Font Size
Acts 7:20-36
Contemporary English Version
Acts 7:20-36
Contemporary English Version
20 (A) During this time Moses was born. He was a very beautiful child, and for three months his parents took care of him in their home. 21 (B) Then when they were forced to leave him outside, the king's daughter found him and raised him as her own son. 22 Moses was given the best education in Egypt. He was a strong man and a powerful speaker.
23 (C) When Moses was 40 years old, he wanted to help the Israelites because they were his own people. 24 One day he saw an Egyptian mistreating one of them. So he rescued the man and killed the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought the rest of his people would realize God was going to use him to set them free. But they didn't understand.
26 The next day Moses saw two of his own people fighting, and he tried to make them stop. He said, “Men, you are both Israelites. Why are you so cruel to each other?”
27 But the man who had started the fight pushed Moses aside and asked, “Who made you our ruler and judge? 28 Are you going to kill me, just as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?” 29 (D) When Moses heard this, he ran away to live in the country of Midian. His two sons were born there.
30 (E) Forty years later, an angel appeared to Moses from a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 Moses was surprised by what he saw. He went closer to get a better look, and the Lord said, 32 “I am the God who was worshiped by your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Moses started shaking all over and didn't dare to look at the bush.
33 The Lord said to him, “Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy. 34 With my own eyes I have seen the suffering of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now I am sending you back to Egypt.”
35 (F) This was the same Moses that the people rejected by saying, “Who made you our leader and judge?” God's angel had spoken to Moses from the bush. And God had even sent the angel to help Moses rescue the people and be their leader.
36 (G) In Egypt and at the Red Sea[a] and in the desert, Moses rescued the people by working miracles and wonders for 40 years.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 7.36 Red Sea: This name comes from the Bible of the early Christians, a translation made into Greek about 200 b.c. It refers to the body of water that the Israelites crossed and was one of the marshes or fresh water lakes near the eastern part of the Nile Delta, where they lived and where the towns of Exodus 13.17—14.9 were located.
Acts 7:20-36
New International Version
Acts 7:20-36
New International Version
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[a] For three months he was cared for by his family.(A) 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.(B) 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians(C) and was powerful in speech and action.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?(D) 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[b] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.(E)
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:(F) 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers,(G) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[c] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.(H)
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.(I) 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’[d](J)
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’(K) He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of Egypt(L) and performed wonders and signs(M) in Egypt, at the Red Sea(N) and for forty years in the wilderness.(O)
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.