Gevurot 7
Orthodox Jewish Bible
7 And the Kohen Gadol said, "Are these things so?"
2 And Stefanos said, "Achim and Avot, hear me! Elohei Hakavod appeared to Avraham Avinu while he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Charan [TEHILLIM 29:3; BERESHIS 11:31; 15:7]
3 “And Hashem said to Avram, ‘Depart from your country and from your people and come to the land which I shall show you.') [Gn 12:1; 48:4]
4 "Then having departed from the land of the Chaldeans, he settled in Charan. And from there, after the mavet of his Av, he was settled by Hashem here in this land in which we now are living. [BERESHIS 12:5]
5 "And Hashem did not give to him a nachalah (inheritance) in it nor AD MIDRACH KAF REGEL ("even enough to put your foot on" DEVARIM 2:5); and yet, even when he had no ben, the havtachah (promise) of Hashem to him was ES HAARETZ HAZOT E’TEN ("This land I will give") to him and to his zera (seed) after him. [DEVARIM 2:5; BERESHIS 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 26:3; 48:4]
6 "And Hashem spoke thus, that GER YIHIYEH ZAR’ACHA ("your seed will be strangers (aliens)") in another’s [i.e., foreign] land and them they will enslave and they will mistreat them ARBA ME’OT SHANAH ("four hundred years"). [Gn 15:13f; Ex 1:8 11; 12:40]
7 "V’GAM ES HAGOY ASHER YA’AVODU DAN ANOCHI ("And whatever nation to which they shall be in bondage I myself will judge" said Hashem, VACHAREI KHEN YETZU ("And after that they will come out") and serve me in this place." [BERESHIS 15:13,14; SHEMOT 3:12]
8 "And he gave to him bris milah. And thus Avraham Avinu became the father of Yitzchak and he did his bris milah on the Yom HaShemini and Yitzchak became the father of Ya’akov and Ya’akov of the Sheneym Asar HaAvot. [BERESHIS 17:9-14; 21:2-4; 25:26; 29:31-35; 30:5-13, 17-24; 35:16-26]
9 "And the Avot had kinah toward Yosef and sold him into Mitzrayim (Egypt), and Hashem was with him. [Gn 37:4,11:28; 37:28; Ps 105:17; Gn 39:1,2,21,23; 45:4; Hag 2:4]
10 "And Hashem delivered Yosef from all his tzoros and gave to him Chen v’Chesed Hashem and chochmah before Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim (Egypt) and he appointed him his grand vizier to rule over Mitzrayim and over his whole bais. [Gn 41:37-45; Ps 105:20-22]
11 "Now a famine came over all Mitzrayim (Egypt) and Canaan and tzarah gedolah (great tribulation) and Avoteinu were not finding okhel. [Gn 41:54; 42:2,5]
12 "And when Ya’akov Avinu heard that there was grain in Mitzrayim (Egypt), he sent Avoteinu there pa’am harishonah (the first time). [BERESHIS 42:1,2]
13 "And on the second visit Yosef was recognized by his Achim, and Yosef’s mishpochah became known to Pharaoh. [Gn 45:1 4, 16]
14 "And having sent, Yosef summoned Ya’akov his Abba and all his mishpochah, SHIVIM (Seventy, BERESHIS 46:27) nefashot (souls). [Gn 45:9,10; 46:26,27; Ex 1:5; Dt 10:22]
15 "And Ya’akov Avinu went down to Mitzrayim (Egypt) and he died, as did Avoteinu. [Gn 46:5 7; 49:33; Ex 1:6]
16 "And they were brought back to Shechem and were placed in the kever (tomb) which Avraham bought for a sum of silver from the banim of Chamor in Shechem. [Gn 23:16-20; 33:18, 19; 50:13; Josh 24:32]
17 "Now as the time of the havtachah (promise) was drawing near, which Hashem promised to Avraham Avinu, the people grew and were multiplied in Mitzrayim [Ex 1:7; Ps 105:24]
18 "Until over Mitzrayim there appeared a MELECH CHADASH ASHER LO YADA ES YOSEF ("a new king who knew not Yosef"). [Ex 1:7,8]
19 "This king exploited by his shrewdness our nation and mistreated Avoteinu so as to make their ollelim (infants) exposed in order not to keep them alive. [Ex 1:10-22]
20 "And at this time Moshe Rabbenu was born and he was well pleasing to Hashem; and he was nurtured for shloshah chodashim in the bais of his abba. [Ex 2:2]
21 "And after he had been exposed, the bat Pharaoh took Moshe Rabbeinu away, and brought him up as her own son.[Ex 2:3-10]
22 "And Moshe Rabbenu was instructed in all the chochmah of the Egyptians and in dvarim (words) and pe’ulot (deeds) he was given ko’ach. [1Kgs 4:30; Isa 19:11]
23 "But when arba’im shanah of his days were completed, it entered into his lev (heart) to visit his Achim of the Bnei Yisroel. [Ex 2:11]
24 "And having seen one of them being treated unjustly he retaliated and brought yashrus (justice) for the one being oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. [Ex 2:12]
25 "Now he was assuming that his achim had binah that Hashem by the hand of Moshe was giving Yeshu’at Eloheinu to them, but they did not have binah (understanding).
