Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible




Then, as the High Priests went on heaping accusations on Him,


Peter and the other Apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than man. The God of our forefathers has raised Jesus to life, whom you crucified and put to death. God has exalted Him to His right hand as Chief Leader and as Saviour, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. read more.
And we--and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him--are witnesses as to these things."

So they recalled the Apostles, and ordered them altogether to give up speaking or teaching in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you instead of listening to God. As for us, what we have seen and heard we cannot help speaking about."


Then, as the High Priests went on heaping accusations on Him, Pilate again and again asked Him, "Do you make no reply? Listen to the many charges they are bringing against you." But Jesus made no further answer: so that Pilate wondered.

Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he replied, "Rulers and Elders of the people, if we to-day are under examination concerning the benefit conferred on a man helplessly lame, as to how this man has been cured; be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that through the name of Jesus the Anointed, the Nazarene, whom *you* crucified, but whom *God* has raised from among the dead-- through that name this man stands here before you in perfect health. read more.
This Jesus is the Stone treated with contempt by you the builders, but it has been made the Cornerstone. And in no other is the great salvation to be found; for, in fact, there is no second name under Heaven that has been given among men through which we are to be saved."

Then the High Priest asked him, "Are these statements true?" The reply of Stephen was, "Sirs--brethren and fathers--listen to me. God Most Glorious appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was living in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, and said to him, "'Leave your country and your relatives, and go into whatever land I point out to you.' read more.
"Thereupon he left Chaldaea and settled in Haran till after the death of his father, when God caused him to remove into this country where you now live. But he gave him no inheritance in it, no, not a single square yard of ground. And yet He promised to bestow the land as a permanent possession on him and his posterity after him--and promised this at a time when Abraham was childless. And God declared that Abraham's posterity should for four hundred years make their home in a country not their own, and be reduced to slavery and be oppressed. "'And the nation, whichever it is, that enslaves them, I will judge,' said God; 'and afterwards they shall come out, and they shall worship Me in this place.' "Then He gave him the Covenant of circumcision, and under this Covenant he became the father of Isaac--whom he circumcised on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve Patriarchs. "The Patriarchs were jealous of Joseph and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him from all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him governor over Egypt and all the royal household. But there came a famine throughout the whole of Egypt and Canaan--and great distress--so that our forefathers could find no food. When, however, Jacob heard that there was wheat to be had, he sent our forefathers into Egypt; that was the first time. On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's parentage. Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his family, numbering seventy-five persons, to come to him, and Jacob went down into Egypt. There he died, and so did our forefathers, and they were taken to Shechem and were laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a sum of money paid in silver. "But as the time drew near for the fulfilment of the promise which God had made to Abraham, the people became many times more numerous in Egypt, until there arose a foreign king over Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph. He adopted a crafty policy towards our race, and oppressed our forefathers, making them cast out their infants so that they might not be permitted to live. At this time Moses was born--a wonderfully beautiful child; and for three months he was cared for in his father's house. At length he was cast out, but Pharaoh's daughter adopted him, and brought him up as her own son. So Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and possessed great influence through his eloquence and his achievements. "And when he was just forty years old, it occurred to him to visit his brethren the descendants of Israel. Seeing one of them wrongfully treated he took his part, and secured justice for the ill-treated man by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed his brethren to be aware that by him God was sending them deliverance; this, however, they did not understand. The next day, also, he came and found two of them fighting, and he endeavoured to make peace between them. "'Sirs,' he said, 'you are brothers. Why are you wronging one another?' "But the man who was doing the wrong resented his interference, and asked, "'Who appointed you magistrate and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' "Alarmed at this question, Moses fled from the country and went to live in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons. "But at the end of forty years there appeared to him in the Desert of Mount Sinai an angel in the middle of a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw this he wondered at the sight; but on his going up to look further, the voice of the Lord was heard, saying, "'I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.' "Quaking with fear Moses did not dare gaze. "'Take off your shoes,' said the Lord, 'for the spot on which you are standing is holy ground. I have seen, yes, I have seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them. And now I will send you to Egypt.' "The Moses whom they rejected, asking him, 'Who appointed you magistrate and judge?' --that same Moses we find God sending as a magistrate and a deliverer by the help of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This was he who brought them out, after performing marvels and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea, and in the Desert for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, "'God will raise up a Prophet for you, from among your brethren, just as He raised me up.' This is he who was among the Congregation in the Desert, together with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our forefathers, who received ever-living utterances to hand on to us. "Our forefathers, however, would not submit to him, but spurned his authority and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They said to Aaron, "'Make gods for us, to march in front of us; for as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' "Moreover they made a calf at that time, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and kept rejoicing in the gods which their own hands had made. So God turned from them and gave them up to the worship of the Host of Heaven, as it is written in the Book of the Prophets, "'Were they victims and sacrifices which you offered Me, forty years in the Desert, O House of Israel? Yes, you lifted up Moloch's tent and the Star of the God Rephan--the images which you made in order to worship them; and I will remove you beyond Babylon.' "Our forefathers had the Tent of the Testimony in the Desert, built as He who spoke to Moses had instructed him to make it in imitation of the model which he had seen. That Tent was bequeathed to the next generation of our forefathers. Under Joshua they brought it with them when they were taking possession of the land of the Gentile nations, whom God drove out before them. So it continued till David's time. David obtained favour with God, and asked leave to provide a dwelling-place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in buildings erected by men's hands. But, as the Prophet declares, "'The sky is My throne, and earth is the footstool for My feet. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or what resting place shall I have? Did not My hand form this universe.' "O stiff-necked men, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you also are continually at strife with the Holy Spirit--just as your forefathers were. Which of the Prophets did not your forefathers persecute? Yes, they killed those who announced beforehand the advent of the righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become-- you who received the Law given through angels, and yet have not obeyed it." As they listened to these words, they became infuriated and gnashed their teeth at him. But, full of the Holy Spirit and looking up to Heaven, Stephen saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand. "I can see Heaven wide open," he said, "and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand."

