Stephen's Speech
1 The High Priest asked Stephen, “Is this true?”
2 Stephen answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! Before our ancestor Abraham had gone to live in Haran, the God of glory appeared to him in Mesopotamia 3 and said to him, ‘Leave your family and country and go to the land that I will show you.’ 4 And so he left his country and went to live in Haran. After Abraham's father died, God made him move to this land where you now live. 5 God did not then give Abraham any part of it as his own, not even a square foot of ground, but God promised to give it to him, and that it would belong to him and to his descendants. At the time God made this promise, Abraham had no children. 6 This is what God said to him: ‘Your descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be slaves and will be badly treated for four hundred years. 7 But I will pass judgment on the people that they will serve, and afterward your descendants will come out of that country and will worship me in this place.’ 8 Then God gave to Abraham the ceremony of circumcision as a sign of the covenant. So Abraham circumcised Isaac a week after he was born; Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons, the famous ancestors of our race.
9 “Jacob's sons became jealous of their brother Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and brought him safely through all his troubles. When Joseph appeared before the king of Egypt, God gave him a pleasing manner and wisdom, and the king made Joseph governor over the country and the royal household. 11 Then there was a famine all over Egypt and Canaan, which caused much suffering. Our ancestors could not find any food, 12 and when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent his sons, our ancestors, on their first visit there. 13 On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and the king of Egypt came to know about Joseph's family. 14 So Joseph sent a message to his father Jacob, telling him and the whole family, seventy-five people in all, to come to Egypt. 15 Then Jacob went to Egypt, where he and his sons died. 16 Their bodies were taken to Shechem, where they were buried in the grave which Abraham had bought from the clan of Hamor for a sum of money.
17 “When the time drew near for God to keep the promise he had made to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had grown much larger. 18 At last a king who did not know about Joseph began to rule in Egypt. 19 He tricked our ancestors and was cruel to them, forcing them to put their babies out of their homes, so that they would die. 20 It was at this time that Moses was born, a very beautiful child. He was cared for at home for three months, 21 and when he was put out of his home, the king's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 He was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man in words and deeds.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to find out how his fellow Israelites were being treated. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his help and took revenge on the Egyptian by killing him. ( 25 He thought that his own people would understand that God was going to use him to set them free, but they did not understand.) 26 The next day he saw two Israelites fighting, and he tried to make peace between them. ‘Listen, men,’ he said, ‘you are fellow Israelites; why are you fighting like this?’ 27 But the one who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. 28 ‘Do you want to kill me, just as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When Moses heard this, he fled from Egypt and went to live in the land of Midian. There he had two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 Moses was amazed by what he saw, and went near the bush to get a better look. But he heard the Lord's voice: 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and dared not look. 33 The Lord said to him, ‘Take your sandals off, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have seen the cruel suffering of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans, and I have come down to set them free. Come now; I will send you to Egypt.’
35 “Moses is the one who was rejected by the people of Israel. ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?’ they asked. He is the one whom God sent to rule the people and set them free with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush. 36 He led the people out of Egypt, performing miracles and wonders in Egypt and at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert. 37 Moses is the one who said to the people of Israel, ‘God will send you a prophet, just as he sent me, and he will be one of your own people.’ 38 He is the one who was with the people of Israel assembled in the desert; he was there with our ancestors and with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and he received God's living messages to pass on to us.
39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him; they pushed him aside and wished that they could go back to Egypt. 40 So they said to Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who will lead us. We do not know what has happened to that man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ 41 It was then that they made an idol in the shape of a bull, offered sacrifice to it, and had a feast in honor of what they themselves had made. 42 So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
‘People of Israel! It was not to me
that you slaughtered and sacrificed animals
for forty years in the desert.
43 It was the tent of the god Molech that you carried,
and the image of Rephan, your star god;
they were idols that you had made to worship.
And so I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our ancestors had the Tent of God's presence with them in the desert. It had been made as God had told Moses to make it, according to the pattern that Moses had been shown. 45 Later on, our ancestors who received the tent from their fathers carried it with them when they went with Joshua and took over the land from the nations that God drove out as they advanced. And it stayed there until the time of David. 46 He won God's favor and asked God to allow him to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built him a house.
