1 A nd the chief priest said, `Are then these things so?'

The head religious leader asked Stephen, “Are these things true?”

2 a nd he said, `Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken: The God of the glory did appear to our father Abraham, being in Mesopotamia, before his dwelling in Haran,

Stephen said, “My brothers and fathers, listen to me. The great God showed Himself to our early father Abraham while he lived in the country of Mesopotamia. This was before he moved to the country of Haran.

3 a nd He said to him, Go forth out of thy land, and out of thy kindred, and come to a land that I shall shew thee.

God said to him, ‘Leave your family and this land where you were born. Go to a land that I will show you.’

4 ` Then having come forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelt in Haran, and from thence, after the death of his father, He did remove him to this land wherein ye now dwell,

He went from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. After his father died, he came to this country where you now live.

5 a nd He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a footstep, and did promise to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him -- he having no child.

God did not give him any land to own, not even enough to put his feet on. But He promised that the land would be his and his children’s after him. At that time he had no children.

6 ` And God spake thus, That his seed shall be sojourning in a strange land, and they shall cause it to serve, and shall do it evil four hundred years,

This is what God said, ‘Your children’s children will be living in a strange land. They will live there 400 years. They will be made to work without pay and will suffer many hard things.

7 a nd the nation whom they shall serve I will judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and shall do Me service in this place.

I will say to that nation that it is guilty for holding them and making them work without pay. After that they will go free. They will leave that country and worship Me in this place.’

8 ` And He gave to him a covenant of circumcision, and so he begat Isaac, and did circumcise him on the eighth day, and Isaac Jacob, and Jacob -- the twelve patriarchs;

“He made a promise with Abraham. It was kept by a religious act of becoming a Jew. Abraham had a son, Isaac. On the eighth day Abraham took Isaac and had this religious act done to him. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of our twelve early fathers.

9 a nd the patriarchs, having been moved with jealousy, sold Joseph to Egypt, and God was with him,

“The sons of Jacob sold Joseph to people from the country of Egypt because they were jealous of him. But God was with Joseph.

10 a nd did deliver him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favour and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he did set him -- governor over Egypt and all his house.

He helped him in all his troubles. He gave him wisdom and favor with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. This king made Joseph leader over Egypt and over all the king’s house.

11 ` And there came a dearth upon all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great tribulation, and our fathers were not finding sustenance,

“The time came when there was no food to eat in all the land of Egypt and Canaan. The people suffered much. Our early fathers were not able to get food.

12 a nd Jacob having heard that there was corn in Egypt, sent forth our fathers a first time;

Then Jacob heard there was food in Egypt. He sent our early fathers there the first time.

13 a nd at the second time was Joseph made known to his brethren, and Joseph's kindred became manifest to Pharaoh,

“The second time they went to the country of Egypt, Joseph made himself known to his brothers. The family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh.

14 a nd Joseph having sent, did call for his father Jacob, and all his kindred -- with seventy and five souls --

Joseph asked his father Jacob and all his family to come. There were seventy-five people in the family.

15 a nd Jacob went down to Egypt, and died, himself and our fathers,

Jacob moved down to Egypt and died there. Our early fathers died there also.

16 a nd they were carried over into Sychem, and were laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in money from the sons of Emmor, of Sychem.

They were brought back to the city of Shechem where they were buried. Abraham paid money for the grave from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. Stephen Speaks about the God of Moses

17 ` And according as the time of the promise was drawing nigh, which God did swear to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

“The promise God had given Abraham was about to happen. At this time many more of our people were in the country of Egypt.

18 t ill another king rose, who had not known Joseph;

Then another man became king in Egypt. He was a king who did not know Joseph.

19 t his one, having dealt subtilely with our kindred, did evil to our fathers, causing to expose their babes, that they might not live;

He was hard on our people and nation. He worked against our early fathers. He made them put their babies outside so they would die.

20 i n which time Moses was born, and he was fair to God, and he was brought up three months in the house of his father;

“At that time Moses was born. He was beautiful in God’s sight. He was fed in his father’s house for three months.