Then Paul, fixing a steady gaze on the Sanhedrin, said, "Brethren, it is with a perfectly clear conscience that I have discharged my duties before God up to this day." On hearing this the High Priest Ananias ordered those who were standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. "Before long," exclaimed Paul, "God will strike you, you white-washed wall! Are you sitting there to judge me in accordance with the Law, and do you yourself actually break the Law by ordering me to be struck?" read more.
"Do you rail at God's High Priest?" cried the men who stood by him. "I did not know, brethren," replied Paul, "that he was the High Priest; for it is written, 'Thou shalt not speak evil of a ruler of Thy people.'" Noticing, however, that the Sanhedrin consisted partly of Sadducees and partly of Pharisees, he called out loudly among them, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. It is because of my hope of a resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial." These words of his caused an angry dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly took different sides.


When morning came all the High Priests and the Elders of the people consulted together against Jesus to put Him to death; and binding Him they led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate the Governor.

Meanwhile Jesus was brought before the Governor, and the latter put the question, "Are you the King of the Jews?" "I am their King," He answered. When however the High Priests and the Elders kept bringing their charges against Him, He said not a word in reply. "Do you not hear," asked Pilate, "what a mass of evidence they are bringing against you?" read more.
But He made no reply to a single accusation, so that the Governor was greatly astonished.

At earliest dawn, after the High Priests had held a consultation with the Elders and Scribes, they and the entire Sanhedrin bound Jesus and took Him away and handed Him over to Pilate. So Pilate questioned Him. "Are *you* the King of the Jews?" he asked. "I am," replied Jesus. Then, as the High Priests went on heaping accusations on Him, read more.
Pilate again and again asked Him, "Do you make no reply? Listen to the many charges they are bringing against you." But Jesus made no further answer: so that Pilate wondered.

