Thematic Bible: Accused spoke in his own defense


Thematic Bible



Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree: Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. read more.
And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken to you rather than to God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears. Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes, and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. read more.
As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as it seemeth good and meet to you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye will surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, upon this city, and upon its inhabitants: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears. Then said the princes and all the people to the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.

And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they testify against thee. But Jesus yet answered nothing: so that Pilate marveled.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day are examined concerning the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made sound. Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you sound. read more.
This is the stone which was set at naught by you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved.

Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said to him, Depart from thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. read more.
Then he came from the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran. And from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land in which ye now dwell. And he gave him no 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 offspring after him, when as yet he had no child. And God spoke on this wise, That his offspring should sojourn in a foreign land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and treat them ill four hundred years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that they shall come forth, and serve me in this place. 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. And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, And delivered him from all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt, and all his house. Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction; and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren: and Joseph's kindred was made known to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, seventy five souls. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem. But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, Till another king arose, who knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and ill-treated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished in his father's house three months: And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For he supposed his brethren to understand that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. And the next day he showed himself to them as they were contending, and would have constrained them to be at peace again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren: why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbor wrong, thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? Then Moses fled at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. And when forty years had expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina, an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight; and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came to him, 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. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. 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 who appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, A prophet will the Lord your God raise up to you of your brethren, like me; him will ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the living oracles to give to us: Whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 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 during forty years in the wilderness? Yes, 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. Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking to Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Which also our fathers, that came after, brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, to the days of David; Who found favor before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him a house. Yet, the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: What house will ye build for me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them who showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers; Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men, brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him, to strike him on the mouth. Then said Paul to him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? read more.
And they that stood by, said, Revilest thou God's high priest? Then said Paul, I knew not, brethren, that he is the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people. But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.