1 Now in these days ^kwhen the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists¹ arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in ^lthe daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 ^mTherefore, brothers,² pick out from among you seven men ⁿof good repute, ^ofull of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But ^pwe will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, ^qa man full of faith and ^rof the Holy Spirit, and ^sPhilip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, ^ta proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and ^uthey prayed and ^vlaid their hands on them.

7 And ^wthe word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests ^xbecame obedient to ^ythe faith.

8 And Stephen, full of grace and ^zpower, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But ^athey could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then ^bthey secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they ^cset up false ^dwitnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against ^ethis holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth ^fwill destroy this place and will ^gchange ^hthe customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face ⁱwas like the face of an angel.

1 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said:

^j“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^kThe God ^lof glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^mbefore he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ⁿ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 ^mThen he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And ^oafter his father died, ^pGod removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised ^qto give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^rthough he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that ^shis offspring would ^tbe sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^ufour hundred years. 7 ‘But ^vI will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out ^wand worship me in this place.’ 8 And ^xhe gave him the covenant of circumcision. And ^yso Abraham became the father of Isaac, and ^zcircumcised him on the eighth day, and ^aIsaac became the father of Jacob, and ^bJacob of the twelve patriarchs.

9 “And the patriarchs, ^cjealous of Joseph, ^dsold him into Egypt; but ^eGod was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and ^fgave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^gwho made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now ^hthere came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 ⁱBut when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And ^jon the second visit ^kJoseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^lJoseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And ^mJoseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, ⁿseventy-five persons in all. 15 And ^oJacob went down into Egypt, and ^phe died, he ^qand our fathers, 16 and ^rthey were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that ^sAbraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.