Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Court » Accused spoke in his own defense
Peter and the apostles answered, "One must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you murdered by hanging him on a gibbet. God lifted him up to his right hand as our pioneer and saviour, in order to grant repentance and remission of sins to Israel. read more.
To these facts we bear witness, with the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him."
To these facts we bear witness, with the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him."
So they called the men in and ordered them not to speak or teach a single sentence about the Name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Decide for yourselves whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God. Certainly we cannot give up speaking of what we have seen and heard."
Then the high priest brought many accusations against him, and once more Pilate asked him, "Have you no reply to make? Look at all their charges against you." But, to the astonishment of Pilate, Jesus answered no more.
Then Peter, filled with the holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we are being cross-examined to-day upon a benefit rendered to a cripple, upon how this man got better, you and the people of Israel must all understand that he stands before you strong and well, thanks to the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead. read more.
He is the stone despised by you builders, which has become head of the corner. There is no salvation by anyone else, nor even a second Name under heaven appointed for us men and our salvation."
He is the stone despised by you builders, which has become head of the corner. There is no salvation by anyone else, nor even a second Name under heaven appointed for us men and our salvation."
Said the high priest, "Is this true?" "Listen, brothers and fathers," said Stephen. "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before ever he stayed in Haran, and said to him, 'Leave your land and your countrymen and come to whatever land I show you.' read more.
Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and stayed in Haran. From Haran God shifted him, after his father's death, to this land which you now inhabit. But he did not give him any inheritance in it, not even a foot of the land. All be did was to promise that he would give it as a possession to him and to his offspring after him (he at the time being childless). What God said was this: 'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But,' said God, 'I will pass sentence on the nation that has made them slaves, and then they will get away to worship me in this Place.' God also gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised on the eighth day, Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. Out of jealousy the patriarchs sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him, rescuing him from all his troubles and allowing him to find favour for his wisdom with Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him viceroy over Egypt and over all his own household. Now a famine came over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, attended with great misery, so that our ancestors could not find provender. But, hearing there was food in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors on their first visit to that country; at their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's lineage. Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his kinsfolk, amounting to seventy-five souls; and Jacob went south to Egypt. When he and our ancestors died, they were carried across to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As the time approached for the promise God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose to rule Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph. He took a cunning method with our race; he oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, to prevent them from surviving. It was at this period that Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was brought up in his father's house; then he was exposed, but Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. So Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians; he was a strong man in speech and action. When he had completed his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. He saw one of them being badly treated, so he defended him, struck down the Egyptian, and thus avenged the man who had been wronged. (He thought his brothers would understand God was going to bring them deliverance by means of him, but they did not understand.) Next day he came upon two of them fighting and tried to pacify them. "You are brothers!" he said, "why injure one another?" But the man who was injuring his neighbour pushed him aside. "Who made you ruler and umpire over us?" he asked. "Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" At that Moses fled; he became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons born to him. At the close of forty years an angel [of the Lord] appeared to him in the flames of a burning thorn-bush, in the desert of mount Sinai. When Moses saw this, he marvelled at the sight; and as he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said, 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush. But the Lord said to him, 'Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you back to Egypt.' The Moses they refused, when they said, 'Who made you ruler and umpire?' ??that was the very man whom God sent to rule and to redeem them, by aid of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. He it was who led them forth, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert during forty years. (This was the Moses who told the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.') This was the man who at the assembly in the desert intervened between the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai and our fathers; he received living Words to be given to us. But our fathers would not submit to him; they pushed him aside and hankered secretly after Egypt. They told Aaron, 'Make gods that will march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him!' They actually made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to this idol, and grew festive over what their own hands had manufactured. So God turned from them, abandoning them to the worship of the starry Host ??as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did you offer me victims and sacrifices during the forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? No, it was the tent of Moloch and the star-symbol of Rephan your god that you carried, figures that you manufactured for worship. So now I will transport you beyond Babylon! In the desert our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen. It was passed on and borne in by our fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained down to the days of David. He found favour with God and asked permission to devise a dwelling for the God of Jacob. It was Solomon, however, who built him a house. And yet the most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says, Heaven is my throne, the earth is a footstool for my feet! What house would you build me? saith the Lord. On what spot could I settle? Did not my hand make all this? Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit! As with your fathers, so with you! Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, murdered him! ??53 you who got the Law that angels transmitted, and have not obeyed it!" When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. He, full of the holy Spirit, gazed up at heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of man standing at God's right hand!"
Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and stayed in Haran. From Haran God shifted him, after his father's death, to this land which you now inhabit. But he did not give him any inheritance in it, not even a foot of the land. All be did was to promise that he would give it as a possession to him and to his offspring after him (he at the time being childless). What God said was this: 'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But,' said God, 'I will pass sentence on the nation that has made them slaves, and then they will get away to worship me in this Place.' God also gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised on the eighth day, Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. Out of jealousy the patriarchs sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him, rescuing him from all his troubles and allowing him to find favour for his wisdom with Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him viceroy over Egypt and over all his own household. Now a famine came over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, attended with great misery, so that our ancestors could not find provender. But, hearing there was food in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors on their first visit to that country; at their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's lineage. Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his kinsfolk, amounting to seventy-five souls; and Jacob went south to Egypt. When he and our ancestors died, they were carried across to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As the time approached for the promise God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose to rule Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph. He took a cunning method with our race; he oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, to prevent them from surviving. It was at this period that Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was brought up in his father's house; then he was exposed, but Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. So Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians; he was a strong man in speech and action. When he had completed his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. He saw one of them being badly treated, so he defended him, struck down the Egyptian, and thus avenged the man who had been wronged. (He thought his brothers would understand God was going to bring them deliverance by means of him, but they did not understand.) Next day he came upon two of them fighting and tried to pacify them. "You are brothers!" he said, "why injure one another?" But the man who was injuring his neighbour pushed him aside. "Who made you ruler and umpire over us?" he asked. "Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" At that Moses fled; he became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons born to him. At the close of forty years an angel [of the Lord] appeared to him in the flames of a burning thorn-bush, in the desert of mount Sinai. When Moses saw this, he marvelled at the sight; and as he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said, 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush. But the Lord said to him, 'Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you back to Egypt.' The Moses they refused, when they said, 'Who made you ruler and umpire?' ??that was the very man whom God sent to rule and to redeem them, by aid of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. He it was who led them forth, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert during forty years. (This was the Moses who told the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.') This was the man who at the assembly in the desert intervened between the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai and our fathers; he received living Words to be given to us. But our fathers would not submit to him; they pushed him aside and hankered secretly after Egypt. They told Aaron, 'Make gods that will march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him!' They actually made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to this idol, and grew festive over what their own hands had manufactured. So God turned from them, abandoning them to the worship of the starry Host ??as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did you offer me victims and sacrifices during the forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? No, it was the tent of Moloch and the star-symbol of Rephan your god that you carried, figures that you manufactured for worship. So now I will transport you beyond Babylon! In the desert our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen. It was passed on and borne in by our fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained down to the days of David. He found favour with God and asked permission to devise a dwelling for the God of Jacob. It was Solomon, however, who built him a house. And yet the most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says, Heaven is my throne, the earth is a footstool for my feet! What house would you build me? saith the Lord. On what spot could I settle? Did not my hand make all this? Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit! As with your fathers, so with you! Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, murdered him! ??53 you who got the Law that angels transmitted, and have not obeyed it!" When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. He, full of the holy Spirit, gazed up at heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of man standing at God's right hand!"
With a steady look at the Sanhedrin Paul said, "Brothers, I have lived with a perfectly good conscience before God down to the present day." Then the high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next Paul to strike him on the mouth. At this Paul said to him, "You whitewashed wall, God will strike you! You sit there to judge me by the Law, do you? And you break the Law by ordering me to be struck!" read more.
The bystanders said, "What! would you rail at God's high priest?" "Brothers," said Paul, "I did not know he was high priest" (for it is written, You must not speak evil of any ruler of your people). Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, "I am a Pharisee, brothers, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial!" When he said this, a quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; the meeting was divided.
The bystanders said, "What! would you rail at God's high priest?" "Brothers," said Paul, "I did not know he was high priest" (for it is written, You must not speak evil of any ruler of your people). Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, "I am a Pharisee, brothers, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial!" When he said this, a quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; the meeting was divided.
