One day some men came and started to argue with Stephen. But they couldn’t stand up against Stephen’s answers. So they persuaded some men to lie about him. The lies made the crowd very angry. Stephen was arrested and brought before the council.
When the high priests asked Stephen if the things the men had said were true, Stephen did not answer “Yes” or “No.” Instead he told them how, one after another, the rulers had ignored God’s voice and killed His prophets. Then he said, “Now you have rejected and murdered God’s most important Messenger, His Son, Jesus.”
At this, the angry mob rushed at him, seized hold of him and dragged him outside the city. They picked up rocks and began to hurl them at him. As he was being stoned, Stephen sank to his knees.
“Lord Jesus,” he prayed, “receive my spirit.” And, thinking of his persecutors he cried out, “Please do not hold this sin against them!” Then he fell to the ground and died.
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