1 I de dager, da antallet av disiplene økte, klaget de greske jødene mot hebreerne, fordi deres enker ble oversett i den daglige matutdelingen.

Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was increasing, protests were made by the Greek Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were not taken care of in the distribution of food every day.

2 Da kalte apostlene sammen alle disiplene og sa: Det er ikke rett at vi forsømmer forkynnelsen av Guds ord for å ta oss av matutdelingen.

And the Apostles sent for all the disciples and said, It is not right for us to give up preaching the word of God in order to make distribution of food.

3 Velg derfor ut blant dere sju menn med godt navn, fylt av Ånden og visdom, så vi kan sette dem over denne oppgaven.

Take then from among you seven men of good name, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, to whom we may give control of this business.

4 Vi vil da vie oss helt til bønnen og forkynnelsen av ordet.

Then we will give all our time to prayer and the teaching of the word.

5 Dette forslaget likte alle godt, og de valgte Stefanus, en mann full av tro og Den Hellige Ånd, samt Filip og Prokurus, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas og Nikolaus fra Antiokia, en som hadde blitt jøde.

And this saying was pleasing to all of them: and they made selection of Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas of Antioch, who had become a Jew:

6 Disse ble ført fram for apostlene, og etter at de hadde bedt, la de hendene på dem.

These they took to the Apostles, who, after prayer, put their hands on them.

7 Og Guds ord spredte seg, antallet av disiplene i Jerusalem ble svært stort, og en stor mengde prester ble lydige mot troen.

And the word of God was increasing in power; and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem became very great, and a great number of priests were in agreement with the faith.

8 Stefanus, full av nåde og kraft, gjorde store under og tegn blant folket.

And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

9 Men noen fra synagogen som kaltes frigjortenes, og noen fra Kyrene og Aleksandria samt fra Kilikia og Asia, startet diskusjoner med Stefanus.

But some of those who were of the Synagogue named that of the Libertines, and some of the men of Cyrene and of Alexandria and those from Cilicia and Asia, had arguments with Stephen.

10 Men de kunne ikke motstå visdommen og Ånden som hans ord var fulle av.

But they were not able to get the better of him, for his words were full of wisdom and of the Spirit.

11 Da fikk de noen menn til å si: Vi har hørt ham tale blasfemisk mot Moses og mot Gud.

Then they got men to say, He has said evil against Moses and against God, in our hearing.

12 De hisset opp folket, lederne og de skriftlærde, og kom og tok ham med til Rådet.

And the people, with the rulers and the scribes, were moved against him, and they came and took him before the Sanhedrin,

13 De satte fram falske vitner som sa: Denne mannen taler stadig mot dette hellige stedet og loven.

And they got false witnesses who said, This man is for ever saying things against this holy place and against the law:

14 For vi har hørt ham si at denne Jesus fra Nasaret skal ødelegge dette stedet og endre lovene som Moses ga oss.

For he has said in our hearing that this Jesus of Nazareth will put this place to destruction and make changes in the rules which were handed down to us by Moses.

15 Alle som satt i Rådet, betraktet ham og så at ansiktet hans var som ansiktet til en engel.

And all those who were in the Sanhedrin, looking at him, saw that his face was like the face of an angel.