Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

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!’ ⁴¹ They made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to an idol. They celebrated things their own hands had made.

⁴² “Then God turned and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, as it stands written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring sacrifices and offerings to me in those forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? ⁴³ You took up the tent of Moloch, and the star of your god Rhephan, the carved images you made to worship! I will remove you beyond Babylon!’