Acts 7:30-53

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.”

38This is the same Moses who was leader of our people in the wilderness. He was there with our ancestors when the angel spoke to him on Sinai mountain. He received the message from God to give to us. Those words from God bring life to us.

39But our ancestors would not obey Moses. They did not accept him as their leader. They wanted to go back to Egypt.

40So the people said to Aaron, “Please make us some gods that we can carry in front of us. Yes, that man Moses brought us out of Egypt. But now we do not know what has happened to him.”

41It was then that the people made something that would be an idol for them. They made it from gold with the shape of a young bull. They killed some animals and they burned them as a gift for their idol. The people then had a big meal together because they were very happy. They thought that they had made something that was very good.

42But God turned away from his people. He let them do what they wanted to do. He let them worship the stars in the sky. One of God's prophets wrote about this long ago: “God said, ‘People of Israel, listen! When you were in the wilderness for 40 years, you brought sacrifices and gifts to me. But you did not really worship me when you did that.

43No. You carried with you the idol of the god called Molech. You also carried an idol with the shape of a star, to be like your god, Rephan. These were the idols which you worshipped in the wilderness. So now I will send you away from your own country. You will go to live in places beyond Babylon.’ ”

44When our ancestors were in the wilderness, they carried a special tent with them. It showed that God was there with them and that is where they worshipped him. God showed Moses how he should make that tent. The people made it in the way that God had said.

45Later, our ancestors received that special tent for themselves. They brought it with them when they came with Joshua to live in this land. They took the land from the people who were living here. God chased out those people so that our ancestors could live there. The tent remained in this place until David became the king of Israel.

46God was happy with King David and he helped him very much. So David said to God, “May I build a special house where you can live among your people, the descendants of Jacob?”

47But it was David's son, Solomon, who built a house for God.

48But we know that God does not live in a house that people have made. He is the powerful God who is over all. God's prophet Isaiah spoke these words:

49The Lord God says, “Heaven is the seat where I sit to rule. The earth is the place where I put my feet. You could not build a house for me where I could live. You could not make a place for me to rest there.

50I am the one who has made all these things myself.” ’

51Then Stephen said, ‘You people do not want to obey God! You do not want to listen to God's true message. You are the same as your ancestors. Like them, you always fight against what the Holy Spirit says.

52Your ancestors did bad things to every prophet that God sent to them. They even killed the prophets who told them about the Righteous Man that God would send. Now you have given that Man to his enemies. You have made them kill him.

53You are the people who received God's Law. God caused his angels to give that Law to your ancestors. But you have not obeyed it.’