Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Summoning his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness.

²These are the names of the twelve apostles: First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

⁴Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

⁵Jesus sent out these twelve after giving them instructions: “Don’t take the road that leads to the Gentiles, and don’t enter any Samaritan town.

⁶Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

⁷As you go, proclaim: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’

⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

⁹Don’t acquire gold, silver, or copper for your money-belts.

¹⁰Don’t take a traveling bag for the road, or an extra shirt, sandals, or a staff, for the worker is worthy of his food.

¹¹When you enter any town or village, find out who is worthy, and stay there until you leave.

¹²Greet a household when you enter it,

¹³and if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it; but if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you.

¹⁴If anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town.

¹⁵Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

¹⁶“Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.

¹⁷Beware of them, because they will hand you over to local courts and flog you in their synagogues.

¹⁸You will even be brought before governors and kings because of me, to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles.

¹⁹But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you are to speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour,

²⁰because it isn’t you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.

²¹“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

²²You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

²³When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. For truly I tell you, you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

²⁴A disciple is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master.

²⁵It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more the members of his household!

²⁶“Therefore, don’t be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered and nothing hidden that won’t be made known.

²⁷What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper, proclaim on the housetops.

²⁸Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

²⁹Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent.

³⁰But even the hairs of your head have all been counted.

³¹So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

³²“Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.

³³But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven.

³⁴Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

³⁶ and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

³⁷The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

³⁸And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

³⁹Anyone who finds his life will lose it, and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it.

⁴⁰“The one who welcomes you welcomes me, and the one who welcomes me welcomes him who sent me.

⁴¹Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he’s righteous will receive a righteous person’s reward.

⁴²And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

¹These are the family records of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They also had sons after the flood.

²Japheth’s sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

³Gomer’s sons: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

⁴And Javan’s sons: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

⁵From these descendants, the peoples of the coasts and islands spread out into their lands according to their clans in their nations, each with its own language.

⁶Ham’s sons: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

⁷Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And Raamah’s sons: Sheba and Dedan.

⁸Cush fathered Nimrod, who began to be powerful in the land.

⁹He was a powerful hunter in the sight of the LORD. That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a powerful hunter in the sight of the LORD.”

¹⁰His kingdom started with Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

¹¹From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah,

¹²and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.

¹³Mizraim fathered the people of Lud, Anam, Lehab, Naphtuh,

¹⁴Pathrus, Casluh (the Philistines came from them), and Caphtor.

¹⁵Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth,

¹⁶as well as the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,

¹⁷the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,

¹⁸the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the Canaanite clans scattered.

¹⁹The Canaanite border went from Sidon going toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and going toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim as far as Lasha.

²⁰These are Ham’s sons by their clans, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations.

²¹And Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had sons. Shem was the father of all the sons of Eber.

²²Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.

²³Aram’s sons: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.

²⁴Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber.

²⁵Eber had two sons. One was named Peleg, for during his days the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

²⁶And Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

²⁷Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,

²⁸Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

²⁹Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were Joktan’s sons.

³⁰Their settlements extended from Mesha to Sephar, the eastern hill country.

³¹These are Shem’s sons by their clans, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations.

³²These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their family records, in their nations. The nations on earth spread out from these after the flood.

¹Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation.

²I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

³Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.

⁴For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes,

⁵since Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them.

⁶But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down

⁷or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.

⁸On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim:

⁹If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

¹⁰One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

¹¹For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame,

¹²since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him.

¹³For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

¹⁴How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher?

¹⁵And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

¹⁶But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message?

¹⁷So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

¹⁸But I ask, “Did they not hear?” Yes, they did: Their voice has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

¹⁹But I ask, “Did Israel not understand?” First, Moses said, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that lacks understanding.

²⁰And Isaiah says boldly, I was found by those who were not looking for me; I revealed myself to those who were not asking for me.

²¹But to Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.

¹First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone,

²for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

³This is good, and it pleases God our Savior,

⁴who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

⁵For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus,

⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.

⁷For this I was appointed a herald, an apostle (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.

⁹Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense, not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel,

¹⁰but with good works, as is proper for women who profess to worship God.

¹¹A woman is to learn quietly with full submission.

¹²I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; instead, she is to remain quiet.

¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

¹⁴And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed.

¹⁵But she will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with good sense.

¹I am disgusted with my life. I will give vent to my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

²I will say to God, “Do not declare me guilty! Let me know why you prosecute me.

