¶ Then said the high priest, Are¹ these things so?

And he said, Men², brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God³ of glory appeared⁴ unto our father Abraham, when⁵ he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran⁶,

And said unto him, Get⁸ thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land⁹ which I shall shew thee.

Then came¹⁰ he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

And he gave¹¹ him none inheritance in it, no, not¹² so much as to set his foot on: yet¹³ he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when¹⁴ as yet he had no child.

And God spake on this wise, That¹⁵ his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four¹⁶ hundred years.

And the nation¹⁷ to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve¹⁸ me in this place.

And he gave him the covenant¹⁹ of circumcision: and so²⁰ Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac²¹ begat Jacob; and Jacob²² begat the twelve patriarchs²³.

And the patriarchs, moved²⁴ with envy, sold²⁵ Joseph into Egypt: but²⁶ God was with him,

¶ And delivered²⁷ him out of all his afflictions, and gave²⁸ him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

²⁹Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.

³⁰But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

And at the second time Joseph³¹ was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.

Then sent³² Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore³³ and fifteen souls.

So Jacob³⁴ went down into Egypt, and died³⁵, he, and our fathers,

And were³⁶ carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre³⁷ that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor³⁸ the father] of Sychem.

¶ But when⁴⁰ the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people⁴¹ grew and multiplied in Egypt,

⁴²Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.

⁴³The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.

¶ In which time Moses⁴⁴ was born, and was⁴⁵ exceeding fair⁴⁶, and nourished up in his father's house three months:

And when⁴⁷ he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for⁴⁸ her own son.

And Moses was learned⁴⁹ in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was⁵⁰ mighty in words and in deeds.

And when⁵¹ he was full forty years old, it came⁵² into his heart to⁵³ visit his brethren the children of Israel.

⁵⁴And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:

For⁵⁵ he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but⁵⁶ they understood not.

And the next⁵⁷ day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are⁵⁸ brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?

But he that⁵⁹ did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who⁶⁰ made thee a ruler and a judge over us?

Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?

⁶¹Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.

¶ And when⁶³ forty years were expired, there⁶⁴ appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an⁶⁶ angel of the Lord in a flame⁶⁷ of fire in a bush⁶⁸.

When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as⁶⁹ he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,

Saying, I am⁷⁰ the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then⁷¹ Moses trembled, and durst not behold.

Then said the Lord to him, Put⁷² off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.

I have seen⁷³, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am⁷⁴ come down to deliver them. And now⁷⁵ come, I will send thee into Egypt.

This Moses⁷⁶ whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same⁷⁷ did God send to be a ruler⁷⁸ and a deliverer by⁷⁹ the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.

He brought⁸⁰ them out, after⁸¹ that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red⁸² sea, and in the wilderness⁸³ forty years.

This is that⁸⁴ Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet⁸⁵ shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me⁸⁶; him shall ye hear.

This is he, that was in the church⁸⁷ in the wilderness with the⁸⁸ angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who⁸⁹ received the lively⁹⁰ oracles to give unto us:

To whom⁹¹ our fathers would not obey, but⁹² thrust him from them, and in⁹³ their hearts turned back again into Egypt,

¶ Saying unto⁹⁴ Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

And they⁹⁵ made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced⁹⁶ in the works of their own hands.

¶ Then God turned, and gave⁹⁷ them up to worship the host⁹⁸ of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye⁹⁹ house of Israel, have ye¹⁰⁰ offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty¹⁰¹ years in the wilderness?

Yea, ye took¹⁰² up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures¹⁰³ which ye made to worship them: and I¹⁰⁴ will carry you away beyond Babylon¹⁰⁵.

Our fathers had the tabernacle¹⁰⁶ of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking¹⁰⁷ unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.

Which¹⁰⁸ also our fathers that came after¹⁰⁹ brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom¹¹¹ God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto¹¹² the days of David;

Who found¹¹³ favour before God, and desired¹¹⁴ to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

¹¹⁵But Solomon built him an house.

Howbeit the most High¹¹⁶ dwelleth¹¹⁷ not in temples made with hands; as¹¹⁸ saith the prophet,

Heaven¹¹⁹ is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house¹²⁰ will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

¶¹²¹Hath not my hand made all these things?

¶ Ye stiffnecked¹²² and uncircumcised¹²³ in heart and ears, ye do always resist¹²⁴ the Holy Ghost: as¹²⁵ your fathers did, so do ye.

Which of¹²⁶ the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed¹²⁷ before of the coming of the Just One¹²⁸; of whom¹²⁹ ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Who have received¹³⁰ the law by the disposition of angels, and have¹³¹ not kept it.

¶ When they heard these things, they were¹³² cut to the heart, and they gnashed¹³³ on him with their teeth.

But he, being full¹³⁴ of the Holy Ghost, looked¹³⁵ up stedfastly into heaven, and saw¹³⁶ the glory of God, and Jesus standing¹³⁷ on the right hand of God,

And said, Behold, I see¹³⁸ the heavens opened, and the Son¹³⁹ of man standing on the right hand of God.

Then they cried¹⁴⁰ out with a loud voice, and stopped¹⁴¹ their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

And cast¹⁴² him out of the city, and stoned¹⁴³ him: and the witnesses¹⁴⁴ laid down their¹⁴⁵ clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

And they stoned Stephen, calling¹⁴⁶ upon God, and saying, Lord¹⁴⁷ Jesus, receive my spirit.

¶ And he kneeled¹⁴⁸ down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord¹⁴⁹, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell¹⁵⁰ asleep.