Acts 6:3-13

3Therefore, 1brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, 2full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. 4But we will 3devote ourselves to prayer and to the 4ministry of the word.” 5The statement found approval with the whole 5congregation; and they chose 6Stephen, a man 7full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and 8Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and 9Nicolas, a 1011proselyte from 12Antioch. 6And these they brought before the apostles; and after 13praying, they 14laid their hands on them.

715The word of God kept on spreading; and 16the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to 17the faith.

8And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great 18wonders and 19signs among the people. 9But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both 20Cyrenians and 21Alexandrians, and some from 22Cilicia and 2324Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. 10But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” 12And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they 25came up to him and dragged him away and brought him 26before 27the 28Council. 13They put forward 29false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this 30holy place and the Law;