³Is it good for you to oppress, to reject the work of your hands, and favor the plans of the wicked?

⁴Do you have eyes of flesh, or do you see as a human sees?

⁵Are your days like those of a human, or your years like those of a man,

⁶that you look for my iniquity and search for my sin,

⁷even though you know that I am not wicked and that there is no one who can rescue from your power?

⁸“Your hands shaped me and formed me. Will you now turn and destroy me?

⁹Please remember that you formed me like clay. Will you now return me to dust?

¹⁰Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?

¹¹You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me together with bones and tendons.

¹²You gave me life and faithful love, and your care has guarded my life.

¹³“Yet you concealed these thoughts in your heart; I know that this was your hidden plan:

¹⁴if I sin, you would notice, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.

¹⁵If I am wicked, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am filled with shame and have drunk deeply of my affliction.

¹⁶If I am proud, you hunt me like a lion and again display your miraculous power against me.

¹⁷You produce new witnesses against me and multiply your anger toward me. Hardships assault me, wave after wave.

¹⁸“Why did you bring me out of the womb? I should have died and never been seen.

¹⁹I wish I had never existed but had been carried from the womb to the grave.

²⁰Are my days not few? Stop it! Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little

²¹before I go to a land of darkness and gloom, never to return.

²²It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness, gloomy and chaotic, where even the light is like the darkness.”

¹LORD, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide in times of trouble?

²In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue their victims; let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.

³For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings; the one who is greedy curses and despises the LORD.

⁴In all his scheming, the wicked person arrogantly thinks, “There’s no accountability, since there’s no God.”

⁵His ways are always secure; your lofty judgments have no effect on him; he scoffs at all his adversaries.

⁶He says to himself, “I will never be moved — from generation to generation without calamity.”

⁷Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

⁸He waits in ambush near settlements; he kills the innocent in secret places. His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;

⁹he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket. He lurks in order to seize a victim; he seizes a victim and drags him in his net.

¹⁰So he is oppressed and beaten down; helpless people fall because of the wicked one’s strength.

¹¹He says to himself, “God has forgotten; he hides his face and will never see.”

¹²Rise up, LORD God! Lift up your hand. Do not forget the oppressed.

¹³Why has the wicked person despised God? He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.”

¹⁴But you yourself have seen trouble and grief, observing it in order to take the matter into your hands. The helpless one entrusts himself to you; you are a helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked, evil person, until you look for his wickedness, but it can’t be found.

¹⁶The LORD is King forever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.

¹⁷LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble; you will strengthen their hearts. You will listen carefully,

¹⁸doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed so that mere humans from the earth may terrify them no more.

¹Solomon’s proverbs: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son, heartache to his mother.

²Ill-gotten gains do not profit anyone, but righteousness rescues from death.

³The LORD will not let the righteous go hungry, but he denies the wicked what they crave.

⁴Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring riches.

⁵The son who gathers during summer is prudent; the son who sleeps during harvest is disgraceful.

⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

⁷The remembrance of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸A wise heart accepts commands, but foolish lips will be destroyed.

⁹The one who lives with integrity lives securely, but whoever perverts his ways will be found out.

¹⁰A sly wink of the eye causes grief, and foolish lips will be destroyed.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

¹²Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses.

¹³Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of the one who lacks sense.

¹⁴The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction.

¹⁵The wealth of the rich is his fortified city; the poverty of the poor is their destruction.

¹⁶The reward of the righteous is life; the wages of the wicked is punishment.

¹⁷The one who follows instruction is on the path to life, but the one who rejects correction goes astray.

¹⁸The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

¹⁹When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is prudent.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is pure silver; the heart of the wicked is of little value.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense.

²²The LORD’s blessing enriches, and he adds no painful effort to it.

²³As shameful conduct is pleasure for a fool, so wisdom is for a person of understanding.

²⁴What the wicked dreads will come to him, but what the righteous desire will be given to them.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever.

²⁶Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so the slacker is to the one who sends him on an errand.

²⁷The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

²⁸The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

²⁹The way of the LORD is a stronghold for the honorable, but destruction awaits the malicious.

³⁰The righteous will never be shaken, but the wicked will not remain on the earth.

³¹The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is appropriate, but the mouth of the wicked, only what is perverse.

¹Now King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and completely destroyed it, treating Ai and its king as he had Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living among them.

²So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed because Gibeon was a large city like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors.

