Study Desk

"After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.

When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:^(ah)

‘I am the God of your fathers,^(ai) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.'^[f] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.^(aj)

"Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.^(ak)

I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.'^[g](al)

"This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?'^(am) He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

He led them out of Egypt^(an) and performed wonders and signs^(ao) in Egypt, at the Red Sea^(ap) and for forty years in the wilderness.^(aq)

"This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.'^[h](ar)

He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel^(as) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;^(at) and he received living words^(au) to pass on to us.^(av)

"But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.^(aw)

They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don't know what has happened to him!'^[i](ax)

That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.^(ay)

But God turned away from them^(az) and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.^(ba) This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: "‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?

You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile'^[j](bb) beyond Babylon.

"Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law^(bc) with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.^(bd)

After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them.^(be) It remained in the land until the time of David,^(bf)

who enjoyed God's favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.^[k](bg)

But it was Solomon who built a house for him.^(bh)

"However, the Most High^(bi) does not live in houses made by human hands.^(bj) As the prophet says:

"‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.^(bk) What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?

Has not my hand made all these things?'^[l](bl)

"You stiff-necked people!^(bm) Your hearts^(bn) and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?^(bo) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him^(bp)—

you who have received the law that was given through angels^(bq) but have not obeyed it."

When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious^(br) and gnashed their teeth at him.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit,^(bs) looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.^(bt)

"Look," he said, "I see heaven open^(bu) and the Son of Man^(bv) standing at the right hand of God."

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,

dragged him out of the city^(bw) and began to stone him.^(bx) Meanwhile, the witnesses^(by) laid their coats^(bz) at the feet of a young man named Saul.^(ca)

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."^(cb)

Then he fell on his knees^(cc) and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."^(cd) When he had said this, he fell asleep.^(ce)

And Saul^(a) approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered^(b) throughout Judea and Samaria.^(c)

Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.

But Saul^(d) began to destroy the church.^(e) Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Those who had been scattered^(f) preached the word wherever they went.^(g)

Philip^(h) went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.

When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.

For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many,⁽ⁱ⁾ and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.^(j)

So there was great joy in that city.

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery^(k) in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,^(l)

and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is rightly called the Great Power of God."^(m)

They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery.

But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God⁽ⁿ⁾ and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized,^(o) both men and women.

Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles^(p) he saw.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria^(q) had accepted the word of God,^(r) they sent Peter and John^(s) to Samaria.

When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,^(t)

because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them;^(u) they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.^(v)

Then Peter and John placed their hands on them,^(w) and they received the Holy Spirit.^(x)

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money

and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!^(y)

You have no part or share^(z) in this ministry, because your heart is not right^(aa) before God.

Repent^(ab) of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.

For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."

Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me^(ac) so that nothing you have said may happen to me."

After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord^(ad) and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.^(ae)

Now an angel^(af) of the Lord said to Philip,^(ag) "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."

So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian^[a](ah) eunuch,^(ai) an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means "queen of the Ethiopians"). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,^(aj)

and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.

The Spirit told^(ak) Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.

"How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth."^[b](al)

The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?"

Then Philip began^(am) with that very passage of Scripture^(an) and told him the good news^(ao) about Jesus.

As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?"^(ap)

^[37][c]

And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away,^(aq) and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns^(ar) until he reached Caesarea.^(as)

Saul's Conversion^(a)

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples.^(b) He went to the high priest

and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus,^(c) so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way,^(d) whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.^(e)

He fell to the ground and heard a voice^(f) say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.

"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."^(g)

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound^(h) but did not see anyone.⁽ⁱ⁾

Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing.^(j) So they led him by the hand into Damascus.

For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision,^(k) "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered.

The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus^(l) named Saul, for he is praying.

In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on^(m) him to restore his sight."

"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people⁽ⁿ⁾ in Jerusalem.^(o)

And he has come here with authority from the chief priests^(p) to arrest all who call on your name."^(q)

But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument^(r) to proclaim my name to the Gentiles^(s) and their kings^(t) and to the people of Israel.

I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."^(u)

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on^(v) Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."^(w)

Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,^(x)

and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Saul spent several days with the disciples^(y) in Damascus.^(z)

At once he began to preach in the synagogues^(aa) that Jesus is the Son of God.^(ab)

All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name?^(ac) And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?"^(ad)

Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.^(ae)