Acts 7:2-37

2Stephen said, ‘Men of Israel, my friends and leaders. Listen to what I say. Our great God appeared to our ancestor, Abraham, when he was still living in Mesopotamia. This happened before he went to Haran.

3God said to Abraham, “Leave your own country and your own family and go to a different country. I will show you where that will be.”

4So Abraham left his country where the Chaldean people lived. He went to Haran and he stayed there. While he was there, his father died. Then God said to him, “Leave this place.” God then sent him to live in Canaan. This is where we are living now.

5At that time, God did not give Abraham any part of Canaan for his own family. He did not give Abraham even a very small piece of ground. But God made a promise to Abraham. He said, “This land will become your own country. It will also be your descendants' country.” When God said this to him, Abraham did not yet have any children.

6This is what God said to him: “Your descendants will live in a foreign country for 400 years. The people in that country will cause your descendants to be their slaves. They will be very cruel to them.

7But I will punish those people who cause your descendants to work as slaves for them. After I have done that, your descendants will leave that country. They will come to this place and worship me here.” That is what God said to Abraham.

8Then God made an covenant with Abraham that his descendants would be his special people. God said, “You must circumcise all your baby boys.” Later, Abraham became the father of Isaac. Abraham circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old. Then Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob himself had 12 sons. These sons became the 12 ancestors of the families of Israel.

9One of Jacob's sons was called Joseph. Jacob was more kind to Joseph than to his other sons. For this reason, Joseph's brothers did not like him. So one day they took Joseph and they sold him as a slave. The men that bought Joseph took him to Egypt. There he became the slave of an important man. All this time, God took care of Joseph.

10God saved him from all his troubles and he helped him to live in a wise way. Because of that, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, liked Joseph. He saw that Joseph was very wise. So Pharaoh gave Joseph authority to rule Egypt and everyone in the king's own house.

11Then there was a famine everywhere in Egypt and in Canaan. Everyone was very hungry and they suffered a lot. Our ancestors also had no food to eat.

12Jacob heard news that Pharaoh had stored a lot of wheat in Egypt. So he sent his sons there to buy food from Pharaoh. This was the first time that they went to Egypt.

13Later, Jacob sent his sons back to Egypt for a second time. This time, Joseph told his brothers who he really was. As a result, Pharaoh came to know about Joseph's family.

14After this, Joseph sent a message to his father, that he should also come to Egypt with his whole family. At that time, there were 75 people in Jacob's family.

15So Jacob went to Egypt with all his family. Jacob and his 12 sons, our ancestors, lived there until they died.

16When the people of Israel left Egypt, they carried with them the dead bodies of Joseph and his family. They took them back to Shechem and they buried them in a hole for dead people there. Abraham had bought that ground in Shechem from the family of a man called Hamor. He had paid Hamor the right money for it.’

17Stephen then said, ‘After many years, the time arrived for God to make his promise to Abraham become true. By this time, Jacob's family who still lived in Egypt had become very many.

18Now, a different king ruled Egypt. This new king did not know anything about Joseph and what he had done.

19He was very cruel to our ancestors and he caused them to suffer. When new babies were born, he said that our people must put them out of their homes. He said that because he wanted the babies to die.

20It was at this time that Moses was born. He was a very beautiful baby. His parents took care of him for three months in their own home.

21Then they had to put him outside. But Pharaoh's daughter found him and she took him to her home. She took care of him as if he was her own son.

22Moses had teachers who taught him all the wise things that the Egyptians knew. He learned how to speak well. He could also do powerful things.

23When Moses was 40 years old, he went to see his own people, the people of Israel.

24He saw that an Egyptian man was being cruel to one of the Israelite men. So he went to help the Israelite man. He killed the Egyptian man to punish him.

25Moses thought that his own people would understand him. They would know that God was using him to save them. They would no longer be slaves to work for the Egyptians. But his people did not understand all this.

26On the next day, Moses saw two Israelite men. They were fighting each other. He tried to make them become friends. He said to them, “Listen to me, men. You are both in the family of Israel. You should not hurt each other.”

27The man who was being cruel to the other man pushed Moses away. He said to Moses, “You have no authority to rule us. You are not our judge.

28I know that yesterday you killed an Egyptian man. So do you want to kill me too?”

29When Moses heard this, he decided to run away. He went to the land of Midian and he lived there. He married a wife and they had two sons.

30Moses lived in Midian for 40 years. Then, one day, he was in the wilderness near Sinai mountain. He saw a bush there that was burning. An angel appeared to him in the fire.

31Moses was very surprised by what he saw. He went near to the bush so that he could see it better. Then he heard the Lord God speak to him from the bush.

32God said, “I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Moses was very frightened. He was too afraid to look at the bush any more.

33Then the Lord God said to Moses, “Remove your shoes from your feet, because you are standing in a very special place. This is my own place.

34I have seen that the Egyptians are being cruel to my people. My people are crying with pain and I have heard them. Now I have come down to save them. So come here and listen to me. I will send you back to Egypt.” ’

35Then Stephen said, ‘Moses is the man that the people of Israel would not accept. They had said to him, “You have no authority to rule us. You are not our judge.” But God did send Moses to rule them. God himself sent Moses to save them from the Egyptians. God spoke to Moses through the angel that appeared to him in the bush.

36So it was Moses who led the people of Israel out of Egypt. He did some powerful things before the people left Egypt. This showed that God was with him. He did more miracles at the Red Sea. Then he led the people through the wilderness for 40 years. He also did more miracles there.

37It was Moses who said to the people of Israel, “God will send you a prophet. He will be one of your own people. He will speak God's message as I have done.”