³Therefore King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent word to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon, saying,

⁴“Come up and help me. We will attack Gibeon, because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”

⁵So the five Amorite kings — the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon — joined forces, advanced with all their armies, besieged Gibeon, and fought against it.

⁶Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Don’t give up on your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, for all the Amorite kings living in the hill country have joined forces against us.”

⁷So Joshua and all his troops, including all his best soldiers, came from Gilgal.

⁸The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to stand against you.”

⁹So Joshua caught them by surprise, after marching all night from Gilgal.

¹⁰The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel. He defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them through the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

¹¹As they fled before Israel, the LORD threw large hailstones on them from the sky along the descent of Beth-horon all the way to Azekah, and they died. More of them died from the hail than the Israelites killed with the sword.

¹²On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

¹³And the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on its enemies. Isn’t this written in the Book of Jashar? So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed its setting almost a full day.

¹⁴There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.

¹⁵Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.

¹⁶Now the five defeated kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah.

¹⁷It was reported to Joshua: “The five kings have been found; they are hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”

¹⁸Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and station men by it to guard the kings.

¹⁹But as for the rest of you, don’t stay there. Pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Don’t let them enter their cities, for the LORD your God has handed them over to you.”

²⁰So Joshua and the Israelites finished inflicting a terrible slaughter on them until they were destroyed, although a few survivors ran away to the fortified cities.

²¹The people returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. And no one dared to threaten the Israelites.

²²Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings to me out of there.”

²³That is what they did. They brought the five kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon to Joshua out of the cave.

²⁴When they had brought the kings to him, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the military commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks.

²⁵Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Be strong and courageous, for the LORD will do this to all the enemies you fight.”

²⁶After this, Joshua struck them down and executed them. He hung their bodies on five trees and they were there until evening.

²⁷At sunset Joshua commanded that they be taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave where they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are still there today.

²⁸On that day Joshua captured Makkedah and struck it down with the sword, including its king. He completely destroyed it and everyone in it, leaving no survivors. So he treated the king of Makkedah as he had the king of Jericho.

²⁹Joshua and all Israel with him crossed from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.

³⁰The LORD also handed it and its king over to Israel. He struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword, and left no survivors in it. He treated Libnah’s king as he had the king of Jericho.

³¹From Libnah, Joshua and all Israel with him crossed to Lachish. They laid siege to it and attacked it.

³²The LORD handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua captured it on the second day. He struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah.

³³At that time King Horam of Gezer went to help Lachish, but Joshua struck him down along with his people, leaving no survivors.

³⁴Then Joshua crossed from Lachish to Eglon and all Israel with him. They laid siege to it and attacked it.

³⁵On that day they captured it and struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword. He completely destroyed it that day, just as he had done to Lachish.

³⁶Next, Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it.

³⁷They captured it and struck down its king, all its villages, and everyone in it with the sword. He left no survivors, just as he had done at Eglon. He completely destroyed Hebron and everyone in it.

³⁸Finally, Joshua turned toward Debir and attacked it. And all Israel was with him.

³⁹He captured it — its king and all its villages. They struck them down with the sword and completely destroyed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. He treated Debir and its king as he had treated Hebron and as he had treated Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰So Joshua conquered the whole region  — the hill country, the Negev, the Judean foothills, and the slopes — with all their kings, leaving no survivors. He completely destroyed every living being, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.

⁴¹Joshua conquered everyone from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen as far as Gibeon.

⁴²Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.

⁴³Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.

¹Woe to those enacting crooked statutes and writing oppressive laws

²to keep the poor from getting a fair trial and to deprive the needy among my people of justice, so that widows can be their spoil and they can plunder the fatherless.

³What will you do on the day of punishment when devastation comes from far away? Who will you run to for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

⁴There will be nothing to do except crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike.

⁵Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger — the staff in their hands is my wrath.

⁶I will send him against a godless nation; I will command him to go against a people destined for my rage, to take spoils, to plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

⁷But this is not what he intends; this is not what he plans. It is his intent to destroy and to cut off many nations.

⁸For he says, “Aren’t all my commanders kings?

⁹Isn’t Calno like Carchemish? Isn’t Hamath like Arpad? Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?

¹⁰As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms, whose idols exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

¹¹and as I did to Samaria and its worthless images will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols?”

¹²But when the Lord finishes all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes.”

¹³For he said: I have done this by my own strength and wisdom, for I am clever. I abolished the borders of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants.

