Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Acts, chapters 6 and 7. Chapter 6 Now in those
days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying,
there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by
the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected
in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned
the multitude of the disciples and said, It is
not desirable that we should leave the word of
God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek
out from among you seven men of good reputation,
full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may
appoint over this business. But we will give
ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry
of the word. 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 Nicholas, a proselyte
from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles,
and when they had prayed, they laid hands on
them. Then the word of God spread, and the number
of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem,
and a great many of the priests were obedient
to the faith. And Stephen, full of faith and
power, did great wonders and signs among the
people. Then there arose some from what is called
the synagogue of the freedmen, Cyrenians, Alexandrians,
and those from Cilicia and Asia, disputing with
Stephen. And they were not able to resist the
wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Then
they secretly induced men to say, We have heard
him speak blasphemous words against Moses and
God. And they stirred up the people, the elders,
and the scribes. And they came upon him, seized
him, and brought him to the council. They also
set up false witnesses who said, This man does
not cease to speak blasphemous words against
this holy place and the law. For we have heard
them say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy
this place and change the customs which Moses
delivered to us. And all who sat in the council,
looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the
face of an angel. Chapter 7 Then the high priest
said, Are these things so? And he said, brethren
and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared
to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia
before he dwelt in Haran and said to him, get
out of your country and from your relatives and
come to a land that I will show you. Then he
came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt
in Haran. And from there, when his father was
dead, he moved him to this land in which you
now dwell. And God gave him no inheritance in
it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even
when Abraham had no child, he promised to give
it to him for a possession, and to his descendants
after him. But God spoke in this way, that his
descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and
that they would bring them into bondage and oppress
them for a hundred years. And the nation to whom
they will be in bondage I will judge, said God.
And after that they shall come out and serve
me in this place. Then he gave him the covenant
of circumcision. And so Abraham begot Isaac and
circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac
begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.
And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph
into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered
him out of all his troubles. And gave him favor
and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of
Egypt. And he made him governor over Egypt and
all his house. Now famine and great trouble came
over all the land of Egypt and Canaan. found
no sustenance, but when Jacob heard that there
was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first,
and the second time Joseph was made known to
his brothers, and Joseph's family became known
to the Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and called his
father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy
-five people. So Jacob went down to Egypt, and
he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried
back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham
bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor,
the father of Shechem. But when the time of the
promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham,
the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till
another king arose who did not know Joseph. This
man dealt treacherously with our people, and
oppressed our forefathers, making them expose
their babies, so that they might not live. At
this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing
to God, and he was brought up in his father's
house for three months. But when he was set out,
Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought
him up as her own son. And Moses was learned
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty
in words and deeds. Now when he was 40 years
old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren,
the children of Israel. And seeing one of them
suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who
was oppressed and struck down the Egyptian. For
he supposed that his brethren would have understood
that God would deliver them by his hand, but
they did not understand. And the next day he
appeared to two of them as they were fighting,
and tried to reconcile them, saying, Men, you
are brethren, why do you wrong one another? But
he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away,
saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge over
us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian
yesterday? Then at this saying Moses fled. and
became a dweller in the land of Midian, where
he had two sons. And when forty years had passed,
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame
of fire in a bush in the wilderness of Mount
Sinai. When Moses saw it, he marveled at the
sight. And as he drew near to observe, the voice
of the Lord came to him, saying, I am the God
of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses trembled
and dared not look. Then the Lord said to him,
Take your sandals off your feet, for the place
where you stand is holy ground. I have surely
seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt.
I have heard their groaning and have come down
to deliver them. And now come, I will send you
to Egypt. This Moses whom they rejected, saying,
Who made you a ruler and a judge? Is the one
God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the
hand of the angel who appeared to him in the
bush? He brought them out after he had shown
wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in
the Red Sea and in the wilderness forty years.
This is that Moses who said to the children of
Israel, The Lord your God will raise up for you
a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you
shall hear. This is he who was in the congregation
in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to
him on Mount Sinai. and with our fathers, the
one who received the living oracles to give to
us, whom our fathers would not obey but rejected.
And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,
saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us.
As for this Moses, who brought us out of the
land of Egypt, we do not know what has become
of him. And they made a calf in those days, offered
sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works
of their own hands. Then God turned and gave
them up to worship the host of heaven, as it
is written in the book of the prophets. Did you
offer me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during
forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and
the star of your God, Rimfan, images which you
made to worship, and I will carry you away beyond
Babylon. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness
in the wilderness, as he appointed, instructing
Moses to make it according to the pattern that
he had seen, which our fathers, having received
it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the
land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove
out before the face of our fathers until the
days of David, who found favor before God and
asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob.
But Solomon built him a house. However, the Most
High does not dwell in temples made with hands.
As the Prophet says, Heaven is my throne and
earth is my footstool. What house will you build
for me, says the Lord? Or what is the place of
my rest? Has my hand not made all these things?
You stiff -necked and uncircumcised in heart
and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit.
As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the
prophets did your fathers not persecute? And
they killed those who foretold the coming of
the Just One, of whom you now have become the
betrayers and murderers, who have received the
law by the direction of angels and have not kept
it. When they heard these things, they were cut
to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their
teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit,
gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God. And
Jesus standing at the right hand of God and said,
Look, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of
Man standing at the right hand of God. Then they
cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears,
and ran at him with one accord. And they cast
him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses
laid down their clothes at the feet of a young
man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he
was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit. Then he knelt down and cried out with
a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with this
sin. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as
I did. And I look forward to seeing you again
tomorrow to continue on our journey. God bless
you and have a great day.