Chapter 7

¹And the high priest said, Are these things then so? 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. ¹⁹He 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, ³²I 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. ³⁶He 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]. ⁵⁴And hearing these things they were cut to the heart, and gnashed their teeth against him. 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, ⁵⁶and said, Lo, I behold the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁷And they cried out with a loud voice, and held their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord; ⁵⁸and having cast [him] out of the city, they stoned [him]. And the witnesses laid aside their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. ⁵⁹And they stoned Stephen, praying, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. ⁶⁰And kneeling down, he cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And having said this, he fell asleep.