Acts 7:16–51
16 And bthey were carried back to Shechem and laid in cthe tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
17 “But when dthe time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, ethe people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 till another king farose who did not know Joseph. 19 This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, gmaking them expose their babies, so that they might not live. 20 hAt this time Moses was born, and iwas well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. 21 But jwhen he was set out, kPharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was lmighty in words and deeds.
23 m“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ 27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, n‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 oThen, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he phad two sons.
30 q“And when forty years had passed, an Angel 3of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 saying, r‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 33 s‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have surely tseen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will usend you to Egypt.” ’
35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, v‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer wby the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 xHe brought them out, after he had yshown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, zand in the Red Sea, aand in the wilderness forty years.
37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, b‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. cHim 4you shall hear.’
38 d“This is he who was in the 5congregation in the wilderness with ethe Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, fthe one who received the living goracles 6to give to us, 39 whom our fathers hwould not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40 isaying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 jAnd they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and krejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then lGod turned and gave them up to worship mthe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
n‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness,
O house of Israel?
43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
And the star of your god Remphan,
Images which you made to worship;
And oI will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses pto make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 qwhich our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, rwhom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the sdays of David, 46 twho found favor before God and uasked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47 vBut Solomon built Him a house.
48 “However, wthe Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
49 ‘Heaven xis My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of My rest?
50 Has My hand not ymade all these things?’
Israel Resists the Holy Spirit
51 “You zstiff-necked 7and auncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.