Acts 7:60 - Prayer Tents

Stephen’s Speech

7The High Priest asked Stephen, "Is this true?"G1161G2036G749G1487G686G2192G5023G37792Stephen answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! Before our ancestor Abraham had gone to live in Haran, the God of glory appeared to him in MesopotamiaG1161G5346G435G80G2532G3962G191G2316G1391G3700G2257G3962G11G5607G1722G3318G4250G2228G846G2730G1722G54883and said to him, 'Leave your family and country and go to the land that I will show you.'G2532G2036G4314G846G1831G1537G4675G1093G2532G1537G4675G4772G2532G1204G1519G1093G3739G302G1166G46714And so he left his country and went to live in Haran. After Abraham's father died, God made him move to this land where you now live.G5119G1831G1537G1093G5466G2730G1722G5488G2547G3326G846G3962G599G3351G846G1519G5026G1093G1519G3739G5210G3568G27305God did not then give Abraham any part of it as his own, not even a square foot of ground, but God promised to give it to him, and that it would belong to him and to his descendants. At the time God made this promise, Abraham had no children.G2532G1325G846G3756G2817G1722G846G3761G968G4228G968G2532G1861G1325G846G846G1519G2697G2532G846G4690G3326G846G846G5607G3756G50436This is what God said to him: 'Your descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be slaves and will be badly treated for four hundred years.G1161G2316G2980G3779G3754G846G4690G2071G3941G1722G245G1093G2532G1402G846G1402G2532G2559G5071G20947But I will pass judgment on the people that they will serve, and afterward your descendants will come out of that country and will worship me in this place.'G2532G1484G3739G1437G1398G2919G1473G2919G2036G2316G2532G3326G5023G1831G2532G3000G3427G1722G5129G51178Then God gave to Abraham the ceremony of circumcision as a sign of the covenant. So Abraham circumcised Isaac a week after he was born; Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons, the famous ancestors of our race.G2532G1325G846G1242G4061G2532G3779G1080G2464G2532G4059G846G3590G2250G2532G2464G2384G2532G2384G1427G39669"Jacob's sons became jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with himG2532G3966G2206G591G2501G1519G125G2532G2316G2258G3326G84610and brought him safely through all his troubles. When Joseph appeared before the king of Egypt, God gave him a pleasing manner and wisdom, and the king made Joseph governor over the country and the royal household.G2532G1807G846G1537G3956G846G2347G2532G1325G846G5485G2532G4678G1726G5328G935G125G2532G2525G846G2233G1909G125G2532G3650G846G362411Then there was a famine all over Egypt and Canaan, which caused much suffering. Our ancestors could not find any food,G1161G2064G3042G1909G3650G1093G125G2532G5477G2532G3173G2347G2532G2257G3962G2147G3756G552712and when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent his sons, our ancestors, on their first visit there.G1161G2384G191G5607G4621G1722G125G1821G2257G3962G441213On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and the king of Egypt came to know about Joseph's family.G2532G1722G1208G2501G319G846G80G2532G2501G1085G1096G5318G532814So Joseph sent a message to his father Jacob, telling him and the whole family, seventy-five people in all, to come to Egypt.G1161G649G2501G3333G846G3962G2384G2532G3956G846G4772G1722G1440G4002G559015Then Jacob went to Egypt, where he and his sons died.G1161G2384G2597G1519G125G2532G5053G846G2532G2257G396216Their bodies were taken to Shechem, where they were buried in the grave which Abraham had bought from the clan of Hamor for a sum of money.G2532G3346G1519G4966G2532G5087G1722G3418G3739G11G5608G5092G694G3844G5207G1697G3588G496617"When the time drew near for God to keep the promise he had made to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had grown much larger.G1161G2531G5550G1860G1448G3739G2316G3660G11G2992G837G2532G4129G1722G12518At last a king who did not know about Joseph began to rule in Egypt.G891G3739G2087G935G450G3739G1492G3756G250119He tricked our ancestors and was cruel to them, forcing them to put their babies out of their homes, so that they would die.G3778G2686G2257G1085G2559G2257G3962G4160G1570G846G1025G1519G2225G3361G222520It was at this time that Moses was born, a very beautiful