Acts 7:17

Stephen kept on talking to the men of the Jewish Leaders Council. He said, “Remember, a long time before that, God told Abraham, ‘I will give you a big family, and they will become a great nation.’ And God also said, ‘Your family will move to another country, but after 400 years I will bring your family back and give them this country.’ So Abraham’s family lived in Egypt, and they had lots of kids and grand-kids, and those families grew into a big mob of people. Then it was almost time for God to bring them back to this country.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

In Context

16Later, their grand-kids took their bodies back to the place called Shekem, and they buried them in a cave. A long time before that, Jacob’s grand-father Abraham bought that cave from Hamor’s family. He paid the full price for that cave.”

18Then, a new man became Egypt’s big boss. That new big boss didn’t know anything about Joseph.

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Cross References

Genesis 15:13God said to Abram, “I want you to know for sure what will happen after you get really old. You don’t have to worry about anything. You see, you will live to be a very old man, and then, when you are dying, you will feel good inside, and your family will bury you right here, in this country. But I have to tell you something. After you die, your family will leave this country and move to another country that belongs to other people. Your family will live in that country, and later on, the other people in that country will make your family like prisoners, and your family will have to work very hard for them. Those people will do really bad things to your family for 400 years. After that, I will save your family from that hard time, and I will punish those people for doing bad things to your family. Then your family will leave that country, and they will take a lot of animals and things with them. They will be really rich.

Acts 7:6But God told him, ‘You will have grand-kids, and more grand-kids after them. Your family will go to a country that belongs to other people, to live there. Those people will treat your family really bad and make them work hard for no pay. They will do that for 400 years.

2 Peter 3:8But, my friends, don’t forget this one thing about God. He can use time in a different way. God can make one day be like 1,000 years, and he can make 1,000 years be like one day.

Matthew Henry on Acts 7:2-17

Stephen's Address. 1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so? 2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. 4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. 5… Read the whole commentary →

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