Journey
Paul's turning point
From approving Stephen's death to preaching the faith he tried to destroy. Follow Saul of Tarsus through Acts and his own letters.
People in this journey
Opening stop: At a young man's feet, Acts 7:57
The law had the witnesses throw the first stones (Deuteronomy 17:7), and here they laid down their clothes to do it. Saul looked after the clothes, so he was more than a bystander. Paul later said so himself: he stood by, consenting, and kept the raiment of them that slew Stephen (Acts 22:20). Stephen's last two prayers echo two of Jesus' sayings from the cross in Luke (Luke 23:34, 23:46), the former treatise written to the same Theophilus (Luke 1:3, Acts 1:1).
Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
King James Version
The high priest asks Stephen whether the charges are so, and Stephen answers with a review of Israel's past. He begins with the God of glory appearing to Abraham in Mesopotamia, the call to leave his country, the promise of a land he does not yet possess, the word about four hundred years of bondage, and the covenant of circumcision down to the twelve patriarchs. He tells of Joseph sold into Egypt and made governor, the dearth, Jacob's descent with threescore and fifteen souls, and burial at Sychem. He then tells of another king which knew not Joseph, of Moses taken up by Pharaoh's daughter, of Moses at forty striking the Egyptian and being refused by his own, of his flight to Madian, the bush at mount Sina, and the sending back to Egypt. He recalls the calf, quotes a passage about Moloch and Remphan, traces the tabernacle to David and Solomon, and quotes a saying that the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands. He then calls his hearers stiffnecked and charges them with resisting the Holy Ghost and with betraying and murdering the Just One. They gnash on him with their teeth. Stephen says he sees the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. They stop their ears, run upon him, cast him out of the city and stone him, while the witnesses lay their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. Stephen asks the Lord to receive his spirit and not to lay this sin to their charge, and he dies.
Continue the journey
This journey has 9 stops. The opening stop is free. Premium opens the rest of the guided path, and every Scripture chapter stays free to read.