World English Bible · Under Rome
Acts 7
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The said, "Are these things so?" He said, "Brothers and fathers, listen. The of appeared to when he was in , before he lived in , and said to him, 'Get out of your land and away from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.' Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans and lived in . From there, when his was , moved him into this land where you are now living. He gave him no in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his after him, when he still had no child. spoke in this way: that his would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 'I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,' said , 'and after that they will come out and me in this place.' He gave him of . So became of , and him the eighth day. became of , and became of the twelve patriarchs. "The patriarchs, moved with against , sold him into . was with him and him out of all his afflictions, and gave him and before , king of . He made him governor over and all his house. Now a came over all the land of and , and great affliction. Our fathers found no food. But when heard that there was grain in , he sent out our fathers the first time. On the second time was to his brothers, and family was to . sent and summoned his and all his relatives, seventy-five . went down into and he , himself and our fathers; and they were brought back to and laid in the that bought for a price in silver from the children of of . "But as the time of the promise came close which had to , the people grew and multiplied in , until there arose a different king who didn't know . The same took advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to abandon their babies, so that they wouldn't stay alive. At that time was born, and was exceedingly handsome to . He was nourished three months in his house. When he was abandoned, daughter took him up and reared him as her own son. was instructed in all the of the . He was mighty in his words and works. But when he was forty years old, it came into to visit his brothers, the . Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and him who was oppressed, striking the . He supposed that his brothers understood that , by his hand, was giving them ; but they didn't understand. "The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, 'Sirs, you are brothers. 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? 28Do you want to kill me as you killed the yesterday?' fled at this saying, and became a in the land of , where he became of two sons. "When forty years were fulfilled, of appeared to him in of , in a in a bush. When saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, came to him, 'I am the of your fathers: the of , the of , and the of .' trembled and dared not look. said to him, 'Take off your , for the place where you stand is ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in , and have heard their groaning. I have come down to them. Now come, I will send you into .' "This whom they refused, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?'— has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in , in , and in for forty years. This is that who said to the , ' our will raise up a for you from among your brothers, like me.' This is he who was in in with that spoke to him on , and with our fathers, who received living revelations to give to us, to whom our fathers wouldn't be obedient, but rejected him and turned back in their to , saying to , 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this who led us out of the land of , we don't know what has become of him.' They made a calf in those days, and brought a to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. But turned away and gave them up to the , as in the book of , 'Did you offer to me slain animals and forty years in , O ? You took up the of , the star of your Rephan, the figures which you made to , so I will carry you away beyond .' "Our fathers had the of the in , even as he who spoke to commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen; which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with when they entered into the possession of the nations whom drove out before the of our fathers to the days of , who in the sight of , and asked to find a habitation for the of . But built him a house. However, doesn't in temples made with hands, as the says, ' is my , and the earth a for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?' . 'Or what is the place of ? Didn't my hand make all these things?' "You and in and ears, you always resist ! As your fathers did, so you do. Which of didn't your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of One, of whom you have now become betrayers and . You received as it was ordained by , and didn't keep it!" Now when they heard these things, they were cut to , and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of , looked up steadfastly into and saw the of , and standing on of , and said, "Behold, I see opened and standing at of !" But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord. They threw him out of the city and stoned him. The placed their garments at the feet of a young man named . They stoned as he called out, saying, " , receive !" He kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, ", don't hold this against them!" When he had said this, he fell asleep.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.