¹⁴My hand has reached out, as if into a nest, to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered the whole earth. No wing fluttered; no beak opened or chirped.

¹⁵Does an ax exalt itself above the one who chops with it? Does a saw magnify itself above the one who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it! It would be like a staff lifting the one who isn’t wood!

¹⁶Therefore the Lord GOD of Armies will inflict an emaciating disease on the well-fed of Assyria, and he will kindle a burning fire under its glory.

¹⁷Israel’s Light will become a fire, and its Holy One, a flame. In one day it will burn and consume Assyria’s thorns and thistles.

¹⁸He will completely destroy the glory of its forests and orchards as a sickness consumes a person.

¹⁹The remaining trees of its forest will be so few in number that a child could count them.

²⁰On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

²¹The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.

²²Israel, even if your people were as numerous as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction has been decreed; justice overflows.

²³For throughout the land the Lord GOD of Armies is carrying out a destruction that was decreed.

²⁴Therefore, the Lord GOD of Armies says this: “My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, though they strike you with a rod and raise their staff over you as the Egyptians did.

²⁵In just a little while my wrath will be spent and my anger will turn to their destruction.”

²⁶And the LORD of Armies will brandish a whip against him as he did when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the sea as he did in Egypt.

²⁷On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large.

²⁸Assyria has come to Aiath and has gone through Migron, storing their equipment at Michmash.

²⁹They crossed over at the ford, saying, “We will spend the night at Geba.” The people of Ramah are trembling; those at Gibeah of Saul have fled.

³⁰Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Anathoth is miserable.

³¹Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.

³²Today the Assyrians will stand at Nob, shaking their fists at the mountain of Daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

³³Look, the Lord GOD of Armies will chop off the branches with terrifying power, and the tall trees will be cut down, the high trees felled.

³⁴He is clearing the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon with its majesty will fall.

¹There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment.

²He was a devout man and feared God along with his whole household. He did many charitable deeds for the Jewish people and always prayed to God.

³About three in the afternoon he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, “Cornelius.”

⁴Staring at him in awe, he said, “What is it, Lord?” The angel told him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity have ascended as a memorial offering before God.

⁵Now send men to Joppa and call for Simon, who is also named Peter.

⁶He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷When the angel who spoke to him had gone, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, who was one of those who attended him.

⁸After explaining everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon.

¹⁰He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he fell into a trance.

¹¹He saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the earth.

¹²In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky.

¹³A voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.”

¹⁴“No, Lord!” Peter said. “For I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean.”

¹⁵Again, a second time, the voice said to him, “What God has made clean, do not call impure.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and suddenly the object was taken up into heaven.

¹⁷While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, right away the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, stood at the gate.

¹⁸They called out, asking if Simon, who was also named Peter, was lodging there.

¹⁹While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you.

²⁰Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.”

²¹Then Peter went down to the men and said, “Here I am, the one you’re looking for. What is the reason you’re here?”

²²They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.”

²³Peter then invited them in and gave them lodging. The next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him.

²⁴The following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him.

²⁶But Peter lifted him up and said, “Stand up. I myself am also a man.”

²⁷While talking with him, he went in and found a large gathering of people.

²⁸Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner, but God has shown me that I must not call any person impure or unclean.

²⁹That’s why I came without any objection when I was sent for. So may I ask why you sent for me?”

³⁰Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this hour, at three in the afternoon, I was praying in my house. Just then a man in dazzling clothing stood before me

³¹and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered in God’s sight.

³²Therefore send someone to Joppa and invite Simon here, who is also named Peter. He is lodging in Simon the tanner’s house by the sea.’

³³So I immediately sent for you, and it was good of you to come. So now we are all in the presence of God to hear everything you have been commanded by the Lord.”

³⁴Peter began to speak: “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism,

³⁵but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

³⁶He sent the message to the Israelites, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ — he is Lord of all.

³⁷You know the events that took place throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached:

³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the devil, because God was with him.

³⁹We ourselves are witnesses of everything he did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, and yet they killed him by hanging him on a tree.

⁴⁰God raised up this man on the third day and caused him to be seen,

⁴¹not by all the people, but by us whom God appointed as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead.

⁴³All the prophets testify about him that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message.

⁴⁵The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.

⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in other tongues and declaring the greatness of God. Then Peter responded,

⁴⁷“Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

⁴⁸He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.