Actuum Apostolorum 7
1 Dixit autem princeps sacerdotum: Si haec ita se haberent?
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are the things that [these people are saying about you(sg)] true?”
2 Qui ait: Viri fratres, et patres audite: Deus gloriae apparuit patri nostro Abrahae cum esset in Mesopotamia, prius quam moraretur in Charan.
Stephen replied, “Fellow Jews and respected leaders, [please] listen to me! The glorious God [whom we(inc) worship] appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was still [living] in Mesopotamia [region], before he moved to Haran [town].
3 et dixit ad illum: Exi de terra tua, et de cognatione tua, et veni in terram, quam monstravero tibi.
God said to him, ‘Leave this land where you [(sg)] and your relatives [are living], and go into the land to which I will lead you.’
4 Tunc exiit de terra Chaldaeorum, et habitavit in Charan. Et inde, postquam mortuus est pater eius, transtulit illum in terram istam, in qua nunc vos habitatis.
So Abraham left that land, [which was also called] Chaldea, and he arrived in Haran and lived there. After his father died, God told him to move to this land in which you [and I] are now living.”
5 Et non dedit illi hereditatem in ea, nec passum pedis: sed repromisit dare illi eam in possessionem, et semini eius post ipsum, cum non haberet filium.
“[At that time] God did not give Abraham any [land here], not even a small plot of [this] land that would belong to him. God promised that he would [later] give this land to him and his descendants, and that it would [always] belong [to them. However], at that time Abraham did not have any children [who would] ([inherit it/receive it after he died]).”
6 Locutus est autem ei Deus: Quia erit semen tuum accola in terra aliena, et servituti eos subiicient, et male tractabunt eos annis quadringentis:
“[Later] God told Abraham, ‘Your descendants will go and live in a foreign country. They [will live there] for 400 years, and [during that time their leaders] will mistreat your descendants and force them to work as slaves.’
7 et gentem cui servierint, iudicabo ego, dixit Dominus. et post haec exibunt, et servient mihi in loco isto.
But God [also] said, ‘I will punish the people who make them work as slaves. Then, after that, your descendants will leave [that land] and they will [come and] worship me in this land.’”
8 Et dedit illi testamentum circumcisionis: et sic genuit Isaac, et circumcidit eum die octavo: et Isaac, et Iacob: et Iacob, duodecim Patriarchas.
“Then God commanded Abraham that [every male in his household and all of his male descendants] should be circumcised [to show that they all belonged to God] and that they would obey what he had told Abraham to do. Later Abraham’s son, Isaac, was born, and when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. [Later] Isaac’s son, Jacob, was born, and Isaac [similarly circumcised] him. And Jacob [similarly circumcised] his twelve sons. They are the twelve men [from whom we(inc) Jews have all descended].”
9 Et Patriarchae aemulantes, Ioseph vendiderunt in Aegyptum. et erat Deus cum eo:
“[You know that] Jacob’s [older] sons became jealous [because their father favored their younger brother] Joseph. So they sold him [to merchants/traders who took him] [MTY] to Egypt. There he became a slave [of an official who lived there]. But God [helped] Joseph.
10 et eripuit eum ex omnibus tribulationibus eius: et dedit ei gratiam, et sapientiam in conspectu Pharaonis regis Aegypti, et constituit eum praepositum super Aegyptum, et super omnem domum suam.
He protected him whenever people caused him to suffer. He enabled Joseph to be wise; and he caused Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to think well of Joseph. So Pharaoh appointed him to rule [over] Egypt and to look after all of Pharaoh’s property [MTY].”
11 Venit autem fames in universam Aegyptum, et Chanaan, et tribulatio magna: et non inveniebant cibos patres nostri.
“[While Joseph was doing that work], there was a time (when there was very little food/of famine) throughout Egypt and also throughout Canaan. People did not have enough food to eat. People were suffering. [At that time] Jacob and his sons [in Canaan] also could not find [enough] food.
