6 Then they put these men before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 The word of God was continuing to spread. The group of followers in Jerusalem increased, and a great number of the Jewish priests believed and obeyed.
8 Stephen was richly blessed by God who gave him the power to do great miracles and signs among the people.
9 But some people were against him. They belonged to the synagogue of Free Men (as it was called), which included people from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia. They all came and argued with Stephen.
10 But the Spirit was helping him to speak with wisdom, and his words were so strong that they could not argue with him.
11 So they secretly urged some men to say, “We heard Stephen speak against Moses and against God.”
12 This upset the people, the elders, and the teachers of the law. They came and grabbed Stephen and brought him to a meeting of the leaders.