Acts 7:1-8

The high priest asked, “Are these accusations true?” Stephen replied, “My fellow Jews and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was living in Iraq and before he moved to Haran in Syria. God said to him, ‘Go! Leave behind your country and your relatives. Begin your journey and come to the land that I will show you.’ “So Abraham left southeastern Iraq and began his journey. He settled in Haran and stayed there until his father passed away. Then God had him move to the land of Israel with only a promise. Although God gave him no parcel of land he could call his own, not even a footprint, yet he promised Abraham that he and his descendants would one day have it all. And even though as yet Abraham had no child, God spoke with him and gave him this promise: ‘Your descendants will live in a foreign land with a people who will make slaves of them and oppress them for four hundred years. But I will judge the nation that enslaves them, and your descendants will be set free to return to this land to serve and worship me.’ “Then God entered into covenant with Abraham, which included the requirement of circumcision. So when he became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him eight days after his birth.