6
“Carefully Choose Some Men from among You”
1 Around this time,+ as the number of disciples kept growing, the Hellenistic+ Jews began voicing a complaint+ against the native+ Aramaic-speaking+ Jews, namely, that their widows+ were being overlooked in the daily distribution.
2 So the Twelve called all the disciples together and said, “It is not right+ for us to neglect proclaiming+ the word of God in order to see that these needs are properly cared for.+
3 Now carefully choose, brothers and sisters, some men from among you who are highly respected, seven of them, and+ full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we will put in charge of this matter.
4 As for us, it is+ prayer and the ministry+ of the word to which we will give our main time and attention.+”
5 The proposal pleased the whole group,+ and they chose Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas (a Gentile convert to Judaism,+ from Antioch).
6 These men+ they had stand before the apostles, who+ prayed and commissioned them to the task by laying hands on them.+
7 And as for the word of God, it continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew larger and larger, and even+ a large number of the priests were themselves becoming obedient to the faith.
“They Saw His Face Shining Like That of an Angel”
8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s gracious blessing+ and power, was performing remarkable+ wonders and signs among the people.
9 Well, one day+ some men who belonged to the Synagogue of the Freed Slaves (as it was called), which included Jews from Cyrene and Alexandria, along with some other+ Jews from the provinces+ of Cilicia and Asia, began debating with Stephen,
10 yet they were unable to refute him, so full of wisdom as his words were by the Spirit’s enabling.++
11 Afterward they secretly persuaded+ some men to say, “We have heard this man+ uttering blasphemous things against Moses and God!”
12 And so they stirred up a commotion among the people and the elders and the Torah-experts. Descending upon Stephen, they grabbed hold of him and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
13 They brought forward some false witnesses, who claimed, “This fellow is constantly saying things against this holy place and against the Torah.+
14 For example, we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses passed down to us.”
15 And as everyone seated in the Sanhedrin fixed their eyes+ on Stephen,+ they saw his face shining like that of an angel.+