21 a nd he having been exposed, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up, and did rear him to herself for a son;

Then he was put outside. Pharaoh’s daughter took him and cared for him as her own son.

22 a nd Moses was taught in all wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in words and in works.

Moses was taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He became a powerful man in words and in the things he did.

23 ` And when forty years were fulfilled to him, it came upon his heart to look after his brethren, the sons of Israel;

When he was forty years old, he thought he should visit his brothers, the Jews.

24 a nd having seen a certain one suffering injustice, he did defend, and did justice to the oppressed, having smitten the Egyptian;

He saw one of the Jews being hurt. Moses helped the Jew and killed the man from Egypt.

25 a nd he was supposing his brethren to understand that God through his hand doth give salvation; and they did not understand.

He thought his people would understand. He thought they knew God would let them go free by his help. But the people did not understand.

26 ` On the succeeding day, also, he shewed himself to them as they are striving, and urged them to peace, saying, Men, brethren are ye, wherefore do ye injustice to one another?

“The next day Moses came to some Jews who were fighting. He tried to get them to stop. Moses said to the Jews, ‘Sirs, you are brothers. Why do you hurt each other?’

27 a nd he who is doing injustice to the neighbour, did thrust him away, saying, Who set thee a ruler and a judge over us?

One was beating his neighbor. He pushed Moses away and said, ‘Who made you a leader over us? Who said you could say who is guilty?

28 t o kill me dost thou wish, as thou didst kill yesterday the Egyptian?

Do you want to kill me as you killed the man from Egypt yesterday?’

29 ` And Moses fled at this word, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons,

When Moses heard that, he went as fast as he could to the country of Midian where he was a stranger. While he was there, he became the father of two sons.

30 a nd forty years having been fulfilled, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai a messenger of the Lord, in a flame of fire of a bush,

Forty years passed and Moses was near Mount Sinai where no people live. There he saw an angel in the fire of a burning bush.

31 a nd Moses having seen did wonder at the sight; and he drawing near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord unto him,

He was surprised and wondered when he saw it. He went up close to see it better. Then he heard the voice of the Lord speak to him.

32 I the God of thy fathers; the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. `And Moses having become terrified, durst not behold,

‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ Moses shook! He was so afraid he did not look at the bush.

33 a nd the Lord said to him, Loose the sandal of thy feet, for the place in which thou hast stood is holy ground;

“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take your shoes off your feet! The place where you are standing is holy ground.

34 s eeing I have seen the affliction of My people that in Egypt, and their groaning I did hear, and came down to deliver them; and now come, I will send thee to Egypt.

I have seen My people suffer in the country of Egypt and I have heard their cries. I have come down to let them go free. So come now, I will send you back to Egypt.’

35 ` This Moses, whom they did refuse, saying, Who did set thee a ruler and a judge? this one God a ruler and a redeemer did send, in the hand of a messenger who appeared to him in the bush;

“The people had put Moses aside. They said, ‘Who made you a leader over us? Who said you are the one to say what is right or wrong?’ But God made this man a leader. Moses was the one who brought them out of the country of Egypt. This was done by the help of the angel who was in the burning bush.

36 t his one did bring them forth, having done wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years;

This man led them. He did powerful works in Egypt and at the Red Sea. For forty years he led them in the desert.

37 t his is the Moses who did say to the sons of Israel: A prophet to you shall the Lord your God raise up out of your brethren, like to me, him shall ye hear.

“Moses said to the Jews, ‘God will give you one who speaks for Him like me from among your brothers.’

38 ` This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the messenger who is speaking to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers who did receive the living oracles to give to us;

This is the man who was with the Jewish nation in the desert. The angel talked to him on Mount Sinai. Moses told it to our early fathers. He also received the living Words of God to give to us.

39 t o whom our fathers did not wish to become obedient, but did thrust away, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,

“Our early fathers would not listen to him. They did not obey him. In their hearts they wanted to go back to the country of Egypt.