Government » Mosaic » Constitutes, with priests and scribes, a court for the trial of both civil and ecclesiastical causes
And he proceeded to teach them that the Son of man had to endure great suffering, to be rejected by the elders and the high priests and the scribes, to be killed and after three days to rise again;
When morning came, all the high priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus, so as to have him put to death. After binding him, they led him off and handed him over to Pontius Pilate the governor.
When he entered the temple, the high priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, "What authority have you for acting in this way? Who gave you this authority?"
Immediately morning came, the high priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and all the Sanhedrin, and after binding Jesus they led him off and handed him over to Pilate.
Then the high priests and the elders of the people met in the palace of the high priest who was called Caiaphas and took counsel together to get hold of Jesus by craft and have him put to death. "Only," they said, "it must not be during the festival, in case of a riot among the people."
but those who had seized Jesus took him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered. Peter followed him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and when he got inside he sat down beside the attendants to see the end. Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure false evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; read more.
but they could find none, although a number of false witnesses came forward. However, two men came forward at last and said, "This fellow declared, 'I can destroy the temple of God and build it in three days.'" So the high priest rose and said to him, "Have you no reply to make? What of this evidence against you?" Jesus said nothing. Then the high priest addressed him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!" Jesus said to him, "Even so! But I tell you, in future you will all see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his dress and cried, "He has blasphemed! What more evidence do we want? Look, you have heard his blasphemy for yourselves! What is your view?" They replied, "He is doomed to death." Then they spat in his face and buffeted him, some of them cuffing him and crying, "Prophesy to us, you Christ! tell us who struck you!"
but they could find none, although a number of false witnesses came forward. However, two men came forward at last and said, "This fellow declared, 'I can destroy the temple of God and build it in three days.'" So the high priest rose and said to him, "Have you no reply to make? What of this evidence against you?" Jesus said nothing. Then the high priest addressed him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!" Jesus said to him, "Even so! But I tell you, in future you will all see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his dress and cried, "He has blasphemed! What more evidence do we want? Look, you have heard his blasphemy for yourselves! What is your view?" They replied, "He is doomed to death." Then they spat in his face and buffeted him, some of them cuffing him and crying, "Prophesy to us, you Christ! tell us who struck you!"
At that very moment, while he was still speaking, Judas [Iscariot] one of the twelve came up accompanied by a mob with swords and cudgels who had come from the high priests and scribes and elders. Now his betrayer had given them a signal; he said, "Whoever I kiss, that is the man. Seize him and get him safely away." So when he arrived he at once went up to him and said, "Rabbi [rabbi]," and kissed him. read more.
Then they laid hands on him and seized him, but one of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Jesus turned on them, saying, "Have you sallied out to arrest me like a robber, with swords and cudgels? Day after day I was beside you in the temple teaching, and you never seized me. However, it is to let the scriptures be fulfilled." Then they left him and fled, all of them; one young man did follow him, with only a linen sheet thrown round his body, but when the [young] men seized him he fled away naked, leaving the sheet behind him. They took Jesus away to the high priest, and all the high priests and scribes and elders met there with him. Peter followed him at a distance till he got inside the courtyard of the high priest, where he sat down with the attendants to warm himself at the fire. Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; but they could find none, for while many bore false witness against him their evidence did not agree. Some got up and bore false witness against him, saying, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple made by hands, and in three days I will build another temple not made by hands.'" But even so the evidence did not agree. So the high priest rose in their midst and asked Jesus, "Have you no reply to make? What about this evidence against you?" He said nothing and made no answer. Again the high priest put a question to him. "Are you the Christ?" he said, "the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus said, "I am. And, what is more, you will all see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and cried, "What more evidence do we want? You have heard his blasphemy for yourselves. What is your mind?" They condemned him, all of them, to the doom of death; and some of them started to spit on him and to blindfold him and buffet him, asking him, "Prophesy." The attendants treated him to cuffs and slaps.