48 “But the Most High God does not live in houses built by human hands; as the prophet says,
49 ‘Heaven is my throne, says the Lord,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house would you build for me?
Where is the place for me to live in?
50 Did not I myself make all these things?’
51 “How stubborn you are!” Stephen went on to say. “How heathen your hearts, how deaf you are to God's message! You are just like your ancestors: you too have always resisted the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there any prophet that your ancestors did not persecute? They killed God's messengers, who long ago announced the coming of his righteous Servant. And now you have betrayed and murdered him. 53 You are the ones who received God's law, that was handed down by angels—yet you have not obeyed it!”
The Stoning of Stephen
54 As the members of the Council listened to Stephen, they became furious and ground their teeth at him in anger. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God's glory and Jesus standing at the right side of God. 56 “Look!” he said. “I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!”
57 With a loud cry the Council members covered their ears with their hands. Then they all rushed at him at once, 58 threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses left their cloaks in the care of a young man named Saul. 59 They kept on stoning Stephen as he called out to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord! Do not remember this sin against them!” He said this and died.
Ndebeleko ya Sitifani
1 Ntungamili we bapirisiti kabhuzwa Sitifani kati, “Apa zwithu izwezwi malebeswa kene?”
2 Sitifani kadabila kati, “Zwikamu na botate, mundihwilile! Ndzimu we gudzo wakaboneka kuna bobatategulu bedu Abhurahama batjiku Mesopotamiya, basathu bakanogala ku Harani, 3 ngono Ndzimu ukabadwa ukati, ‘Bhuda mu shango ya kanyi kwenyu ne muna bakanyi kwenyu, ngono uyende ku shango yandinowokulakidza imi.’
4 “Ndizo bakabhuda mu shango ya kanyi kwabo ye ba Kalideya bakanogala ku Harani. Shule kwe lufu gwa tate ba Abhurahama Ndzimu wakabadusa ikoko ukabazhisa mu shango iyeyi yamugele muili. 5 Ndzimu ipapo auzopa Abhurahama pamwe payo se pape ndodwa ne paangabiga gumbopo, koga Ndzimu wakagadzabgwe kumpa iyo ne kuti inowobe iye ne bana babe. Nenguba Abhurahama akabe asina mwana. 6 Ndzimu tjawakaleba kunli etji, ‘Ludzi gugo gowogala mu shango ye bamwe, kwabanowobe balanda, ngono banowobhakhwa zwakabipa makole ali mazana manna. 7 Koga ndowosumikilisa itjaba itjetjo tjabanowoshingila, ngono shule banowobhuda mu shango iyeyo, ngono banowondinamata mu bugalo igogu.’ 8 Ipapo Ndzimu ukapa Abhurahama tjidumano tje kuthumbigwa. Abhurahama kazwala Isaki, ngono kanthumbila nge zhuba le buzhanakadzi shule kwe azwagwa. Isaki kazwala Jakubo, Jakubo kazwala bobatategulu bedu bali gumi lina babili.
9 “Bobatategulu bakathamila fupa nnung'una wabo Josefa ngono bakantengesa kube nlanda mu Egipiti. Koga Ndzimu wakabe unaye. 10 Wakansunungula mu tshiyilo dzidze dzose. Ndzimu wakathama kuti adiwe ndi Faro, ukampa butjenjedu mu mesho awe. Ndizo Faro Mambo we Egipiti kanthama nlauli we Egipiti newe nsha uwe wose. 11 Ipapo kukabe ne bhamba mu Egipiti yose ne mu Kanana lakazhisa kudziyila kukulu. Bobatategulu bedu bakasheta zojiwa. 12 Jakubo kati ehwa kuti kuna mathunde ku Egipiti, katuma bobatategulu bedu kutanga. 13 Ngono gwe bubili Josefa kazwizibisa bakulu babe, ndizo Faro kaziba ngekwe nsha wa kanyi kwa Josefa. 14 Ipapo Josefa kadana tate babe Jakubo, kose ne nsha wose, bathu bali makumi ali kutendeka ana bashanu, kuti bazhe ku Egipiti. 15 Ipapo Jakubo kayenda ku Egipiti, iko kwaakafila na bobatategulu bedu. 16 Mibili yabo yakasengegwa ku Shekemu, kwayakabiganyiwa mu ikumbu tjakatengwa ndi Abhurahama nge themba ye mari e siliva mu bana ba Hamori mu Shekemu.
