Acts 7:1

THE MESSAGE

Then the Chief Priest said, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Are these things true?” the high priest asked.

King James Version (1611)
Then said the high Priest, Are these things so?

King James Version
Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

English Standard Version
And the high priest said, "Are these things so?"

New American Standard Bible
Now the high priest said, "Are these things so?"

New Century Version
The high priest said to Stephen, "Are these things true?"

Amplified Bible
Now the high priest asked [Stephen], "Are these charges true?"

Legacy Standard Bible
And the high priest said, "Are these things so?"

Berean Standard Bible
Then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these charges true?"

Contemporary English Version
The high priest asked Stephen, "Are they telling the truth about you?"

Complete Jewish Bible
The cohen hagadol asked, "Are these accusations true?"

Darby Translation
And the high priest said, Are these things then so?

Easy-to-Read Version
The high priest said to Stephen, "Is all this true?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then sayd the chiefe Priest, Are these things so?

George Lamsa Translation
THEN the high priest asked Stephen, Are these things so?

Good News Translation
The High Priest asked Stephen, "Is this true?"

Lexham English Bible
And the high priest said, "Is it so concerning these things?"

Literal Translation
And the high priest said, Tell me then if you thus hold these things?

American Standard Version
And the high priest said, Are these things so?

Bible in Basic English
Then the high priest said, Are these things true?

Hebrew Names Version
The Kohen Gadol said, "Are these things so?"

International Standard Version
Then the high priest asked, "Is this true?"

Etheridge Translation
And the chief of the priests demanded if these (things) were so ?

Murdock Translation
And the high priest asked him: Are these things so?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then said ye chiefe priest: Are these thynges so?

English Revised Version
And the high priest said, Are these things so?

World English Bible
The high priest said, "Are these things so?"

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken.

Weymouth's New Testament
Then the High Priest asked him, "Are these statements true?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the prynce of prestis seide to Steuene, Whethir these thingis han hem so?

Update Bible Version
And the high priest said, Are these things so?

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

New English Translation
Then the high priest said, "Are these things true?"

New King James Version
Then the high priest said, "Are these things so?"

New Living Translation
Then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these accusations true?"

New Life Bible
The head religious leader asked Stephen, "Are these things true?"

New Revised Standard
Then the high priest asked him, "Are these things so?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the High-priest said - Are these things, so?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Then the high priest said: Are these things so?

Revised Standard Version
And the high priest said, "Is this so?"

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Then sayde ye chefe prest: is it even so?

Young's Literal Translation
And the chief priest said, `Are then these things so?'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde the hye prest: Is it eue so?

Mace New Testament (1729)
Then said the high priest, are these things so?

Simplified Cowboy Version
Then the head preacher asked Steve, "What have you got to say about this?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The high priest said, "Are these things so?"

