Bible-Center

Orthodox readings for 27 April 2026

King James Version (en)

Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 6,  verses 8-15

5 of whom Steven, a man full of faith and the holy Ghost, is one, 12 who is taken of those whom he confounded in disputing, 13 and after falsely accused of blasphemy against the Law and the temple
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 7,  verses 1-5

1 Steven, permitted to answer to the accusation of blasphemy, 2 showeth that Abraham worshipped God rightly, and how God chose the Fathers
Then said the high priest, Are these things so?
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,
And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
Comments:
Comments on the current fragment
Comments on the book
Comments on the part

6 


6:9 There arose certain of the synagogue which is called - It was one and the same synagogue which consisted of these several nations. Saul of Cilicia was doubtless a member of it; whence it is not at all improbable, that Gamaliel presided over it.Libertines - So they were styled, whose fathers were once slaves, and afterward made free. This was the ease of many Jews who had been taken captive by the Romans.


6:14 We have heard him say - So they might. But yet the consequence they drew would not follow.


6:15 As the face of an angel - Covered with supernatural lustre.They reckoned his preaching of Jesus to be the Christ was destroying Moses and the law; and God bears witness to him, with the same glory as he did to Moses, when he gave the law by him.


7 


7:2 And he said - St. Stephen had been accused of blasphemy against Moses, and even against God; and of speaking against the temple and the law, threatening that Jesus would destroy the one, and change the other. In answer to this accusation, rehearsing as it were the articles of his historical creed, he speaks of God with high reverence, and a grateful sense of a long series of acts of goodness to the Israelites, and of Moses with great respect, on account of his important and honourable employments under God: of the temple with regard, as being built to the honour of God; yet not with such superstition as the Jews; putting them in mind, that no temple could comprehend God. And he was going on, no doubt, when he was interrupted by their clamour, to speak to the last point, the destruction of the temple, and the change of the law by Christ. Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken - The sum of his discourse is this: I acknowledge the glory of God revealed to the fathers, Act 7:2 the calling of Moses, Act 7:34 etc ; the dignity of the law, Act 7:8, Act 7:38, Act 7:44; the holiness of this place, Act 7:7, Act 7:45, Act 7:47. And indeed the law is more ancient than the temple; the promise more ancient than the law. For God showed himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their children freely, Act 7:2, Act 7:9, Act 7:17, Act 7:32, Act 7:34-35, and they showed faith and obedience to God, Act 7:4, Act 7:20, Act 7:23 particularly by their regard for the law, Act 7:8 and the promised land, Act 7:16. Act 7:16 Meantime, God never confined his presence to this one place or to the observers of the law. For he hath been acceptably worshipped before the law was given, or the temple built, and out of this land, Act 7:2, Act 7:9, Act 7:33, Act 7:44. And that our fathers and their posterity were not tied down to this land, their various sojournings, Act 7:4, Act 7:14, Act 7:29, Act 7:44 and exile, Act 7:43, show. But you and your fathers have always been evil, Act 7:9; have withstood Moses, Act 7:25, Act 7:39; have despised the land, Act 7:39, forsaken God, Act 7:40, superstitiously honoured the temple, Act 7:48, resisted God and his Spirit, Act 7:50, killed the prophets and the Messiah himself, Act 7:51, and kept not the law for which ye contend, Act 7:53. Therefore God is not bound to you; much less to you alone. And truly this solemn testimony of Stephen is most worthy of his character, as a man full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith and power: in which, though he does not advance so many regular propositions, contradictory to those of his adversaries, yet he closely and nervously answers them all. Nor can we doubt but he would, from these premises, have drawn inferences touching the destruction of the temple, the abrogation of the Mosaic law, the punishment of that rebellious people; and above all, touching Jesus of Nazareth, the true Messiah, had not his discourse been interrupted by the clamours of the multitude, stopping their ears, and rushing upon him. Men, brethren, and fathers - All who are here present, whether ye are my equals in years, or of more advanced age. The word which in this and in many other places is rendered men is a mere expletive. The God of glory - The glorious God, appeared to Abraham before he dwelt in Haran - Therefore Abraham knew God, long before he was in this land. Gen 12:1.


