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Acts 7:22-43
Contemporary English Version
Acts 7:22-43
Contemporary English Version
22 Moses was given the best education in Egypt. He was a strong man and a powerful speaker.
23 (A) 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 (B) When Moses heard this, he ran away to live in the country of Midian. His two sons were born there.
30 (C) 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 (D) 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 (E) In Egypt and at the Red Sea[a] and in the desert, Moses rescued the people by working miracles and wonders for 40 years. 37 (F) Moses is the one who told the people of Israel, “God will choose one of your people to be a prophet, just as he chose me.” 38 (G) Moses brought our people together in the desert, and the angel spoke to him on Mount Sinai. There he was given these life-giving words to pass on to us. 39 But our ancestors refused to obey Moses. They rejected him and wanted to go back to Egypt.
40 (H) The people said to Aaron, “Make some gods to lead us! Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don't know what's happened to him now.” 41 (I) Then they made an idol in the shape of a calf. They offered sacrifices to the idol and were pleased with what they had done.
42 (J) God turned his back on his people and left them. Then they worshiped the stars in the sky, just as it says in the Book of the Prophets, “People of Israel, you didn't offer sacrifices and offerings to me during those 40 years in the desert. 43 Instead, you carried the tent where the god Molech is worshiped, and you took along the star of your god Rephan. You made those idols and worshiped them. So now I will have you carried off beyond Babylonia.”
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 7:22-43
New International Version
Acts 7:22-43
New International Version
22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians(A) 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?(B) 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[a] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.(C)
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:(D) 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers,(E) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[b] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.(F)
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.(G) 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.’[c](H)
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’(I) 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(J) and performed wonders and signs(K) in Egypt, at the Red Sea(L) and for forty years in the wilderness.(M)
37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[d](N) 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel(O) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;(P) and he received living words(Q) to pass on to us.(R)
39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.(S) 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!’[e](T) 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.(U) 42 But God turned away from them(V) and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.(W) This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
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