Stephen

1In those days more and more people were following Jesus. Some of these followers spoke Greek. Others spoke Hebrew. The Greek-speaking ones began to complain about the Hebrew-speaking ones. They said their widows were being left out when food was handed out each day.

And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

NoteDisciples means followers of Jesus. A widow is a woman whose husband has died. Widows often had no one to earn money for them, so the church shared food with them. The King James word "murmuring" means grumbling or complaining. "Ministration" here means handing out the food each day.

2So the twelve apostles, the men Jesus chose to lead, called all the followers together. They said, "It is not right for us to stop teaching God's word so we can hand out food."

Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

NoteThe King James says "serve tables." That means handing out food at meals. "It is not reason" is an old way of saying "it is not right." "The twelve" means the twelve apostles, the helpers Jesus chose.

3"So, friends, choose seven men from among you. Pick men that everyone speaks well of. They must be full of the Holy Spirit and full of wisdom. We will put them in charge of this job."

Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

NoteThe King James says "Holy Ghost." Ghost was simply an old word for spirit. It does not mean a spooky ghost here. "Men of honest report" means men everyone speaks well of. "Brethren" is an old word for brothers and sisters.

4"Then we can keep on praying and keep on teaching God's word."

But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

5Everyone liked this idea. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and full of the Holy Spirit. They also chose Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch. Nicolas was not born Jewish. He had joined the Jewish faith later.

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:

NoteAntioch was a big city far north of Jerusalem. A "proselyte" was a person not born Jewish who chose to join the Jewish faith. "The multitude" just means the whole crowd of people.

6They brought these seven men to the apostles. The apostles prayed and laid their hands on them.

Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

NoteLaying hands on someone means gently putting your hands on their head. People did this while praying for them. It showed that these men were being given a special job.

7God's word kept spreading. The number of Jesus' followers in Jerusalem grew very fast. Even many priests, the men who served at the temple, believed and obeyed.

And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

NotePriests were the men who worked at the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was the huge building where people came to worship God. "A great company" means a large number.

8Stephen was full of faith and full of God's power. He did great wonders and signs among the people.

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

Note"Wonders and miracles" means amazing things, like making sick people well. They were things no ordinary person could do.

9Then some men began to argue with Stephen. They belonged to a meeting place called the Synagogue of the Freedmen. Some of these men came from Cyrene and Alexandria. Others came from Cilicia and Asia.

Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.

NoteA synagogue is a building where Jewish people met to pray and learn. The King James word "Libertines" means freedmen. Freedmen were people who had once been slaves and were later set free. Cyrene and Alexandria were cities in Africa. Cilicia and Asia were lands in what we now call Turkey.

10But they could not win the argument. Stephen spoke with wisdom, and God's Spirit helped him speak.

And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.

11So they secretly got some men to tell lies. Those men said, "We heard him say insulting things about Moses and about God."

Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

Note"Suborned" means they secretly got men to tell lies. "Blasphemous words" means insulting words about God. Moses was a leader of God's people long, long ago. God gave his laws to the people through Moses.

12They got the people upset, and the leaders and the teachers of the law too. They grabbed Stephen and took him to the council.

And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,

NoteScribes were teachers who copied out God's law and taught it. Elders were the older men who led the people. The council was a group of Jewish leaders who met like judges in a court.

13They brought in men who told lies about him. Those men said, "This man never stops speaking against our holy temple and against God's law."

And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:

Note"This holy place" means the temple in Jerusalem. A false witness is someone who tells lies about a person in court. "Ceaseth not" means never stops.

14"We heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will tear this place down. He said Jesus will change the rules Moses gave us."

For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.

NoteNazareth was the small town where Jesus grew up. "Customs" means the ways people had always done things. "Delivered us" here means handed down to us.

15Everyone sitting in the council stared straight at Stephen. His face looked like the face of an angel.

And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

NoteAn angel is a messenger who comes from God. People pictured angels as bright and shining. "Stedfastly" means they stared without looking away.

1The high priest, the leader of the priests, asked Stephen, "Are these things true?"

Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

NoteStephen was standing in front of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. Some people had said he spoke against God and against Moses. The high priest was the leader of all the priests. Priests were the men who helped people worship God at the temple.

2Stephen said, "Brothers and fathers, please listen. God, full of shining glory, showed himself to our father Abraham. That was in Mesopotamia, before Abraham lived in Haran."

