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 7,37 Apg 7,37
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:
Moses indeed said, {Deuteronomy 18:15.}A prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren, {Or, as he raised up me}like unto me; to him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you.
{Deuteronomy 18:19.}And it shall be, that every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.
And in the time {Or, that he distressed him}of his distress did he trespass yet more against Jehovah, this same king Ahaz.
Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
according to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
And Jehovah said unto me, They have well said that which they have spoken.
I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him.
And Peter answered, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, I will make here three {Or, booths}tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the interdict that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.
And there came a cloud overshadowing them: and there came a voice out of the cloud, This is my beloved Son: hear ye him.
And behold, there talked with him two men, who were Moses and Elijah;
who appeared in glory, and spake of his {Or, departure}decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is {Many ancient authorities read my beloved Son. See Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7}my Son, my chosen: hear ye him.
Which of you convicteth me of sin? If I say truth, why do ye not believe me?
He that is of God heareth the words of God: for this cause ye hear them not, because ye are not of God.
Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, {Or, Thou sayest it, because I am a king.}Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.