12 Cum audisset autem Iacob esse frumentum in Aegypto: misit patres nostros primum:
When Jacob heard [people report that] there was grain/food [that people could buy] in Egypt, he sent Joseph’s older brothers [to go there to buy grain. They went and bought grain from Joseph, but they did not recognize him. Then they returned home].
13 et in secundo cognitus est Ioseph a fratribus suis, et manifestatum est Pharaoni genus eius.
When Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt the second time, [they again bought grain from Joseph]. But this time [he] told them who he was. [And] people told Pharaoh that Joseph’s people were Hebrews [and that those men who had come from Canaan were his brothers].
14 Mittens autem Ioseph accersivit Iacob patrem suum, et omnem cognationem suam in animabus septuagintaquinque.
Then after Joseph sent [his brothers back home, they] told their father Jacob [that Joseph wanted] him and his entire family to come [to Egypt. At that time] ([Jacob’s family consisted of] 75 people/there were 75 people in Jacob’s family) [SYN].
15 Et descendit Iacob in Aegyptum, et defunctus est ipse, et patres nostri.
[So when] Jacob [heard that, he and all his family] went to [live in] Egypt.” Acts 7:15b-16 “[Later on], Jacob died [there], and our [other] ancestors, [his sons, also died there].
16 Et translati sunt in Sichem, et positi sunt in sepulchro, quod emit Abraham pretio argenti a filiis Hemor filii Sichem.
[But] the bodies [of Jacob and Joseph] were brought {[they] brought the bodies [of Jacob and Joseph]} [back to our land], and [Jacob’s body] was buried {they buried [Jacob’s body]} [in the tomb that Abraham had bought, and they buried Joseph’s body] in Shechem in the ground that [Jacob] had bought from Hamor’s sons.”
17 Cum autem appropinquaret tempus promissionis, quam confessus erat Deus Abrahae, crevit populus, et multiplicatus est in Aegypto,
“Our ancestors had become very numerous when it was almost time for [God to rescue them] from Egypt, [as] he had promised Abraham that he would do.
18 quoadusque surrexit alius rex in Aegypto, qui non sciebat Ioseph.
Another king had begun to rule in Egypt. He did not know that Joseph, [long before that time, had greatly helped the people of Egypt] [MTY].
19 Hic circumveniens genus nostrum, afflixit patres nostros ut exponerent infantes suos ne vivificarentur.
That king cruelly tried to get rid of our ancestors. He oppressed them and caused them to suffer greatly. He [even commanded] them to leave their baby [boys] outside [their homes] so that they would die.”
20 Eodem tempore natus est Moyses et fuit gratus Deo, qui nutritus est tribus mensibus in domo patris sui.
“During that time Moses was born, and he was a very beautiful [LIT] [child]. So his parents [secretly] cared for him in their house for three months.
21 Exposito autem illo, sustulit eum filia Pharaonis, et nutrivit eum sibi in filium.
Then they had to put him outside [the house, but] Pharaoh’s daughter [found him and] adopted him and cared for him as [though he were] her own son.
22 Et eruditus est Moyses omni sapientia Aegyptiorum, et erat potens in verbis, et in operibus suis.
Moses was taught {[The Egyptian teachers] taught Moses} many kinds of wise things [HYP] that the people in Egypt knew, and [when he grew up], he spoke powerfully and did things powerfully.”
23 Cum autem impleretur ei quadraginta annorum tempus, ascendit in cor eius ut visitaret fratres suos filios Israel.
“[One day] when Moses was about 40 years old, he decided that he would [go and] see his fellow Israelis. [So he went to the place where they worked].
24 Et cum vidisset quendam iniuriam patientem, vindicavit illum: et fecit ultionem ei, qui iniuriam sustinebat, percusso Aegyptio.
