Then said
the high priest, Are these things so?
02 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers,
hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our
father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia,
before he dwelt in Charran,
03 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and come into the
land which I shall shew thee.
04 Then came he out of the land of the
Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from
thence, when his father was dead, he removed him
into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
05 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, when as
yet he had no child.
06 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.
07 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.
08 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.
09 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold
Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,
10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions,
and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of
Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor
over Egypt and all his house.
11 Now there came a dearth over all the land of
Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our
fathers found no sustenance.
12 But when Jacob heard that there was corn in
Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.
13 And at the second time Joseph was made known
to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made
known unto Pharaoh.
14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob
to him, and all his kindred, threescore and
fifteen souls.
15 So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he,
and our fathers,
16 And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in
the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of
money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.
17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh,
which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew
and multiplied in Egypt,
18 Till another king arose, which knew not
Joseph.
19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and
evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out
their young children, to the end they might not
live.
20 In which time Moses was born, and was
exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's
house three months:
21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter
took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
23 And when he was full forty years old, it came
into his heart to visit his brethren the children
of Israel.
24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he
defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed,
and smote the Egyptian:
25 For he supposed his brethren would have
understood how that God by his hand would deliver
them: but they understood not.
26 And the next day he shewed 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?
27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him
away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge
over us?
28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the
Egyptian yesterday?
29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a
stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat
two sons.
30 And when forty years were expired, there
appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina
an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a
bush.
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,
__________________________________ |
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.
33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes
from thy feet: for the place where thou standest
is holy ground.
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.
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.
36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed
wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in
the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
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.
38 This is he, that was in the church in the
wilderness with the angel which spake to him in
the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who
received the lively oracles to give unto us:
39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust
him from them, and in their hearts turned back
again into Egypt,
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.
41 And they made a calf in those days, and
offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in
the works of their own hands.
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 by the
space of forty years in the wilderness?
43 Yea, 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.
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.
45 Which also our fathers that came after brought
in with Jesus into the possession of the
Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of
our fathers, unto the days of David;
46 Who found favour before God, and desired to
find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
47 But Solomon built him an house.
48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples
made with hands; as saith the prophet,
49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my
footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the
Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
50 Hath not my hand made all these things?
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and
ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your
fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers
persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed
before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye
have been now the betrayers and murderers:
53 Who have received the law by the disposition
of angels, and have not kept it.
54 When they heard these things, they were cut to
the heart, and they gnashed on him with their
teeth.
55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked
up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened,
and the Son of man standing on the right hand of
God.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and
stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one
accord,
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.
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and
saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
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.
__________________________________ |