Acts 7:2‑53,55• 2And he said, Brethren and fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
3and said to him, Go out of thy land and out of thy kindred, and come into the land which I will shew thee.
4Then going out of the land of the Chaldeans he dwelt in Charran, and thence, after his father died, he removed him into this land in which *ye* now dwell.
5And he did not give him an inheritance in it, not even what his foot could stand on; and promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he had no child.
6And God spoke thus: His seed shall be a sojourner in a strange land, and they shall enslave them and evil entreat them four hundred years;
7and the nation to which they shall be in bondage will *I* judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and serve me in this place.
8And he gave to him the covenant of circumcision; and thus he begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
9And the patriarchs, envying Joseph, sold him away into Egypt. And God was with him,
10and delivered him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he appointed him chief over Egypt and all his house.
11But a famine came upon all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great distress, and our fathers found no food.
12But Jacob, having heard of there being corn in Egypt, sent out our fathers first;
13and the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh.
14And Joseph sent and called down to him his father Jacob and all his kindred, seventy-five souls.
15And Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers,
16and were carried over to Sychem and placed in the sepulchre which Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.
17But as the time of promise drew near which God had promised to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,
18until another king over Egypt arose who did not know Joseph.
19*He* dealt subtilly with our race, and evil entreated the fathers, casting out their infants that they might not live.
20In which time Moses was born, and was exceedingly lovely, who was nourished three months in the house of his father.
21And when he was cast out, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up, and brought him up for herself to be for a son.
22And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.
23And when a period of forty years was fulfilled to him, it came into his heart to look upon his brethren, the sons of Israel;
24and seeing a certain one wronged, he defended him, and avenged him that was being oppressed, smiting the Egyptian.
25For he thought that his brethren would understand that God by his hand was giving them deliverance. But they understood not.
26And on the morrow he shewed himself to them as they were contending, and compelled them to peace, saying, *Ye* are brethren, why do ye wrong one another?
27But he that was wronging his neighbour thrust him away, saying, Who established thee ruler and judge over us?
28Dost *thou* wish to kill me as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday?
29And Moses fled at this saying, and became a sojourner in the land of Madiam, where he begat two sons.
30And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in a flame of fire of a bush.
31And Moses seeing it wondered at the vision; and as he went up to consider it, there was a voice of the Lord,
32*I* am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not consider it.
33And the Lord said to him, Loose the sandal of thy feet, for the place on which thou standest is holy ground.
34I have surely seen the ill treatment of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groan, and have come down to take them out of it; and now, come, I will send thee to Egypt.
35This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who made thee ruler and judge? him did God send to be a ruler and deliverer with the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
36*He* led them out, having wrought wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
37This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, A prophet shall God raise up to you out of your brethren like me him shall ye hear.
38This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers; who received living oracles to give to us;
39to whom our fathers would not be subject, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,
40saying to Aaron, Make us gods who shall go before us; for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has happened to him.
41And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42But God turned and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, Have ye offered me victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43Yea, ye took up the tent of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, the forms which ye made to do homage to them; and I will transport you beyond Babylon.
44Our fathers had the tent of the testimony in the wilderness, as he that spoke to Moses commanded to make it according to the model which he had seen;
45which also our fathers, receiving from their predecessors, brought in with Joshua when they entered into possession of the lands of the nations, whom God drove out from the face of our fathers, until the days of David;
46who found favour before God, and asked to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob;
47but Solomon built him a house.
48But the Most High dwells not in places made with hands; as says the prophet,
49The heaven is my throne and the earth the footstool of my feet: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord, or where is the place of my rest?
50has not my hand made all these things?
51O stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, *ye* do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers, *ye* also.
52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain those who announced beforehand concerning the coming of the Just One, of whom *ye* have now become deliverers up and murderers!
53who have received the law as ordained by the ministry of angels, and have not kept it.
55But being full of the Holy Spirit, having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, (Acts 7:2‑53,55)
Acts 26:1‑32• 1And Agrippa said to Paul, It is permitted thee to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretching out his hand answered in his defence:
2I count myself happy, king Agrippa, in having to answer to-day before thee concerning all of which I am accused by the Jews,
3especially because thou art acquainted with all the customs and questions which are among the Jews; wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
4My manner of life then from my youth, which from its commencement was passed among my nation in Jerusalem, know all the Jews,
5who knew me before from the outset of my life, if they would bear witness, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
6And now I stand to be judged because of the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers,
7to which our whole twelve tribes serving incessantly day and night hope to arrive; about which hope, O king, I am accused of the Jews.
8Why should it be judged a thing incredible in your sight if God raises the dead?
9*I* indeed myself thought that I ought to do much against the name of Jesus the Nazaraean.
10Which also I did in Jerusalem, and myself shut up in prisons many of the saints, having received the authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I gave my vote.
11And often punishing them in all the synagogues, I compelled them to blaspheme. And, being exceedingly furious against them, I persecuted them even to cities out of our own land.
12And when, engaged in this, I was journeying to Damascus, with authority and power from the chief priests,
13at mid-day, on the way, I saw, O king, a light above the brightness of the sun, shining from heaven round about me and those who were journeying with me.
14And, when we were all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against goads.
15And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, *I* am Jesus whom *thou* persecutest:
16but rise up and stand on thy feet; for, for this purpose have I appeared to thee, to appoint thee to be a servant and a witness both of what thou hast seen, and of what I shall appear to thee in,
17taking thee out from among the people, and the nations, to whom *I* send thee,
18to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.
19Whereupon, king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision;
20but have, first to those both in Damascus and Jerusalem, and to all the region of Judaea, and to the nations, announced that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
21On account of these things the Jews, having seized me in the temple, attempted to lay hands on and destroy me.
22Having therefore met with the help which is from God, I have stood firm unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying nothing else than those things which both the prophets and Moses have said should happen,
23namely, whether Christ should suffer; whether he first, through resurrection of the dead, should announce light both to the people and to the nations.
24And as he answered for his defence with these things, Festus says with a loud voice, Thou art mad, Paul; much learning turns thee to madness.
25But Paul said, I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but utter words of truth and soberness;
26for the king is informed about these things, to whom also I speak with all freedom. For I am persuaded that of these things nothing is hidden from him; for this was not done in a corner.
27King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
28And Agrippa said to Paul, In a little thou persuadest me to become a Christian.
29And Paul said, I would to God, both in little and in much, that not only thou, but all who have heard me this day, should become such as *I* also am, except these bonds.
30And the king stood up, and the governor and Bernice, and those who sat with them,
31and having gone apart, they spoke to one another saying, This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
32And Agrippa said to Festus, This man might have been let go if he had not appealed to Caesar. (Acts 26:1‑32)