26 "And on the next day he came to them as they were fighting and Moshe was trying to reconcile them in shalom, saying, ‘Anashim, you are achim, why are you injuring one another?’ [Ex 2:13]
27 "But the one injuring his re’a pushed Moshe aside, saying MI SAMECHA L’ISH SAR V’SHOFET ALENU ("Who made you ruler and judge over us?"—Ex 2:14)
28 "HALEHARGENI ATAH OMER KA’ASHER HARAGTA yesterday ES HAMITZRI ("You do not mean to kill me in the same manner as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?")
29 "And Moshe Rabbenu fled at this dvar and became a stranger in eretz Midyan, where he became the father of shnei banim. [Ex 2:11-15]
30 "And at the fulfillment of arba’im shanah a MALACH appeared to him BELABAT EISH MITOCH HASENEH ("in flame of fire from within a burning thorn bush") in the desert of the mountain Sinai. [Ex 3:1-2]
31 "And Moshe Rabbenu having seen this, was mishpoyel (standing in awe) at the chazon and, as he was approaching it to look more closely, there came the kol (voice) of Hashem, [Ex 3:1-4]
32 "I am the G-d of your Avot, I am the G-d of Avraham and the G-d of Yitzchak and the G-d of Ya’akov". But Moshe Rabbenu was trembling with pachad and was not daring to look. [SHEMOT 3:6]
33 "And Hashem said to him, SAL NE’ALECHA ME’AL RAGLECHA ("Take off your sandals from your feet") for the place on which you have stood is admat kodesh (holy ground)." [Ex 3:5; Josh 5:15]
34 "I have seen the ONI AMMI ASHER B’MITZRAYIM ("misery of my people in Mitzrayim [Egypt]") and the groaning of them I heard and I came down to deliver them. And now come that I may send you to Mitzrayim (Egypt). [SHEMOT 3:5,7-10; 2:24]
35 "This Moshe whom they denied, having said MI SAMECHA L’ISH SAR V’SHOFET? ("Who made you a ruler and a judge?") is the one whom G-d sent to be both SAR (ruler) and GO’EL (redeemer) with the help of the malach having appeared to him in the thorn bush. [SHEMOT 2:14]
36 "This one led them out, effecting moftim and otot in eretz Mitzrayim (Egypt) and in the Yam Suf and in the midbar arba’im shanah. [SHEMOT 7:3, 12:41; 33:1; 11:10; 14:21; 15:25; 17:5,6; BAMIDBAR 14:33]
37 "This is the Moshe who said to the Bnei Yisroel NAVI MIKIRBECHA ME’ACHECHA KAMONI YAKIM ("A prophet from among you from your brothers like me [Moshe] Hashem will raise up.") [DEVARIM 18:15,18]
38 "This is the one having been in the kahal (assembly) in the midbar together with the malach speaking to him at the mountain of Sinai, who was with Avoteinu; he is the one who received torat chayyim to give to us. [SHEMOT 19:17; VAYIKRA 27:34; DEVARIM 32:45-47]
39 "And Avoteinu were not willing to have mishma’at (obedience) to Moshe Rabbenu, but they pushed him aside and they turned their levavot back to Mitzrayim, (Egypt) [BAMIDBAR 14:3,4]
40 "Having said to Aharon, Make for us g-ds who will go before us; for this Moshe who led us out of the land of Egypt we do not know what happened to him"). [SHEMOT 32:1,23]
41 "And at that time they made an egel (calf) and brought a sacrifice offering to the elil (idol) and were taking delight in the ma’asim (works) of their hands. [SHEMOT 32:4-6; TEHILLIM 106:19,20]
