Act 7:23-53 | ESV | STEP | When he was forty years old , it came into his heart to visit his brothers , the children of Israel .

23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^ato visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 ^bAnd on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ^c‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 At this retort ^dMoses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^ewhere he became the father of two sons.

30 “Now when forty years had passed, ^fan angel appeared to him ^gin the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ^h‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ⁱ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 ^jI have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ^khave heard their groaning, and ^lI have come down to deliver them. ^mAnd now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, ⁿsaying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^oby the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 ^pThis man led them out, performing ^qwonders and signs ^rin Egypt and ^sat the Red Sea and ^tin the wilderness for ^uforty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^va prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one ^wwho was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^xthe angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^yHe received ^zliving ^aaoracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^abin their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ^ac‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And ^adthey made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^aewere rejoicing in ^afthe works of their hands. 42 But ^agGod turned away and ^ahgave them over to worship ^aithe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

^aj“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
^akduring the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43 You took up the tent of ^alMoloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship;
and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our fathers had ^amthe tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^andirected him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn ^aobrought it in with Joshua when they ^apdispossessed the nations ^aqthat God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^aruntil the days of David, 46 ^aswho found favor in the sight of God and ^atasked to find a dwelling place for ^authe God of Jacob. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob} 47 But it was ^awSolomon who built a house for him. 48 ^axYet the Most High does not dwell ^ayin houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

49 ^az“‘Heaven is my throne,
^baand the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’
51 ^bb“You stiff-necked people, ^bcuncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^bdAs your fathers did, so do you. 52 ^beWhich of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^bfthe Righteous One, ^bgwhom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law ^bhas delivered by angels and ^bidid not keep it.”