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).

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.

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.

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;

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord.

Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people.

The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food.

And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility.

Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah.Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did.Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed.So there was great joy in that city.A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great.Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as“ the Great One— the Power of God.”They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized.Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there.As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit.The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power.“ Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed,“ so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”But Peter replied,“ May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought!You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God.Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts,for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”“ Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed,“ that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!”After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News.As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him,“ Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship,and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.The Holy Spirit said to Philip,“ Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked,“ Do you understand what you are reading?”The man replied,“ How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:“ He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”The eunuch asked Philip,“ Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?”So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said,“ Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?”

None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke.

Then the high priest asked Stephen,“ Are these accusations true?”This was Stephen’s reply:“ Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.God told him,‘ Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.“ But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants— even though he had no children yet.God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.‘ But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said,‘ and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’“ God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.“ These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with himand rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.“ But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food.Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons— our ancestors— to buy some.The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh.Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy five persons in all.So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors.Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.“ As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.“ At that time Moses was born— a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months.When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son.Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.“ One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel.He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian.Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.“ The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker.‘ Men,’ he said,‘ you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’“ But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside.‘ Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked.‘ Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.“ Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush.When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him,‘ I am the God of your ancestors— the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.“ Then the Lord said to him,‘ Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’“ So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded,‘ Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior.And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.“ Moses himself told the people of Israel,‘ God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life giving words to pass on to us.“ But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt.They told Aaron,‘ Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made.Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,‘ Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?No, you carried your pagan gods— the shrine of Molech, the star of your god Rephan, and the images you made to worship them. So I will send you into exile as far away as Babylon.’“ Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses.Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.“ David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.But it was Solomon who actually built it.However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,‘ Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that?’ asks the Lord.‘ Could you build me such a resting place?Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’“ You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One— the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand.And he told them,“ Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at himand dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.As they stoned him, Stephen prayed,“ Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”He fell to his knees, shouting,“ Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria.( Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.)

Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon( called“ the black man”), Lucius( from Cyrene), Manaen( the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas), and Saul.

Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews.

Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket.To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry.

A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.

Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!

Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials.

“ What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!

Then the apostles and elders together with the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders— Judas( also called Barsabbas) and Silas.

In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching.

But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.

But as for me, I am filled with power— with the Spirit of the Lord. I am filled with justice and strength to boldly declare Israel’s sin and rebellion.