And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,

NoteAbraham lived thousands of years before Stephen. Jewish people called him father because their families all came from him. Mesopotamia was a land far to the east, between two big rivers. Haran was a city where Abraham stopped and stayed for a while.

3God told him, "Leave your country and your family. Go to the land I will show you."

And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

4So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. After his father died, God moved him to this land. It is the land where you live now.

Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

NoteThe Chaldeans were the people who lived in the land where Abraham grew up. It was very far from the land God showed him.

5God did not give him any land here. He did not even give him one foot of ground. But God promised to give the land to him and his children later. Abraham had no child yet.

And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.

NoteA promise like this one was passed down from parent to child. God was telling Abraham that his family would live there someday.

6God told him that his family would live in a land not their own. They would be made slaves. People would treat them badly for four hundred years.

And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.

NoteA slave is a person who is owned by someone else. Slaves had to work hard, and they were never paid.

7God said, "But I will punish the nation that makes them slaves. After that they will come out. They will worship me in this place."

And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.

8Then God made an agreement with Abraham about circumcision, a small cutting mark on baby boys. Abraham became the father of Isaac. He circumcised Isaac when the baby was eight days old. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of the twelve men whose families became Israel.

And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.

NoteAn agreement like this is called a covenant. It is a strong promise between God and people. Circumcision was a small cut made on baby boys. It was a sign that the boy belonged to God's family. Jacob's twelve sons each started a big family. Those twelve families together were called Israel. It showed that they belonged to God.

9Those brothers were jealous of Joseph. They sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with Joseph.

And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,

NoteJoseph was one of Jacob's twelve sons. His brothers did not like him, so they sold him to traders. The traders took him to Egypt, far from home.

10God saved him out of all his troubles. God helped him please Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and act wisely. Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of Egypt and of his whole house.

And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

11Then food ran out all over Egypt and Canaan. People suffered a great deal. Our fathers could not find food.

Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.

NoteWhen food runs out over a whole country, it is called a famine. Rain does not come, so plants do not grow. Canaan was the land where Jacob's family lived. Later it was called Israel.

12Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt. So he sent our fathers there the first time.

But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

NoteGrain means seeds like wheat. People ground them up to make bread.

13On the second trip, Joseph told his brothers who he was. Then Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family.

And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.

14Joseph sent for his father Jacob. He called all his relatives too, seventy-five people in all.

Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

15So Jacob went down to Egypt. He died there, and our fathers died there too.

So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,

16Their bones were carried back to Shechem. They were laid in the grave that Abraham had bought there. He had paid silver for it to the sons of Hamor.

And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.

NoteLong ago people were buried in caves or rooms cut into rock. Shechem was a town in Canaan. Before there were coins, people paid by weighing out pieces of silver.

17The time for God's promise to Abraham came close. Our people in Egypt grew to be very many.

But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

18Then a different king began to rule Egypt. He knew nothing about Joseph.

Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.

NoteThis new king did not remember how Joseph had saved Egypt from hunger. So he was not kind to Joseph's family.

19He was sneaky with our people and treated our fathers badly. He made them put their babies outside so the babies would die.

The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.

NoteThe king was afraid because there were so many Israelites. He ordered their baby boys to be left outside where they would die.

20Moses was born at that time. He was a lovely child in God's sight. For three months he was cared for in his father's house.

In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months:

21Then he was put outside. Pharaoh's daughter took him and raised him as her own son.

And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.

NotePharaoh's daughter was a princess. So Moses grew up in the king's palace, like a rich Egyptian boy.

22Moses was taught everything the Egyptians knew. He was strong in what he said and in what he did.

And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.

23When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the people of Israel.

And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.

NoteThe people of Israel were all the children and grandchildren of Jacob. They are also called Israelites or Hebrews. Moses was born into that family, even though he grew up in the palace.

24He saw an Egyptian hurting one of them. Moses stood up for the man. He paid the Egyptian back by killing him.

And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:

25Moses thought his people would understand that God was using him to save them. But they did not understand.

For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.

26The next day he found two of them fighting. He tried to make peace between them. He said, "Men, you are brothers. Why are you hurting each other?"

And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?

27But the man who was hurting his neighbor pushed Moses away. He said, "Who made you our ruler and our judge?"

But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?

28"Do you want to kill me too, the way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?"

Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?

29When Moses heard this, he ran away. He lived as a stranger in the land of Midian. There he had two sons.

Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.