7:3 Which I will show thee - Abraham knew not where he went.


7:4 After his father was dead - While Terah lived, Abraham lived partly with him, partly in Canaan: but after he died, altogether in Canaan.


7:5 No, not to set his foot on - For the field mentioned, Act 7:16, he did not receive by a Divine donation, butbought it; even thereby showing that he was a stranger in the land.


Hide

Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 7,  verses 47-60

44 and that all outward ceremonies were ordained according to the heavenly pattern to last but for a time, 51 reprehending their rebellion and murdering of Christ, the Just One, whom the prophets foretold should come into the world, 54 whereupon they stone him to death, who commendeth his soul to Jesus, and humbly prayeth for them
47 But Solomon built him an house.
48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
50 Hath not my hand made all these things?
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Comments:
Comments on the current fragment
Comments on the book
Comments on the part

7 


7:48 Yet the Most High inhabiteth not temples made with hands - As Solomon declared at the very dedication of the temple, Ki1 8:27.The Most High - Whom as such no building can contain. Isa 66:1.


7:49 What is the place of my rest? - Have I need to rest?


7:51 Ye stiff necked - Not bowing the neck to God's yoke; and uncircumcised in heart - So they showed themselves, Act 7:54; and ears - As they showed, Act 7:57. So far were they from receiving the word of God into theirhearts, that they would not hear it even with their ears.Ye - And your fathers, always - As often as ever ye are called, resist the Holy Ghost - Testifying by the prophets of Jesus, and the whole truth. This is the sum of what he had shown at large.


7:53 Who have received the law by the administration of angels - God, when he gave the law on Mount Sinai, was attended withthousands of his angels, Gal 3:19; Psa 68:17.


7:55 But he looking steadfastly up to heaven, saw the glory of God - Doubtless he saw such a glorious representation, God miraculously operating on his imagination, as on Ezekiel's, when he sat in his house at Babylon, and saw Jerusalem, and seemed to himself transported thither, Eze 8:1-4. And probably other martyrs, when called to suffer the last extremity, have had extraordinary assistance of some similar kind.


7:56 I see the Son of man standing - As if it were just ready to receive him. Otherwise he is said to sit at the right hand of God.


7:57 They rushed upon him - Before any sentence passed.


7:58 The witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man, whose name was Saul - O Saul, couldst thou have believed, if one had told thee, that thou thyself shouldst be stoned in the same cause? and shouldst triumph in committing thy soul likewise to that Jesus whom thou art now blaspheming? His dying prayer reached thee, as well as many others. And the martyr Stephen, and Saul the persecutor, (afterward his brother both in faith and martyrdom,) are now joined in everlasting friendship, and dwell together in the happy company of those who have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.


7:59 And they stoned Stephen, invoking and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit - This is the literal translation of the words, the name of God not being in the original. Nevertheless such a solemn prayer to Christ, in which a departing soul is thus committed into his hands, is such an act of worship, as no good man could have paid to a mere creature; Stephen here worshipping Christ in the very same manner in which Christ worshipped the Father on the cross.


Hide

John, Chapter 4,  verses 46-54

43 He departeth into Galilee, and healeth the Ruler's son that lay sick at Capernaum
46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.
47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.
48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.
50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.
51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.
52 Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.
54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.
Read more:John, Chapter 5
Comments:
Comments on the current fragment
Comments on the book
Comments on the part

4 


4:47 To come down - For Cana stood much higher than Capernaum.


4:48 Unless ye see signs and wonders - Although the Samaritans believed without them.


4:52 He asked the hour when he amended - The more exactly the works of God are considered, the more faith is increased.


Hide

After registering, you can subscribe to any Bible reading plan.

Personalized settings and other services for registered users are planned, so we recommend registering now. Registration is free.