He saw an Egyptian beating one of the Israelis. So he went over to help [MTY] the Israeli man who was being hurt/beat {whom [the Egyptian] was hurting/beating}, and he (got revenge on/paid back) the Israeli man by killing the Egyptian [who was hurting/beating him].
25 Existimabat autem intelligere fratres, quoniam Deus per manum ipsius daret salutem illis: at illi non intellexerunt.
Moses was thinking that his fellow Israelis would understand that God had sent him to free them [from being slaves]. But they did not understand that.
26 Sequenti vero die apparuit illis litigantibus: et reconciliabat eos in pace, dicens: Viri, fratres estis, ut quid nocetis alterutrum?
The next day, Moses saw two Israeli men fighting [each other]. He tried to make them stop fighting by saying to them, ‘Men, you two are fellow [Israelis! So] (stop hurting each other!/why are you hurting each other?) [RHQ]’
27 Qui autem iniuriam faciebat proximo, repulit eum, dicens: Quis te constituit principem, et iudicem super nos?
But the man who was injuring the other man pushed Moses away and said to him, ‘(No one appointed you [(sg)] to rule and judge us [(exc)]!/Do you [(sg)] think someone appointed you [(sg)] to rule and judge us [(exc)]?) [RHQ]
28 numquid interficere me tu vis, quemadmodum interfecisti heri Aegyptium?
Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
29 Fugit autem Moyses in verbo isto: et factus est advena in terra Madian, ubi generavit filios duos.
When Moses heard that, [he thought to himself, ‘Obviously, people know what I have done, and someone will kill me.’ He was afraid, so] he fled [from Egypt] to Midian land. He lived there [for some years]. He [got married, and he and his wife] had two sons.”
30 Et expletis annis quadraginta, apparuit illi in deserto montis Sina Angelus in igne flammae rubi.
“[One day] 40 years later, [the Lord God appeared as] an angel to Moses. He appeared in a bush that was burning in the desert near Sinai Mountain.
31 Moyses autem videns, admiratus est visum. et accedente illo ut consideraret, facta est ad eum vox Domini, dicens:
When Moses saw that, he was greatly surprised, [because the bush was not burning up]. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord [God] say [to him],
32 Ego sum Deus patrum tuorum, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, et Deus Iacob. Tremefactus autem Moyses, non audebat considerare.
‘I [am] the God [whom] your ancestors [worshipped]. I [am] the God that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob [worship].’ Moses [was so afraid that he] began to shake. He was afraid to look [at the bush any longer].
33 Dixit autem illi Dominus: Solve calceamentum pedum tuorum: locus enim in quo stas, terra sancta est.
Then the Lord [God] said to him, ‘Take your sandals off [to show that you(sg) revere me]. Because I [am here], the place where you are standing is holy/sacred.
34 Videns vidi afflictionem populi mei, qui est in Aegypto, et gemitum eorum audivi, et descendi liberare eos. Et nunc veni, et mittam te in Aegyptum.
I have surely seen how the people of Egypt are continually causing my people to suffer. I have heard my people when they groan [because those people continually oppress them]. So I have come down to rescue them [from Egypt]. Now get ready, because I am going to send you [back] to Egypt [to do that].’”
35 Hunc Moysen, quem negaverunt, dicentes: Quis te constituit principem et iudicem? hunc Deus principem et redemptorem misit, cum manu Angeli, qui apparuit illi in rubo.
“This Moses [is the one who had tried to help our Israeli people, but] whom they rejected [by saying], ‘No one [RHQ] appointed you to rule and judge [us!’] Moses [is the one whom] God [himself] sent to rule them and to free them [from being slaves. He is the one whom] an angel in the bush [commanded to do that].
36 Hic eduxit illos faciens prodigia, et signa in terra Aegypti, et in rubro mari, et in deserto annis quadraginta.
Moses [is the one who] led our ancestors out [from Egypt]. He did many kinds of miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and during the 40 years [that the Israelite people lived] in the desert.