17 “Kukati tjibaka tjakagadziwabgwe Abhurahama nge Ndzimu tjabe pejo, palo ye bathu bedu ikakula bakawanda mu Egipiti. 18 Ngono kukabepo mambo mu Egipiti usingazibe tjimwe ngekwa Josefa. 19 Katjebela bobatategulu bedu, ngono kabadziyidza, ebakombeledza kuti balashe shabana dzabo, kuti ndizo dzife. 20 Nditjo tjibaka tjakazwagwa Mushe ali mwana wakanaka mbeli kwe Ndzimu. Wakalelegwa mu nzi wa tate babe mimwedzi ili mitatu, 21 ngono kati adusiwa mu nzi uwe, nkololokadzi wa Faro kantola kanlela se mwana uwe. 22 Ngono Mushe kadiyiwa butjenjedu gose gwe Baegipiti, ngono kabe akasima mu ndebeleko ne mu mishingo.
23 “Kati ana makole ali makumi manna, kakumbula kukumba bakanyi kukwe, bakololo Baiziraela. 24 Wakati ebona mmwe wa kanyi kukwe edziyidziwa kamila nlume iwoyo unotshambilidziwa ngono kambuzuludzila nge kubulaya N'egipiti. 25 Wakabe ekumbula kuti bathu ba kanyi kukwe banowohwisisa kuti Ndzimu wakabe uwonshingisa kubasunungula, koga ibo bakasihwisise. 26 Tjimuka kawana Baiziraela babili begwa, ngono kagwisa kubagadzanya. Kati ku bali, ‘Balume mu bana be nthu ini muthamilana bubi?’ 27 Koga nlume iwoyu wakabe edziyidza mmwe katshindikila Mushe ntome. Kabhuzwa eti, ‘Ndiani wakakuthama nlauli ne nsumikilisi mutili kene?’ 28 ‘Unoshaka kundibulaya sekwa wakabulaya N'egipiti madekwe?’ 29 Mushe kati ehwa ikoku, katizha mu Egipiti kayenda kanogala mu shango ye Midiya. Kabe ne bakololo babili ikoko.
30 “Shule kwe makole ali makumi manna, ntumwa we kudzimu kaboneka kuna Mushe mu tjilambanyika tje Dombo le Sinai mu nthuto we moto mu denjana. 31 Mushe katjenamisiwa nge tjaakabona, ngono kasedzela pejo ne denjana kuti abone zubuyanana. Koga kahwa hwi la She liti, 32 ‘Ndimi Ndzimu wa bobatategulu babo, Ndzimu wa Abhurahama, na Isaki na Jakubo.’ Mushe katetema ngotja, ngono kasilinge. 33 She bakati kunli, ‘Ambula khwebana dzidzo, ngobe pathu paumile pathu pakayengemala. 34 Ndabona kudziyidziwa kwe bathu bangu mu Egipiti. Ndahwa kulila kwabo, ndizo ndadeluka kuwobasunungula. Izha ngwenu; ndowokutuma ku Egipiti.’
35 “Mushe iwoyu ndiye zwe wabakalamba beti, ‘Ndiani wakakuthama nlauli ne nsumikilisi mutili kene?’ Ndzimu wakantuma kunolaula bathu ne kubasunungula nge bhatsho ye ntumwa we kudzimu iwoyu wakaboneka kunli mu denjana lakabe lithuta moto. 36 Wakatungamilila bathu kubhuda mu Egipiti athama matjenamiso ne zwilakidzo mu Egipiti ne ku Gungwa Shaba ne mu tjilambanyika makole ali makumi manna. 37 Mushe ndiye wakati ku bathu be Iziraela, ‘Ndzimu wenyu unowomuzhisila nlebesambeli, koga sekwa wakandizhisa, ngono unowodwa mu ludzi gwenyu.’ 38 Ndiye wakabe ana gubungano mu tjilambanyika, ndiye wakabe ali mile pakati kwa bobatategulu bedu ne ntumwa we kudzimu, iwoyu wakalebeleka naye ali pezhugwi kwe Dombo le Sinai ngono Mushe kaamutjila matama e Ndzimu anotjila kutipa iwo.
