1Then said the high priest , Are these things so ? 2And 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 , 3And said unto him , Get thee out of thy country , and from thy kindred , and come into the land which I shall shew thee . 4Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans , and dwelt in Charran : and from thence , when his father was dead , he removed him into this land , wherein ye now dwell . 5And 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 . 6And 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 . 7And 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 . 8And 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 . 9And the patriarchs , moved with envy , sold Joseph into Egypt : but God was with him , 10And 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 . 11Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan , and great affliction : and our fathers found no sustenance . 12But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt , he sent out our fathers first . 13And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren ; and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh . 14Then sent Joseph , and called his father Jacob to him , and all his kindred , threescore and fifteen souls . 15So Jacob went down into Egypt , and died , he , and our fathers , 16And 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 . 17But when the time of the promise drew nigh , which God had sworn to Abraham , the people grew and multiplied in Egypt , 18Till another king arose , which knew not Joseph . 19The 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 . 20In which time Moses was born , and was exceeding fair , and nourished up in his father’s house three months : 21And when he was cast out , Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son . 22And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians , and was mighty in words and in deeds . 23And when he was full forty years old , it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel . 24And seeing one of them suffer wrong , he defended him , and avenged him that was oppressed , and smote the Egyptian : 25For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them : but they understood not . 26And 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 ? 27But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away , saying , Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us ? 28Wilt thou kill me , as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday ? 29Then fled Moses at this saying , and was a stranger in the land of Madian , where he begat two sons . 30And 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 . 31When Moses saw it , he wondered at the sight : and as he drew near to behold it , the voice of the Lord came unto him , 32Saying , 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 . 33Then said the Lord to him , Put off thy shoes from thy feet : for the place where thou standest is holy ground . 34I 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 . 35This 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 . 36He 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 . 37This 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 . 38This 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 : 39To whom our fathers would not obey , but thrust him from them , and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt , 40Saying 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 . 41And they made a calf in those days , and offered sacrifice unto the idol , and rejoiced in the works of their own hands . 42Then 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 ? 43Yea , 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 . 44Our 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 . 45Which 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 ; 46Who found favour before God , and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob . 47But Solomon built him an house . 48Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands ; as saith the prophet , 49Heaven is my throne , and earth is my foot stool : what house will ye build me ? saith the Lord : or what is the place of my rest ? 50Hath not my hand made all these things ? 51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears , ye do always resist the Holy Ghost : as your fathers did , so do ye . 52Which 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 : 53Who have received the law by the disposition of angels , and have not kept it.
The Rejection of Moses
54When they heard these things , they were cut to the heart , and they gnashed on him with their teeth . 55But 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 , 56And said , Behold , I see the heavens opened , and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God . 57Then they cried out with a loud voice , and stopped their ears , and ran upon him with one accord , 58And 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 . 59And they stoned Stephen , calling upon God , and saying , Lord Jesus , receive my spirit . 60And 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 .