And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.'
And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
" 'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith[2] even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.
And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.