Then they laid hands on him and seized him, but one of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Jesus turned on them, saying, "Have you sallied out to arrest me like a robber, with swords and cudgels? Day after day I was beside you in the temple teaching, and you never seized me. However, it is to let the scriptures be fulfilled." Then they left him and fled, all of them; one young man did follow him, with only a linen sheet thrown round his body, but when the [young] men seized him he fled away naked, leaving the sheet behind him. They took Jesus away to the high priest, and all the high priests and scribes and elders met there with him. Peter followed him at a distance till he got inside the courtyard of the high priest, where he sat down with the attendants to warm himself at the fire. Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; but they could find none, for while many bore false witness against him their evidence did not agree. Some got up and bore false witness against him, saying, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple made by hands, and in three days I will build another temple not made by hands.'" But even so the evidence did not agree. So the high priest rose in their midst and asked Jesus, "Have you no reply to make? What about this evidence against you?" He said nothing and made no answer. Again the high priest put a question to him. "Are you the Christ?" he said, "the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus said, "I am. And, what is more, you will all see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and cried, "What more evidence do we want? You have heard his blasphemy for yourselves. What is your mind?" They condemned him, all of them, to the doom of death; and some of them started to spit on him and to blindfold him and buffet him, asking him, "Prophesy." The attendants treated him to cuffs and slaps.
Then he said to the high priests and commanders of the temple and elders who had appeared to take him, "Have you sallied out to arrest me like a robber, with swords and cudgels? Day after day I was beside you in the temple, and you never stretched a hand against me. But this is your hour, and the dark Power has its way." Then they arrested him and led him away inside the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance read more.
and sat down among some people who had lit a fire in the courtyard and were sitting round it. A maidservant who noticed him sitting by the fire took a long look at him and said, "That fellow was with him too." But he disowned him, saying, "Woman, I know nothing about him." Shortly afterwards another man noticed him and said, "Why, you are one of them!" "Man," said Peter, "I am not." About an hour had passed when another man insisted, "That fellow really was with him. Why, he is a Galilean!" "Man," said Peter, "I do not know what you mean." Instantly, just as he was speaking, the cock crowed; the Lord turned round and looked at Peter, and then Peter remembered what the Lord had told him, that 'Before cock-crow to-day you will disown me three times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly. Meantime the men who had Jesus in custody flogged him and made fun of him; blindfolding him they would ask him, "Prophesy, tell us who struck you?" And many another insult they uttered against him. When day broke, the elders of the people all met along with the high priests and scribes, and had him brought before their Sanhedrin. They said to him, "Tell us if you are the Christ." He said to them, "You will not believe me if I tell you, and you will not answer me when I put a question to you. But after this the Son of man will be seated at God's right hand of power." "Are you the Son of God then?" they all said. "Certainly," he replied, "I am." So they said, "What more evidence do we need? We have heard it from his own lips."
and sat down among some people who had lit a fire in the courtyard and were sitting round it. A maidservant who noticed him sitting by the fire took a long look at him and said, "That fellow was with him too." But he disowned him, saying, "Woman, I know nothing about him." Shortly afterwards another man noticed him and said, "Why, you are one of them!" "Man," said Peter, "I am not." About an hour had passed when another man insisted, "That fellow really was with him. Why, he is a Galilean!" "Man," said Peter, "I do not know what you mean." Instantly, just as he was speaking, the cock crowed; the Lord turned round and looked at Peter, and then Peter remembered what the Lord had told him, that 'Before cock-crow to-day you will disown me three times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly. Meantime the men who had Jesus in custody flogged him and made fun of him; blindfolding him they would ask him, "Prophesy, tell us who struck you?" And many another insult they uttered against him. When day broke, the elders of the people all met along with the high priests and scribes, and had him brought before their Sanhedrin. They said to him, "Tell us if you are the Christ." He said to them, "You will not believe me if I tell you, and you will not answer me when I put a question to you. But after this the Son of man will be seated at God's right hand of power." "Are you the Son of God then?" they all said. "Certainly," he replied, "I am." So they said, "What more evidence do we need? We have heard it from his own lips."
While they were speaking to the people, they were surprised by the priests, the commander of the temple, and the Sadducees, who were annoyed at them teaching the people and proclaiming Jesus as an instance of resurrection from the dead. They laid hands on them and, as it was now evening, put them in custody till next morning. read more.
