saviour; but they did not see.

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?

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?

28 Will you put me to death as you did 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.

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.

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,

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.

33 And the Lord said, Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

39 By whom our fathers would not be controlled; but they put him on one side, turning back in their hearts to Egypt,

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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,

46 Who was pleasing to God; and he had a desire to make a holy tent for the God of Jacob.

47 But Solomon was the builder of his house.

48 But still, the Most High has not his resting-place in houses made with hands, as the prophet says,

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?

50 Did not my hand make all these things?

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.

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;

53 You, to whom the law was given as it was ordered by angels, and who have not kept it.

54 Hearing these things, they were cut to the heart and moved with wrath against 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.

56 And he said, Now I see heaven open, and the Son of man at the right hand of God.

57 But with loud cries, and stopping their ears, they made an attack on him all together,

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.

59 And Stephen, while he was being stoned, made prayer to God, saying, Lord Jesus, take my spirit.

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.