37 Hic est Moyses, qui dixit filiis Israel: Prophetam suscitabit vobis Deus de fratribus vestris, tamquam meipsum audietis.
This Moses is the one who said to the Israelite people, ‘God will appoint a prophet for you from among your own people. [He will speak words from God], just like I [speak his words to you].’
38 Hic est, qui fuit in Ecclesia in solitudine cum Angelo, qui loquebatur ei in monte Sina, et cum patribus nostris: qui accepit verba vitae dare nobis.
This man [Moses] was [our people’s leader] when they gathered together in the desert. It is Moses to whom [God sent] the angel on Sinai Mountain to [give him our laws], and [he was the one who told] our [other] ancestors [what the angel had said]. He was the one who received [from God] words that tell us how to live [eternally, and Moses] passed [them] on to us.”
39 Cui noluerunt obedire patres nostri: sed repulerunt, et aversi sunt cordibus suis in Aegyptum,
“[However], our ancestors did not want to obey [Moses]. Instead, [while he was still on the mountain], they rejected him [as their leader] and decided that they wanted to return to Egypt.
40 dicentes ad Aaron: Fac nobis deos, qui praecedant nos: Moysi enim huic, qui eduxit nos de terra Aegypti, nescimus quid factum sit ei.
So they told [his older brother] Aaron, ‘Make idols for us who will be our gods to lead us [back to Egypt]! As for that fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt we [(exc)] do not know what has happened to him!’
41 Et vitulum fecerunt in diebus illis, et obtulerunt hostiam simulachro, et laetabantur in operibus manuum suarum.
So, they made [out of gold] an image [that looked like] a calf. Then they sacrificed [animals and offered other things] to [honor] that idol, and they sang and danced to honor the idol that they themselves had made.
42 Convertit autem Deus, et tradidit eos servire militiae caeli, sicut scriptum est in Libro Prophetarum: Numquid victimas, aut hostias obtulistis mihi annis quadraginta in deserto, domus Israel?
So God rejected them. He abandoned them to worship the sun, moon and stars in the sky. This agrees with the words that one of the prophets wrote that God said, You Israelite [people] [MTY], when you [repeatedly] killed animals and offered them as sacrifices during those 40 years [that you were] in the desert, (you [most certainly] were not offering them to me!/what makes you think that you were offering them to me?) [RHQ]
43 Et suscepistis tabernaculum Moloch, et sidus Dei vestri Rempham, figuras, quas fecistis, adorare eas. Et transferam vos in Babylonem.
[On the contrary], you carried [with you from place to place] the tent [that contained the idol] representing [the god] Molech [that you worshipped]. You also [carried with you] the image of the star [called] Rephan. [Those] were idols that you had made, [and you] worshipped [them instead of me]. So I will [cause you to] be taken away {[people to] take you} [from your own country. You will be taken] {[They will take you]} [far from your homes to regions] even farther than Babylon [Country].”
44 Tabernaculum testimonii fuit cum patribus nostris in deserto, sicut disposuit illis Deus, loquens ad Moysen, ut faceret illud secundum formam, quam viderat.
“While our ancestors were in the desert, they worshipped God at the tent that showed [that he was there with them]. They had made the tent exactly like God had commanded Moses [to make it. It was] exactly like the model that Moses had seen [when he was up on the mountain].
45 Quod et induxerunt, suscipientes patres nostri cum Iesu in possessionem Gentium, quas expulit Deus a facie patrum nostrorum, usque in diebus David,
[Later on], other ancestors of ours carried that tent with them when Joshua led them [into this land]. That was during the time that they took this land for themselves, when God forced the people [who previously lived here] to leave. So the Israelis were able to possess this land. [The tent remained in this land and was still here] when [King] David ruled.
46 qui invenit gratiam ante Deum, et petiit ut inveniret tabernaculum Deo Iacob.
