Stephen's Speech (cont.)

²⁰This was the time when Moses was born. He was a very fine child. For three months they took care of Moses in his father's house. ²¹When they put Moses outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him. She raised him like he was her own son. ²²The Egyptians taught Moses about all the things they knew. He was powerful in the things he said and did. ²³"When Moses was about 40 years old, he thought it would be good to visit his brothers, the Jewish people. ²⁴Moses saw an Egyptian man doing wrong to a Jew. So he defended the Jew. Moses punished the Egyptian for hurting the Jew; Moses hit him so hard that he died. ²⁵Moses thought that his Jewish brothers would understand that God was using him to save them. But they did not understand. ²⁶The next day, Moses saw two Jewish men fighting. He tried to make peace between them. He said, 'Men, you are brothers! Why are you doing wrong to each other?' ²⁷The man who was doing wrong to the other man pushed Moses away. He said to Moses, 'Did anyone say you could be our ruler and judge? No! ²⁸Will you kill me like you killed the Egyptian man yesterday?'* ²⁹When Moses heard him say this, he left Egypt. He went to live in the land of Midian. He was a stranger there. While Moses lived in Midian, he had two sons. ³⁰"After 40 years Moses was in the desert near Mount Sinai. An angel appeared to him in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹When Moses saw this, he was amazed. He went near to look closer at it. Moses heard a voice; it was the Lord's (God's). ³²The Lord said, 'I am the same God your fathers* had--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'* Moses began to shake with fear. He was afraid to look at the bush. ³³The Lord said to him, 'Take off your shoes, because the place where you are now standing is holy ground. ³⁴I have seen my people suffer much in Egypt. I have heard my people crying. I have come down to save them. Come now, [Moses,] I am sending you back to Egypt.'* ³⁵"This Moses was the same man the Jews said they did not want. They had said to him, 'Did anyone say you could be our ruler and judge?* No!' Moses is the same man that God sent to be a ruler and savior. God sent Moses with the help of an angel. This was the angel Moses saw in the [burning] bush. ³⁶So Moses led the people out. He did powerful things and miracles.* Moses did these things in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and then in the desert for 40 years. ³⁷This is the same Moses that said these words to the Jewish people: 'God will give you a prophet.* That prophet will come from among your own people. He will be like me.'* ³⁸This is the same Moses who was with the gathering [of the Jews] in the desert. He was with the angel that spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and he was with our fathers (ancestors). Moses received commands [from God] that give life. Moses gave us those commands. ³⁹"But our fathers* did not want to obey Moses. They rejected him. They wanted to go back to Egypt again. ⁴⁰Our fathers said to Aaron, 'Moses led us out of the country of Egypt. But we don't know what has happened to him. So make some gods to go before us and lead us.'* ⁴¹So the people made an idol that looked like a calf. Then they brought sacrifices (gifts) to it. The people were very happy with what they had made with their own hands! ⁴²But God turned against them. God finished trying to stop them from worshiping the army [of false gods] in the sky. This is what is written in the book of the prophets*: God says, 'You Jewish people did not bring me blood offerings and sacrifices* in the desert for 40 years; ⁴³You carried with you the tent (place of worship) for Moloch (a false god) and the image of the star of your god Rephan. These were the idols you made to worship. So I will send you away beyond Babylon.' Amos 5:25-27

⁴⁴"The Holy Tent* was with our fathers* in the desert. God told Moses how to make this tent. He made it like the plan that God showed him. ⁴⁵Later, Joshua led our fathers to capture the lands of the other nations. Our people went in and God made the other people go out. When our people went into this new land, they took with them this same tent. Our people received this tent from their fathers, and our people kept it until the time of David.

'Did anyone ... yesterday' Quote from Ex. 2:14. father(s) Important ancestors of the Jews; the leaders of the twelve Jewish family groups. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob Three of the most important Jewish leaders during the time of the Old Testament. 'I am ... Jacob' Quote from Ex. 3:6. 'Take off ... Egypt' Quote from Ex. 3:5-10. 'Did anyone ... judge' Quote from Ex. 2:14 miracle(s) Miracles are amazing works done by God's power. prophet A person that spoke for God. 'God will give ... me' Quote from Deut. 18:15. 'Moses led us out ... lead us' Quote from Ex. 32:1. prophets People that spoke for God. Some of them wrote books that are part of the Old Testament. sacrifices Offerings or gifts to God. Holy Tent Literally, "Tent of the Testimony," the movable tent where the Ten Commandments were kept and where God lived among his people in the time of Moses.