42 "But Hashem turned away and handed them over to serve the tzeva Shomayim, just as it has been written in the sefer haNevi’im, HAZEVACHIM UMINCHAH HIGASHTEM LI BAMIDBAR ARBA’IM SHANAH, BET YISROEL ("It was not to me that you offered victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, O House of Israel?") [AMOS 5:25-27; YEHOSHUA 24:20; YESHAYAH 63:10; YIRMEYAH 19:13]
43 "You also took up the ohel of Moloch and the KOKHAV of your g-d Reifan, the tzelamim (idols) which you made to worship them; therefore N’HIGLEITI ETKHEM MEHALAH ("I will exile you beyond") Babylon. [YIRMEYAH 7:18, TARGUM HASHIVIM 19:13; AMOS 5:27]
44 "Avoteinu had the Mishkan HaEdut in the midbar just as the One who spoke to Moshe [Rabbeinu] directed him to make it according to the TAVNIT (pattern) which he had seen. [Ex 27:21; 38:21; Num 1:50; 17:7; Ex 25:8,9,40; Josh 3:14; 18:1]
45 "And having received it in their turn, Avoteinu brought it in with Yehoshua (Joshua) upon the dispossessing of the land of the Goyim, which Hashem drove out from the presence of Avoteinu until the yamim of Dovid. [Josh 3:14-17; 18:1; 23:9; 24:18; Ps 44:2; 2Sm 7:2,6; Gn 17:8; 48:4; Dt 32:49]
46 "And Dovid found Chen v’Chesed Hashem before G-d, and asked that he might find a mishkan for Elohei Ya’akov. [SHMUEL BAIS 7:2, 8-16;MELACHIM ALEF 8:17; TEHILLIM 132:1-5]
47 "And Sh’lomo (Solomon) built for him a Beis. [MELACHIM ALEF 6:1-38]
48 "But HaElyon does not dwell in battim made by human hands, just as the Navi (prophet) says, [MELACHIM ALEF 8:27; MELACHIM BAIS 2:6]
49 "HASHOMAYIM KISSI V’HAARETZ HADOM RAGLAI ("Heaven is my throne and earth is the footstool for my feet"). EI-ZEH BAYIT ASHER TIVNU LI ("What kind of House will you build for me?") says Hashem, V’EI ZEH MAKOM MENUCHATI ("Or where will my resting place be?")
50 "Did not my hand ASATAH (make) all these things?" [YESHAYAH 66:1,2]
51 "You AM KESHEH OREF ("stiff-necked people" SHEMOT 33:5), you who are without the “bris milah” of the lev (heart) and of the oznayim (ears), you always resist the Ruach Hakodesh; you are doing like your Avot. [Ex 32:9; 33:3,5; Lv 26:41; Dt 10:16; Jer 4:4; 9:26; Isa 63:10]
52 "Which of the Nevi’im (prophets) did your Avot not persecute? And they killed the ones having announced beforehand about the Bias HaMoshiach, the coming of the Tzaddik of whom now you became bogedim and rotzechim (murderers);
53 "You who received the Torah at the directions of malachim and were not shomer of it."
54 And hearing these things, they were infuriated in their levavot, and they were grinding their teeth at him.
55 But being full of the Ruach Hakodesh and having gazed into Shomayim, Stefanos saw the kavod (glory) of Hashem and Yehoshua standing limin Hashem.
56 And Stefanos said, "Hinei, I see Shomayim having been opened and the Ben HaAdam (Moshiach, DANIEL 7:13-14) standing limin Hashem."
57 And having cried out with a kol gadol, they shut their oznayim and they rushed down with one impulse upon Stefanos.
58 And having driven Stefanos outside the Ir (City), they were stoning him. And the edim took off their garments at the feet of a bochur named Sha’ul. [Lv 24:14,16; Dt 17:7]
59 And they went on stoning Stefanos as he called upon Hashem, saying, "Adoneinu, receive my neshamah." [TEHILLIM 31:5]
60 And having fallen down, he cried out in a kol gadol, "Adoneinu, may this aveirah not be held against them!" And having said this, Stefanos fell asleep.