child. He was cared for at home for three months,G1722G3739G2540G3475G1080G2532G2258G2316G791G3739G397G1722G846G3962G3624G5140G337621and when he was put out of his home, the king's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.G1161G846G1620G5328G2364G337G846G337G2532G397G846G1519G1438G520722He was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man in words and deeds.G2532G3475G3811G3956G4678G124G1161G2258G1415G1722G3056G2532G1722G204123"When Moses was forty years old, he decided to find out how his fellow Israelites were being treated.G1161G5613G846G4137G5063G5550G305G1909G846G2588G1980G846G80G5207G247424He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his help and took revenge on the Egyptian by killing him.G2532G1492G5100G91G292G2532G1557G4160G2669G3960G12425(He thought that his own people would understand that God was going to use him to set them free, but they did not understand.)G1161G3543G846G80G4920G3754G2316G1223G846G5495G1325G4991G846G1161G4920G375626The next day he saw two Israelites fighting, and he tried to make peace between them. 'Listen, men,' he said, 'you are fellow Israelites; why are you fighting like this?'G5037G1966G2250G3700G846G3164G2532G4900G846G1519G1515G2036G435G5210G2075G80G2444G91G24027But the one who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside. 'Who made you ruler and judge over us?' he asked.G1161G91G4139G91G683G846G683G2036G5101G2525G4571G758G2532G1348G1909G224828'Do you want to kill me, just as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?'G3361G2309G4771G337G3165G3739G5158G337G124G550429When Moses heard this, he fled from Egypt and went to live in the land of Midian. There he had two sons.G1161G5343G3475G1722G5129G3056G2532G1096G3941G1722G1093G3099G3757G1080G1417G520730"After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.G2532G5062G2094G4137G3700G846G1722G2048G3735G4614G32G2962G1722G5395G4442G94231Moses was amazed by what he saw, and went near the bush to get a better look. But he heard the Lord's voice:G1161G3475G1492G2296G3705G1161G846G4334G2657G5456G2962G1096G4314G84632'I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and dared not look.G1473G2316G4675G3962G2316G11G2532G2316G2464G2532G2316G2384G1161G3475G1096G1790G5111G3756G265733The Lord said to him, 'Take your sandals off, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.G1161G2036G2962G846G3089G5266G4675G4228G1063G5117G1722G3739G2476G2076G40G109334I have seen the cruel suffering of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans, and I have come down to set them free. Come now; I will send you to Egypt.'G1492G1492G2561G3450G2992G3588G1722G125G2532G191G846G4726G2532G2597G1807G846G2532G3568G1204G649G4571G1519G12535"Moses is the one who was rejected by the people of Israel. 'Who made you ruler and judge over us?' they asked. He is the one whom God sent to rule the people and set them free with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush.G5126G3475G3739G720G2036G5101G2525G4571G758G2532G1348G5126G2316G649G758G2532G3086G1722G5495G32G3588G3700G846G1722G94236He led the people out of Egypt, performing miracles and wonders in Egypt and at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert.G3778G1806G846G1806G4160G5059G2532G4592G1722G1093G125G2532G1722G2063G2281G2532G1722G2048G5062G209437Moses is the one who said to the people of Israel, 'God will send you a prophet, just as he sent me, and he will be one of your own people.'G3778G2076G3475G3588G2036G5207G2474G4396G450G2962G5216G2316G450G5213G1537G5216G80G5613G1691G846G19138He is the one who was with the people of Israel assembled in the desert; he was there with our ancestors and with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and he received God's living messages to pass on to us.G3778G2076G1096G1722G1577G1722G2048G3326G32G3588G2980G846G1722G3735G4614G2532G2257G3962G3739G1209G2198G3051G1325G225439"But our ancestors refused to obey him; they pushed him aside and wished that they could go back to Egypt.G3739G2257G3962G2309G3756G1096G5255G235G683G2532G846G2588G4762G1519G12540So they said to Aaron, 'Make us some gods who will lead us. We do not know what has happened to that