Acts 7:17-36

New International Reader's Version

¹⁷ “In Egypt the number of our people grew and grew. It was nearly time for God to make his promise to Abraham come true. ¹⁸ Then ‘a new king came to power in Egypt. Joseph didn’t mean anything to him.’ (Exodus 1:8) ¹⁹ The king was very evil and dishonest with our people. He treated them badly. He forced them to throw out their newborn babies to die.

²⁰ “At that time Moses was born. He was not an ordinary child. For three months he was taken care of by his family. ²¹ Then he was placed outside. But Pharaoh’s daughter took him home. She brought him up as her own son. ²² Moses was taught all the knowledge of the people of Egypt. He became a powerful speaker and a man of action.

²³ “When Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit the people of Israel. They were his own people. ²⁴ He saw one of them being treated badly by an Egyptian. So he went to help him. He got even by killing the man. ²⁵ Moses thought his own people would realize that God was using him to save them. But they didn’t. ²⁶ The next day Moses saw two Israelites fighting. He tried to make peace between them. ‘Men, you are both Israelites,’ he said. ‘Why do you want to hurt each other?’

²⁷ “But the man who was treating the other one badly pushed Moses to one side. He said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? ²⁸ Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ (Exodus 2:14) ²⁹ When Moses heard this, he escaped to Midian. He lived there as an outsider. He became the father of two sons there.

³⁰ “Forty years passed. Then an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush. This happened in the desert near Mount Sinai. ³¹ When Moses saw the bush, he was amazed. He went over for a closer look. There he heard the Lord say, ³² ‘I am the God of your fathers. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ (Exodus 3:6) Moses shook with fear. He didn’t dare to look.

³³ “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals. You must do this because the place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴ I have seen my people beaten down in Egypt. I have heard their groans. I have come down to set them free. Now come. I will send you back to Egypt.’ (Exodus 3:5,7,8,10)

³⁵ “This is the same Moses the two men of Israel would not accept. They had said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ But God himself sent Moses to rule the people of Israel and set them free. He spoke to Moses through an angel. The angel had appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ So Moses led them out of Egypt. He did wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for 40 years in the desert.