7:1 大祭司就說：「這些事果然有嗎？」
7:2 司提反說：「諸位父兄請聽！當日我們的祖宗亞伯拉罕在美索不達米亞還未住哈蘭的時候，榮耀的上帝向他顯現，
7:3 對他說：『你要離開本地和親族，往我所要指示你的地方去。』
7:4 他就離開迦勒底人之地，住在哈蘭。他父親死了以後，上帝使他從那裡搬到你們現在所住之地。
7:5 在這地方，上帝並沒有給他產業，連立足之地也沒有給他；但應許要將這地賜給他和他的後裔為業；那時他還沒有兒子。
7:6 上帝說：『他的後裔必寄居外邦，那裡的人要叫他們作奴僕，苦待他們四百年。』
7:7 上帝又說：『使他們作奴僕的那國，我要懲罰。以後他們要出來，在這地方事奉我。』
7:8 上帝又賜他割禮的約。於是亞伯拉罕生了以撒，第八日給他行了割禮。以撒生雅各；雅各生十二位先祖。
7:9 「先祖嫉妒約瑟，把他賣到埃及去；上帝卻與他同在，
7:10 救他脫離一切苦難，又使他在埃及王法老面前得恩典，有智慧。法老就派他作埃及國的宰相兼管全家。
7:11 後來埃及和迦南全地遭遇饑荒，大受艱難，我們的祖宗就絕了糧。
7:12 雅各聽見在埃及有糧，就打發我們的祖宗初次往那裡去。
7:13 第二次約瑟與弟兄們相認，他的親族也被法老知道了。
7:14 約瑟就打發弟兄請父親雅各和全家七十五個人都來。
7:15 於是雅各下了埃及，後來他和我們的祖宗都死在那裡；
7:16 又被帶到示劍，葬於亞伯拉罕在示劍用銀子從哈抹子孫買來的墳墓裡。
7:17 「及至上帝應許亞伯拉罕的日期將到，以色列民在埃及興盛眾多，
7:18 直到有不曉得約瑟的新王興起。
7:19 他用詭計待我們的宗族，苦害我們的祖宗，叫他們丟棄嬰孩，使嬰孩不能存活。
7:20 那時，摩西生下來，俊美非凡，在他父親家裡撫養了三個月。
7:21 他被丟棄的時候，法老的女兒拾了去，養為自己的兒子。
7:22 摩西學了埃及人一切的學問，說話行事都有才能。
7:23 「他將到四十歲，心中起意去看望他的弟兄以色列人；
7:24 到了那裡，見他們一個人受冤屈，就護庇他，為那受欺壓的人報仇，打死了那埃及人。
7:25 他以為弟兄必明白上帝是藉他的手搭救他們；他們卻不明白。
7:26 第二天，遇見兩個以色列人爭鬥，就勸他們和睦，說：『你們二位是弟兄，為甚麼彼此欺負呢？』
7:27 那欺負鄰舍的把他推開，說：『誰立你作我們的首領和審判官呢？
7:28 難道你要殺我，像昨天殺那埃及人嗎？』
7:29 摩西聽見這話就逃走了，寄居於米甸；在那裡生了兩個兒子。
7:30 「過了四十年，在西奈山的曠野，有一位天使從荊棘火焰中向摩西顯現。
7:31 摩西見了那異象，便覺希奇，正進前觀看的時候，有主的聲音說：
7:32 『我是你列祖的上帝，就是亞伯拉罕的上帝，以撒的上帝，雅各的上帝。』摩西戰戰兢兢，不敢觀看。
7:33 主對他說：『把你腳上的鞋脫下來，因為你所站之地是聖地。
7:34 我的百姓在埃及所受的困苦，我實在看見了，他們悲歎的聲音，我也聽見了。我下來要救他們。你來！我要差你往埃及去。』
7:35 這摩西就是百姓棄絕說『誰立你作我們的首領和審判官』的；上帝卻藉那在荊棘中顯現之使者的手差派他作首領、作救贖的。
7:36 這人領百姓出來，在埃及，在紅海，在曠野，四十年間行了奇事神蹟。
7:37 那曾對以色列人說『上帝要從你們弟兄中間給你們興起一位先知像我』的，就是這位摩西。
7:38 這人曾在曠野會中和西奈山上，與那對他說話的天使同在，又與我們的祖宗同在，並且領受活潑的聖言傳給我們。
7:39 我們的祖宗不肯聽從，反棄絕他，心裡歸向埃及，
7:40 對亞倫說：『你且為我們造些神像，在我們前面引路；因為領我們出埃及地的那個摩西，我們不知道他遭了甚麼事。』
7:41 那時，他們造了一個牛犢，又拿祭物獻給那像，歡喜自己手中的工作。
7:42 上帝就轉臉不顧，任憑他們事奉天上的日月星辰，正如先知書上所寫的說：以色列家啊，你們四十年間在曠野，豈是將犧牲和祭物獻給我嗎？
7:43 你們抬著摩洛的帳幕和理番神的星，就是你們所造為要敬拜的像。因此，我要把你們遷到巴比倫外去。
7:44 「我們的祖宗在曠野，有法櫃的帳幕，是上帝吩咐摩西叫他照所看見的樣式做的。
7:45 這帳幕，我們的祖宗相繼承受。當上帝在他們面前趕出外邦人去的時候，他們同約書亞把帳幕搬進承受為業之地，直存到大衛的日子。
7:46 大衛在上帝面前蒙恩，祈求為雅各的上帝預備居所；
7:47 卻是所羅門為上帝造成殿宇。
7:48 其實，至高者並不住人手所造的，就如先知所言：
7:49 主說：天是我的座位，地是我的腳凳；你們要為我造何等的殿宇？哪裡是我安息的地方呢？
7:50 這一切不都是我手所造的嗎？
7:51 「你們這硬著頸項、心與耳未受割禮的人，常時抗拒聖靈！你們的祖宗怎樣，你們也怎樣。
