While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Parallel translations
- WEB They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
- KJV And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
- NKJV And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
- NASB They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
- NLT As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
As they stoned him, Stephen prayed for the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit. His dying faith rested wholly in the risen Christ.
Overview
Stephen commits his spirit to Jesus, echoing Jesus' own words from the cross (Luke 23:46) but addressing them to Christ. This prayer is a striking confession of Jesus' deity and lordship, entrusting his soul to Him as to God. His peaceful faith in death testifies to the hope believers have in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Luke 23:46Then Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” And when He had said this, He breathed His last.
- Ps 31:5Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD, God of truth.
- Acts 22:16And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’
- Acts 9:14And now he is here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.”
- Joel 2:32And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has promised, among the remnant called by the LORD.
- 1 Cor 1:2To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
- Acts 2:21And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
- Acts 9:21All who heard him were astounded and asked, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem on those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
- Rom 10:12–14For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 7:59 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.