Contextual Overview

¹ Then the Chief Priest said, "What do you have to say for yourself?" ²Stephen replied, "Friends, fathers, and brothers, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before the move to Haran, and told him, ‘Leave your country and family and go to the land I'll show you.' ⁴"So he left the country of the Chaldees and moved to Haran. After the death of his father, he immigrated to this country where you now live, but God gave him nothing, not so much as a foothold. He did promise to give the country to him and his son later on, even though Abraham had no son at the time. God let him know that his offspring would move to an alien country where they would be enslaved and brutalized for four hundred years. ‘But,' God said, ‘I will step in and take care of those slaveholders and bring my people out so they can worship me in this place.' ⁸ "Then he made a covenant with him and signed it in Abraham's flesh by circumcision. When Abraham had his son Isaac, within eight days he reproduced the sign of circumcision in him. Isaac became father of Jacob, and Jacob father of twelve ‘fathers,' each faithfully passing on the covenant sign. ⁹"But then those ‘fathers,' burning up with jealousy, sent Joseph off to Egypt as a slave. God was right there with him, though—he not only rescued him from all his troubles but brought him to the attention of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He was so impressed with Joseph that he put him in charge of the whole country, including his own personal affairs. ¹¹"Later a famine descended on that entire region, stretching from Egypt to Canaan, bringing terrific hardship. Our hungry fathers looked high and low for food, but the cupboard was bare. Jacob heard there was food in Egypt and sent our fathers to scout it out. Having confirmed the report, they went back to Egypt a second time to get food. On that visit, Joseph revealed his true identity to his brothers and introduced the Jacob family to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and everyone else in the family, seventy-five in all. That's how the Jacob family got to Egypt. "Jacob died, and our fathers after him. They were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb for which Abraham paid a good price to the sons of Hamor. "When the four hundred years were nearly up, the time God promised Abraham for deliverance, the population of our people in Egypt had become very large. And there was now a king over Egypt who had never heard of Joseph. He exploited our race mercilessly. He went so far as forcing us to abandon our newborn infants, exposing them to the elements to die a cruel death. "In just such a time Moses was born, a most beautiful baby. He was hidden at home for three months. When he could be hidden no longer, he was put outside—and immediately rescued by Pharaoh's daughter, who mothered him as her own son. Moses was educated in the best schools in Egypt. He was equally impressive as a thinker and an athlete. "When he was forty years old, he wondered how everything was going with his Hebrew kin and went out to look things over. He saw an Egyptian abusing one of them and stepped in, avenging his underdog brother by knocking the Egyptian flat. He thought his brothers would be glad that he was on their side, and even see him as an instrument of God to deliver them. But they didn't see it that way. The next day two of them were fighting and he tried to break it up, told them to shake hands and get along with each other: ‘Friends, you are brothers, why are you beating up on each other?' "The one who had started the fight said, ‘Who put you in charge of us? Are you going to kill me like you killed that Egyptian yesterday?' When Moses heard that, realizing that the word was out, he ran for his life and lived in exile over in Midian. During the years of exile, two sons were born to him. "Forty years later, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to him in the guise of flames of a burning bush. Moses, not believing his eyes, went up to take a closer look. He heard God's voice: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Frightened nearly out of his skin, Moses shut his eyes and turned away. "God said, ‘Kneel and pray. You are in a holy place, on holy ground. I've seen the agony of my people in Egypt. I've heard their groans. I've come to help them. So get yourself ready; I'm sending you back to Egypt.' "This is the same Moses whom they earlier rejected, saying, ‘Who put you in charge of us?' This is the Moses that God, using the angel flaming in the burning bush, sent back as ruler and redeemer. He led them out of their slavery. He did wonderful things, setting up God-signs all through Egypt, down at the Red Sea, and out in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to his congregation, ‘God will raise up a prophet just like me from your descendants.' This is the Moses who stood between the angel speaking at Sinai and your fathers assembled in the wilderness and took the life-giving words given to him and handed them over to us, words our fathers would have nothing to do with. "They craved the old Egyptian ways, whining to Aaron, ‘Make us gods we can see and follow. This Moses who got us out here miles from nowhere—who knows what's happened to him!' That was the time when they made a calf-idol, brought sacrifices to it, and congratulated each other on the wonderful religious program they had put together. "God wasn't at all pleased; but he let them do it their way, worship every new god that came down the pike—and live with the consequences, consequences described by the prophet Amos: Did you bring me offerings of animals and grains those forty wilderness years, O Israel? Hardly. You were too busy building shrines to war gods, to sex goddesses, Worshiping them with all your might. That's why I put you in exile in Babylon. "And all this time our ancestors had a tent shrine for true worship, made to the exact specifications God provided Moses. They had it with them as they followed Joshua, when God cleared the land of pagans, and still had it right down to the time of David. David asked God for a permanent place for worship. But Solomon built it. "Yet that doesn't mean that Most High God lives in a building made by carpenters and masons. The prophet Isaiah put it well when he wrote, "Heaven is my throne room; I rest my feet on earth. So what kind of house will you build me?" says God. "Where I can get away and relax? It's already built, and I built it." "And you continue, so bullheaded! Calluses on your hearts, flaps on your ears! Deliberately ignoring the Holy Spirit, you're just like your ancestors. Was there ever a prophet who didn't get the same treatment? Your ancestors killed anyone who dared talk about the coming of the Just One. And you've kept up the family tradition—traitors and murderers, all of you. You had God's Law handed to you by angels—gift-wrapped!—and you squandered it!" At that point they went wild, a rioting mob of catcalls and whistles and invective. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, hardly noticed—he only had eyes for God, whom he saw in all his glory with Jesus standing at his side. He said, "Oh! I see heaven wide open and the Son of Man standing at God's side!" Yelling and hissing, the mob drowned him out. Now in full stampede, they dragged him out of town and pelted him with rocks. The ringleaders took off their coats and asked a young man named Saul to watch them. As the rocks rained down, Stephen prayed, "Master Jesus, take my life." Then he knelt down, praying loud enough for everyone to hear, "Master, don't blame them for this sin"—his last words. Then he died. ¹⁶Stephen, Full of the Holy Spirit Then the Chief Priest said, "What do you have to say for yourself?" Stephen replied, "Friends, fathers, and brothers, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before the move to Haran, and told him, ‘Leave your country and family and go to the land I'll show you.' "So he left the country of the Chaldees and moved to Haran. After the death of his father, he immigrated to this country where you now live, but God gave him nothing, not so much as a foothold. He did promise to give the country to him and his son later on, even though Abraham had no son at the time. God let him know that his offspring would move to an alien country where they would be enslaved and brutalized for four hundred years. ‘But,' God said, ‘I will step in and take care of those slaveholders and bring my people out so they can worship me in this place.' "Then he made a covenant with him and signed it in Abraham's flesh by circumcision. When Abraham had his son Isaac, within eight days he reproduced the sign of circumcision in him. Isaac became father of Jacob, and Jacob father of twelve ‘fathers,' each faithfully passing on the covenant sign. "But then those ‘fathers,' burning up with jealousy, sent Joseph off to Egypt as a slave. God was right there with him, though—he not only rescued him from all his troubles but brought him to the attention of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He was so impressed with Joseph that he put him in charge of the whole country, including his own personal affairs. "Later a famine descended on that entire region, stretching from Egypt to Canaan, bringing terrific hardship. Our hungry fathers looked high and low for food, but the cupboard was bare. Jacob heard there was food in Egypt and sent our fathers to scout it out. Having confirmed the report, they went back to Egypt a second time to get food. On that visit, Joseph revealed his true identity to his brothers and introduced the Jacob family to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and everyone else in the family, seventy-five in all. That's how the Jacob family got to Egypt. "Jacob died, and our fathers after him. They were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb for which Abraham paid a good price to the sons of Hamor.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Are: Acts 6:13, Acts 6:14, Matthew 26:61, Matthew 26:62, Mark 14:58-60, John 18:19-21, John 18:33-35