40 s aying to Aaron, Make to us gods who shall go on before us, for this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we have not known what hath happened to him.

They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us. We do not know what has happened to this Moses who led us out of Egypt.’

41 ` And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands,

“In those days they made a calf of gold. They put gifts down in front of their god in worship. They were happy with what they had made with their hands.

42 a nd God did turn, and did give them up to do service to the host of the heaven, according as it hath been written in the scroll of the prophets: Slain beasts and sacrifices did ye offer to Me forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

But God turned from them and let them worship the stars of heaven. This is written in the book of the early preachers, ‘Nation of Jews, was it to Me you gave gifts of sheep and cattle on the altar for forty years in the desert?

43 a nd ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan -- the figures that ye made to bow before them, and I will remove your dwelling beyond Babylon.

No, you set up the tent to worship the god of Molock and the star of your god Rompha. You made gods to worship them. I will carry you away to the other side of the country of Babylon.’ The Place of Worship and the House of God

44 ` The tabernacle of the testimony was among our fathers in the wilderness, according as He did direct, who is speaking to Moses, to make it according to the figure that he had seen;

“Our early fathers had the tent to worship in. They used it in the desert. God told Moses to make it like the plan which he had seen.

45 w hich also our fathers having in succession received, did bring in with Joshua, into the possession of the nations whom God did drive out from the presence of our fathers, till the days of David,

This was received by our early fathers. They brought it here when they won the wars with the people who were not Jews. It was when Joshua was our leader. God made those people leave as our early fathers took the land. The tent was here until the time of David.

46 w ho found favour before God, and requested to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob;

David pleased God and wanted to build a house for worship for the God of Jacob.

47 a nd Solomon built Him an house.

But Solomon was the one who built the house of God for Him.

48 ` But the Most High in sanctuaries made with hands doth not dwell, according as the prophet saith:

But the Most High does not live in buildings made by hands. The early preacher said,

49 T he heaven My throne, and the earth My footstool; what house will ye build to Me? saith the Lord, or what the place of My rest?

’Heaven is the place where I sit and the earth is the place where I rest My feet. What house will you build Me?’ says the Lord. ‘Or what is My place of rest?

50 h ath not My hand made all these things?

Did not My hands make all these things?’ The Jews Are Hurt

51 ` Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears! ye do always the Holy Spirit resist; as your fathers -- also ye;

“You have hard hearts and ears that will not listen to me! You are always working against the Holy Spirit. Your early fathers did. You do too.

52 w hich of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed those who declared before about the coming of the Righteous One, of whom now ye betrayers and murderers have become,

Which of the early preachers was not beaten and hurt by your early fathers? They killed those who told of the coming of the One Right with God. Now you have handed Him over and killed Him.

53 w ho received the law by arrangement of messengers, and did not keep.'

You had the Law given to you by angels. Yet you have not kept it.” Stephen Is Killed

54 A nd hearing these things, they were cut to the hearts, and did gnash the teeth at him;

The Jews and religious leaders listened to Stephen. Then they became angry and began to grind their teeth at him.

55 a nd being full of the Holy Spirit, having looked stedfastly to the heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

He was filled with the Holy Spirit. As he looked up to heaven, he saw the shining-greatness of God and Jesus standing at the right side of God.

56 a nd he said, `Lo, I see the heavens having been opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.'

He said, “See! I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!”

57 A nd they, having cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and did rush with one accord upon him,

They cried out with loud voices. They put their hands over their ears and they all pushed on him.

58 a nd having cast him forth outside of the city, they were stoning -- and the witnesses did put down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul --

Then they took him out of the city and threw stones at him. The men who were throwing the stones laid their coats down in front of a young man named Saul.

59 a nd they were stoning Stephen, calling and saying, `Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;'

While they threw stones at Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

60 a nd having bowed the knees, he cried with a loud voice, `Lord, mayest thou not lay to them this sin;' and this having said, he fell asleep.

After that he fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.