NoteMidian was a dry land far away from Egypt. A stranger here means someone living in a country that is not his own.

30Forty years later, an angel of the Lord came to Moses. The angel was in a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.

And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.

NoteAn angel is a messenger who comes from God. The bush was on fire, but it never burned up. Mount Sinai is a mountain in the desert, far south of Egypt.

31Moses was amazed at what he saw. He came closer to look. Then the voice of the Lord spoke to him.

When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the LORD came unto him,

32The voice said, "I am the God of your fathers. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Moses shook with fear. He did not dare to look.

Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.

33Then the Lord said to him, "Take your shoes off your feet. The ground where you are standing is holy."

Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.

NoteTaking off your shoes showed respect, the way we might be quiet in a special place. Holy means set apart because it belongs to God.

34"I have seen my people suffering in Egypt. I have heard them crying. I have come down to save them. Now come. I am sending you to Egypt."

I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.

35This was the same Moses the people had pushed away. They had said, "Who made you our ruler and judge?" But God sent him to lead them and save them. God sent him through the angel who appeared in the bush.

This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.

36Moses led them out. He did wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the desert.

He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

NoteWonders and signs are amazing things that show God's power. At the Red Sea, God opened a path through the water so the people could walk across.

37This is the Moses who said to the people of Israel, "God will send you a prophet like me from your own people."

This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

NoteA prophet is a person who tells others what God says. Moses said God would send another one like him someday. A prophet is someone who tells people what God says.

38Moses was with the people gathered in the desert. He was with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai. He was with our fathers too. He received God's living words to pass on to us.

This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

NoteThe people were camped together in the desert after leaving Egypt. God's living words are the rules and promises God gave Moses there. The Ten Commandments were part of them.

39But our fathers would not obey him. They pushed him away. In their hearts they turned back toward Egypt.

To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,

40They said to Aaron, "Make us gods to walk ahead of us. We do not know what happened to Moses, who led us out of Egypt."

Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

NoteAaron was Moses' older brother. He helped Moses talk to the people. Gods to go ahead of them means statues to lead them, like a flag in front of a parade.

41In those days they made a statue of a calf. They offered a gift to that false god. They were happy about what their own hands had made.

And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

NoteA calf is a baby cow. This one was a statue, not a real animal. An idol is a statue that people pray to. Offering a gift meant killing an animal and burning it for the statue.

42So God turned away from them. He let them worship the sun, moon, and stars. The book of the prophets says this: "People of Israel, did you bring me animals and gifts for forty years in the desert?"

Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?

NoteWorshiping the host of heaven means praying to the sun, moon, and stars. The book of the prophets is a collection of writings by God's messengers.

43"You carried the tent of the god Molech. You carried the star of your god Rephan. You made these statues to worship them. So I will send you far away, past Babylon."

Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

NoteMolech and Rephan were false gods that other nations prayed to. People carried little tents and statues for them from place to place. Babylon was a huge city very far to the east. Being carried past it meant being taken away from home.

44Our fathers had the tent of the Testimony with them in the desert. God told Moses how to build it. Moses built it just like the pattern God showed him.

Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.

NoteThe tent of the Testimony was a special tent for worshiping God. It could be taken apart and carried when the people moved. God showed Moses exactly how to make it.

45Later our fathers brought that tent in with Joshua. God pushed other nations out ahead of them, and they took the land. The tent was still there in David's time.

Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;

NoteThe King James says "Jesus" here, but it means Joshua. Joshua and Jesus are the same name in the Greek language. Joshua was the leader who took charge after Moses died.

46God was pleased with David. David asked to make a home for the God of Jacob.

Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

NoteDavid was a shepherd boy who grew up to be king of Israel. He wanted to build a proper house for God instead of a tent.

47But it was Solomon who built the house for God.

But Solomon built him an house.

NoteSolomon was David's son and the next king. The house he built was the temple in Jerusalem, made of stone.

48Yet God Most High does not live in houses that people build. The prophet says this:

Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

NoteMost High is a name for God. It means there is nobody greater than he is.

49"Heaven is my throne. The earth is where I rest my feet. What kind of house could you build for me, says the Lord? Where would my resting place be?"

Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

NoteA throne is the special chair a king sits on. A footstool is a low stool where you rest your feet. God is saying he is far too big for any building.

50"Did my own hand not make all these things?"

Hath not my hand made all these things?

51"You are stubborn people. Your hearts and ears are shut. You always push away the Holy Spirit. Your fathers did it, and you do it too."