39 “Koga bobatategulu bedu bakalamba kunhwa, bakansundila ntome, ngono bakayemula kubgwilila ku Egipiti. 40 Ndizo bakati kuna Aroni, ‘Utithamile midzimu inowotitungamila. Atitoziba kuti kwashingikalani kuna Mushe, iye wakatidusa mu Egipiti.’ 41 Nditjo tjibaka tjabakathama ndzimu we ifano tje phulu, bakatjipa zwipo ngono bakabe ne nzano unokudza itjo tjabathama ibo. 42 Ndizo Ndzimu ukabafupatila, ngono ukabayisa mu kunamata nyenyedzi dze kudzimu, sekwa kwakakwagwa mu hwalo dze balebesambeli kuyi,
“ ‘Ng'umba ye Iziraela.
Apa makandipa zwibhayilo zwe phuka dzakabulawa
nenge zwipo makole ali makumi manna mu tjilambanyika kene?
43 Makasenga tente ya Moleki,
ne nyenyedzi ye ndzimu wenyu Refani,
zwifano zwamakathama kuzwinamata.
Ndizo wali ndowomudusa amuyisa mbeli kwe Bhabhiloni.’
44 “Bobatategulu bedu bakabe bana tente ye butendeki mu tjilambanyika. Yakabe yakathamiwa sekwakabe kwalebgwa nge wakabudza Mushe kuti ithamiwe tjini. 45 Bobatategulu bedu bakati bakazha nayo bana Joshuwa pabakatolela tjaba shango, idzo Ndzimu dzawakatata mbeli kwa botate bedu. Ngono kwakagala kwakajalo kuswikila misi ya Dafite, 46 iye wakaamutjigwa nge Ndzimu, ngono kakumbila Ndzimu kun'dumila kubakila Ndzimu wa Jakubo bugalo. 47 Koga Solomoni ndiye wakabakila Ndzimu ng'umba.
48 “Ndzimu upezhugwi zhugwi autogala mu ng'umba dzakabakwa nge bathu, se kunoleba nlebesambeli eti,
49 “ ‘She bakati, kudzimu tjigalo tjangu tje bushe,
shango tjigalo tje makumbo angu.
I ng'umba yakatini yaungandibakila kene?
Ndiapi magalo andinganyaluluka muali kene?
50 Apa andizothama zwithu izwezwi zose nge luboko gwangu kene?’
51 “Bathu ndimwi bana mitshibha yakawomelela, bana mimoyo mikukutu ne zebe dzisingashako hwa lebeswa. Molamba Meya yakayengemala misi yose, tjakathamwa ndi bobatategulu benyu namwibo motjithama. 52 Apa wakatongo bepo nlebesambeli bobatategulu benyu wabasakadziyidza kene? Bakabulaya na ibabo bakalebelambeli nge kuzha kwa iye Wakalulwama, iye wamakati ngwenu mukawonga mukambulaya. 53 Imwi makaamutjila nlayo wakazhisiwa nge batumwa be kudzimu, koga mukasiulondolodze!”
Kukikithidziwa kwa Sitifani
54 Bakati behwa ikoku bakan'gwadzilamoyo kwazo. 55 Koga Sitifani ali zhele Meya yakayengemala, kalinga kudzimu kabona tjedza tje Ndzimu na Jesu ali mile ku luboko gwe luji gwe Ndzimu. 56 Kati, “Bonani! Ndobona kudzimu kwakazhuka ne Nkololo we Nthu ali mile ku luboko luji gwe Ndzimu!” 57 Ngono bakamimila bakazwina zebe dzabo ngono bakalabukila kunli bakan'wila bose. 58 Bakankwebela kuzhe kwe nzi, ngono bakankikithidza nge mabgwe. Batendeki bakabiga zwiambalo zwabo pa makumbo e nzhuzha wakabe eyi Saulo. 59 Bakatibekikithidza Sitifani ngono iye katembezela kati, “She Jesu, amutjilani meya yangu!” 60 Kathigama pasi kamilidza hwi kati “She! Musibabone nlandu we jinyo ileli!” Wakati aleba ikoku kafa.