1And the high priest said, Are these things so?
2And he said, Brethren and fathers, hearken: The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
3and said unto him,
4Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Haran: and from thence, when his father was dead, [God] removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell:
5and he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: and he promised that
6And God spake on this wise, that his
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8And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so [Abraham] begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac [begat] Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
9And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt: and God was with him,
10and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
11Now there came a famine over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our fathers the first time.
13And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's race became manifest unto Pharaoh.
14And Joseph sent, and called to him Jacob his father, and all his kindred, seventy-five souls.
15And Jacob went down into Egypt; and he died, himself and our fathers;
16and they were carried over unto Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver of the sons of Hamor, the [father] of Shechem.
17But as the time of the promise drew nigh which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
18till
19The same dealt craftily with our race, and ill-treated our fathers, that they should cast out their babes to the end they might not live.
20At which season Moses was born, and was exceeding fair; and he was nourished three months in his father's house.
21and when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
22And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in words and works.
23But when he was well-nigh forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
24And seeing one [of them] suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, smiting the Egyptian:
25and he supposed that his brethren understood that God by his hand was giving them deliverance; but they understood not.
26And the day following he appeared unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
27But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying,
28
29And
30And when forty years were fulfilled,
31And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold, there came unto him a voice of the Lord,
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35This Moses whom they refused, saying,
36This man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
37This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel,
38This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel that spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received living oracles to give unto us:
39to whom our fathers would not be obedient, but thrust him from them, and turned back in their hearts unto Egypt,
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41And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
42But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets,
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44Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he appointed who spake unto Moses, that he should make it according to the figure that he had seen.
45Which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered on the possession of the nations, that God thrust out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
46who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.
47But Solomon built him a house.
48Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
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51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers;
53ye who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.
54Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
55But 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,
56and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
57But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord;
58and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon [the Lord], and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.