Now in these days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a murmuring of the {Greek: Hellenists.}Grecian Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
And the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not {Greek: pleasing.}fit that we should forsake the word of God, and {Or, minister to tables}serve tables.
{Some ancient authorities read But, brethren, look ye out from among you.}Look ye out therefore, brethren, from among you seven men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
But we will continue stedfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the word.
And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus a proselyte of Antioch;
whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands upon them.
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought great wonders and signs among the people.
But there arose certain of them that were of the synagogue called the synagogue of the {Or, Freemen}Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen.
And they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake.
Then they suborned men, who said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and seized him, and brought him into the council,
and set up false witnesses, who said, This man ceaseth not to speak words against this holy place, and the law:
for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto us.
And all that sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
Querverweise zu Apostelgeschichte 6,14 Apg 6,14
while Paul said in his defense, Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Cæsar, have I sinned at all.
Thus saith Jehovah, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will ye build unto me? and what place shall be my rest?
For all these things hath my hand made, and so all these things came to be, saith Jehovah: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word.
He that killeth an ox is as he that slayeth a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as he that breaketh a dog's neck; he that offereth {Or, a meal-offering}an oblation, as he that offereth swine's blood; he that {Hebrew: maketh a memorial of.}burneth frankincense, as he that blesseth an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations:
I also will choose their {Or, mockings}delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not.
Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hate you, that cast you out for my name's sake, have said, Let Jehovah be glorified, that we may see your joy; but it is they that shall be put to shame.
A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Jehovah that rendereth recompense to his enemies.
And ye shall leave your name for {Hebrew: an oath.}a curse unto my chosen; and the Lord Jehovah will slay thee; and he will call his servants by another name:
Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, are these.
For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor;
if ye oppress not the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:
then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even for evermore.
Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known,
and come and stand before me in this house, {Hebrew: whereupon my name is called.}which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered; that ye may do all these abominations?
Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, saith Jehovah.
But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
And now, because ye have done all these works, saith Jehovah, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not:
therefore will I do unto the house which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.
And I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.
And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an oblation unto Jehovah, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring their oblation in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah.
And of them also will I take for priests and for Levites, saith Jehovah.
then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Jehovah.
And it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that Jehovah had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold on him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
Why hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant? And all the people were gathered unto Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah.
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without {Or, obelisk}pillar, and without ephod or teraphim:
Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, Jehovah sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.
What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise hath been made; and it was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.
{Hebrew: Micaiah.}Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
But before faith came, we were kept in ward under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and {Or, there shall be none belonging to him}shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the {Or, elements 2 Peter 3:10, 12}rudiments of the world:
but when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
Now if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it hath the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron?
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
For he of whom these things are said {Greek: hath partaken of. See chapter 2:14}belongeth to another tribe, from which no man hath given attendance at the altar.
For it is evident that our Lord hath sprung out of Judah; as to which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priests.
And what we say is yet more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Melchizedek there ariseth another priest,
who hath been made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an {Greek: indissoluble.}endless life:
for it is witnessed of him, {Psalms 110:4}Thou art a priest for everAfter the order of Melchizedek.
For there is a disannulling of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness
(for the law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw nigh unto God.
Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
But now hath he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second.
For {Some ancient authorities read finding fault with it, he saith unto them &c.}finding fault with them, he saith, {Jeremiah 31:31 ff}Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,That I will {Greek: accomplish.}make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathersIn the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt;For they continued not in my covenant,And I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
For this is the covenant that {Greek: I will covenant.}I will make with the house of IsraelAfter those days, saith the Lord;I will put my laws into their mind,And on their heart also will I write them:And I will be to them a God,And they shall be to me a people:
And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen,And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord:For all shall know me,From the least to the greatest of them.
For I will be merciful to their iniquities,And their sins will I remember no more.
In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. But that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is nigh unto vanishing away.
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
which is a figure for the time present; according to which are offered both gifts and sacrifices that cannot, as touching the conscience, make the worshipper perfect,
being only (with meats and drinks and divers washings) carnal ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation.
But Christ having come a high priest of {Some ancient authorities read the good things that are come.}the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,
And Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way; and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple.
For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things, {Many ancient authorities read they can.}can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect them that draw nigh.
Else would they not have ceased to be offered? because the worshippers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins.
But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year.
For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, {Psalm 11:6 ff}Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,But a body didst thou prepare for me;
In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure:
Then said I, Lo, I am come(In the roll of the book it is written of me)To do thy will, O God.
Saying above, Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein (the which are offered according to the law),
then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
{Or, In}By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every {Some ancient authorities read high priest.}priest indeed standeth day by day ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, the which can never take away sins:
but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for {Or, sins, for ever sat down &c.}sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet.
For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
And the Holy Spirit also beareth witness to us; for after he hath said,
{Jeremiah 31:33 f.}This is the covenant that {Greek: I will covenant.}I will make with themAfter those days, saith the Lord:I will put my laws on their heart,And upon their mind also will I write them;then saith he,
And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
But he answered and said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, {Haggai 2:6.}Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.
Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have {Or, thankfulness Compare 1 Corinthians 10:30.}grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with {Or, godly fear Compare chapter 5:7.}reverence and awe:
We heard him say, I will destroy this {Or, sanctuary}temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her own brood under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and I say unto you, ye shall not see me, until ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father.