Reciprocal: Exodus 3:20 - General Acts 6:5 - Stephen 1 Timothy 3:13 - great

Cross-References

Genesis 6:9
This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 7:1
Next God said to Noah, "Now board the ship, you and all your family—out of everyone in this generation, you're the righteous one.

Genesis 7:5
Noah did everything God commanded him.

Genesis 7:6
Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters covered the Earth. Noah and his wife and sons and their wives boarded the ship to escape the flood. Clean and unclean animals, birds, and all the crawling creatures came in pairs to Noah and to the ship, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. In seven days the floodwaters came.

Genesis 7:11
It was the six-hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month that it happened: all the underground springs erupted and all the windows of Heaven were thrown open. Rain poured for forty days and forty nights.

Genesis 7:13
That's the day Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, accompanied by his wife and his sons' wives, boarded the ship. And with them every kind of wild and domestic animal, right down to all the kinds of creatures that crawl and all kinds of birds and anything that flies. They came to Noah and to the ship in pairs—everything and anything that had the breath of life in it, male and female of every creature came just as God had commanded Noah. Then God shut the door behind him.

Genesis 7:24
The floodwaters took over for 150 days.

Proverbs 10:9
Honesty lives confident and carefree, but Shifty is sure to be exposed.

Proverbs 14:26
The Fear-of- God builds up confidence, and makes a world safe for your children.

Proverbs 18:10
God 's name is a place of protection— good people can run there and be safe.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said the high priest,.... The Ethiopic version adds, "to him"; that is, to Stephen; for to him he addressed himself: or he "asked him", as the Syriac version renders it; he put the following question to him:

are these things so? is it true what they say, that thou hast spoken blasphemous words against the temple, and the law, and hast said that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the one, and change the other? what hast thou to say for thyself, and in thine own defence? this high priest was either Annas, or rather Caiaphas;

:-.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Then said the high priest - See the notes on Matthew 2:4. In this case the high priest seems to have presided in the council.

Are these things so? - To wit, the charge alleged against him of blasphemy against Moses and the temple, Acts 6:13-14.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER VII.

Stephen, being permitted to answer for himself relative to the

charge of blasphemy brought against him by his accusers, gives

a circumstantial relation of the call of Abraham, when he dwelt

in Mesopotamia, in Charran, c., 1-8.

The history of Jacob and Joseph, 9-17.

The persecution of their fathers in Egypt, 18, 19.

The history of Moses and his acts till the exodus from Egypt,

20-37.

The rebellion and idolatry of the Israelites in the wilderness,

38-43.

The erection of the tabernacle of witness, which continued till

the time of David, 44-46.

Of the temple built by Solomon for that God who cannot be

confined to temples built by hands, 47-50.

Being probably interrupted in the prosecution of his discourse,

he urges home the charge of rebellion against God, persecution

of his prophets, the murder of Christ, and neglect of their own

law against them, 51-53.

They are filled with indignation, and proceed to violence, 54.

He sees the glory of God, and Christ at the right hand of the

Father and declares the glorious vision, 55, 56.

They rush upon him, drag him out of the city, and stone him,

57, 58.

He involves the Lord Jesus, prays for his murderers, and

expires, 59, 60.

NOTES ON CHAP. VII.

Verse Acts 7:1. Are these things so? — Hast thou predicted the destruction of the temple? And hast thou said that Jesus of Nazareth shall change our customs, abolish our religious rites and temple service? Hast thou spoken these blasphemous things against Moses, and against God? Here was some colour of justice; for Stephen was permitted to defend himself. And, in order to do this he thought it best to enter into a detail of their history from the commencement of their nation; and thus show how kindly God had dealt with them, and how ungraciously they and their fathers had requited Him. And all this naturally led him to the conclusion, that God could no longer bear with a people the cup of whose iniquity had been long overflowing; and therefore they might expect to find wrath, without mixture of mercy.

But how could St. Luke get all this circumstantial account? 1. He might have been present, and heard the whole; or, more probably, he had the account from St. Paul, whose companion he was, and who was certainly present when St. Stephen was judged and stoned, for he was consenting to his death, and kept the clothes of them who stoned him. See Acts 7:58; Acts 8:1; Acts 22:20.