1Then The Kohen HaGadol asked, “Are these things so?” 2He said, “Men, brethren and fathers, hearken: the Elohim of glory appeared to our father Avraham when he was still in Mesopotamia before he came to dwell in Haran. 3And He said to him, ‘Get out of your land and from your relatives and come into the land which I shall show you.’ 4Then Avraham left the land of the Kasdim and came and settled in Kharan, and from there, after his father’s death, Elohim removed him into this land in which you now live. 5And he gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it as an inheritance to him and to his posterity, when as yet he had no son. 6Elohim spoke to him and said, ‘Your descendants will be settlers in a foreign land where they will be enslaved and mistreated for a period of four hundred years. 7But the people to whom they will be enslaved I will condemn,’ said Elohim, ‘and after that, they shall go out and serve me in this land.’ 8Elohim gave Avraham the Brit of circumcision; and then Avraham begat Yitz’khak, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Yitz’khak begat Ya’akov; and Ya’akov fathered our twelve fathers. 9And our fathers were jealous of Yosef; so they sold him into Mitzrayim; but Elohim was with him, 10and He delivered him from all his oppressors and gave him favor and wisdom before Paroh, king of Mitzrayim; and Paroh appointed Yosef to be overlord over Mitzrayim and over all his house. 11Now there came a famine which brought great distress throughout Mitzrayim and the land of Kena’an so that our forefathers found no sustenance. 12But when Ya’akov heard that there was wheat in Mitzrayim, he sent out our fathers on their first venture. 13When they went the second time, Yosef made himself known to his brothers; and Yosef’s family was made known to Paroh. 14Then Yosef sent and brought his father Ya’akov and all his family, seventy-five souls in number. 15So Ya’akov went down to Mitzrayim where he and our fathers died. 16And he was removed to Shekhem and buried in the tomb which Avraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Khamor.”
17“But when the time of the promise was at hand, which Elohim had sworn to Avraham, the people had already increased and become strong in Mitzrayim, 18till another king reigned over Mitzrayim who knew not Yosef. 19He dealt deceitfully with our kindred, mistreated our fathers, and commanded that they cast out their male children to the end that they might not live. 20During that very period Moshe was born, and he was favored before Elohim, so that for three months he was nourished in his father’s house. 21And when he was cast away by his mother, Paroh’s daughter found him and reared him as a son for herself. 22So Moshe was trained in all the wisdom of Mitzrayim, and he was well versed in his words and also in his deeds. 23And when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, B’nei Yisra’el. 24When he saw one of his own kindred mistreated, he avenged him and did justice to him, and killed the man of Mitzrayim who had mistreated him. 25For he thought his brethren, the sons of Yisra’el, would understand that Elohim would grant them deliverance by his hand, but they understood not. 26And the next day he found them quarreling one with another, and he pleaded with them that they might be reconciled, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why are you wronging one another?’ 27But the one who was wronging his fellow thrust him aside and said to him, ‘Who appointed you leader and judge over us? 28Perhaps you want to kill me as you killed the man of Mitzrayim yesterday.’ 29And because of this saying, Moshe fled and took refuge in the land of Midyan, where two sons were born to him.”
30“And when he had completed forty years, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Har Sinai the Malakh יהוה in a flame of fire in a bush. 31When Moshe saw it, he wondered at the sight; and as he drew near to look at it, יהוה spoke to him in a loud voice, 32saying, ‘I am the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Avraham and of Yitz’khak and of Ya’akov.’ And Moshe trembled and dared not look at the sight. 33Then יהוה said to him, ‘Take off your shoes from your feet, for the ground on which you stand is kadosh. 34Already I have seen the affliction of my people in Mitzrayim, I have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you into Mitzrayim.’ 35This is the Moshe whom they had denied, saying, ‘Who appointed you leader and judge over us?’ This very one Elohim sent to be a leader and deliverer to them by the hand of the Malakh which had appeared to him in the bush. 36It was he who brought them out after he had performed miracles, wonders, and signs in the land of Mitzrayim and in Yam Suf, and in the wilderness for forty years. 37This is the Moshe who said to B’nei Yisra’el, ‘ יהוה your Elohim will raise up for you a Navi like me from among your brethren; give heed to Him.’ 38It was he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Malakh who spoke to him and to our fathers in Har Sinai. He is the one who received the living words to give to us. 39Yet our fathers would not listen to him, but they left him, and in their hearts turned towards Mitzrayim. 40They said to Aharon, ‘Make us gods to go before us, for this very Moshe who brought us out of the land of Mitzrayim, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41And they made a calf for themselves in those days and offered sacrifices to idols, and were pleased with the work of their hands.”
42“Then Elohim turned and gave them up that they might worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Nevi’im, ‘O B’nei Yisra’el, why have you offered me slain creatures or sacrifices during the period of forty years in the wilderness? 43Indeed you have borne the tabernacle of Malkom and the star of the god Refan; and you have made images to worship them; therefore I will remove you beyond Bavel.’ 44Behold the Mishkan HaEdut of our fathers was in the wilderness just as יהוה , who spoke to Moshe, had commanded him to make it after the pattern which he had shown him. 45And this very Mishkan, our fathers, together with Yehoshua, brought into the land which Elohim took away from the peoples whom He drove out before them and gave it to them for an inheritance, and it was handed down until the days of David, 46who found favor before Elohim and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the Elohim of Ya’akov. 47But Shlomo built Elohim a house. 48Yet Elyon did not dwell in temples made with hands, for as HaNavi had said, 49‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool under my feet. What kind of house will you build me, says יהוה , or where is the place of my rest? 50Behold, has not my hand made all these things?’”
51“O you stubborn and insincere in heart and hearing, you always resist The Ru’akh HaKodesh; as your fathers did, so do you. 52Which of the Nevi’im have not your fathers persecuted and killed? Especially have they slain those who foretold the coming of HaTzadik, whom you betrayed and killed. 53You received the Torah by the disposition of Malakhim, and have not kept it!”
54When they heard these things, they were enraged, and gnashed their teeth at him. 55But he, full of absolute trust and The Ru’akh HaKodesh, looked up to heaven and saw the K’vod HaElohim, and Yeshua standing at the right hand of Elohim. 56And he said, “Behold I see the heavens opened and Ben HaAdam standing at the right hand of Elohim.” 57Then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and with one accord shouted threats against him. 58And they seized him and took him outside the city and began to stone him. Those who testified against him placed their clothes under the care of a young man called Sha’ul. 59And they stoned Tzefan-Yah as he prayed, saying, “Adoneinu, Yeshua, accept my spirit.” 60And as he knelt down, he cried with a loud voice and said, “Adoneinu, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he passed away. And Sha’ul was pleased, and participated in his murder.
Coming Soon! We are working daily on translating the remainder of the Brit Khadashah from Aramaic to Hebrew. Check back soon for this chapter’s Hebrew version!
D'var יהוה , The Word of יהוה 