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7:1  The high priest said to Stephen, “Are these ·things [charges] true?”
7:2  Stephen answered, “Brothers [L Men, brothers] and fathers, listen to me. ·Our glorious God [The God of glory] appeared to Abraham, our ·ancestor [patriarch; L father], in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran [C a city in Syria where Abraham resided before reaching the Promised Land; Gen. 11:31].
7:3  God said to Abraham, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and go to the land I will show you [Gen. 12:1].’
7:4  So Abraham left the ·country [land] of Chaldea [C another name for southern Mesopotamia, the location of Ur] and went to live in Haran. After Abraham’s father [C Terah] died, God sent him to this place where you now live.
7:5  God did not give Abraham ·any of this land [L an inheritance in it], not even a ·foot of it [L a foot’s length]. But God promised that he would give this land to him [L as a possession] and his ·descendants [L seed; Gen. 12:2], even before Abraham had a child.
7:6  This is what God said to him: ‘Your ·descendants [L seed] will be ·strangers [foreigners; resident aliens] in a ·land they don’t own [foreign land; land belonging to others; C Egypt]. The people there will make them slaves and will ·mistreat [oppress] them for four hundred years.
7:7  But I will ·punish [judge] the nation where they are slaves. Then ·your descendants [L they] will leave that land and will worship me in this place [Gen. 15:13–14; Ex. 3:12].’
7:8  God made an ·agreement [covenant; C a treaty-like relationship] with Abraham, the sign of which was circumcision [Gen. 17:9–14]. And so when Abraham ·had his son [became the father of; T begat] Isaac, Abraham circumcised him when he was eight days old. Isaac ·also circumcised his son Jacob [or became the father of Jacob], and Jacob ·did the same for his sons, [or became the father of] the twelve ·ancestors of our people [patriarchs; C the twelve sons of Jacob who were the “fathers” of the twelve tribes of Israel].
7:9  “·Jacob’s sons [L The patriarchs] became jealous of Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him
7:10  and ·saved [rescued; delivered] him from all his ·troubles [afflictions]. God gave Joseph ·wisdom to gain the favor of [L favor and wisdom before] Pharaoh, king of Egypt. The king made him governor of Egypt and put him in charge of ·all the people in his palace [L his whole household].
7:11  “Then all the land of Egypt and Canaan experienced a famine, and the people suffered very much. ·Jacob’s sons, our ancestors, [L Our fathers] could not find anything to eat.
7:12  But when Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent ·his sons [L our fathers] there. This was their first trip to Egypt [Gen. 42].
7:13  When they went there a second time [Gen. 43—45], Joseph ·told his brothers who he was [made himself known to his brothers], and ·the king [L Pharaoh] learned about Joseph’s family.
7:14  Then Joseph sent messengers to ·invite [summon; call] Jacob, his father, to come to Egypt along with all his relatives (seventy-five persons altogether).
7:15  So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and ·his sons [L our fathers] died.
7:16  Later their bodies were moved to Shechem and put in a grave there. (It was the same grave Abraham had bought for a sum of ·money [L silver] from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.) [C Stephen combines two accounts, Abraham’s purchase of a field in Hebron (Gen. 23:3–20) and Jacob’s purchase of a field in Shechem (Josh. 24:32).]
7:17  “The promise God made to Abraham [Gen. 15:12–16] was soon to come true, and the number of people in Egypt ·grew large [L increased/flourished and multiplied].
7:18  Then ·a new [L another] king, who ·did not know who Joseph was [or did not think Joseph was important], ·began to rule Egypt [L arose; Ex. 1:8].
7:19  This king ·tricked [exploited; dealt treacherously with] our ·people [L race] and was cruel to our ·ancestors [L fathers], forcing them to ·leave [L expose; abandon] their babies outside to die [C such abandonment was a common ancient method of population control].
7:20  At this time Moses was born, and he was ·very beautiful [beautiful before/to God; or of high status in God’s eyes]. For three months Moses was cared for in his father’s house.
