Acts 7:17-36

Modern English Version

¹⁷ “When the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ until another king rose up who did not know Joseph.^{[a] 19} He dealt deceitfully with our people and mistreated our fathers, forcing them to put out their young children, that they might not live.

²⁰ “At that time Moses was born, and was fair in the sight of God. And he was reared for three months in his father’s house. ²¹ When he was put out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up and reared him as her own son. ²² Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in words and in deeds.

²³ “When he was forty years old, it came to his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. ²⁴ But seeing one being wronged, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck the Egyptian. ²⁵ He supposed that his brothers would understand that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶ On the next day he appeared to them as they fought and tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’^[b]

²⁷ “But the one wronging his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Will you kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’^{[c] 29} Moses fled at this word and became a sojourner in the land of Midian,^[d] where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰ “When forty years had passed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.^{[e] 31} When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he drew near to look at it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, ³² ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’^[f] Moses trembled and dared not look.

³³ “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.^{[g] 34} I have indeed seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt. I have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you to Egypt.’^[h]

³⁵ “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?’^[i] God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ He led them out after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.