Acts 7
Stephen's
Defense |
1 |
Then said the high priest, Are these
things so?
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2 |
And he said,
Men, brethren, and
fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham,
when he was in Mesopota'mi-a, before he dwelt in Haran,
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3 |
and said unto him, Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall
show thee. Gen. 12.1
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4 |
Then came he out of the land of the
Chalde'ans, and dwelt in Haran: Gen. 11.31 and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him
into this land, wherein ye now dwell. Gen. 12.4
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5 |
And he gave him none inheritance in it,
no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that
he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, Gen.
12.7 ; 13.15 ; 15.18 ; 17.8 when as yet he had no child.
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6 |
And God spake on this wise, That his seed
should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them
into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred
years.
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7 |
And the nation to whom they shall be in
bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come
forth, and serve me in this place. Gen. 15.13, 14
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8 |
And he gave him the covenant of
circumcision: Gen. 17.10-14 and so Abraham begat Isaac, Gen. 21.2-4 and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; Gen. 25.26 and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. Gen. 29.31--35.18
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9 |
And the patriarchs, moved with envy, Gen. 37.11 sold Joseph into Egypt: Gen. 37.28 but God was with him, Gen. 39.2, 21
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10 |
and delivered him out of all his
afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh
king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his
house. Gen. 41.39-41
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11 |
Now there came a dearth over all the land
of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no
sustenance. Gen. 41.54-57
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12 |
But when Jacob heard that there was corn
in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. Gen. 42.1, 2
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13 |
And at the second time Joseph was
made known to his brethren; Gen. 45.1 and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Gen.
45.16
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14 |
Then sent Joseph, and called his father
Jacob to him, Gen. 45.9--0.17 and
all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. Gen. 46.27
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15 |
So Jacob went down into Egypt, Gen.
46.1-7 and died, he, Gen. 49.33 and our fathers,
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16 |
and were carried over into Shechem, and
laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the
sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Gen. 23.3-16 ; 33.19 ; 50.7-13 · Josh. 24.32
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17 |
But when the time of the promise drew
nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied
in Egypt,
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18 |
till another king arose, which knew not
Joseph. Ex. 1.7, 8
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19 |
The same dealt subtilely with our
kindred, Ex. 1.10, 11 and
evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young
children, to the end they might not live. Ex. 1.22
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20 |
In which time Moses was born, and was
exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months: Ex.
2.2
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21 |
and when he was cast out, Pharaoh's
daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. Ex.
2.3-10
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22 |
And Moses was learned in all the wisdom
of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
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23 |
And when he was full forty years old,
it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of
Israel.
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24 |
And seeing one of them suffer
wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed,
and smote the Egyptian:
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25 |
for he supposed his brethren would have
understood how that God by his hand would deliver them; but they
understood not.
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26 |
And the next day he showed himself unto
them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying,
Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
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27 |
But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust
him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over
us?
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28 |
Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the
Egyptian yesterday?
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29 |
Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a
stranger in the land of Mid'i-an, Ex. 2.11-15 where he begat two sons. Ex. 18.3, 4
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30 |
And when forty years were expired,
there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Si'nai an angel of
the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
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31 |
When Moses saw it, he wondered at
the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the
Lord came unto him,
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32 |
saying, I am the God of thy
fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
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33 |
Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy
shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy
ground.
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34 |
I have seen, I have seen the affliction
of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and
am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into
Egypt. Ex. 3.1-10
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35 |
This Moses whom they refused, saying,
Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to
be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which
appeared to him in the bush.
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36 |
He brought them out, after that he had
showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, Ex. 7.3 and in the Red sea, Ex. 14.21 and in the wilderness forty years. Num. 14.33
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37 |
This is that Moses, which said unto the
children of Israel, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto
you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. Deut.
18.15, 18
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38 |
This is he, that was in the church in the
wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Si'nai, Ex.
19.1--20.17 · Deut. 5.1-33 and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles
to give unto us:
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39 |
to whom our fathers would not obey, but
thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again
into Egypt,
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40 |
saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go
before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the
land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. Ex. 32.1
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41 |
And they made a calf in those days, and
offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their
own hands. Ex. 32.2-6
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42 |
Then God turned, and gave them up to
worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the
prophets,
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O ye house of Israel, |
have ye offered to me slain beasts and
sacrifices |
by the space of forty years in the
wilderness? |
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43 |
Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of
Moloch,
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and the star of your god Remphan, |
figures which ye made to worship them: |
and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Amos
5.25-27 |
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44 |
Our fathers had the tabernacle of
witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses,
that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Ex.
25.9, 40
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45 |
Which also our fathers that came after
brought in with Joshua Josh. 3.14-17 into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out
before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
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46 |
who found favor before God, and desired
to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 2 Sam. 7.1-16 · 1 Chr.
17.1-14
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47 |
But Solomon built him a house. 1 Kgs.
6.1-38 · 2
Chr. 3.1-17
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48 |
Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in
temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
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49 |
Heaven is my throne,
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and earth is my footstool: |
what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: |
or what is the place of my
rest? |
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50 |
Hath not my hand made all these things? Is.
66.1, 2
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51 |
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in
heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Is. 63.10
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52 |
Which of the prophets have not your
fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of
the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers
and murderers:
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53 |
who have received the law by the
disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
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The Stoning of
Stephen |
54 |
When they heard these things, they were
cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
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55 |
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost,
looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and
Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
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56 |
and said, Behold, I see the heavens
opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of
God.
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57 |
Then they cried out with a loud voice,
and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
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58 |
and cast him out of the city, and
stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a
young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
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59 |
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
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60 |
And he kneeled down, and cried with a
loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had
said this, he fell asleep.
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