Acts 7
Complete Jewish Bible
7 The cohen hagadol asked, “Are these accusations true?” 2 and Stephen said:
“Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to Avraham avinu in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran 3 and said to him, ‘Leave your land and your family, and go into the land that I will show you.’[a] 4 So he left the land of the Kasdim and lived in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this land where you are living now. 5 He gave him no inheritance in it, not even space for one foot;[b] yet he promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him,[c] even though at the time he was childless. 6 What God said to him was, ‘Your descendants will be aliens in a foreign land, where they will be in slavery and oppressed for four hundred years. 7 But I will judge the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.’[d] 8 And he gave him b’rit-milah. So he became the father of Yitz’chak and did his b’rit-milah on the eighth day, and Yitz’chak became the father of Ya‘akov, and Ya‘akov became the father of the Twelve Patriarchs.
9 “Now the Patriarchs grew jealous of Yosef and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But Adonai was with him;[e] 10 he rescued him from all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him chief administrator over Egypt and over all his household.[f] 11 Now there came a famine that caused much suffering throughout Egypt and Kena‘an[g] 12 But when Ya‘akov heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 The second time, Yosef revealed his identity to his brothers,[h] and Yosef’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Yosef then sent for his father Ya‘akov and all his relatives, seventy-five people. 15 And Ya‘akov went down to Egypt; there he died, as did our other ancestors. 16 Their bodies were removed to Sh’khem and buried in the tomb Avraham had bought from the family of Hamor in Sh’khem for a certain sum of money.
17 “As the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise God had made to Avraham, the number of our people in Egypt increased greatly, 18 until there arose another king over Egypt who had no knowledge of Yosef.[i] 19 With cruel cunning this man forced our fathers to put their newborn babies outside their homes, so that they would not survive.
20 “It was then that Moshe was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. For three months he was reared in his father’s house; 21 and when he was put out of his home, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 So Moshe was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became both a powerful speaker and a man of action.
23 “But when he was forty years old, the thought came to him to visit his brothers, the people of Isra’el. 24 On seeing one of them being mistreated, he went to his defense and took revenge by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn’t understand. 26 When he appeared the next day, as they were fighting, and tried to make peace between them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers! Why do you want to hurt each other?’ 27 the one who was mistreating his fellow pushed Moshe away and said, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me, the way you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’[j] 29 On hearing this, Moshe fled the country and became an exile in the land of Midyan, where he had two sons.
30 “After forty more years, an angel appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai in the flames of a burning thorn bush. 31 When Moshe saw this, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to get a better look, there came the voice of Adonai, 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.’ But Moshe trembled with fear and didn’t dare to look. 33 Adonai said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have clearly seen how My people are being oppressed in Egypt, I have heard their cry, and I have come down to rescue them, and now I will send you to Egypt.’[k]
35 “This Moshe, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ is the very one whom God sent as both ruler and ransomer by means of the angel that appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 This man led them out, performing miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moshe who said to the people of Isra’el, ‘God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers’[l] 38 This is the man who was in the assembly in the wilderness, accompanied by the angel that had spoken to him at Mount Sinai and by our fathers, the man who was given living words to pass on to us.
39 “But our fathers did not want to obey him. On the contrary, they rejected him and in their hearts turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aharon, ‘Make us some gods to lead us; because this Moshe, who led us out of Egypt — we don’t know what has become of him.’[m] 41 That was when they made an idol in the shape of a calf and offered a sacrifice to it and held a celebration in honor of what they had made with their own hands. 42 So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the stars[n] — as has been written in the book of the prophets,
‘People of Isra’el, it was not to me
that you offered slaughtered animals
and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness!
43 No, you carried the tent of Molekh
and the star of your god Reifan,
the idols you made so that you could worship them.
Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Bavel.’[o]
44 “Our fathers had the Tent of Witness in the wilderness. It had been made just as God, who spoke to Moshe, had ordered it made, according to the pattern Moshe had seen. 45 Later on, our fathers who had received it brought it in with Y’hoshua when they took the Land away from the nations that God drove out before them.
“So it was until the days of David. 46 He enjoyed God’s favor and asked if he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Ya‘akov 47 and Shlomo did build him a house. 48 But Ha‘Elyon does not live in places made by hand! As the prophet says,
49 ‘Heaven is my throne,’ says Adonai,
‘and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house could you build for me?