man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.'G2036G2G4160G2254G2316G3739G4313G2257G1063G3778G3475G3739G1806G2248G1537G1093G125G1492G3756G5101G1096G84641It was then that they made an idol in the shape of a bull, offered sacrifice to it, and had a feast in honor of what they themselves had made.G2532G3447G1722G1565G2250G2532G321G2378G1497G2532G2165G1722G2041G846G549542So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: 'People of Israel! It was not to me that you slaughtered and sacrificed animals for forty years in the desert.G1161G2316G4762G2532G3860G846G3860G3000G4756G3772G2531G1125G1722G976G4396G3624G2474G3361G4374G3427G4968G2532G2378G5062G2094G1722G204843It was the tent of the god Molech that you carried, and the image of Rephan, your star god; they were idols that you had made to worship. And so I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.'G2532G353G4633G3434G2532G798G5216G2316G4481G5179G3739G4160G4352G846G2532G3351G5209G3351G1900G89744"Our ancestors had the Tent of God's presence with them in the desert. It had been made as God had told Moses to make it, according to the pattern that Moses had been shown.G2257G3962G2258G4633G3142G1722G1722G2048G2531G1299G2980G3475G4160G846G2596G5179G3739G370845Later on, our ancestors who received the tent from their fathers carried it with them when they went with Joshua and took over the land from the nations that God drove out as they advanced. And it stayed there until the time of David.G3739G2532G2257G3962G1237G1521G3326G2424G1722G2697G1484G3739G2316G1856G575G4383G2257G3962G2193G2250G113846He won God's favor and asked God to allow him to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.G3739G2147G5485G1799G2316G2532G154G2147G4638G2316G238447But it was Solomon who built him a house.G1161G4672G3618G846G362448"But the Most High God does not live in houses built by human hands; as the prophet says,G235G5310G2730G3756G1722G3485G5499G2531G3004G439649'Heaven is my throne, says the Lord, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house would you build for me? Where is the place for me to live in?G3772G3427G2362G1161G1093G3450G4228G5286G4169G3624G3618G3427G3004G2962G2228G5101G5117G3450G266350Did not I myself make all these things?'G4160G3780G3450G5495G4160G3956G502351"How stubborn you are!" Stephen went on to say. "How heathen your hearts, how deaf you are to God's message! You are just like your ancestors: you too have always resisted the Holy Spirit!G4644G2532G564G2588G2532G3775G5210G496G104G496G40G4151G5613G5216G3962G2532G521052Was there any prophet that your ancestors did not persecute? They killed God's messengers, who long ago announced the coming of his righteous Servant. And now you have betrayed and murdered him.G5101G4396G1377G3756G5216G3962G1377G2532G615G3588G4293G4012G1660G1342G3739G5210G1096G3568G4273G2532G540653You are the ones who received God's law, that was handed down by angels - yet you have not obeyed it!"G3748G2983G3551G1519G1296G32G2532G5442G3756G5442

The Stoning of Stephen

54As the members of the Council listened to Stephen, they became furious and ground their teeth at him in anger.G1161G191G5023G1282G2588G846G2532G1031G1909G846G359955But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God's glory and Jesus standing at the right side of God.G1161G5225G4134G40G4151G816G1519G3772G1492G1391G2316G2532G2424G2476G1537G1188G231656"Look!" he said. "I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!"G2532G2036G2400G2334G3772G455G2532G5207G444G2476G1537G1188G231657With a loud cry the Council members covered their ears with their hands. Then they all rushed at him at once,G1161G2896G3173G5456G4912G846G3775G2532G3729G1909G846G366158threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses left their cloaks in the care of a young man named Saul.G2532G1544G1854G4172G3036G2532G3144G659G846G2440G3844G3494G4228G2564G456959They kept on stoning Stephen as he called out to the Lord, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"G2532G3036G4736G1941G2532G3004G2962G2424G1209G3450G415160He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord! Do not remember this sin against them!" He said this and died.G1161G5087G1119G2896G3173G5456G2962G2476G3361G5026G266G846G2532G2036G5124G2837