Acts 7:30-53

30“Forty years later, a Messenger appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush in the desert of Mount Sinai.

31Moses was surprised when he saw this. As he went closer to look at the bush, the voice of the Lord said to him,

32‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to tremble and didn’t dare to look at the bush.

33The Lord told him, ‘Take off your sandals. The place where you’re standing is holy ground.

34I’ve seen how my people are mistreated in Egypt. I’ve heard their groaning and have come to rescue them. So now I’m sending you to Egypt.’

35“This is the Moses whom the Israelites rejected by saying, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge?’ This is the one God sent to free them and to rule them with the help of the Messenger who appeared to him in the bush.

36This is the man who led our ancestors out of Egypt. He is the person who did amazing things and worked miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for 40 years.

37This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me.’

38This is the Moses who was in the assembly in the desert. Our ancestors and the Messenger who spoke to him on Mount Sinai were there with him. Moses received life-giving messages to give to us,

39but our ancestors were not willing to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt.

40They told Aaron, ‘We don’t know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of Egypt. So make gods who will lead us.’

41That was the time they made a calf. They offered a sacrifice to that false god and delighted in what they had made.

42“So God turned away from them and let them worship the sun, moon, and stars. This is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel?

43You carried along the shrine of Moloch, the star of the god Rephan, and the statues you made for yourselves to worship. I will send you into exile beyond the city of Babylon.’

44“In the desert our ancestors had the tent of God’s promise. Moses built this tent exactly as God had told him. He used the model he had seen.

45After our ancestors received the tent, they brought it into this land. They did this with Joshua’s help when they took possession of the land from the nations that God forced out of our ancestors’ way. This tent remained here until the time of David,

46who won God’s favor. David asked that he might provide a permanent place for the family of Jacob.

47But Solomon was the one who built a house for God.

48“However, the Most High doesn’t live in a house built by humans, as the prophet says:

49‘The Lord says, “Heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. What kind of house are you going to build for me? Where will I rest?

50Didn’t I make all these things?” ’

51“How stubborn can you be? How can you be so heartless and disobedient? You’re just like your ancestors. They always opposed the Holy Spirit, and so do you!

52Was there ever a prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute? They killed those who predicted that a man with God’s approval would come. You have now become the people who betrayed and murdered that man.

53You are the people who received Moses’ Teachings, which were put into effect by angels. But you haven’t obeyed those teachings.”