What kind of place could you devise for my rest?
50 Didn’t I myself make all these things?’[p]
51 “Stiffnecked people,[q] with uncircumcised hearts and ears![r] You continually oppose the Ruach HaKodesh![s] You do the same things your fathers did! 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who told in advance about the coming of the Tzaddik, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers! — 53 you! — who receive the Torah as having been delivered by angels — but do not keep it!”
54 On hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts and ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Ruach HaKodesh, looked up to heaven and saw God’s Sh’khinah, with Yeshua standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look!” he exclaimed, “I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”[t]
57 At this, they began yelling at the top of their voices, so that they wouldn’t have to hear him; and with one accord, they rushed at him, 58 threw him outside the city and began stoning him. And the witnesses laid down their coats at the feet of a young man named Sha’ul.
59 As they were stoning him, Stephen called out to God, “Lord Yeshua! Receive my spirit!” 60 Then he kneeled down and shouted out, “Lord! Don’t hold this sin against them!” With that, he died;
Footnotes
- Acts 7:3 Genesis 12:1
- Acts 7:5 Deuteronomy 2:5
- Acts 7:5 Genesis 12:7; 13:15; 15:4, 7, 18–21; 17:8; 24:7; 48:4
- Acts 7:7 Genesis 15:13–14, 16
- Acts 7:9 Genesis 37:11, 28; 39:1–3, 21, 23
- Acts 7:10 Genesis 41:37–44
- Acts 7:11 Genesis 41:54; 42:5
- Acts 7:13 Genesis 45:1
- Acts 7:18 Exodus 1:7–8
- Acts 7:28 Exodus 2:14
- Acts 7:34 Exodus 3:1–2
- Acts 7:37 Deuteronomy 18:15
- Acts 7:40 Exodus 32:1, 23
- Acts 7:42 Jeremiah 19:13
- Acts 7:43 Amos 5:25–27
- Acts 7:50 Isaiah 66:1–2
- Acts 7:51 Exodus 32:9; 33:3, 5
- Acts 7:51 Leviticus 26:41; Jeremiah 6:10; 9:25(26)
- Acts 7:51 Isaiah 63:10
- Acts 7:56 Psalm 110:1
Handelingen 7
Het Boek
Stefanus voor de Hoge Raad
7 De hogepriester vroeg: ‘Is het waar wat zij zeggen?’ 2 Stefanus antwoordde: ‘Broeders en vaders van ons volk, luister! Toen Abraham nog in Mesopotamië woonde, verscheen God aan hem en zei: 3 “Verlaat uw land en uw familie en ga naar het land, dat Ik u zal wijzen.” 4 Hij trok weg uit zijn vaderland en ging naar Charan. Daar bleef hij wonen tot zijn vader, die met hem mee was gegaan, stierf. Daarna leidde God hem naar dit land, waar u nu woont. 5 Maar God gaf hem er niets van in eigendom, nog geen meter. God beloofde het aan Abrahams nakomelingen te geven, hoewel hij nog steeds geen kinderen had. 6 God zei: “Uw nakomelingen zullen vierhonderd jaar in een vreemd land wonen, ze zullen daar slaven zijn en slecht behandeld worden. 7 Maar het volk dat hen onderdrukt, zal Ik straffen. Daarna zal uw volk wegtrekken en Mij hier op deze plaats dienen en eren.” 8 God zei tegen Abraham dat hij en al zijn nakomelingen besneden moesten worden. Dat zou het teken zijn van Gods verbond met hem. Later werd zijn zoon Isaak geboren. Toen die acht dagen oud was, werd hij besneden. Hetzelfde deed Isaak later bij zijn zoon Jakob. En Jakob deed het ook weer bij zijn twaalf zonen, die de stamvaders van ons volk zijn.
