⁵ Joseph had a dream,^(A) and when he told it to his brothers,^(B) they hated him all the more.^{(C) 6} He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves^(D) of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”^(E)

⁸ His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?”^(F) And they hated him all the more^(G) because of his dream and what he had said.

⁶ Now Joseph was the governor of the land,^(A) the person who sold grain to all its people.^(B) So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.^(C)

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?^{(A) 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.^(B)

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:^{(C) 32} ‘I am the God of your fathers,^(D) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’^[b] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.^(E)

³³ “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.^{(F) 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](G)

¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb^(A) and called me^(B) by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles,^(C) my immediate response was not to consult any human being.^{(D) 17} I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.^(E)

¹⁸ Then after three years,^(F) I went up to Jerusalem^(G) to get acquainted with Cephas^[a] and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ I saw none of the other apostles—only James,^(H) the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ I assure you before God^(I) that what I am writing you is no lie.^(J)

²¹ Then I went to Syria^(K) and Cilicia.^{(L) 22} I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea^(M) that are in Christ.^{(N) 23} They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith^(O) he once tried to destroy.”^{(P) 24} And they praised God^(Q) because of me.

⁷ I have fought the good fight,^(A) I have finished the race,^(B) I have kept the faith. ⁸ Now there is in store for me^(C) the crown of righteousness,^(D) which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day^(E)—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.^(F)