7:52 哪一個先知不是你們祖宗逼迫呢？他們也把預先傳說那義者要來的人殺了；如今你們又把那義者賣了，殺了。
7:53 你們受了天使所傳的律法，竟不遵守。」
7:54 眾人聽見這話就極其惱怒，向司提反咬牙切齒。
7:55 但司提反被聖靈充滿，定睛望天，看見上帝的榮耀，又看見耶穌站在上帝的右邊，
7:56 就說：「我看見天開了，人子站在上帝的右邊。」
7:57 眾人大聲喊叫，摀著耳朵，齊心擁上前去，
7:58 把他推到城外，用石頭打他。作見證的人把衣裳放在一個少年人名叫掃羅的腳前。
7:59 他們正用石頭打的時候，司提反呼籲主說：「求主耶穌接收我的靈魂！」
7:60 又跪下大聲喊著說：「主啊，不要將這罪歸於他們！」說了這話，就睡了。掃羅也喜悅他被害。
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’[a]
4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’[b] 8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’[c] 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[d] For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[e] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[f] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’[g]
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.
37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[h] 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’[i] 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made. 42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
“‘Did
you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’[j] beyond
Babylon.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[k] 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.
48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 “‘Heaven
is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?’[l]
51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”
54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
**************
人常常是在環境中被主的大能來塑造，就像司提反，要不是遇見被逼迫的狀態，他怎能說出這一段這麼長的話來見證主耶穌就是大衛的子孫呢？因此，我們不要抱怨環境的艱難，這反而是讓人看見上帝在我們身上的作為！
而司提反在殉道前被聖靈充滿，定睛望天，看見上帝的榮耀，又看見耶穌站在上帝的右邊，就說：「我看見天開了，人子站在上帝的右邊。」
這樣的話竟然讓當時的猶太人受不了：眾人大聲喊叫，摀著耳朵，齊心擁上前去，把他推到城外，用石頭打他。作見證的人把衣裳放在一個少年人名叫掃羅的腳前。
他的殉道過程如下：他們正用石頭打的時候，司提反呼籲主說：「求主耶穌接收我的靈魂！」又跪下大聲喊著說：「主啊，不要將這罪歸於他們！」說了這話，就睡了。掃羅也喜悅他被害。
求主保守我們，在任何的環境都能為祂做見證，就像司提反一般，或生或死都能讓人知道主耶穌是我們的主，正如保羅所說：「我們沒有一個人為自己活，也沒有一個人為自己死。我們若活著，是為主而活；若死了，是為主而死。所以，我們或活或死總是主的人。因此，基督死了，又活了，為要作死人並活人的主。」(羅馬書14:7-9)
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