“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.” (Acts 7:1-60 AV)
© 2011-2018 Kathy L. McFarland. All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy