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.

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).

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.

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, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And considerable numbers were added to the Lord.

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

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

Instead, brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them.The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed.So there was much rejoicing in that city.Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying,“ This man is the Power of God that is called Great.”And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic arts.But when they believed Philip as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being baptized.Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,who came down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit.( For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,saying,“ Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”But Peter said to him,“ May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire the gift of God with money!You have no part or share in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you.For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of unrighteousness.”But Simon answered and said,“ Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying,“ Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.”( This is a desert road.)So he got ready and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet.Then the Spirit said to Philip,“ Go up and join this chariot.”Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said,“ Do you understand what you are reading?”And he said,“ Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:“ He was led like a sheep to slaughter; And like a lamb that is silent before its shearer, So He does not open His mouth.In humiliation His justice was taken away; Who will describe His generation? For His life is taken away from the earth.”The eunuch answered Philip and said,“ Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?”Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch* said,“ Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

But they were unable to cope with his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

Now the high priest said,“ Are these things so?”And Stephen said,“ Listen to me, brothers and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,and He said to him,‘ Go from your country and your relatives, and come to the land which I will show you.’Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child.But God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and they would enslave and mistreat them for four hundred years.‘ And whatever nation to which they are enslaved I Myself will judge,’ said God,‘ and after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.’And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs.“ The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him,and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and his entire household.“ Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food.But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh.Then Joseph sent word and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy five people in all.And Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there.And they were brought back from there to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.“ But as the time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,until another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.It was he who shrewdly took advantage of our nation and mistreated our fathers in order that they would abandon their infants in the Nile, so that they would not survive.At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father’s home.And after he had been put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was proficient in speaking and action.But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his countrymen, the sons of Israel.And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian.And he thought that his brothers understood that God was granting them deliverance through him; but they did not understand.And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting each other, and he tried to reconcile them to peace, by saying,‘ Men, you are brothers, why are you injuring each other?’But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying,‘ Who made you a ruler and judge over us?You do not intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’At this remark, Moses fled and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons.“ After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came:‘ I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look closely.But the Lord said to him,‘ Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them; and now come, I will send you to Egypt.’“ This Moses whom they disowned, saying,‘ Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel,‘ God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your countrymen.’This is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness together with the angel who spoke to him at length on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to you.Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,saying to Aaron,‘ Make us a god who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt— we do not know what happened to him.’At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.But God turned away and gave them over to serve the heavenly lights; as it is written in the book of the prophets:‘ You did not offer Me victims and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, did you, house of Israel?You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will deport you beyond Babylon.’“ Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.Our fathers in turn received it, and they also brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations that God drove out from our fathers, until the time of David.David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:‘ Heaven is My throne, And the earth is the footstool of My feet; What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,‘ Or what place is there for My rest?Was it not My hand that made all these things?’“ You men who are stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, and you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him;you who received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”Now when they heard this, they were infuriated, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;and he said,“ Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one mind.When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said,“ Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”Then he fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice,“ Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.Now Saul approved of putting Stephen to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him.

Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

Like apples of gold in settings of silver, Is a word spoken at the proper time.Like an earring of gold and a jewelry piece of fine gold, Is a wise person who offers rebukes to a listening ear.

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

A person has joy in an apt answer, And how delightful is a timely word!

Now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.

“ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

So you too, have some who in the same way hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

But you have this, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

On the other hand, I am filled with power— With the Spirit of the Lord— And with justice and courage To make known to Jacob his rebellious act, And to Israel his sin.