(A number of those who heard them speak believed, bringing up their numbers to [about] five thousand.) Next morning a meeting was held in Jerusalem of their rulers, elders and scribes, which was attended by the high priest Annas, by Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all the members of the high priest's family. They made the men stand before them and inquired, "By what authority, in whose name, have you done this?" Then Peter, filled with the holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we are being cross-examined to-day upon a benefit rendered to a cripple, upon how this man got better, you and the people of Israel must all understand that he stands before you strong and well, thanks to the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead. He is the stone despised by you builders, which has become head of the corner. There is no salvation by anyone else, nor even a second Name under heaven appointed for us men and our salvation." They were astonished to notice how outspoken Peter and John were, and to discover that they were uncultured persons and mere outsiders; they recognized them as having been companions of Jesus, but as they saw the man who had been healed standing beside them, they could say nothing. Ordering them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin, they proceeded to hold a consultation. "What are we to do with these men?" they said. "It is plain to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem that a miracle has admittedly been worked by them. That we cannot deny. However, to keep things from going any further with the people, we had better threaten them that they are not to tell anyone in future about this Name." So they called the men in and ordered them not to speak or teach a single sentence about the Name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Decide for yourselves whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God. Certainly we cannot give up speaking of what we have seen and heard." Then they threatened them still further and let them go; on account of the people they found themselves unable to find any means of punishing them, for everybody was glorifying God over what had happened
(A number of those who heard them speak believed, bringing up their numbers to [about] five thousand.) Next morning a meeting was held in Jerusalem of their rulers, elders and scribes, which was attended by the high priest Annas, by Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all the members of the high priest's family. They made the men stand before them and inquired, "By what authority, in whose name, have you done this?" Then Peter, filled with the holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we are being cross-examined to-day upon a benefit rendered to a cripple, upon how this man got better, you and the people of Israel must all understand that he stands before you strong and well, thanks to the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead. He is the stone despised by you builders, which has become head of the corner. There is no salvation by anyone else, nor even a second Name under heaven appointed for us men and our salvation." They were astonished to notice how outspoken Peter and John were, and to discover that they were uncultured persons and mere outsiders; they recognized them as having been companions of Jesus, but as they saw the man who had been healed standing beside them, they could say nothing. Ordering them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin, they proceeded to hold a consultation. "What are we to do with these men?" they said. "It is plain to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem that a miracle has admittedly been worked by them. That we cannot deny. However, to keep things from going any further with the people, we had better threaten them that they are not to tell anyone in future about this Name." So they called the men in and ordered them not to speak or teach a single sentence about the Name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Decide for yourselves whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God. Certainly we cannot give up speaking of what we have seen and heard." Then they threatened them still further and let them go; on account of the people they found themselves unable to find any means of punishing them, for everybody was glorifying God over what had happened
Some of those who belonged to the so-called synagogue of the Libyans, the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, as well as to that of the Cilicians and Asiatics, started a dispute with Stephen, but they could not meet the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. They then instigated people to say, "We have heard him talking blasphemy against Moses and God." read more.
In this way they excited the people, the elders, and the scribes, who rushed on him, dragged him away, and took him before the Sanhedrin. They also brought forward false witnesses to say, "This fellow is never done talking against this holy Place and the Law! Why, we have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this Place and change the customs handed down to us by Moses!" Then all who were seated in the Sanhedrin fixed their eyes on him, and saw that his face shone like the face of an angel.
In this way they excited the people, the elders, and the scribes, who rushed on him, dragged him away, and took him before the Sanhedrin. They also brought forward false witnesses to say, "This fellow is never done talking against this holy Place and the Law! Why, we have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this Place and change the customs handed down to us by Moses!" Then all who were seated in the Sanhedrin fixed their eyes on him, and saw that his face shone like the face of an angel.
Said the high priest, "Is this true?" "Listen, brothers and fathers," said Stephen. "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before ever he stayed in Haran, and said to him, 'Leave your land and your countrymen and come to whatever land I show you.' read more.
Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and stayed in Haran. From Haran God shifted him, after his father's death, to this land which you now inhabit. But he did not give him any inheritance in it, not even a foot of the land. All be did was to promise that he would give it as a possession to him and to his offspring after him (he at the time being childless). What God said was this: 'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But,' said God, 'I will pass sentence on the nation that has made them slaves, and then they will get away to worship me in this Place.' God also gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised on the eighth day, Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. Out of jealousy the patriarchs sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him, rescuing him from all his troubles and allowing him to find favour for his wisdom with Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him viceroy over Egypt and over all his own household. Now a famine came over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, attended with great misery, so that our ancestors could not find provender. But, hearing there was food in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors on their first visit to that country; at their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's lineage. Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his kinsfolk, amounting to seventy-five souls; and Jacob went south to Egypt. When he and our ancestors died, they were carried across to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As the time approached for the promise God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose to rule Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph. He took a cunning method with our race; he oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, to prevent them from surviving. It was at this period that Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was brought up in his father's house; then he was exposed, but Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. So Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians; he was a strong man in speech and action. When he had completed his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. He saw one of them being badly treated, so he defended him, struck down the Egyptian, and thus avenged the man who had been wronged. (He thought his brothers would understand God was going to bring them deliverance by means of him, but they did not understand.) Next day he came upon two of them fighting and tried to pacify them. "You are brothers!" he said, "why injure one another?" But the man who was injuring his neighbour pushed him aside. "Who made you ruler and umpire over us?" he asked. "Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" At that Moses fled; he became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons born to him. At the close of forty years an angel [of the Lord] appeared to him in the flames of a burning thorn-bush, in the desert of mount Sinai. When Moses saw this, he marvelled at the sight; and as he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said, 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush. But the Lord said to him, 'Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you back to Egypt.' The Moses they refused, when they said, 'Who made you ruler and umpire?' ??that was the very man whom God sent to rule and to redeem them, by aid of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. He it was who led them forth, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert during forty years. (This was the Moses who told the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.') This was the man who at the assembly in the desert intervened between the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai and our fathers; he received living Words to be given to us. But our fathers would not submit to him; they pushed him aside and hankered secretly after Egypt. They told Aaron, 'Make gods that will march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him!' They actually made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to this idol, and grew festive over what their own hands had manufactured. So God turned from them, abandoning them to the worship of the starry Host ??as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did you offer me victims and sacrifices during the forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? No, it was the tent of Moloch and the star-symbol of Rephan your god that you carried, figures that you manufactured for worship. So now I will transport you beyond Babylon! In the desert our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen. It was passed on and borne in by our fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained down to the days of David. He found favour with God and asked permission to devise a dwelling for the God of Jacob. It was Solomon, however, who built him a house. And yet the most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says, Heaven is my throne, the earth is a footstool for my feet! What house would you build me? saith the Lord. On what spot could I settle? Did not my hand make all this? Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit! As with your fathers, so with you! Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, murdered him! ??53 you who got the Law that angels transmitted, and have not obeyed it!" When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. He, full of the holy Spirit, gazed up at heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of man standing at God's right hand!" With a loud shriek they shut their ears and rushed at him like one man. Putting him outside the city, they proceeded to stone him (the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a youth called Saul). So they stoned Stephen, who called on the Lord, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and stayed in Haran. From Haran God shifted him, after his father's death, to this land which you now inhabit. But he did not give him any inheritance in it, not even a foot of the land. All be did was to promise that he would give it as a possession to him and to his offspring after him (he at the time being childless). What God said was this: 'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But,' said God, 'I will pass sentence on the nation that has made them slaves, and then they will get away to worship me in this Place.' God also gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised on the eighth day, Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. Out of jealousy the patriarchs sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him, rescuing him from all his troubles and allowing him to find favour for his wisdom with Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him viceroy over Egypt and over all his own household. Now a famine came over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, attended with great misery, so that our ancestors could not find provender. But, hearing there was food in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors on their first visit to that country; at their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's lineage. Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his kinsfolk, amounting to seventy-five souls; and Jacob went south to Egypt. When he and our ancestors died, they were carried across to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As the time approached for the promise God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose to rule Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph. He took a cunning method with our race; he oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, to prevent them from surviving. It was at this period that Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was brought up in his father's house; then he was exposed, but Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. So Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians; he was a strong man in speech and action. When he had completed his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. He saw one of them being badly treated, so he defended him, struck down the Egyptian, and thus avenged the man who had been wronged. (He thought his brothers would understand God was going to bring them deliverance by means of him, but they did not understand.) Next day he came upon two of them fighting and tried to pacify them. "You are brothers!" he said, "why injure one another?" But the man who was injuring his neighbour pushed him aside. "Who made you ruler and umpire over us?" he asked. "Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" At that Moses fled; he became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons born to him. At the close of forty years an angel [of the Lord] appeared to him in the flames of a burning