THEN said the high-priest, Are these things so?
(2)He replied, Men, brethren, and fathers, hear me:
The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in
Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, (3)and said to him, Go forth
out of thy country, and from among thy relations, and come hither to a
land which I will shew thee[32]. (4)Then he went out from the country
of the Chaldeans, and, dwelt in Charran: and from thence, after his
father was dead, God removed him as a sojourner into this very country,
in which we now dwell. (5)Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not so
much as the print of his foot: yet he promised to give it for a
possession to him and to his seed after him, when he had no son.
(6)Then spake God to him thus, That his seed should sojourn in a
foreign land: and that they should enslave it, and grievously afflict
it, four hundred years. (7)And the nation by which they shall be
enslaved will I judge, said God: and after these things they shall come
out, and shall worship me in this place[33]. (8)And he gave him the
covenant of circumcision: and so he begat Isaac, and circumcised him on
the eighth day; and Isaac Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
(9)And the patriarchs, envious, sold Joseph into Egypt: yet God was
with him, (10)and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave
him favour and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he appointed
him governor over Egypt and all his house. (11)Then came a famine upon
all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great distress: and our fathers
found no provisions. (12)But when Jacob heard that there were
provisions in Egypt, he sent our fathers, the first time. (13)And the
second time Joseph was made known unto his brethren; and Joseph's
family was made known unto Pharaoh. (14)Then sent Joseph, and invited
his father Jacob to come to him, and all his kindred, consisting of
seventy-five persons. (15)So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died,
himself, and our fathers, (16)and they removed him to Sychem, and laid
him in the sepulchre which Abraham had bought, at a price paid in
silver, of the sons of Emmor, the father of Shechem. (17)But as the
time of the promise which God had with an oath confirmed unto Abraham
drew nigh, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, (18)until
another king arose, who knew not Joseph. (19)This man, forming crafty
designs against our nation, grievously treated our fathers, so as to
cause them to expose their children, in order to exterminate the race.
(20)At which time Moses was born, and was endued with singular beauty
from God, who was brought up three months in the house of his father:
(21)and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter took him home, and
brought him up for herself, as a son. (22)And Moses was educated in all
the wisdom of Egypt, and was mighty in words and actions. (23)But when
he had completed his fortieth year, it came into his heart to visit his
brethren the children of Israel. (24)And seeing one of them treated
injuriously, he defended him, and executed vengeance for him who had
suffered the outrage, smiting the Egyptian. (25)For he thought that his
brethren would understand that God by his hand would give them
deliverance: but they understood not. (26)And the following day he
shewed himself to them as they were fighting, and urged them to peace,
saying, My friends, ye are brethren; wherefore do ye ill treat one
another? (27)Then he who did his neighbour wrong thrust him from him,
saying, Who appointed thee a ruler and a judge over us? (28)Wilt thou
kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday? (29)Then fled Moses
at this saying, and was a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he
begat two sons.
(30)And when forty years were completed, there appeared to him in the
desert of mount Sinai the angel of the Lord, in a flame of fire in a
bush. (31)But when Moses saw it, he marvelled at the sight: and as he
was drawing nearer to observe it, a voice from the Lord came to him,
(32)"I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob[34]." Then Moses trembling, dared not to
look farther.
(33)Then the Lord said unto him, "Loose the sandal from thy feet: for
the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. (34)Attentive I have
beheld the evil treatment of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their
groaning, and I am come down to deliver them. And now come hither, I
will send thee into Egypt[35]." (35)This very Moses whom they had
rejected, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God
send to be a ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared
to him in the bush. (36)He brought them forth, after performing
miracles and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the
wilderness forty years. (37)This is the Moses who said unto the
children of Israel, "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up for you
from among your brethren, as myself; him shall ye hear[36]." (38)This
is he, who was with the church in the wilderness with the angel who
spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the
oracles of life to give unto us: (39)to whom our fathers would not be
obedient, but thrust him from them, and turned back in their hearts
unto Egypt, (40)saying to Aaron, Make us gods who shall go before us:
for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not
what hath happened to him. (41)And they made a calf in those days, and
brought a sacrifice for 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, Have ye offered me slain
beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
(43)Yet have ye taken up the tabernacle of Moloc, and the star of your
god Remphan, those figures which ye made to pay adoration to them: and
I will transport you beyond Babylon[37].
(44)The tabernacle of the testimony was with our fathers in the
wilderness, as he that spake to Moses commanded, that he should make it
according to the model which he had seen. (45)Which also our fathers
having received, brought in with Joshua into the place possessed by the
Gentiles, whom God drove out from before the presence of our fathers,
unto the days of David; (46)who found favour before God, and sought to
procure an habitation for the God of Jacob. (47)But Solomon built an
house for him. (48)Though the Most High dwelleth not in temples made
with hands; as the prophet saith, (49)"Heaven is my throne, and earth
the footstool for my feet: what kind of house will ye build me? saith
the Lord: or what place is there for my repose? (50)hath not my hand
made all these things[38]?"
(51)Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears, ye do
always oppose yourselves against the Holy Ghost: as your fathers, so
are ye. (52)Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and
they killed those who before published the tidings of the coming of
that Righteous Person; of whom ye have now been the betrayers and
murderers: (53)who have received the law through arrangements of
angels, yet have not observed it.
(54)Now when they heard these things, they were cut through their
hearts as with a saw, and gnashed upon him with their teeth.
(55)But he being full of the Holy Ghost, and looking up stedfastly to
heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of
God; (56)and he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of
man standing at the right hand of God.
(57)Then they screamed out with a great cry, and stopped their ears,
and rushed all together upon him, (58)and dragging him out of the city,
stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a
young man, named Saul. (59)And they stoned Stephen, in the act of
prayer, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! (60)Then falling on
his knees, he cried with a loud voice, Lord, impute not to them this
sin! And thus speaking, fell asleep.