Acts 7:54-60·~1 min

The Stoning of Stephen

The council is enraged at Stephen's words, but Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looks into heaven and sees the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand. He says aloud that he sees heaven opened and the Son of Man standing there.

O⁵⁴n hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

At that, the council covers its ears, cries out, rushes together at Stephen, drags him out of the city, and begins to stone him. The witnesses lay their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁷At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him. ⁵⁸They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

As they stone him, Stephen asks the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit. Falling to his knees, he also asks that this sin not be held against them, and then he falls asleep.

⁵⁹While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Section summaryStephen's words enrage the Sanhedrin, but filled with the Holy Spirit he looks into heaven and sees God's glory and Jesus standing at God's right hand. The council rushes on him, stones him outside the city while Saul watches over the witnesses' garments, and Stephen dies praying to Jesus both for his own spirit and for his killers' sin.

Role in the chapterThis closing movement shows Stephen's witness carried all the way through death. The speech ends not in silence but in vision, prayer, and a death that echoes the mercy of the Lord Stephen sees.