1At that time, as the number of followers grew, a complaint arose. The Greek-speaking Jewish Christians complained against the Hebrew-speaking Jewish Christians because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
2So the twelve apostles called all the followers together and said, “It's not right for us to stop preaching God's word to serve food.
3Therefore, brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be good, full of the Holy Spirit, and wise. We will put them in charge of this task.
4But we will focus on prayer and on the ministry of the word.”
5Everyone liked this idea. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus (who was a convert to Judaism from Antioch).
6They brought these men before the apostles, who prayed and then laid their hands on them.
7The word of God continued to spread. The number of followers in Jerusalem grew very large, and many of the priests also became obedient to the faith.
8Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.
9But some people from the synagogue called "The Freedmen" (which included Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia) began to argue with Stephen.
10However, they could not stand up against the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.
11So they secretly convinced some men to say, "We heard him speak insulting words against Moses and God."
12They stirred up the people, the elders, and the religious teachers. Then they came, seized Stephen, and brought him before the High Council.
13They brought in false witnesses who declared, "This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the Law.
14For we heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses passed down to us."
15Everyone in the council stared at Stephen, and his face looked to them like the face of an angel.