This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch.

大众都喜悦这话，就拣选了司提反，乃是大有信心、圣灵充满的人，又拣选腓利、伯罗哥罗、尼迦挪、提门、巴米拿，并进犹太教的安提阿人尼哥拉，

这话使全会众都喜悦，就拣选了司提反—他是一个满有信心和圣灵的人；他们又拣选了腓利、伯罗哥罗、尼迦挪、提门、巴米拿，并皈依犹太教的安提阿人尼哥拉，

这话使全会众都喜悦，就拣选了司提反—他是一个满有信心和圣灵的人；他们又拣选了腓利、伯罗哥罗、尼迦挪、提门、巴米拿，并皈依犹太教的安提阿人尼哥拉，

大家一致同意，便选出充满信心、被圣灵充满的司提凡，此外还有腓利、伯罗哥罗、尼迦挪、提门、巴米拿，以及曾信过犹太教、来自安提阿的外族人尼哥拉。

这个意见全会众都很满意，于是选出司提反，他是一位满有信心和圣灵的人，还有腓利、伯罗哥罗、尼加挪、提门、巴米拿，以及归信犹太教的安提阿人尼哥拉，

这话使全体会众都喜悦，于是选出了司提反——他是一个充满信仰和圣灵的人，还有腓利、普罗克罗、尼卡诺、提门、帕米纳，以及入犹太教的安提阿人尼古拉斯。

大眾都喜悅這話，就揀選了司提反，乃是大有信心、聖靈充滿的人，又揀選腓利、伯羅哥羅、尼迦挪、提門、巴米拿，並進猶太教的安提阿人尼哥拉，

這話使全會眾都喜悅，就揀選了司提反－他是一個滿有信心和聖靈的人；他們又揀選了腓利、伯羅哥羅、尼迦挪、提門、巴米拿，並皈依猶太教的安提阿人尼哥拉，

這話使全會眾都喜悅，就揀選了司提反－他是一個滿有信心和聖靈的人；他們又揀選了腓利、伯羅哥羅、尼迦挪、提門、巴米拿，並皈依猶太教的安提阿人尼哥拉，

大家一致同意，便選出充滿信心、被聖靈充滿的司提凡，此外還有腓利、伯羅哥羅、尼迦挪、提門、巴米拿，以及曾信過猶太教、來自安提阿的外族人尼哥拉。

這個意見全會眾都很滿意，於是選出司提反，他是一位滿有信心和聖靈的人，還有腓利、伯羅哥羅、尼加挪、提門、巴米拿，以及歸信猶太教的安提阿人尼哥拉，

這話使全羣的眾人都滿意，他們就揀選一個充滿着信心和聖靈的人司提反、以及腓利、伯羅哥羅、尼迦挪、提門、巴米拿，和歸依猶太教的安提阿人尼哥拉；

這話使全體會眾都喜悅，於是選出了司提反——他是一個充滿信仰和聖靈的人，還有腓利、普羅克羅、尼卡諾、提門、帕米納，以及入猶太教的安提阿人尼古拉斯。

眾悅其言、遂選司提反、乃充信與聖神者、及腓利、伯羅哥羅、尼迦挪、提門、巴米拿、並進教之安提阿人尼哥拉、

眾然其言、遂選士提反、其為人也篤信、感於聖神者也、又選腓力、伯羅哥羅、尼迦挪、提門、巴米拿、安提阿進教之尼哥拉、

眾悅其言、遂擇司提反、其為人也、篤信而充滿聖神者、又擇腓立、伯羅哥羅、尼加挪、提門、巴米拿、安提約人進猶太教之尼哥拉、

眾韙其言、遂選信德篤實、聖神充溢之司諦文、以及斐理伯、伯羅哥羅、尼迦挪、提門巴米拿與安提阿之歸化者尼各老、

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.

This plan pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen. He was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon and Parmenas were chosen too. The group also chose Nicolas from Antioch. He had accepted the Jewish faith.

And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.

Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen( a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch( an earlier convert to the Jewish faith).

The announcement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.

And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch,

And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus a proselyte of Antioch;

The proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte from Antioch.

And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

The proposal pleased the entire group, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch.

These words pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch;

for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And large numbers of people were added to the Lord.

Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.

Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty.

Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them.The crowds were all paying attention to what Philip said, as they listened and saw the signs he was performing.For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.So there was great joy in that city.A man named Simon had previously practiced sorcery in that city and amazed the Samaritan people, while claiming to be somebody great.They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they said,“ This man is called the Great Power of God.”They were attentive to him because he had amazed them with his sorceries for a long time.But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.Even Simon himself believed. And after he was baptized, he followed Philip everywhere and was amazed as he observed the signs and great miracles that were being performed.When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.After they went down there, they prayed for them so that the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit because he had not yet come down on any of them.( They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,saying,“ Give me this power also so that anyone I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”But Peter told him,“ May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God.Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart’s intent may be forgiven.For I see you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by wickedness.”“ Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon replied,“ so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”So, after they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they traveled back to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip:“ Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”( This is the desert road.)So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalemand was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud.The Spirit told Philip,“ Go and join that chariot.”When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said,“ Do you understand what you’re reading?”“ How can I,” he said,“ unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who will describe his generation? For his life is taken from the earth.The eunuch said to Philip,“ I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about— himself or someone else?”Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning with that Scripture.As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said,“ Look, there’s water. What would keep me from being baptized?”

But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

“ Are these things true?” the high priest asked.“ Brothers and fathers,” he replied,“ listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,and said to him: Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.“ Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land in which you are now living.He didn’t give him an inheritance in it— not even a foot of ground— but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless.God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for four hundred years.I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship me in this place.And so he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.“ The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with himand rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household.Now a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan, and our ancestors could find no food.When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time.The second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all,and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there,were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.“ As the time was approaching to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egyptuntil a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt.He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them abandon their infants outside so that they wouldn’t survive.At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home for three months.When he was put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son.So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.“ When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites.When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian.He assumed his people would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying,‘ Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’“ But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying: Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us?Do you want to kill me, the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?“ When he heard this, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came:I am the God of your ancestors— the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.“ The Lord said to him: Take off the sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground.I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt.“ This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?— this one God sent as a ruler and a deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.“ This is the Moses who said to the Israelites: God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.He is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors. He received living oracles to give to us.Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made.God turned away and gave them up to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: House of Israel, did you bring me offerings and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness?You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship. So I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.“ Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them, until the days of David.He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.It was Solomon, rather, who built him a house,but the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says:Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. What sort of house will you build for me? says the Lord, or what will be my resting place?Did not my hand make all these things?“ You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also.Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it.”When they heard these things, they were enraged and gnashed their teeth at him.Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.He said,“ Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him.They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.While they were stoning Stephen, he called out,“ Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice,“ Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he fell asleep.Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

Now those who had been scattered as a result of the persecution that started because of Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.

A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples in silver settings.A wise correction to a receptive ear is like a gold ring or an ornament of gold.

A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.

A person takes joy in giving an answer; and a timely word— how good that is!

The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants,

“ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you are!

Then the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, decided to select men who were among them and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers.

In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the LORD, with justice and courage, to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.