And the high priest said, Are these things so?
And he said,
Brethren and fathers, hearken: The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
and said unto him, Get thee out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.
Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans, and dwelt in Haran: and from thence, when his father was dead, God removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell:
and he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: and he promised that he would give it to him in possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
And God spake on this wise, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and that they should bring them into bondage, and treat them ill, four hundred years.
And the nation to which they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.
And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt: and God was with him,
and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
Now there came a famine over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our fathers the first time.
And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's race became manifest unto Pharaoh.
And Joseph sent, and called to him Jacob his father, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.
And Jacob went down into Egypt; and he died, himself and our fathers;
and they were carried over unto Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver of the sons of {Greek: Emmor.}Hamor in Shechem.
But as the time of the promise drew nigh which God vouchsafed unto Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
till there arose another king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.
The same dealt craftily with our race, and ill-treated our fathers, that {Or, he}they should cast out their babes to the end they might not {Greek: be preserved alive.}live.
At which season Moses was born, and was {Or, fair unto God Compare 2 Corinthians 10:4.}exceeding fair; and he was nourished three months in his father's house.
and when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and works.
But when he was well-nigh forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, smiting the Egyptian:
and he supposed that his brethren understood that God by his hand was giving them {Or, salvation}deliverance; but they understood not.
And the day following he appeared unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
Wouldest thou kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday?
And Moses fled at this saying, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons.
And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord,
I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
And the Lord said unto him, Loose the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver them: and now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? him hath God sent to be both a ruler and a {Greek: redeemer.}deliverer with the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush.
This man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, {Deuteronomy 18:15}A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, {Or, as he raised up me}like unto me.
This is he that was in the {Or, congregation}church in the wilderness with the angel that spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received living oracles to give unto us:
to whom our fathers would not be obedient, but thrust him from them, and turned back in their hearts unto Egypt,
saying unto Aaron, Make us gods that shall go before us: for as for this Moses, who led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets,
{Amos 5:25 ff.}Did ye offer unto me slain beasts and sacrifices
Forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
And ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
And the star of the god Rephan,
The figures which ye made to worship them:
And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he appointed who spake unto Moses, that he should make it according to the figure that he had seen.
Which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with {Greek: Jesus. Compare Hebrews 4:8.}Joshua when they entered on the possession of the {Or, Gentiles Compare chapter 4:25}nations, that God thrust out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.
But Solomon built him a house.
Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands; as saith the prophet,
{Isaiah 66:1 f.}The heaven is my throne,
And the earth the footstool of my feet:
What manner of house will ye build me? saith the Lord:
Or what is the place of my rest?
Did not my hand make all these things?
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers;
ye who received the law {Or, as the ordinance of angels Greek: unto ordinances of angels.}as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.
Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.
But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord;
and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Querverweise zu Apostelgeschichte 7,10 Apg 7,10
the angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
And there was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.
And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; {Or, I was restored…and he was hanged}me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that when thou hearest a dream thou canst interpret it.
And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the brink of the river:
and, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat-fleshed and well-favored: and they fed in the reed-grass:
and, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
and the lean and ill-favored kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill-favored, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up upon one stalk, full and good:
and, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears: and I told it unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.
And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: what God is about to do he hath declared unto Pharaoh.
The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
And the seven lean and ill-favored kine that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind; they shall be seven years of famine.
That is the thing which I spake unto Pharaoh: what God is about to do he hath showed unto Pharaoh.
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
and there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine which followeth; for it shall be very grievous.
And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
And let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.
And the food shall be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is?
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all of this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou:
thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people {Or, order themselves Or, do homage}be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of {Or, cotton}fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, {Abrech, probably an Egyptian word, similar in sound to the Hebrew word meaning to kneel.}Bow the knee: and he set him over all the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;Neither hath he hid his face from him;But when he cried unto him, he heard.
And Joseph was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth.
The righteous cried, and Jehovah heard,And delivered them out of all their troubles.
Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart,And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous;But Jehovah delivereth him out of them all.
Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh, my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh.
And Jehovah helpeth them, and rescueth them;He rescueth them from the wicked, and saveth them,Because they have taken refuge in him.
So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.I waited patiently for Jehovah;And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
He brought me up also out of {Hebrew: a pit of tumult (or, destruction)}a horrible pit, out of the miry clay;And he set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God:Many shall see it, and fear,And shall trust in Jehovah.
Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not;
The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be the glory {Greek: unto the ages of the ages.}for ever and ever. Amen.
Until the time that his word came to pass,The word of Jehovah tried him.
The king sent and loosed him;Even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.
He made him lord of his house,And ruler of all his substance;
To bind his princes at his pleasure,And teach his elders wisdom.
Behold, we call them blessed that endured: ye have heard of the {Or, endurance}patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.
For Jehovah giveth wisdom;Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding:
And I {Greek: have said.}say unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they that come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
So shalt thou find favor and {Or, good repute}good understandingIn the sight of God and man.
When a man's ways please Jehovah,He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.