Welcome to our website where we explore the Bible! Pleasure to meet you here!
May your journey into the world of the Holy Scriptures be engaging and inspiring!
You can change reading language: uk ru
Parallel
New International Version
New Living Translation
Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
Stephen Addresses the Council
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”
To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran.
“So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.
So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.
He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.
“But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants — even though he had no children yet.
God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.
God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.
Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
“God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.
“Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
“These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him
and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.
“Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food.
“But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food.
When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit.
Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons — our ancestors — to buy some.
On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family.
After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all.
Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all.
Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.
So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors.
Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.
“As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.
“As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.
But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.
He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.
“At that time Moses was born — a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months.
When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son.
Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.
“When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites.
“One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel.
He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.
He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian.
Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.
Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.
The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
“The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’
“But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
“But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked.
‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’
When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.
“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
“Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush.
When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:
When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the LORD called out to him,
‘I am the God of your ancestors — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
“Then the LORD said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.
“This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
“So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior.
He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.
And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.
He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
“But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
“But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt.
They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’
That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.
So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made.
But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
“ ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
“ ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,
‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings
during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings
during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David,
Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.
“However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,
“ ‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
asks the LORD.
‘Could you build me such a resting place?
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
asks the LORD.
‘Could you build me such a resting place?
“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him —
Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One — the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.
you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”
You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”
The Stoning of Stephen
When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.
When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”
At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,
Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him
dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”