¹⁷ “But ^(A)as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^(B)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ until there arose over Egypt another king ^(C)who did not know Joseph. ^19 (D)He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^(E)so that they would not be kept alive. ^20 (F)At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, ²¹ and ^(G)when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses ^(H)was instructed in ^(I)all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^(J)mighty in his words and deeds.

²³ “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^(K)to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. ^26 (L)And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ ²⁷ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ^(M)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ At this retort ^(N)Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^(O)where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰ “Now when forty years had passed, ^(P)an angel appeared to him ^(Q)in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ^32 (R)‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. ³³ Then the Lord said to him, ^(S)‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ^34 (T)I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^(U)have heard their groaning, and ^(V)I have come down to deliver them. ^(W)And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵ “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^(X)saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^(Y)by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^36 (Z)This man led them out, performing ^(AA)wonders and signs ^(AB)in Egypt and ^(AC)at the Red Sea and ^(AD)in the wilderness for ^(AE)forty years. ³⁷ This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^(AF)a prophet like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸ This is the one ^(AG)who was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^(AH)the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^(AI)He received ^(AJ)living ^(AK)oracles to give to us.

A New Prophet like Moses

^15 (A)“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— ¹⁶ just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb ^(B)on the day of the assembly, when you said, ^(C)‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ And the Lord said to me, ^(D)‘They are right in what they have spoken. ^18 (E)I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. ^(F)And I will put my words in his mouth, and ^(G)he shall speak to them all that I command him.

⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for ^(A)he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But ^(B)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

²⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness ^(A)to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the ^(B)mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸ And Moses ^(C)told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all ^(D)the signs that he had commanded him to do. ²⁹ Then Moses and Aaron ^(E)went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. ^30 (F)Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹ And the people ^(G)believed; and when they heard that the Lord had ^(H)visited the people of Israel and that he had ^(I)seen their affliction, ^(J)they bowed their heads and worshiped.