Acts 6

1In those days, more and more people were becoming disciples. The Jews among them who spoke Greek began to complain against the Jews who spoke Hebrew, because the Greek-speaking widows were not getting their fair share of food each day.

2So the twelve apostles gathered all the disciples together and said: It would not be right for us to stop teaching God's word so that we can serve food instead.

3Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them,

4And will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.

5This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, along with Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.

6They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

8Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.

9But some people stood against Stephen. They were from a synagogue called the Synagogue of the Freed Slaves. These Jews came from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia, and they began to argue with Stephen.

10But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

11Then they secretly paid some men to say: We have heard Stephen say evil, insulting words against Moses and against God.

12So they stirred up the people, the elders, and the teachers of the law. They grabbed Stephen and brought him before the council.

13They brought in false witnesses who said: This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.

14For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses gave to us.

15All who were sitting in the council looked closely at Stephen, and they saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.