Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Stephen and Moses

¹⁷ “God had sworn an oath to Abraham,” Stephen continued. “When the time drew near for this promise to be fulfilled, the people had increased and multiplied in Egypt, ¹⁸ until another king arose over Egypt, one who had not known Joseph. ¹⁹ He got the better of our people, and ill-treated our ancestors, forcing them to abandon their newborn children so that they would die.

²⁰ “It was at that time that Moses was born, and he was a noble-looking child. He was nursed for three months in his father’s house. ²¹ But, when they abandoned him, Pharaoh’s daughter claimed him and brought him up as her own son. ²² So Moses was educated in the full teaching of Egyptian wisdom, and he was powerful in what he said and did.

²³ “When he had grown to about forty years old, it came into his heart to see how his family, the children of Israel, were doing. ²⁴ He saw someone being wronged, and came to the man’s defense; he took revenge on behalf of the man who was being oppressed, by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He thought his kinsfolk would grasp the fact that God was sending him to their rescue, but they didn’t.

²⁶ “The next day he showed up as two Hebrews were fighting, and he tried to bring them back together again. ‘Now then, you two,’ he said, ‘you are brothers! Why are you wronging each other?’ ²⁷ But the man who was wronging the other wasn’t having it. ‘Who d’you think you are?’ he retorted, pushing him away. ‘Who made you a ruler or judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me in the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ At that word, Moses ran away, and lived as a guest in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

³⁰ “After another forty years, an angel appeared to him in the desert at Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the vision. But, as he came closer to see, there came the voice of the Lord: ³² ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.’ Moses was very frightened, and didn’t dare to look. ³³ But the Lord said to him, ‘Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴ I have looked long and hard at the trouble my people are having in Egypt. I have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. So, come on now: I’m going to send you to Egypt.’ ”

Handmade shrines

³⁵ “So,” Stephen continued, “this same Moses—the one they rejected, saying ‘Who made you a ruler or judge?’—this is the man God sent as ruler and redeemer, by the hand of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ He did signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and led them out, through the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness. ³⁷ This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers.’ ³⁸ And this is the one who was in the assembly in the desert with the angel who had spoken to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to give to us.

³⁹ “This is the one whom our ancestors had not wanted to obey, but instead rejected him and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, ⁴⁰ by saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us; for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has become of him!’