As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “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.
- BSB While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “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!”
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 23:46Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Having said this, he breathed his last.
- Ps 31:5Into your hand I commend my spirit. You redeem me, Yahweh, God of truth.
- Acts 22:16Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
- Acts 9:14Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”
- Joel 2:32It will happen that whoever will call on Yahweh’s name shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
- 1 Cor 1:2to the assembly of God which is at Corinth; those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours:
- Acts 2:21It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
- Acts 9:21All who heard him were amazed, and said, “Isn’t this he who in Jerusalem made havoc of those who called on this name? And he had come here intending to bring them bound before the chief priests!”
- Rom 10:12–14For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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
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