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 7,30 Apg 7,30
But as the time of the promise drew nigh which God vouchsafed unto Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb.
I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
But Jehovah hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as at this day.
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.
And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.
In the third month after the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
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.
Thou didst cause men to ride over our heads;We went through fire and through water;But thou broughtest us out into {Hebrew: abundance.}a wealthy place.
And for the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof,And the good will of him that dwelt in the bush.Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph,And upon the crown of the head of him {Or, that is prince among}that was separate from his brethren.
And when they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mount.
And the angel of Jehovah found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
And he said, Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, whence camest thou? and whither goest thou? And she said, I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.
And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and thou shalt call his name {That is, God heareth.}Ishmael, because Jehovah hath heard thy affliction.
And he shall be as a wild ass among men; his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell {Or, to the east of}over against all his brethren.
And she called the name of Jehovah that spake unto her, {Or, Thou God seest me}Thou art {Hebrew: El roi, that is, God of seeing.}a God that seeth: for she said, Have I even here looked after him that seeth me?
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
But as touching the dead, that they are raised; have ye not read in the book of Moses, in the place concerning the Bush, how God spake unto him, saying, {Exodus 3:6.}I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven,
and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son,
that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth {Or, bless themselves}be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
And the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their hosen changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them.
But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in {Exodus 3:6.}the place concerning the Bush, when he calleth the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
{Many ancient authorities read For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia.}Now this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is: for she is in bondage with her children.
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but {That is, He who striveth with God, or, God striveth.}Israel: for thou hast {Or, had power with}striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
And Jacob called the name of the place {That is, The face of God.}Peniel: for, said he, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
And he blessed Joseph, and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath fed me all my life long unto this day,
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 the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
{Another reading is, In all their adversity he was no adversary}In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his {Or, strength}manhood he {Or, strove}had power with God:
yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him at Beth-el, and there he spake with us,
{Or, for Jehovah is the God of hosts}even Jehovah, the God of hosts; Jehovah is his memorial name.
Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; {Or, even}and the {Or, angel}messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.