7:1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so?
7:2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of
glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in
Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
7:3 And said to him, Depart from thy country, and from thy
kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.
7:4 Then he came from the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in
Charran. And from thence, when his father was dead, he removed
him into this land in which ye now dwell.
7:5 And he gave him no 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 offspring after him, when [as yet]
he had no child.
7:6 And God spoke on this wise, That his offspring should
sojourn in a foreign land; and that they should bring them into
bondage, and treat [them] ill four hundred years.
7:7 And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I
judge, said God: and after that they shall come forth, and
serve me in this place.
7:8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so
[Abraham] begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and
Isaac [begat] Jacob, and Jacob [begat] the twelve patriarchs.
7:9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt:
but God was with him,
7:10 And delivered him from 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.
7:11 Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and
Canaan, and great affliction; and our fathers found no
sustenance.
7:12 But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent
out our fathers first.
7:13 And at the second [time] Joseph was made known to his
brethren: and Joseph's kindred was made known to Pharaoh.
7:14 Then Joseph sent, and called his father Jacob to [him], and
all his kindred, seventy five souls.
7:15 So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our
fathers,
7:16 And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the
sepulcher that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of
Emmor [the father] of Sychem.
7:17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had
sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
7:18 Till another king arose, who knew not Joseph.
7:19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and ill-treated
our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the
end they might not live.
7:20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and
nourished in his father's house three months:
7:21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up,
and nourished him for her own son.
7:22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,
and was mighty in words and in deeds.
7:23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his
heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
7:24 And seeing one [of them] suffer wrong, he defended [him],
and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:
7:25 For he supposed his brethren to understand that God by his
hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
7:26 And the next day he showed himself to them as they were
contending, and would have constrained them to be at peace
again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren: why do ye wrong one to
another?
7:27 But he that did his neighbor wrong, thrust him away,
saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
7:28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday?
7:29 Then Moses fled at this saying, and was a stranger in the
land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
7:30 And when forty years had expired, there appeared to him in
the wilderness of mount Sina, an angel of the Lord in a flame
of fire in a bush.
7:31 When Moses saw [it], he wondered at the sight; and as he
drew near to behold [it], the voice of the Lord came to him,
7:32 [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.
7:33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet:
for the place where thou standest is holy ground.
7:34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people who
are in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down
to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
7:35 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 who appeared to him in the
bush.
7:36 He brought them out, after he had showed wonders and signs
in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness
forty years.
7:37 This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, A
prophet will the Lord your God raise up to you of your
brethren, like me; him will ye hear.
7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with
the angel who spoke to him on the mount Sina, and [with] our
fathers: who received the living oracles to give to us:
7:39 Whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust [him] from
them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
7:40 Saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for [as for]
this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know
not what is become of him.
7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice
to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
7:42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of
heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye
house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and
sacrifices [during] forty years in the wilderness?
7:43 Yes, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of
your God Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I
will carry you away beyond Babylon.
7:44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the
wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking to Moses, that he
should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.
7:45 Which also our fathers, that came after, brought in with
Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out
before the face of our fathers, to the days of David;
7:46 Who found favor before God, and desired to find a
tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
7:47 But Solomon built him a house.
7:48 Yet, the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands,
as saith the prophet,
7:49 Heaven [is] my throne, and earth [is] my footstool: What
house will ye build for me? saith the Lord: or what [is] the
place of my rest?
7:50 Hath not my hand made all these things?
7:51 Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do
always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers [did], so [do]
ye.
7:52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and
they have slain them who showed before of the coming of the
Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers;
7:53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and
have not kept [it].
7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart,
and they gnashed on him with [their] teeth.
7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up
steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing on the right hand of God,
7:56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of
man standing on the right hand of God.
7:57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their
ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
7:58 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.
7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon [God], and saying,
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
7:60 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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