Bible Study Group

  7. Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin 1. Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?” 2  To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3  ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ [ a ] 4  “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.  5  He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.   6  God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.  7  But I will punish the nation they ser...

The Choosing of the Seven 6  In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews [ a ]  among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.  2  So the Twelve gathered all the disciplestogether and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.   3  Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spiritand wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them  4  and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 5  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.   6  They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and lai...

  Ananias and Sapphira 5  Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.   2  With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. 3  Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?   4  Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” 5  When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.   6  Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. 7  About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had ...

  Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin 4  The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.   2  They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.   3  They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.   4  But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand. 5  The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem.   6  Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family.   7  They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” 8  Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them...