Acts 7:7-41

English Standard Version

⁷ ‘But ^(A)I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out ^(B)and worship me in this place.’ ⁸ And ^(C)he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And ^(D)so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and ^(E)circumcised him on the eighth day, and ^(F)Isaac became the father of Jacob, and ^(G)Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹ “And the patriarchs, ^(H)jealous of Joseph, ^(I)sold him into Egypt; but ^(J)God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him out of all his afflictions and ^(K)gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^(L)who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. ¹¹ Now ^(M)there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ^12 (N)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. ¹³ And ^(O)on the second visit ^(P)Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^(Q)Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ And ^(R)Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, ^(S)seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵ And ^(T)Jacob went down into Egypt, and ^(U)he died, he ^(V)and our fathers, ¹⁶ and ^(W)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that ^(X)Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷ “But ^(Y)as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^(Z)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ until there arose over Egypt another king ^(AA)who did not know Joseph. ^19 (AB)He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^(AC)so that they would not be kept alive. ^20 (AD)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 ^(AE)when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses ^(AF)was instructed in ^(AG)all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^(AH)mighty in his words and deeds.

²³ “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^(AI)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 (AJ)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, ^(AK)‘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 ^(AL)Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^(AM)where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰ “Now when forty years had passed, ^(AN)an angel appeared to him ^(AO)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 (AP)‘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, ^(AQ)‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ^34 (AR)I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^(AS)have heard their groaning, and ^(AT)I have come down to deliver them. ^(AU)And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵ “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^(AV)saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^(AW)by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^36 (AX)This man led them out, performing ^(AY)wonders and signs ^(AZ)in Egypt and ^(BA)at the Red Sea and ^(BB)in the wilderness for ^(BC)forty years. ³⁷ This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^(BD)a prophet like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸ This is the one ^(BE)who was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^(BF)the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^(BG)He received ^(BH)living ^(BI)oracles to give to us. ³⁹ Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^(BJ)in their hearts they turned to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aaron, ^(BK)‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ⁴¹ And ^(BL)they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^(BM)were rejoicing in ^(BN)the works of their hands.