'You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!' - Stephen's direct accusation now comes as the climax of his entire recitation. 'Stiff-necked' (sklērotrachēlos) echoes Exodus 33:3 and 34:9, but Stephen applies it to the contemporary Sanhedrin. 'Uncircumcised in heart and ears' is spiritual language: you are physically circumcised (thus part of the covenant people) but spiritually unreceptive to God's word. The accusation 'You always resist the Holy Spirit' (humeis aei antipiptete tō pneumati tō hagiō) is absolute: this is not a moment of error but a pattern of rebellion.

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