9 Een van Jakobs zonen, Jozef, werd door zijn broers als slaaf verkocht, omdat ze jaloers waren. Jozef kwam in Egypte terecht, maar God liet hem niet aan zijn lot over. 10 Hij haalde hem telkens weer uit de moeilijkheden en gaf hem veel wijsheid. Daardoor kwam Jozef in de gunst bij de farao, de koning van Egypte, die hem aanstelde als gouverneur. Jozef kreeg het bestuur over heel Egypte en over de hofhouding van de farao. 11 In die tijd brak er in Egypte en Kanaän een zware hongersnood uit, zodat Jakob en zijn familie niets meer te eten hadden. 12 Jakob hoorde dat er in Egypte nog wel voedsel was te krijgen en stuurde zijn zonen er naar toe. Later stuurde hij hen nog eens. 13 Bij deze tweede keer vertelde Jozef dat hij hun broer was en hij stelde hen voor aan de farao.
14 Daarna liet Jozef zijn oude vader Jakob en zijn hele familie overkomen, bij elkaar vijfenzeventig mensen. 15 Jakob bleef in Egypte wonen en is daar ook gestorven. Ook zijn zonen hebben er tot hun dood gewoond. 16 Hun lichamen werden naar Sichem overgebracht en in het graf gelegd dat Abraham voor veel geld van de familie van Chamor had gekocht.
17 De tijd dat God zijn belofte aan Abraham zou waarmaken, kwam steeds dichterbij. Het volk werd in Egypte groter en groter. 18 Maar toen er een nieuwe koning kwam, die Jozef niet gekend had, zag het er niet best voor hen uit. 19 Op een sluwe manier wist die koning ons volk het leven zuur te maken. Hij verplichtte hen zelfs hun pasgeboren kinderen buiten neer te leggen, in weer en wind en aan hun lot over te laten, zodat het volk niet meer zou groeien. 20 In die tijd werd Mozes geboren. Hij was in Gods ogen een mooi kind en de eerste drie maanden werd hij door zijn ouders verzorgd. 21 Maar toen zij hem niet langer verborgen konden houden, legden zij hem te vondeling, waarna hij werd gevonden door de dochter van de farao. Zij nam hem aan en zorgde voor hem als haar eigen kind. 22 Hij kreeg een grondige opleiding in de Egyptische wetenschap en was krachtig in zijn handel en wandel.
23 Toen Mozes veertig jaar was, besloot hij te gaan kijken hoe het met de Israëlieten ging, die waren tenslotte zijn eigen volk. 24 Hij ging er naar toe en zag dat een van hen door een Egyptische opzichter mishandeld werd. Mozes nam het voor hem op en sloeg de Egyptenaar dood. 25 Hij dacht dat zijn volk wel zou begrijpen dat God hem had aangewezen om hen te bevrijden. Maar dat begrepen zij niet! 26 De volgende dag was Mozes er weer en zag twee Israëlieten met elkaar vechten. Hij probeerde hen te laten ophouden en zei: “Waarom doen jullie elkaar kwaad? Jullie zijn toch broeders!” 27 Maar de man die begonnen was, zei tegen Mozes: “Waar bemoeit u zich mee? Denkt u dat u onze leider en rechter bent? 28 Of wilt u mij soms ook doodslaan, zoals gisteren die Egyptenaar?” 29 Mozes schrok daar erg van en vluchtte het land uit. Hij ging in Midian wonen en kreeg daar twee zonen.
30 Veertig jaar later was Mozes op een dag in de woestijn bij de Sinaï en zag daar een engel van God in de vlammen van een brandende braamstruik. 31 Hij wist niet wat hij zag. Toen hij dichterbij kwam om het beter te kunnen bekijken, sprak God tegen hem. 32 “Ik ben de God van uw voorouders, de God van Abraham, Isaak en Jakob.” Mozes begon te beven van schrik en durfde niet meer te kijken. 33 God zei tegen hem: “Trek uw sandalen uit, want de grond waarop u staat, is heilig. 34 Ik heb gezien en gehoord hoe mijn volk in Egypte wordt onderdrukt en mishandeld, hoe het zucht van ellende. Ik ben gekomen om het te bevrijden. Daarom wil Ik u naar Egypte sturen.”