thorn-bush, in the desert of mount Sinai. When Moses saw this, he marvelled at the sight; and as he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said, 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush. But the Lord said to him, 'Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you back to Egypt.' The Moses they refused, when they said, 'Who made you ruler and umpire?' ??that was the very man whom God sent to rule and to redeem them, by aid of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. He it was who led them forth, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert during forty years. (This was the Moses who told the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.') This was the man who at the assembly in the desert intervened between the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai and our fathers; he received living Words to be given to us. But our fathers would not submit to him; they pushed him aside and hankered secretly after Egypt. They told Aaron, 'Make gods that will march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him!' They actually made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to this idol, and grew festive over what their own hands had manufactured. So God turned from them, abandoning them to the worship of the starry Host ??as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did you offer me victims and sacrifices during the forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? No, it was the tent of Moloch and the star-symbol of Rephan your god that you carried, figures that you manufactured for worship. So now I will transport you beyond Babylon! In the desert our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen. It was passed on and borne in by our fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained down to the days of David. He found favour with God and asked permission to devise a dwelling for the God of Jacob. It was Solomon, however, who built him a house. And yet the most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says, Heaven is my throne, the earth is a footstool for my feet! What house would you build me? saith the Lord. On what spot could I settle? Did not my hand make all this? Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit! As with your fathers, so with you! Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, murdered him! ??53 you who got the Law that angels transmitted, and have not obeyed it!" When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. He, full of the holy Spirit, gazed up at heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of man standing at God's right hand!" With a loud shriek they shut their ears and rushed at him like one man. Putting him outside the city, they proceeded to stone him (the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a youth called Saul). So they stoned Stephen, who called on the Lord, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
Select readings » Stephen's defense
Said the high priest, "Is this true?" "Listen, brothers and fathers," said Stephen. "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before ever he stayed in Haran, and said to him, 'Leave your land and your countrymen and come to whatever land I show you.' read more.
Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and stayed in Haran. From Haran God shifted him, after his father's death, to this land which you now inhabit. But he did not give him any inheritance in it, not even a foot of the land. All be did was to promise that he would give it as a possession to him and to his offspring after him (he at the time being childless). What God said was this: 'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But,' said God, 'I will pass sentence on the nation that has made them slaves, and then they will get away to worship me in this Place.' God also gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised on the eighth day, Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. Out of jealousy the patriarchs sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him, rescuing him from all his troubles and allowing him to find favour for his wisdom with Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him viceroy over Egypt and over all his own household. Now a famine came over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, attended with great misery, so that our ancestors could not find provender. But, hearing there was food in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors on their first visit to that country; at their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's lineage. Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his kinsfolk, amounting to seventy-five souls; and Jacob went south to Egypt. When he and our ancestors died, they were carried across to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As the time approached for the promise God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose to rule Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph. He took a cunning method with our race; he oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, to prevent them from surviving. It was at this period that Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was brought up in his father's house; then he was exposed, but Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. So Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians; he was a strong man in speech and action. When he had completed his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. He saw one of them being badly treated, so he defended him, struck down the Egyptian, and thus avenged the man who had been wronged. (He thought his brothers would understand God was going to bring them deliverance by means of him, but they did not understand.) Next day he came upon two of them fighting and tried to pacify them. "You are brothers!" he said, "why injure one another?" But the man who was injuring his neighbour pushed him aside. "Who made you ruler and umpire over us?" he asked. "Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" At that Moses fled; he became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons born to him. At the close of forty years an angel [of the Lord] appeared to him in the flames of a burning thorn-bush, in the desert of mount Sinai. When Moses saw this, he marvelled at the sight; and as he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said, 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush. But the Lord said to him, 'Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you back to Egypt.' The Moses they refused, when they said, 'Who made you ruler and umpire?' ??that was the very man whom God sent to rule and to redeem them, by aid of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. He it was who led them forth, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert during forty years. (This was the Moses who told the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.') This was the man who at the assembly in the desert intervened between the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai and our fathers; he received living Words to be given to us. But our fathers would not submit to him; they pushed him aside and hankered secretly after Egypt. They told Aaron, 'Make gods that will march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him!' They actually made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to this idol, and grew festive over what their own hands had manufactured. So God turned from them, abandoning them to the worship of the starry Host ??as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did you offer me victims and sacrifices during the forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? No, it was the tent of Moloch and the star-symbol of Rephan your god that you carried, figures that you manufactured for worship. So now I will transport you beyond Babylon! In the desert our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen. It was passed on and borne in by our fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained down to the days of David. He found favour with God and asked permission to devise a dwelling for the God of Jacob. It was Solomon, however, who built him a house. And yet the most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says, Heaven is my throne, the earth is a footstool for my feet! What house would you build me? saith the Lord. On what spot could I settle? Did not my hand make all this? Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit! As with your fathers, so with you! Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, murdered him! ??53 you who got the Law that angels transmitted, and have not obeyed it!" When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. He, full of the holy Spirit, gazed up at heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of man standing at God's right hand!"
Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and stayed in Haran. From Haran God shifted him, after his father's death, to this land which you now inhabit. But he did not give him any inheritance in it, not even a foot of the land. All be did was to promise that he would give it as a possession to him and to his offspring after him (he at the time being childless). What God said was this: 'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But,' said God, 'I will pass sentence on the nation that has made them slaves, and then they will get away to worship me in this Place.' God also gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised on the eighth day, Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. Out of jealousy the patriarchs sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him, rescuing him from all his troubles and allowing him to find favour for his wisdom with Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him viceroy over Egypt and over all his own household. Now a famine came over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, attended with great misery, so that our ancestors could not find provender. But, hearing there was food in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors on their first visit to that country; at their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's lineage. Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his kinsfolk, amounting to seventy-five souls; and Jacob went south to Egypt. When he and our ancestors died, they were carried across to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As the time approached for the promise God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose to rule Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph. He took a cunning method with our race; he oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, to prevent them from surviving. It was at this period that Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was brought up in his father's house; then he was exposed, but Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. So Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians; he was a strong man in speech and action. When he had completed his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. He saw one of them being badly treated, so he defended him, struck down the Egyptian, and thus avenged the man who had been wronged. (He thought his brothers would understand God was going to bring them deliverance by means of him, but they did not understand.) Next day he came upon two of them fighting and tried to pacify them. "You are brothers!" he said, "why injure one another?" But the man who was injuring his neighbour pushed him aside. "Who made you ruler and umpire over us?" he asked. "Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" At that Moses fled; he became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons born to him. At the close of forty years an angel [of the Lord] appeared to him in the flames of a burning thorn-bush, in the desert of mount Sinai. When Moses saw this, he marvelled at the sight; and as he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said, 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush. But the Lord said to him, 'Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you back to Egypt.' The Moses they refused, when they said, 'Who made you ruler and umpire?' ??that was the very man whom God sent to rule and to redeem them, by aid of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. He it was who led them forth, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert during forty years. (This was the Moses who told the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.') This was the man who at the assembly in the desert intervened between the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai and our fathers; he received living Words to be given to us. But our fathers would not submit to him; they pushed him aside and hankered secretly after Egypt. They told Aaron, 'Make gods that will march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him!' They actually made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to this idol, and grew festive over what their own hands had manufactured. So God turned from them, abandoning them to the worship of the starry Host ??as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did you offer me victims and sacrifices during the forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? No, it was the tent of Moloch and the star-symbol of Rephan your god that you carried, figures that you manufactured for worship. So now I will transport you beyond Babylon! In the desert our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen. It was passed on and borne in by our fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained down to the days of David. He found favour with God and asked permission to devise a dwelling for the God of Jacob. It was Solomon, however, who built him a house. And yet the most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says, Heaven is my throne, the earth is a footstool for my feet! What house would you build me? saith the Lord. On what spot could I settle? Did not my hand make all this? Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit! As with your fathers, so with you! Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, murdered him! ??53 you who got the Law that angels transmitted, and have not obeyed it!" When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. He, full of the holy Spirit, gazed up at heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of man standing at God's right hand!"