NAS - Acts 7:20-45

²⁰"It was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father's home. ²¹"And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son. ²²"Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds. ²³"But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. ²⁴"And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵"And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. ²⁶"On the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, `Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?' ²⁷"But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, `WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US? ²⁸`YOU DO NOT MEAN TO KILL ME AS YOU KILLED THE EGYPTIAN YESTERDAY, DO YOU?' ²⁹"At this remark, MOSES FLED AND BECAME AN ALIEN IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN, where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰"After forty years had passed, AN ANGEL APPEARED TO HIM IN THE WILDERNESS OF MOUNT Sinai, IN THE FLAME OF A BURNING THORN BUSH. ³¹"When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord: ³²`I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC AND JACOB.' Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look. ³³"BUT THE LORD SAID TO HIM, `TAKE OFF THE SANDALS FROM YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE ON WHICH YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY GROUND. ³⁴`I HAVE CERTAINLY SEEN THE OPPRESSION OF MY PEOPLE IN EGYPT AND HAVE HEARD THEIR GROANS, AND I HAVE COME DOWN TO RESCUE THEM; COME NOW, AND I WILL SEND YOU TO EGYPT.'

³⁵"This Moses whom they disowned, saying, `WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE?' is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. ³⁶"This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. ³⁷"This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, `GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN.' ³⁸"This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you. ³⁹"Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, ⁴⁰SAYING TO AARON, `MAKE FOR US GODS WHO WILL GO BEFORE US; FOR THIS MOSES WHO LED US OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT--WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM.' ⁴¹"At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. ⁴²"But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, `IT WAS NOT TO ME THAT YOU OFFERED VICTIMS AND SACRIFICES FORTY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS, WAS IT, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL? ⁴³`YOU ALSO TOOK ALONG THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH AND THE STAR OF THE GOD ROMPHA, THE IMAGES WHICH YOU MADE TO WORSHIP. I ALSO WILL REMOVE YOU BEYOND BABYLON.'

⁴⁴"Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. ⁴⁵"And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David.