Friday, March 25, 2016
ACTS 9:1-31 Saul's conversion
ACTS 9 NLT
1 Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats
with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the
high priest.
2 He requested letters addressed to the
synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any
followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and
women—back to Jerusalem in chains.
3 As he was approaching Damascus on this
mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him.
4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice
saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the
voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!
6Now get up and go into the city, and you will
be told what you must do.”
7The men with Saul stood speechless, for they
heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one!
8 Saul picked himself up off the ground,
but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand
to Damascus.
9 He remained there blind for three days
and did not eat or drink.
10 Now there was a believer in Damascus
named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes,
Lord!” he replied.
11 The Lord said, “Go over to Straight
Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus
named Saul. He is praying to me right now.
12 I have shown him a vision of a man named
Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
13 “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve
heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the
believers in Jerusalem!
14 And he is authorized by the leading
priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”
15 But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my
chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as
to the people of Israel.
16 And I will show him how much he must
suffer for my name’s sake.”
17 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid
his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you
on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with
the Holy Spirit.”
18 Instantly something like scales fell
from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was
baptized.
19Afterward he ate some food and regained his
strength. Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem Saul stayed with the believers in
Damascus for a few days.
20And immediately he began preaching about Jesus
in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”
21 All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t
this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in
Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them
in chains to the leading priests?”
22 Saul’s preaching became more and more
powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was
indeed the Messiah.
23 After a while some of the Jews plotted
together to kill him.
24 They were watching for him day and night
at the city gate so they could murder him, but Saul was told about their
plot.
25 So during the night, some of the other
believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city
wall.
26 When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried
to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not
believe he had truly become a believer!
27 Then Barnabas brought him to the
apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and
how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached
boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
28 So Saul stayed with the apostles and
went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the
Lord.
29 He debated with some Greek-speaking
Jews, but they tried to murder him.
30 When the believers heard about this,
they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown.
31 The church then had peace throughout
Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in
the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also
grew in numbers.
Romans 15
Romans 15 (New International Version, ©2010)
Romans 15
1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me."[a] 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews[b] on behalf of God's truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name."[c]
10 Again, it says, "Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people."[d]
11 And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him."[e]
12 And again, Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope."[f]
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul the Minister to the Gentiles
14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written: "Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."[g]
22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
Paul's Plan to Visit Rome
23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord's people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord's people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord's people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God's will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Romans 15
1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me."[a] 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews[b] on behalf of God's truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name."[c]
10 Again, it says, "Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people."[d]
11 And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him."[e]
12 And again, Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope."[f]
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul the Minister to the Gentiles
14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written: "Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."[g]
22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
Paul's Plan to Visit Rome
23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord's people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord's people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord's people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God's will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Revelation 15
Revelation 15 (New International Version, ©2010)
Revelation 15
Seven Angels With Seven Plagues
1 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God's wrath is completed. 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of God's servant Moses and of the Lamb:
"Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways, King of the nations.[a]
4 Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."[b]
5 After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. 6 Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
Revelation 15
Seven Angels With Seven Plagues
1 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God's wrath is completed. 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of God's servant Moses and of the Lamb:
"Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways, King of the nations.[a]
4 Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."[b]
5 After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. 6 Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
ACTS 8:1-4 The scattering of the Jerusalem believers and Philip's ministry ACTS 8:5-40
ACTS 8 NLT
1 Saul was one of the witnesses, and he
agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. Persecution Scatters the
Believers A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church
in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through
the regions of Judea and Samaria.
2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen
with great mourning.)
3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy
the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to
throw them into prison.
4 But the believers who were scattered
preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.
5 Philip, for example, went to the city of
Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah.
6 Crowds listened intently to Philip
because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he
did.
7 Many evil spirits were cast out,
screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame
were healed.
8So there was great joy in that city.
9 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer
there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone
great.
10 Everyone, from the least to the
greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.”
11 They listened closely to him because for
a long time he had astounded them with his magic.
12 But now the people believed Philip’s
message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus
Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized.
13 Then Simon himself believed and was
baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the
signs and great miracles Philip performed.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard
that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John
there.
15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for
these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit.
16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon
any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then Peter and John laid their hands
upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given
when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this
power.
19 “Let me have this power, too,” he
exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy
Spirit!”
20 But Peter replied, “May your money be
destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought!
21 You can have no part in this, for your
heart is not right with God.
22Repent of your wickedness and pray to the
Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts,
23 for I can see that you are full of
bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”
24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon
exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!”
25 After testifying and preaching the word
of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped
in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News.
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said
to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
27 So he started out, and he met the
treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen
of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage,
he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over
and walk along beside the carriage.”
30 Philip ran over and heard the man
reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are
reading?”
