7:1And the high priest said, Are these
things so?
7:2And he said,
Brethren and fathers, hearken: The
God of
glory appeared unto our
father Abraham, when he was in
Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in
Haran,
7:3and said unto him, Get thee out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.
7:4Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in
Haran: and from thence, when his
father was
dead,
God removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell:
7:5and he gave him none
inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: and he promised that he would give it to him in possession, and to his
seed after him, when
as yet he had no child.
7:6And
God spake on this wise, that his
seed should sojourn in a strange land, and that they should bring them into
bondage, and treat them ill, four hundred
years.
7:7And the
nation to which they shall be in
bondage will I
judge, said
God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this
place.
7:8And he gave him the
covenant of
circumcision: and so
Abraham begat
Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth
day; and
Isaac begat Jacob, and
Jacob the
twelve patriarchs.
7:9And the patriarchs, moved with
jealousy against
Joseph, sold him into
Egypt: and
God was with him,
7:10and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him
favor and
wisdom before
Pharaoh king of
Egypt; and he made him governor over
Egypt and all his
house.
7:11Now there came a
famine over all
Egypt and
Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
7:12But when
Jacob heard that there was grain in
Egypt, he sent forth our fathers the first
time.
7:13And at the second
time Joseph was made known to his
brethren; and Joseph's
race became manifest unto
Pharaoh.
7:14And
Joseph sent, and called to him
Jacob his
father, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.
7:15And
Jacob went down into
Egypt; and he died, himself and our fathers;
7:16and they were carried over unto
Shechem, and laid in the
tomb that
Abraham bought for a price in
silver of the sons of
Hamor in
Shechem.
7:17But as the
time of the
promise drew nigh which
God vouchsafed unto
Abraham, the
people grew and multiplied in
Egypt,
7:18till there arose another
king over
Egypt, who knew not
Joseph.
7:19The same dealt craftily with our
race, and ill-treated our fathers, that they should cast out their babes to the end they might not live.
7:20At which season
Moses was born, and was exceeding fair; and he was nourished three months in his father's
house.
7:21and when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
7:22And
Moses was instructed in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and works.
7:23But when he was well-nigh forty
years old, it came into his
heart to visit his
brethren the children of
Israel.
7:24And seeing one
of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, smiting the
Egyptian:
7:25and he supposed that his
brethren understood that
God by his
hand was
giving them deliverance; but they understood not.
7:26And the
day following he appeared 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?
7:27But he that did his
neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a
judge over us?
7:28Wouldest thou kill me, as thou killedst the
Egyptian yesterday?
7:29And
Moses fled at this saying, and became a sojourner in the land of
Midian, where he begat two sons.
7:30And when forty
years were fulfilled, an
angel appeared to him in the
wilderness of Mount
Sinai, in a
flame of
fire in a bush.
7:31And when
Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold, there came a
voice of the
Lord,
7:32I am the
God of thy fathers, the
God of
Abraham, and of
Isaac, and of
Jacob. And
Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
7:33And the
Lord said unto him, Loose the
shoes from thy
feet: for the
place whereon thou standest is
holy ground.
7:34I have surely seen the affliction of my
people that is in
Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and
I am come down to deliver them: and now come, I will send thee into
Egypt.
7:35This
Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a
judge? him hath
God sent
to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the
hand of the
angel that appeared to him in the bush.
7:36This
man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in
Egypt, and in the Red
Sea, and in the
wilderness forty
years.
7:37This is that
Moses, who said unto the children of
Israel, A
prophet shall
God raise up unto you from among your
brethren, like unto me.
7:38This is he that was in the
church in the
wilderness with the
angel that spake to him in the Mount
Sinai, and with our fathers: who received living oracles to give unto us:
7:39to whom our fathers would not be obedient, but thrust him from them, and turned back in their hearts unto
Egypt,
7:40saying unto
Aaron, Make us gods that shall go before us: for as for this
Moses, who led us forth out of the land of
Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
7:41And they made a calf in those days, and brought a
sacrifice unto the
idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
7:42But
God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of
heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets,
Did ye offer unto me slain beasts and sacrifices
Forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
7:43And ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
And the star of the god Rephan,
The figures which ye made to worship them:
And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
7:44Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he appointed who spake unto Moses, that he should make it according to the figure that he had seen. 7:45Which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered on the possession of the nations, that God thrust out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; 7:46who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. 7:47But Solomon built him a house. 7:48Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands; as saith the prophet,
7:49The heaven is my throne,
And the earth the footstool of my feet:
What manner of house will ye build me? saith the Lord:
Or what is the place of my rest?
7:50Did not my hand make all these things?
7:51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. 7:52Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers; 7:53ye who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not. 7:54Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 7:55But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 7:56and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. 7:57But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord; 7:58and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 7:59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 7:60And 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.
