New Testament in a Year

²² So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man in what he said and did. ²³ When he was 40 years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. ²⁴ When he saw an Israelite man being treated unfairly by an Egyptian, he defended the Israelite. He took revenge by killing the Egyptian. ²⁵ Moses thought his own people would understand that God was going to use him to give them freedom. But they didn’t understand. ²⁶ The next day Moses saw two Israelites fighting, and he tried to make peace between them. He said to them, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you treating each other unfairly?’

²⁷ “But one of the men pushed Moses aside. He asked Moses, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ After he said that, Moses quickly left Egypt and lived in Midian as a foreigner. In Midian he fathered two sons.

³⁰ “Forty years later, a Messenger appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush in the desert of Mount Sinai. ³¹ Moses was surprised when he saw this. As he went closer to look at the bush, the voice of the Lord said to him, ³² ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to tremble and didn’t dare to look at the bush. ³³ The Lord told him, ‘Take off your sandals. The place where you’re standing is holy ground. ³⁴ I’ve seen how my people are mistreated in Egypt. I’ve heard their groaning and have come to rescue them. So now I’m sending you to Egypt.’

³⁵ “This is the Moses whom the Israelites rejected by saying, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge?’ This is the one God sent to free them and to rule them with the help of the Messenger who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ This is the man who led our ancestors out of Egypt. He is the person who did amazing things and worked miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for 40 years. ³⁷ This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me.’ ³⁸ This is the Moses who was in the assembly in the desert. Our ancestors and the Messenger who spoke to him on Mount Sinai were there with him. Moses received life-giving messages to give to us, ³⁹ but our ancestors were not willing to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt. ⁴⁰ They told Aaron, ‘We don’t know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of Egypt. So make gods who will lead us.’ ⁴¹ That was the time they made a calf. They offered a sacrifice to that false god and delighted in what they had made.

⁴² “So God turned away from them and let them worship the sun, moon, and stars. This is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel? ⁴³ You carried along the shrine of Moloch, the star of the god Rephan, and the statues you made for yourselves to worship. I will send you into exile beyond the city of Babylon.’