31 The man replied, “How can I, unless
someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit
with him.
32 The passage of Scripture he had been
reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is
silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
33 He was humiliated and received no
justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the
earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was
the prophet talking about himself or someone else?”
35 So beginning with this same Scripture,
Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.
36 As they rode along, they came to some
water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be
baptized?”
37
38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and
they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the
Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but
went on his way rejoicing.
40 Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther
north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town
along the way until he came to Caesarea.
Revelation 14
Revelation 14 (New International Version, ©2010)
Revelation 14
The Lamb and the 144,000
1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
The Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
8 A second angel followed and said, "'Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,'[a] which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name." 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man[b] with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe." 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
Revelation 14
The Lamb and the 144,000
1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
The Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
8 A second angel followed and said, "'Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,'[a] which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name." 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man[b] with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe." 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
ACTS 6:8- 7:60 Stephen's arrest and martyrdom
ACTS 6
8 Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and
power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people.
9 But one day some men from the Synagogue
of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews
from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia.
10 None of them could stand against the
wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke.
11 So they persuaded some men to lie about
Stephen, saying, “We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.”
12 This roused the people, the elders, and
the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before
the high council.
13 The lying witnesses said, “This man is
always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses.
14 We have heard him say that this Jesus of
Nazareth will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to
us.”
15 At this point everyone in the high
council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel’s.
ACTS 7
1 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are
these accusations true?”
2 This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and
fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in
Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.
3 God told him, ‘Leave your native land
and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’
4 So Abraham left the land of the
Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here
to the land where you now live.
5 “But God gave him no inheritance here,
not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the
whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no
children yet.
6 God also told him that his descendants
would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for
400 years.
7 ‘But I will punish the nation that
enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me
here in this place.’
8“God also gave Abraham the covenant of
circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he
circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac
became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve
patriarchs of the Israelite nation.
9 “These patriarchs were jealous of their
brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with
him
10 and rescued him from all his troubles.
And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph
unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and
put him in charge of the palace.
11 “But a famine came upon Egypt and
Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food.
12 Jacob heard that there was still grain
in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some.
13 The second time they went, Joseph
revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to
Pharaoh.
14Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and
all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all.
15 So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there,
as did our ancestors.
16 Their bodies were taken to Shechem and
buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in
Shechem.
17 “As the time drew near when God would
fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly
increased.
18 But then a new king came to the throne
of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.
19 This king exploited our people and
oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would
die.
20 “At that time Moses was born—a beautiful
child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months.
21 When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s
daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son.
22 Moses was taught all the wisdom of the
Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.
23 “One day when Moses was forty years old,
he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel.
24 He saw an Egyptian mistreating an
Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the
Egyptian.
25 Moses assumed his fellow Israelites
would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.
26 “The next day he visited them again and
saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said,
‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’
27 “But the man in the wrong pushed Moses
aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked.
28 ‘Are you going to kill me as you killed
that Egyptian yesterday?’
29 When Moses heard that, he fled the
country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were
born.
30 “Forty years later, in the desert near
Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush.
31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the
sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the LORD called out to
him,
32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to
look.
33 “Then the LORD said to him, ‘Take off
your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.
34 I have certainly seen the oppression of
my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue
them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’
35 “So God sent back the same man his
people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and
judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God
sent Moses to be their ruler and savior.
36 And by means of many wonders and
miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through
the wilderness for forty years.
37 “Moses himself told the people of
Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own
people.’
38 Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly
of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai.
And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.
39 “But our ancestors refused to listen to
Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt.
40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who
can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us
out of Egypt.’
41 So they made an idol shaped like a calf,
and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made.
42 Then God turned away from them and
abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the
prophets it is written, ‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and
offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
43 No, you carried your pagan gods— the
shrine of Molech, the star of your god Rephan, and the images you made to
worship them. So I will send you into exile as far away as Babylon.’
44 “Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle
with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God
had shown to Moses.
45 Years later, when Joshua led our
ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the
Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there
until the time of King David.
46 “David found favor with God and asked
for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.
47 But it was Solomon who actually built
it.
48 However, the Most High doesn’t live in
temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,
49 ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is
my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that?’ asks the LORD .
‘Could you build me such a resting place?
50 Didn’t my hands make both heaven and
earth?’
51 “You stubborn people! You are heathen at
heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s
what your ancestors did, and so do you!
52 Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t
persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous
One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.
53 You deliberately disobeyed God’s law,
even though you received it from the hands of angels.”
54 The Jewish leaders were infuriated by
Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.
55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit,
gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing
in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
56 And he told them, “Look, I see the
heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right
hand!”
57 Then they put their hands over their
ears and began shouting. They rushed at him
58 and dragged him out of the city and
began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet
of a young man named Saul.
59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed,
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord,
don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.
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