Then the whole assembly rose and brought Him to Pilate, and began to accuse Him. "We have found this man," they said, "an agitator among our nation, forbidding the payment of tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be himself an anointed king." Then Pilate asked Him, "You, then, are the King of the Jews?" "It is as you say," He replied. read more.
Pilate said to the High Priests and to the crowd, "I can find no crime in this man." But they violently insisted. "He stirs up the people," they said, "throughout all Judaea with His teaching--even from Galilee (where He first started)

So they brought Jesus from Caiaphas's house to the Praetorium. It was the early morning, and they would not enter the Praetorium themselves for fear of defilement, and in order that they might be able to eat the Passover. Accordingly Pilate came out to them and inquired, "What accusation have you to bring against this man?" "If the man were not a criminal," they replied, "we would not have handed him over to you." read more.
"Take him yourselves," said Pilate, "and judge him by your Law." "We have no power," replied the Jews, "to put any man to death." They said this that the words might be fulfilled in which Jesus predicted the kind of death He was to die. Re-entering the Praetorium, therefore, Pilate called Jesus and asked Him, "Are *you* the King of the Jews?" "Do you say this of yourself, or have others told it you about me?" replied Jesus. "Am I a Jew?" exclaimed Pilate; "it is your own nation and the High Priests who have handed you over to me. What have you done?" "My kingdom," replied Jesus, "does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my subjects would have resolutely fought to save me from being delivered up to the Jews. But, as a matter of fact, my kingdom has not this origin." "So then *you* are a king!" rejoined Pilate. "Yes," said Jesus, "you say truly that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world--to give testimony for the truth. Every one who is a friend of the truth listens to my voice." "What is truth?" said Pilate. But no sooner had he spoken the words than he went out again to the Jews and told them, "I find no crime in him.


"Does our Law," he asked, "judge a man without first hearing what he has to say and ascertaining what his conduct is?"

Then, at a sign from the Governor, Paul answered, "Knowing, Sir, that for many years you have administered justice to this nation, I cheerfully make my defence. For you have it in your power to ascertain that it is not more than twelve days ago that I went up to worship in Jerusalem; and that neither in the Temple nor in the synagogues, nor anywhere in the city, did they find me disputing with any opponent or collecting a crowd about me. read more.
Nor can they prove the charges which they are now bringing against me. But this I confess to you--that in the way which they style a heresy, I worship the God of our forefathers, believing everything that is taught in the Law or is written in the Prophets, and having a hope directed towards God, which my accusers themselves also entertain, that before long there will be a resurrection both of the righteous and the unrighteous. This too is my own earnest endeavour--always to have a clear conscience in relation to God and man. "Now after an interval of several years I came to bring alms to my nation, and to offer sacrifices. While I was busy about these, they found me in the Temple purified, with no crowd around me and no uproar; but there were certain Jews from the province of Asia. They ought to have been here before you, and to have been my prosecutors, if they have any charge to bring against me. Or let these men themselves say what misdemeanour they found me guilty of when I stood before the Sanhedrin, unless it was in that one expression which I made use of when I shouted out as I stood among them, "'The resurrection of the dead is the thing about which I am on my trial before you to-day.'"

Meanwhile Jesus was brought before the Governor, and the latter put the question, "Are you the King of the Jews?" "I am their King," He answered. When however the High Priests and the Elders kept bringing their charges against Him, He said not a word in reply. "Do you not hear," asked Pilate, "what a mass of evidence they are bringing against you?" read more.
But He made no reply to a single accusation, so that the Governor was greatly astonished.

Then Pilate asked Him, "You, then, are the King of the Jews?" "It is as you say," He replied.

So Pilate questioned Him. "Are *you* the King of the Jews?" he asked. "I am," replied Jesus. Then, as the High Priests went on heaping accusations on Him, Pilate again and again asked Him, "Do you make no reply? Listen to the many charges they are bringing against you." read more.
But Jesus made no further answer: so that Pilate wondered.

Stung to the heart by these words, they said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, "Brethren, what are we to do?" "Repent," replied Peter, "and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, with a view to the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you belongs the promise, and to your children, and to all who are far off, whoever the Lord our God may call." read more.
And with many more appeals he solemnly warned and entreated them, saying, "Escape from this crooked generation."



Then, as the High Priests went on heaping accusations on Him,



Then, as the High Priests went on heaping accusations on Him,


Then, as the High Priests went on heaping accusations on Him,