Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.

²So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.

³And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.”

⁴Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent.

⁵And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.

⁶Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

⁷But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea

⁸and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.

⁹So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.

¹⁰For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.

¹¹And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.”

¹²But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.

¹³And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him.

¹⁴Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,

¹⁵and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:

¹⁶Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter;

¹⁷James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;

¹⁸Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;

¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

²⁰Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

²¹But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”

²²And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

²³So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan?

²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.

²⁷No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

²⁸“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter;

²⁹but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”—

³⁰because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

³¹Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.

³²And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.”

³³But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?”

³⁴And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

³⁵For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

¹Now these are the records of Aaron and Moses when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.

²And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

³These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he consecrated to minister as priests.

⁴Nadab and Abihu had died before the LORD when they offered profane fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.

⁵And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

⁶“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him.

⁷And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle.

⁸Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle.

⁹And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel.

¹⁰So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

¹²“Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine,

¹³because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the LORD.”

¹⁴Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying:

¹⁵“Number the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families; you shall number every male from a month old and above.”

¹⁶So Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded.

¹⁷These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.

¹⁹And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁰And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ houses.

²¹From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimites; these were the families of the Gershonites.

²²Those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above—of those who were numbered there were seven thousand five hundred.

²³The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward.

²⁴And the leader of the father’s house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael.

²⁵The duties of the children of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting included the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting,

²⁶the screen for the door of the court, the hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords, according to all the work relating to them.

²⁷From Kohath came the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites.

²⁸According to the number of all the males, from a month old and above, there were eight thousand six hundred keeping charge of the sanctuary.

²⁹The families of the children of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle.

³⁰And the leader of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

³¹Their duty included the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, the screen, and all the work relating to them.

³²And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, with oversight of those who kept charge of the sanctuary.

³³From Merari came the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari.

³⁴And those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above, were six thousand two hundred.

³⁵The leader of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. These were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle.

³⁶And the appointed duty of the children of Merari included the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, its utensils, all the work relating to them,

³⁷and the pillars of the court all around, with their sockets, their pegs, and their cords.

³⁸Moreover those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tabernacle of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons, keeping charge of the sanctuary, to meet the needs of the children of Israel; but the outsider who came near was to be put to death.

³⁹All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, by their families, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty-two thousand.

⁴⁰Then the LORD said to Moses: “Number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their names.

⁴¹And you shall take the Levites for Me—I am the LORD—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.”

⁴²So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the LORD commanded him.

⁴³And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names from a month old and above, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

⁴⁴Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

⁴⁵“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine: I am the LORD.

⁴⁶And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who are more than the number of the Levites,

⁴⁷you shall take five shekels for each one individually; you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs.

⁴⁸And you shall give the money, with which the excess number of them is redeemed, to Aaron and his sons.”

⁴⁹So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites.

⁵⁰From the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

⁵¹And Moses gave their redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.

¹Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ— who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.

²But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

⁵casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

⁶and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

⁷Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ’s, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ’s, even so we are Christ’s.

⁸For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed—

⁹lest I seem to terrify you by letters.

¹⁰“For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.”

¹¹Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.

¹²For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

¹³We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us—a sphere which especially includes you.

¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ;

¹⁵not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere,

¹⁶to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s sphere of accomplishment.

¹⁷But “he who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

¹⁸For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

¹Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.

²Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

³And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.

⁴His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

⁵She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

⁶Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

⁷And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,

⁸but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

⁹So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

¹¹And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

¹²Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

¹³Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.

¹⁴But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.

¹⁵So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.

¹⁶But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.

¹⁷And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

¹Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, Going down from Mount Gilead.

²Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep Which have come up from the washing, Every one of which bears twins, And none is barren among them.

³Your lips are like a strand of scarlet, And your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil Are like a piece of pomegranate.

⁴Your neck is like the tower of David, Built for an armory, On which hang a thousand bucklers, All shields of mighty men.

⁵Your two breasts are like two fawns, Twins of a gazelle, Which feed among the lilies.