David pleased God, and he asked God to let him build a house where [he and] all of our Israeli people could worship God.
47 Salomon autem aedificavit illi domum.
But [instead, God let David’s son] Solomon build a house [where people could worship] God.”
48 Sed non excelsus in manufactis habitat, sicut per Prophetam dicit:
“However, [we(inc) know that] God is greater than everything, and he does not live in [houses that] people [SYN] have made. It is like the prophet [Isaiah] wrote. He wrote [these words that God had spoken: ]
49 Caelum mihi sedes est: terra autem scabellum pedum meorum. Quam domum aedificabitis mihi, dicit Dominus? aut quis locus requietionis meae est?
Heaven is (my throne/the place from which I rule the entire universe), and the earth is (my footstool/[merely like] a stool on which I may rest my feet). I myself [SYN] have made everything [both in heaven and on the earth]. So you [human beings], ([you] really cannot build a house that would be [adequate] for me!/do you think you can build a house that would be [appropriate] for me?) [RHQ] You cannot [RHQ] make a place good enough for me [to live in]!”
50 Nonne manus mea fecit haec omnia?
51 Dura cervice, et incircumcisis cordibus, et auribus, vos semper Spiritui sancto resistitis, sicut Patres vestri, ita et vos.
“You people are extremely stubborn [MET], not wanting to obey God or listen [MTY] [to him!] You are exactly like your ancestors! You always resist the Holy Spirit [as they did]!
52 Quem Prophetarum non sunt persecuti patres vestri? Et occiderunt eos, qui praenunciabant de adventu Iusti, cuius vos nunc proditores, et homicidae fuistis:
Your ancestors caused [RHQ] every prophet to suffer, [including Moses]. They even killed those who long ago announced [that the Messiah] would come, the one who always did what pleased God. [And the Messiah has come! He is the one whom] you [recently] turned over [to his enemies] and [insisted that] they kill him!
53 qui accepistis legem in dispositione Angelorum, et non custodistis.
You [are the people] who have received God’s laws. [Those were laws] that God caused angels to give [to our ancestors]. However, [incredibly], you have not obeyed them!”
54 Audientes autem haec dissecabantur cordibus suis, et stridebant dentibus in eum.
When the Jewish Council members [and others there] heard all that [Stephen said], they became very angry. They were grinding their teeth [together because they were so angry] at him!
55 Cum autem esset plenus Spiritu sancto, intendens in caelum, vidit gloriam Dei, et Iesum stantem a dextris virtutis Dei.
But the Holy Spirit completely controlled Stephen. He looked up into heaven and saw a dazzling light from God, and [he saw] Jesus standing at God’s right side.
56 Et ait: Ecce video caelos apertos, et filium hominis stantem a dextris Dei.
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open, and I [see] the one who came from heaven standing at God’s right side!”
57 Exclamantes autem voce magna continuerunt aures suas, et impetum fecerunt unanimiter in eum.
[When the Jewish Council members and others heard that], they shouted loudly. They put their hands over their ears [so that they could not hear Stephen, and immediately] they all rushed at him.
58 Et eiicientes eum extra civitatem lapidabant: et testes deposuerunt vestimenta sua secus pedes adolescentis, qui vocabatur Saulus.
They dragged him outside the city [of Jerusalem] and started to throw stones at him. The people who were accusing him [took off] their outer garments [in order to throw stones more easily, and] they put their clothes [on the ground] next to a young man whose name was Saul, [so that he could guard them].
59 Et lapidabant Stephanum invocantem, et dicentem: Domine Iesu suscipe spiritum meum.
While they continued to throw stones at Stephen, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
60 Positis autem genibus, clamavit voce magna, dicens: Domine ne statuas illis hoc peccatum. Et cum hoc dixisset, obdormivit in Domino.
Then Stephen fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not punish them (OR, forgive them) [LIT] for this sin!” After he had said that, he died.
