The Seven Chosen to Serve
(1 Timothy 3:8-13)
1And 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. 2Then 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. 3Wherefore, 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. 4But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. 5And 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: 6Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
7And 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.
Stephen Arrested
8And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 9Then 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. 10And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. 11Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. 12And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, 13And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: 14For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. 15And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
King James Bible
Text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.
The Choosing of the Seven
(1 Timothy 3:8–13)
1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service. 2 The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables. 3 Therefore select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4 But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.” 5 These words pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch; 6 whom they set before the apostles. When they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
7 The word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly. A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
The Arrest of Stephen
8 Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But some of those who were of the synagogue called “The Libertines,” and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia arose, disputing with Stephen. 10 They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. 11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, and brought him in to the council, 13 and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” 15 All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel.
The Choosing of the Seven
(1 Timothy 3:8–13)
1 In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews a because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
2 So the Twelve summoned all the disciples and said, “It is unacceptable for us to neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men confirmed to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will appoint this responsibility to them 4 and will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, as well as Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. b 6 They presented these seven to the apostles, c who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew rapidly, and a great number of priests became obedient to the faith.
The Arrest of Stephen
8 Now Stephen, who was full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But resistance arose from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. d They began to argue with Stephen, 10 but they could not stand up to his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.
11 Then they prompted some men to say, “We heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”
12 So they stirred up the people, elders, and scribes and confronted Stephen. They seized him and brought him before the Sanhedrin, e 13 where they presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”
15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Footnotes:
1 a Literally the Hellenists began to grumble against the Hebrews
5 b Literally and Nicolas, a convert of Antioch
6 c Literally —whom they set before the apostles,
9 d Literally and those from Cilicia and Asia ; the Roman Province of Asia was located in what is now western Turkey.
12 e Or the Council ; also in verse 15
The Seven Chosen to Serve
(1 Timothy 3:8-13)
1And in these days, the disciples multiplying, there came a murmuring of the Hellenists at the Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily ministration, 2and the twelve, having called near the multitude of the disciples, said, 'It is not pleasing that we, having left the word of God, do minister at tables; 3look out, therefore, brethren, seven men of you who are well testified of, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may set over this necessity, 4and we to prayer, and to the ministration of the word, will give ourselves continually.' 5And the thing was pleasing before all the multitude, and they did choose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch, 6whom they did set before the apostles, and they, having prayed, laid on them their hands.
7And the word of God did increase, and the number of the disciples did multiply in Jerusalem exceedingly; a great multitude also of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Stephen Arrested
8And Stephen, full of faith and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people, 9and there arose certain of those of the synagogue, called of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia, and Asia, disputing with Stephen, 10and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking; 11then they suborned men, saying -- 'We have heard him speaking evil sayings in regard to Moses and God.' 12They did stir up also the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and having come upon him, they caught him, and brought him to the sanhedrim; 13they set up also false witnesses, saying, 'This one doth not cease to speak evil sayings against this holy place and the law, 14for we have heard him saying, That this Jesus the Nazarean shall overthrow this place, and shall change the customs that Moses delivered to us;' 15and gazing at him, all those sitting in the sanhedrim saw his face as it were the face of a messenger.
The Choosing of the Seven
¹ In those days, as the number of disciples was growing, the Hellenistic Jews among them began to complain against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. ² So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. ³ Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them ⁴ and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
⁵ This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. ⁶ They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.*
⁷ So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Stephen Seized
⁸ Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹ Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. ¹⁰ But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
¹¹ Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” ¹² So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. ¹³ They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. ¹⁴ For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
¹⁵ All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.*
Footnotes:
6:6: The laying on of hands was a symbolic act of blessing and commissioning in the early church, affirming that these men were being set apart for ministry to serve the community’s needs.
6:7: The reference to priests becoming obedient to the faith is significant, as it shows that even some from the religious establishment were recognizing the truth of the gospel message.
6:9: The Synagogue of the Freedmen was likely composed of Jews who had once been slaves or their descendants, showing the diverse backgrounds of early opponents of the Christian movement.
6:10: Stephen’s wisdom is attributed to the Holy Spirit, underscoring that his ability to argue and debate persuasively came from divine empowerment, not mere human intellect.
6:11: The accusation of blasphemy against Stephen mirrors the charges brought against Jesus. This highlights a recurring pattern of the early church being persecuted for its message of the gospel.
6:14: The claim that Jesus would “destroy this place” refers to His prophecy about the temple’s destruction, which His critics misunderstood as a threat to their religious system rather than a metaphor for the coming new covenant.
6:15: The description of Stephen’s face being like “the face of an angel” suggests that he was filled with divine peace and radiance, a supernatural affirmation of his righteousness even in the face of false accusations.