7:21  When ·they put Moses outside [L he was abandoned/exposed; C when Moses’ mother “exposed” Moses to the elements, she was actually hiding him; Ex. 2:3–4], ·the king’s [L Pharaoh’s] daughter adopted him and raised him as if he were her own son.
7:22  ·The Egyptians taught Moses everything they knew [L So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians], and he was a powerful man in ·what he said and did [L his words and actions].
7:23  “When Moses was about forty years old, ·he thought it would be good [L it rose up in his heart] to visit his own ·people [relatives; L brothers (and sisters)], the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel.
7:24  Moses saw an Egyptian ·mistreating [wronging] one of his people, so he defended the ·Israelite [L oppressed man] and ·punished the Egyptian by killing him [L avenged him by striking down the Egyptian; Ex. 2:11–12].
7:25  Moses ·thought [assumed] his own ·people [relatives; L brothers (and sisters)] would understand that God was using him to save them, but they did not.
7:26  The next day when Moses saw two men of Israel fighting, he tried to ·make peace between [reconcile] them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you ·hurting [wronging] each other?’
7:27  The man who was ·hurting [wronging] ·the other [L his neighbor] pushed Moses away and said, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge?
7:28  ·Are you going [or Do you want] to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday [Ex. 2:14]?’
7:29  When Moses heard him say this, he ·left Egypt [L fled] and went to live in the land of Midian [C a land without distinct borders centered in northwestern Arabia] where he was a ·stranger [foreigner; resident alien; Ex. 2:15–25]. While Moses lived in Midian, he had two sons.
7:30  “Forty years later an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush as he was in the ·desert [wilderness] near Mount Sinai [Ex. 3].
7:31  When Moses saw this, he was amazed [L at the sight/vision] and went near to look closer. Moses heard the Lord’s voice say,
7:32  ‘I am the God of your ·ancestors [forefathers; fathers], the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [Ex. 3:6].’ Moses began to ·shake [tremble] with fear and ·was afraid [did not dare] to look.
7:33  The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.
7:34  I have [surely; indeed] seen the ·troubles [wrongs; mistreatment; oppression] my people have suffered in Egypt. I have heard their ·cries [groans] and have come down to ·save [rescue; deliver] them. And now, Moses, I am sending you back to Egypt [Ex. 3:5, 7–8, 10].’
7:35  “This Moses was the same man the two men of Israel rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge [Ex. 2:14; C compare the rejection of Jesus in v. 52]?’ This same man God sent to be a ruler and ·savior [rescuer; liberator; redeemer], with the ·help [L hand] of the angel that ·Moses saw [L appeared to him] in the burning bush.
7:36  ·So Moses [L This man] led the people out of Egypt. He worked ·miracles [wonders] and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea [C the Hebrew OT calls it the Sea of Reeds; the Septuagint (the Greek OT) calls it the Red Sea; Ex. 13:18; 15:4], and then in the ·desert [wilderness] for forty years.
7:37  This is the same Moses that said to the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel, ‘God will ·give [L raise up for] you a prophet like me, ·who is one of your own ·people [L from among your brothers; Deut. 18:15].’
7:38  This is the Moses who was with the ·gathering of the Israelites [assembly; congregation] in the ·desert [wilderness]. He was with the angel that spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and he was with our ·ancestors [forefathers; fathers]. He received ·commands from God that give life [life-giving messages; or living oracles], and he gave those commands to us [Ex. 19—24].
7:39  “But our ·ancestors [forefathers; fathers] did not want to obey Moses. They ·rejected him [pushed him away] and ·wanted to go [L in their hearts turned] back to Egypt.
7:40  They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will ·lead [L go before] us. Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don’t know what has happened to him [Ex. 32:1].’
7:41  So [L in those days] the people made an idol that looked like a calf. Then they ·brought [or offered up] sacrifices to it and ·were proud of [celebrated; L rejoiced about] what they had made with their own hands.