35 Mozes werd dus naar Egypte gestuurd om het volk van Israël te bevrijden, het volk dat niets van hem wilde weten. Hij zou de leider worden van de mensen die tegen hem hadden gezegd: “Denkt u soms dat u onze leider en rechter bent?” Door de engel die in de brandende braamstruik aan hem verscheen, gaf God hem daar de macht voor. 36 Mozes bracht het volk van Israël uit Egypte en deed opzienbarende dingen, grote wonderen, niet alleen in Egypte, maar ook bij de Schelfzee en in de woestijn waar hij veertig jaar met hen rondzwierf. 37 Deze Mozes zei tegen onze voorouders: “God zal uit uw midden een profeet laten opstaan, iemand zoals ik.” 38 Toen onze voorouders bij de berg Sinaï bijeen waren, ging hij de berg op en ontmoette daar de engel van God. Wat de engel tegen hem zei, moest hij aan het volk overbrengen. Dat waren woorden van leven, die aan u moesten worden doorgegeven. 39 Maar onze voorouders wilden Mozes niet gehoorzamen. Zij hadden er genoeg van achter hem aan te lopen en verlangden terug naar Egypte. 40 Terwijl Mozes op de berg Sinaï was, zeiden zij tegen zijn broer Aäron: “Maak goden voor ons die voor ons uit kunnen gaan. Want wij weten niet wat er met Mozes gebeurd is, die ons uit Egypte heeft geleid.” 41 Zij maakten een beeld in de vorm van een kalf. Toen het klaar was, legden zij er offers voor neer en vierden uitbundig feest. Zij genoten van wat ze hadden gemaakt. 42 God keerde Zich van hen af en liet hen hun gang gaan. Zij begonnen de zon, de maan en de sterren te vereren. Zo staat het bij de profeet Amos geschreven: “Zeg eens, volk van Israël, hebt u tijdens die veertig jaar in de woestijn dieren voor Mij geslacht? Hebt u Mij offers gebracht? 43 Nee, u had alleen maar aandacht voor andere goden. U hebt de tent van de god Moloch en het beeld van de sterregod Refan meegesjouwd. U hebt beelden vereerd die door uzelf waren gemaakt. Daarom zal Ik u wegvoeren naar verre streken, nog verder dan Babel.”
44 In de woestijn hadden onze voorouders de tabernakel met daarin Gods wetten. Mozes had die tabernakel in opdracht van God gemaakt, volgens het voorbeeld dat hij had gezien. 45 Later werd die tent door ons volk hier gebracht. Dat gebeurde toen het onder leiding van Jozua het land had ingenomen en alle inwoners eruit had verjaagd. Ons volk heeft de tent bij zich gehad tot in de dagen van David, 46 een man die bij God in de gunst stond. David vroeg of hij voor God een huis mocht bouwen, een vast onderdak te midden van het volk van Israël. 47 Zijn zoon Salomo bouwde een huis voor God, 48 maar de Allerhoogste God woont niet in een gebouw dat door mensen gemaakt is. Door de profeet Jesaja zei Hij: 49 “De hemel is mijn troon en de aarde is mijn voetenbank. Wat voor tempel kunt u dan voor Mij bouwen die Mij tot een huis zou kunnen zijn om daarin te wonen? 50 Ik heb de hele wereld gemaakt!”
51 Halsstarrige heidenen! U verzet zich altijd tegen de Heilige Geest. U bent geen haar beter dan uw voorouders. 52 Welke profeet werd door hen niet vervolgd? Zij hebben de mannen gedood die de komst van de Christus aankondigden. En nu is de Christus door u verraden en vermoord, 53 door u die Gods wet uit de hand van de engel hebt ontvangen, maar u er niet aan gehouden hebt.’
54 Toen de Joden in de rechtszaal dát hoorden, waren zij diep gegriefd en knarsetandden zij van woede. 55 Maar Stefanus schonk geen aandacht meer aan hen. Hij was vol van de Heilige Geest, keek omhoog en zag de schitterende heerlijkheid van God. Ook zag hij Jezus aan de rechterhand van God. 56 Hij riep uit: ‘Ik kan de hemel zien! Ik zie de Mensenzoon aan de rechterhand van God!’
57 De Joden konden zich niet langer inhouden en schreeuwden van woede. Zij stopten hun vingers in hun oren en stormden allemaal tegelijk op hem af. 58 Zij sleurden hem de stad uit om hem te stenigen. De getuigen trokken hun mantels uit en legden die neer bij een toeschouwer, een jonge man die Saulus heette. 59 Terwijl de stenen hem troffen, bad Stefanus: ‘Here Jezus, neem mijn geest bij U.’ 60 Hij viel op zijn knieën en riep: ‘Here, reken hun dit kwaad niet toe!’ Met deze woorden op de lippen stierf hij.
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Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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