⁶Until the day breaks And the shadows flee away, I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh And to the hill of frankincense.

⁷You are all fair, my love, And there is no spot in you.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, With me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Senir and Hermon, From the lions’ dens, From the mountains of the leopards.

⁹You have ravished my heart, My sister, my spouse; You have ravished my heart With one look of your eyes, With one link of your necklace.

¹⁰How fair is your love, My sister, my spouse! How much better than wine is your love, And the scent of your perfumes Than all spices!

¹¹Your lips, O my spouse, Drip as the honeycomb; Honey and milk are under your tongue; And the fragrance of your garments Is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹²A garden enclosed Is my sister, my spouse, A spring shut up, A fountain sealed.

¹³Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates With pleasant fruits, Fragrant henna with spikenard,

¹⁴Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, With all trees of frankincense, Myrrh and aloes, With all the chief spices—

¹⁵A fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And streams from Lebanon.

¹⁶Awake, O north wind, And come, O south! Blow upon my garden, That its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden And eat its pleasant fruits.

¹A Song of Ascents. [1] In my distress I cried to the LORD, And He heard me.

²Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips And from a deceitful tongue.

³What shall be given to you, Or what shall be done to you, You false tongue?

⁴Sharp arrows of the warrior, With coals of the broom tree!

⁵Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

⁶My soul has dwelt too long With one who hates peace.

⁷I am for peace; But when I speak, they are for war.

¹Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

²Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, But a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them.

⁴Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent, But who is able to stand before jealousy?

⁵Open rebuke is better Than love carefully concealed.

⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

⁷A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸Like a bird that wanders from its nest Is a man who wanders from his place.

⁹Ointment and perfume delight the heart, And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel.

¹⁰Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

¹¹My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, That I may answer him who reproaches me.

¹²A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself; The simple pass on and are punished.

¹³Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger, And hold it in pledge when he is surety for a seductress.

¹⁴He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, It will be counted a curse to him.

¹⁵A continual dripping on a very rainy day And a contentious woman are alike;

¹⁶Whoever restrains her restrains the wind, And grasps oil with his right hand.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

¹⁸Whoever keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit; So he who waits on his master will be honored.

¹⁹As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man.

²⁰Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.

²¹The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, And a man is valued by what others say of him.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

²³Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds;

²⁴For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations.

²⁵When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,

²⁶The lambs will provide your clothing, And the goats the price of a field;

²⁷You shall have enough goats’ milk for your food, For the food of your household, And the nourishment of your maidservants.

¹Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying:

²“Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins,

³surely I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

⁴The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields.”

⁵Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

⁶So Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. Then Elah his son reigned in his place.

⁷And also the word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed them.

⁸In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Tirzah.

⁹Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah.

¹⁰And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

¹¹Then it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave him one male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends.

¹²Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,

¹³for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols.

¹⁴Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

¹⁵In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

¹⁶Now the people who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.

¹⁷Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah.

¹⁸And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house down upon himself with fire, and died,

¹⁹because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin.

²⁰Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the treason he committed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²¹Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri.

²²But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned.

²³In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and reigned twelve years. Six years he reigned in Tirzah.

²⁴And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill.

²⁵Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all who were before him.

²⁶For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols.

²⁷Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²⁸So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Then Ahab his son reigned in his place.

²⁹In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.

³⁰Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.

³¹And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him.

³²Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

³³And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

³⁴In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the LORD, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

¹Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

²And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

³As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

⁴Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

⁵Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.

⁶And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

⁷For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.

⁸And there was great joy in that city.

⁹But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great,

¹⁰to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.”

¹¹And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time.

¹²But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

¹³Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

¹⁴Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,

¹⁵who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁷Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

¹⁹saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!

²¹You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

²²Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

²⁴Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

²⁵So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.

²⁷So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,

²⁸was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.

²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

³⁰So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

³²The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

³³In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”

³⁴So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”

³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.

³⁶Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

³⁷Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

³⁸So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.

³⁹Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.