Acts:7

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* And the high priest said , Are these things then so ? * And he said , Brethren and fathers , hearken . The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia , before he dwelt in Charran , * and said to him , Go out of thy land and out of thy kindred , and come into the land which I will shew thee . * Then going out of the land of the Chaldeans he dwelt in Charran , and thence , after his father died , he removed him into this land in which ye now dwell . * And he did not give him an inheritance in it , not even what his foot could stand on ; and promised to give it to him for a possession , and to his seed after him , when he had no child . * And God spoke thus : His seed shall be a sojourner in a strange land , and they shall enslave them and evil entreat [them ] four hundred years ; * and the nation to which they shall be in bondage will I judge , said God ; and after these things they shall come forth and serve me in this place . * And he gave to him [the ] covenant of circumcision ; and thus he begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day ; and Isaac Jacob , and Jacob the twelve patriarchs . * And the patriarchs , envying Joseph , sold him away into Egypt . And God was with him , * and delivered him out of all his tribulations , and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt , and he appointed him chief over Egypt and all his house . * But a famine came upon all the land of Egypt and Canaan , and great distress , and our fathers found no food . * But Jacob , having heard of there being corn in Egypt , sent out our fathers first ; * and the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren , and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh . * And Joseph sent and called down to him his father Jacob and all [his ] kindred , seventy-five souls . * And Jacob went down into Egypt and died , he and our fathers , * and were carried over to Sychem and placed in the sepulchre which Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the [father ] of Sychem . * But as the time of promise drew near which God had promised to Abraham , the people increased and multiplied in Egypt , * until another king over Egypt arose who did not know Joseph . * He dealt subtilly with our race , and evil entreated the fathers , casting out their infants that they might not live . * In which time Moses was born , and was exceedingly lovely , who was nourished three months in the house of his father . * And when he was cast out , the daughter of Pharaoh took him up , and brought him up for herself [to be ] for a son . * And Moses was instructed in all [the ] wisdom of the Egyptians , and he was mighty in his words and deeds . * And when a period of forty years was fulfilled to him , it came into his heart to look upon his brethren , the sons of Israel ; * and seeing a certain one wronged , he defended [him ], and avenged him that was being oppressed , smiting the Egyptian . * For he thought that his brethren would understand that God by his hand was giving them deliverance . But they understood not . * And on the morrow he shewed himself to them as they were contending , and compelled them to peace , saying , Ye are brethren , why do ye wrong one another ? * But he that was wronging his neighbour thrust him away , saying , Who established thee ruler and judge over us ? * Dost thou wish to kill me as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday ? * And Moses fled at this saying , and became a sojourner in the land of Madiam , where he begat two sons . * And when forty years were fulfilled , an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai , in a flame of fire of a bush . * And Moses seeing it wondered at the vision ; and as he went up to consider it , there was a voice of [the ] Lord , * I am the God of thy fathers , the God of Abraham , and of Isaac , and of Jacob . And Moses trembled , and durst not consider [it ]. * And the Lord said to him , Loose the sandal of thy feet , for the place on which thou standest is holy ground . * I have surely seen the ill treatment of my people which is in Egypt , and I have heard their groan , and have come down to take them out of it ; and now , come , I will send thee to Egypt . * This Moses , whom they refused , saying , Who made thee ruler and judge ? him did God send [to be ] a ruler and deliverer with the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush . * He led them out , having wrought wonders and signs in the land of Egypt , and in the Red sea , and in the wilderness forty years . * This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel , A prophet shall God raise up to you out of your brethren like me [him shall ye hear ]. * This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness , with the angel who spoke to him in the mount Sinai , and with our fathers ; who received living oracles to give to us ; * to whom our fathers would not be subject , but thrust [him ] from them , and in their hearts turned back to Egypt , * saying to Aaron , Make us gods who shall go before us ; for this Moses , who brought us out of the land of Egypt , we know not what has happened to him . * And they made a calf in those days , and offered sacrifice to the idol , and rejoiced in the works of their own hands . * But God turned and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven ; as it is written in [the ] book of the prophets , Have ye offered me victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness , O house of Israel ? * Yea , ye took up the tent of Moloch , and the star of [your ] god Remphan , the forms which ye made to do homage to them ; and I will transport you beyond Babylon . * Our fathers had the tent of the testimony in the wilderness , as he that spoke to Moses commanded to make it according to the model which he had seen ; * which also our fathers , receiving from their predecessors , brought in with Joshua when they entered into possession of [the lands of ] the nations , whom God drove out from [the ] face of our fathers , until the days of David ; * who found favour before God , and asked to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob ; * but Solomon built him a house . * But the Most High dwells not in [places ] made with hands ; as says the prophet , * The heaven [is ] my throne and the earth the footstool of my feet : what house will ye build me ? saith [the ] Lord , or where [is the ] place of my rest ? * has not my hand made all these things ? * O stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears , ye do always resist the Holy Spirit ; as your fathers , ye also . * Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted ? and they have slain those who announced beforehand concerning the coming of the Just One , of whom ye have now become deliverers up and murderers ! * who have received the law as ordained by [the ] ministry of angels , and have not kept [it ]. * And hearing these things they were cut to the heart , and gnashed their teeth against him . * But being full of [the ] Holy Spirit , having fixed his eyes on heaven , he saw [the ] glory of God , and Jesus standing at the right hand of God , * and said , Lo , I behold the heavens opened , and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God . * And they cried out with a loud voice , and held their ears , and rushed upon him with one accord ; * and having cast [him ] out of the city , they stoned [him ]. And the witnesses laid aside their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul . * And they stoned Stephen , praying , and saying , Lord Jesus , receive my spirit . * And kneeling down , he cried with a loud voice , Lord , lay not this sin to their charge . And having said this , he fell asleep .

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