Acts 7:6-27

⁶God's words were these — ‘Abraham's descendants will live in a foreign country, where they will be enslaved and ill-treated for four hundred years.

⁷But I myself will judge the nation, to which they will be enslaved,’ God said, ‘and after that they will leave the country and worship me in this place.’

⁸Then God made with Abraham the covenant of circumcision; and under it Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him when he was eight days old; and Isaac became the father of Jacob; and Jacob of the Twelve Patriarchs.

⁹The Patriarchs, out of jealousy, sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt; but God was with him,

¹⁰and delivered him out of all his troubles, and enabled him to win favour and show wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him Governor of Egypt and of his whole household.

¹¹Then a famine spread over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, causing great distress, and our ancestors could find no food.

¹²Hearing, however, that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors there on their first visit.

¹³In the course of their second visit, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent an urgent invitation to his father Jacob and to his relatives, seventy-five persons in all;

¹⁵and so Jacob went down into Egypt. There he died, and our ancestors also,

¹⁶and their bodies were removed to Shechem, and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷As the time drew near for the fulfilment of the promise which God had made to Abraham, the people increased largely in numbers in Egypt,

¹⁸until a new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to the throne.

¹⁹This king acted deceitfully towards our people and ill-treated our ancestors, making them abandon their own infants, so that they should not be reared.

²⁰It was just at this time that Moses was born. He was an exceedingly beautiful child, and for three months was brought up in his own father's house;

²¹and, when he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh found him and brought him up as her own son.

²²So Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and proved his ability both by his words and actions.

²³When he was in his fortieth year, he resolved to visit his fellow Israelites;

²⁴and, seeing an Israelite ill-treated, he defended him, and avenged the man, who was being wronged, by striking down the Egyptian.

²⁵He thought his own people would understand that God was using him to save them; but they failed to do so.

²⁶The next day he again appeared on the scene, when some of them were fighting, and tried to make peace between them. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers; how is it that you are ill-treating one another?’

²⁷But the man who was ill-treating his fellow workman pushed Moses aside saying — ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?