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

NoteThe King James calls them "stiffnecked." It means stubborn, like an animal that will not turn its head. Ears and hearts being shut means they would not listen. The Holy Spirit is God himself, close to people and helping them.

52"Your fathers were cruel to every prophet. They killed the ones who said the Righteous One was coming. Now you have handed him over and killed him."

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

NoteBeing cruel to prophets meant hurting them or locking them up. The Righteous One is a name for Jesus. Righteous means always doing what is right.

53"God's law was given to you through angels. But you have not obeyed it."

Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

NoteGod's law is the set of rules God gave Moses for the people to live by.

54When the leaders heard this, they were very angry. They ground their teeth at him.

When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

NoteGrinding your teeth together is something people did when they were very angry.

55But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked up into heaven. He saw the shining glory of God. He saw Jesus standing at God's right side.

But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

NoteSitting or standing at a king's right side was the place of greatest honor. Stephen is saying Jesus is beside God in that special place.

56He said, "Look! I see heaven opened. I see the Son of Man standing at God's right side."

And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

NoteSon of Man was the name Jesus most often used for himself.

57Then they shouted very loudly and covered their ears. They all rushed at him together.

Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

NoteThey covered their ears because they did not want to hear another word. To them Stephen's words sounded like an insult to God.

58They dragged him out of the city and threw stones at him. The men who spoke against him laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

NoteThrowing stones at someone was how people put a person to death long ago. The men who spoke against Stephen threw the first stones. They took off their outer coats first so they could throw harder. This young man Saul is the one later called Paul.

59While they threw the stones, Stephen prayed. He said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

60Then he knelt down and cried out loudly. He said, "Lord, do not blame them for this sin." After he said this, he died.

And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

NoteThe King James says he "fell asleep." That was a gentle, quiet way of saying that he died.

1Saul agreed that Stephen should be killed. That same day people began to hurt the church in Jerusalem. The church is the group of people who follow Jesus. They all ran away to the lands of Judea and Samaria. Only the apostles stayed.

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

NoteThe apostles were the special helpers Jesus chose to lead his followers. Judea was the land around Jerusalem. Samaria was the land just to the north.

2Men who loved God buried Stephen. They cried out loud because they were very sad.

And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

NoteLong ago, people showed sadness by crying out loud at a funeral. The King James calls this "great lamentation." It was not rude. It was the normal way to say goodbye.

3Saul tried to destroy the church. He went into house after house. He dragged out men and women and put them in jail.

As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

NoteSaul thought people who followed Jesus were wrong. He wanted to stop them. Later this same Saul became a follower of Jesus himself.

19Some believers had run away when Stephen was killed and others were hurt. They traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. They told the message only to Jews.

Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.

NoteStephen was a believer who was killed for teaching about Jesus. After that, people hurt other believers too, so many ran away. Phoenicia was land by the sea. Cyprus is an island. Antioch was a large city far to the north.

20But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene. They came to Antioch and spoke to Greek people too. They shared the good news about the Lord Jesus.

And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the LORD Jesus.

NoteCyrene was a city in north Africa. "Grecians" means people who spoke Greek. They were not Jewish.

21The Lord's power was with them. Many people believed and turned to the Lord.

And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.

Note"The hand of the Lord" is a picture. It means God's help and power were with them.

17"Later I came back to Jerusalem. I was praying at the temple, God's house. Then I was in a trance, like a dream while I was awake."

And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

NoteThe temple was the huge special building in Jerusalem. It was where God's people came to pray and worship.

18"I saw the Lord, and he said to me, 'Hurry. Leave Jerusalem right now. The people here will not believe what you say about me.'"

And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

19"I said, 'Lord, they know what I did. I went to one meeting house after another. I put your followers in prison and beat them.'"

And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

NoteThe meeting house is called a synagogue. Jews met there to pray and hear God's words read out loud.

20"'Stephen was your witness, someone who told people about you. When he was killed, I stood right there and agreed that he should die. I even watched the coats of the men who killed him.'"

And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

NoteStephen was a follower of Jesus. A crowd threw stones at him until he died. People took off their coats first so they could throw harder. Saul stood and watched the pile of coats.

21"The Lord said to me, 'Go. I am sending you far away, to people who are not Jews.'"

And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

NoteMany in the crowd believed God's message was only for their own people. Hearing that it was for everyone made them very angry.