looked stedfastly on him, and saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. CH. VII. Then the high-priest said, "Are these things so?" 2 And Stephen said, " Brethren, and fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he 3 was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran; and said unto him, 'Depart from thy country, and from thy kindred, and go into the land which I shall shew thee.' 4 Then he departed from the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Haran; and, when his father was dead, God removed him thence into this land, wherein ye now dwell; 5 but gave him no inheritance in it, not even so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when 6 as yet he had no child. And God spake in this manner; that his offspring should sojourn in a foreign land, and that they should be brought into servitude, and afflicted, 7 four hundred years. And the nation, whom they shall

serve, I will judge, said God; and after that they shall 8 come forth, and worship me in this place. And God gave him the covenant of circumcision: and afterward Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.

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"And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph 10 into Egypt: but God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt; who made him go11 vernor over Egypt and over all his household. Now there came a famine over all the land of Egypt and of Canaan, and great affliction; and our fathers found no 12 sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was corn 13 in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time. And, at the second time, Joseph was made known to his brethren : 14 and Joseph's kindred became known to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent, and called his father [Jacob] to him, and

15 all his kindred, seventy-five persons. So Jacob went 16 down into Egypt; and he died, and our fathers; and

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were carried to Shechem, and laid in the sepulchre, which Jacob bought for a sum of money from the sons of Emmor, the father of Shechem.

"But when the time of the promise, which God had sworn to Abraham, drew near, the people grew and mul18 tiplied in Egypt; till another king arose, who knew not 19 Joseph. He dealt subtilly with our kindred, and afflicted

our fathers; so that they cast out† their infants, that they 20 might not be preserved alive. At which time Moses was born, and was very beautiful, and was nourished in his 21 father's house three months. And when he was cast out,

Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for 22 her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians: and was mighty in words and in 23 deeds. And when he was forty years old, it came into 24 his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. And

when he saw one of them suffer wrongfully, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and slew the 25 Egyptian. Now he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God by his hand would give them 26 deliverance: but they understood not. And the next day he presented himself to some of them, as they contended, and would have reconciled them, saying, Sirs, 27 ye are brethren why do ye wrong one another?' But he who did wrong to his neighbour thrust Moses away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian yester29 day?' Then Moses fled at these words; and was a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons. 30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the desert of mount Sinai, an angel of the Lord

* Gr. Abraham. “That 'Ixx is the true nominative, to be supplied from ver. 15, appears from Gen. xxxiii. 19; Josh xxiv. 32." Newcome.

Or, so that he made them cast out, or, expose. N. m.

31 in a flame of fire in a bush. And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and, as he drew near to consider it attentively*, the voice of the Lord came [unto 32 him], saying, 'I am the God of thy fathers, the God of

Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' 33 Then Moses trembled, and durst not look. Then the

Lord said unto him, Put off thy sandals from thy feet: 34 for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people that are in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning; and am come down to deliver them: and now, come, I will send thee into 35 Egypt.' This Moses, whom they denied, and said, 'Who made thee a ruler and a judge?' him God sent to be a ruler and a redeemert, by the hand of the angel that 36 appeared to him in the bush. This man brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the desert, forty years.

37

"This is that Moses who said to the sons of Israel, 'A prophet the Lord God‡ will raise up unto you from your 38 brethren, like me to him ye shall hearken.' This is he that, in the congregation in the desert, was with the angel who spake to him on mount Sinai, and with our fathers that received also the life-giving oracles, to deli39 ver them unto us: to whom our fathers would not be obedient; but thrust him from them, and in their hearts 40 turned back into Egypt, and said to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us for as to this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become 41 of him.' So they made a calf in those days, and offered

sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their 42 own hands. Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven: as it is written in the

your God, R. T. and N. Or, Jehovah your God, Deut, xviii. 15.

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book of the prophets, 'O ye house of Israel, did ус offer to me only slain beasts, and sacrifices, during forty years 43 in the desert? Nay, but ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them therefore I will carry 44 you away beyond Babylon. Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the desert, as God appointed, who spake to Moses, that he should make it according to the 45 fashion that he had seen: which our fathers received, and brought in also with Joshua, when they possessed the nations whom God drove out from before our fathers to 46 the days of David; who found favour before God, and

desired to provide a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built him an house. However, the Most 48 High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as the 49 prophet saith, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: wha: house will ye build me? saith the Lord*: 50 or what is the place of my rest? hath not my hand made all these things?'

51

"Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye always resist the holy spirit: as your fathers did, 52 so ye also do. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? yea, they slew those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom ye have now 53 been betrayers and murtherers: who have received the law by the ministry of angels, and have not kept it."

54 And as they heard these things, they were cut to their 55 hearts; and gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the holy spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing

saith Jehovah. Isaiah xvi. 1. + Or,, persecute and slay? who foretold. N. m. With great pomp and splendour on the mount. Thunder, lightning and tempest may be called angels, like the plague of Egypt, Psalm lxxviii. 49; and the burning wind, Isaiah xxxvii. 36. Or, by Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and a succession of authorized prophets and messengers of God.

Or, of whom ye, who received the law through ranks of angels, have been betrayers and murtherers.

56 on the right hand of God; and said, "Behold, I see the

heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the 57 right hand of God." Then they cried out with a loud

voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one 58 consent, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him : and

the witnesses laid down their mantles at a young man's 59 feet, whose name was Saul. So they stoned Stephen,

invoking, and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit"." 60 And he kneeled down, and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." And, when he Сн. had said this, he fell asleep. Now Saul was gladly conVIII.senting to his death.

And on that day there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and 2 Samaria, except the apostles. And religious men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over 3 him. But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every house; and, dragging out men and women, he committed 4them to prison. Those therefore, who were scattered abroad, went about preaching the glad tidings of the word.

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Then Philip went down to a city of Samaria, and 6 preached Christ unto them. And the multitudes attended

with one consent to the things spoken by Philip, when 7 they heard and saw the miracles which he did. For un

clean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many that had them: and many that were sick of the palsy, and 8 that were lame, were cured. And there was great joy in that city.

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But there had been before in that city a certain man

"He called on the Lord Jesus; the vision of whom, ver. 56, seems to have been renewed for the purpose of giving this first martyr comfort and support." Newcome. This address of Stephen to Jesus when he actually saw him, does not authorize us to offer prayers to him, now he is invisible. See Lindsey's Ans. to Robinson, p. 86-89. + consented, N. See Wakefield.