7:42  But God turned ·against [or away from] them and did not try to stop them from worshiping the ·sun, moon, and stars [L host of heaven]. This is what is written in the book of the prophets: God says, ‘·People [L House] of Israel, you did not ·bring [offer up to] me sacrifices and offerings while you traveled in the ·desert [wilderness] for forty years.
7:43  You have carried with you the tent to worship Molech [C a pagan deity; Lev. 18:21; 20:2–5] and the idols of ·the star god [or the star of your god] Rephan [C a pagan deity, perhaps associated with the planet Saturn] that you made to worship. So I will send you away [C into exile] beyond Babylon [Amos 5:25–27].’
7:44  “The ·Holy Tent [L Tent/T Tabernacle of Testimony/Witness] where God spoke to our ·ancestors [forefathers; fathers] was with them in the ·desert [wilderness]. God told Moses how to make this ·Tent [T Tabernacle], and he made it like the ·plan [pattern] God showed him [Ex. 25—31].
7:45  Later, Joshua led our ·ancestors [forefathers; fathers] to ·capture [take possession of] the lands of the other nations. Our people went in, and God forced the other people out [Josh. 1—12]. When our people went into this new land, they took with them this same ·Tent [T Tabernacle] they had received from their ·ancestors [forefathers; fathers]. They kept it until the time of David,
7:46  who ·pleased [L found favor with] God and asked God to ·let him build a house [L find a dwelling place] for him, the God of Jacob [2 Sam. 7].
7:47  But Solomon was the one who built ·the Temple [L a house for him; 1 Kin. 7—8].
7:48  “But the Most High does not live in houses that people build with their hands. As the prophet says:
7:49  ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. ·So do you think you can build a house [L What kind of house will you build] for me? says the Lord. ·Do I need a place to rest [L Or what is my resting place]?
7:50  ·Remember, my hand made [L Did not my hand make…?] all these things [Is. 66:1–2]!’”
7:51  Stephen continued speaking: “You ·stubborn [L stiff-necked] people! You have ·not given your hearts to God, nor will you listen to him [L uncircumcised hearts and ears]! You are always ·against [resisting] what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you, just as your ·ancestors [forefathers; fathers] were.
7:52  Was there ever a prophet your ·ancestors [forefathers; fathers] did not ·try to hurt [persecute]? They even killed ·the prophets [L those] who ·predicted [foretold; announced beforehand] the coming of the ·One who is good [Righteous One; C Jesus the Messiah]. And now you have ·turned against [betrayed] and ·killed [murdered] the ·One who is good [Righteous One].
7:53  You received the law of Moses, which God gave you through his angels [Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2], but you haven’t obeyed it.”
7:54  When the leaders heard this, they became furious [L in their hearts]. They were so mad they were ·grinding [gnashing] their teeth at Stephen.
7:55  But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God’s right ·side [or hand; C the place of highest honor beside a king].
7:56  He said, “Look! I see heaven open and the Son of Man [C a title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14] standing at God’s right ·side [or hand].” [C Normally portrayed as “sitting” at God’s right side (Ps. 110:1), Jesus is standing either to give testimony to Stephen’s faithfulness, or to welcome him into God’s presence.]
7:57  Then they shouted loudly and covered their ears and all ·ran [rushed together; or rushed with one intent] at Stephen.
7:58  They ·took [dragged] him out of the city and began to ·throw stones at him to kill [stone] him [C the customary way to execute a criminal]. And ·those who told lies against Stephen [or his accusers; those who provided testimony; L the witnesses] left their coats ·with [L at the feet of] a young man named Saul [C later known as Paul].
7:59  While they were ·throwing stones [stoning him], Stephen ·prayed [L called out], “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
7:60  He fell on his knees and cried in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” After Stephen said this, he ·died [L fell asleep; C for believers death is temporary, like sleep].