Font Size
Acts 7:17-44
New American Standard Bible
Acts 7:17-44
New American Standard Bible
17 “But as the (A)time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, (B)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, 18 until (C)another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 19 It was he who (D)shrewdly took advantage of our nation and mistreated our fathers in order that they would (E)abandon their infants in the Nile, so that they would not survive. 20 At this time (F)Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father’s home. 21 And after he had been put outside, (G)Pharaoh’s daughter [a]took him away and nurtured him as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all (H)the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was proficient in [b]speaking and action. 23 But when he was approaching the age of forty, (I)it entered his [c]mind to visit his countrymen, the sons of Israel. 24 And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian. 25 And he thought that his brothers understood that God was granting them [d]deliverance [e]through him; but they did not understand. 26 (J)And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting each other, and he tried to reconcile them to peace, by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you injuring each other?’ 27 But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘(K)Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 28 (L)You do not intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ 29 At this remark, (M)Moses fled and became a stranger in the land of [f]Midian, where he (N)fathered two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, (O)an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came: 32 ‘(P)I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look closely. 33 (Q)But the Lord said to him, ‘[g](R)Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 34 (S)I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them; and (T)now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
35 “This Moses whom they (U)disowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God [h]sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the [i]help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 (V)This man led them out, performing (W)wonders and [j]signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and in the (X)wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘(Y)God will raise up for you a prophet [k]like me from your countrymen.’ 38 This is the one who was in (Z)the [l]assembly in the wilderness together with (AA)the angel who spoke to him at length on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received (AB)living (AC)words to pass on to you. 39 Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they (AD)rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, 40 (AE)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us [m]a god who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’ 41 [n]At that time (AF)they made a [o]calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in (AG)the works of their hands. 42 But God (AH)turned away and gave them over to [p]serve the heavenly [q]lights; as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘(AI)You did not offer Me victims and sacrifices (AJ)for forty years in the wilderness, did you, house of Israel? 43 (AK)You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god [r]Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will deport you beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our fathers had (AL)the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it (AM)according to the pattern which he had seen.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Acts 7:21 Or adopted him
- Acts 7:22 Lit his words and actions
- Acts 7:23 Lit heart
- Acts 7:25 Or salvation
- Acts 7:25 Lit through his hand
- Acts 7:29 Gr Madiam
- Acts 7:33 Lit Untie the sandal of your
- Acts 7:35 Lit has sent
- Acts 7:35 Lit hand
- Acts 7:36 I.e., confirming miracles
- Acts 7:37 Or as He raised up me
- Acts 7:38 Gr ekklesia
- Acts 7:40 Lit gods, plural, but prob. refers to a singular deity
- Acts 7:41 Lit in those days
- Acts 7:41 Or young bull
- Acts 7:42 Or worship
- Acts 7:42 Lit host
- Acts 7:43 Other mss spell it: Romphan, Rempham, Raiphan; or Rephan
Acts 7:17-44
New International Version
Acts 7:17-44
New International Version
17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.(A) 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’[a](B) 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.(C)
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[b] For three months he was cared for by his family.(D) 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.(E) 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians(F) 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?(G) 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[c] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.(H)
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:(I) 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers,(J) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[d] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.(K)
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.(L) 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.’[e](M)
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’(N) 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(O) and performed wonders and signs(P) in Egypt, at the Red Sea(Q) and for forty years in the wilderness.(R)
37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[f](S) 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel(T) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;(U) and he received living words(V) to pass on to us.(W)
39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.(X) 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’[g](Y) 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.(Z) 42 But God turned away from them(AA) and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.(AB) This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
“‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’[h](AC) beyond Babylon.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law(AD) with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.(AE)
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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.