1 Then said the high priest , Are these things so ?
2 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 ,
3 And said unto him , Get thee out of thy country , and from thy kindred , and come into the land which I shall shew thee .
4 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 .
5 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 .
6 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 .
7 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 .
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 .
9 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 .
