Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge.

²He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:

³“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.

⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.

⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.

⁸Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

⁹Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

¹⁰When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.

¹¹He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables

¹²so that, “ ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’ ”

¹³Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?

¹⁴The farmer sows the word.

¹⁵Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

¹⁶Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.

¹⁷But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

¹⁸Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;

¹⁹but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

²⁰Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

²¹He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?

²²For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.

²³If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

²⁴“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.

²⁵Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

²⁶He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.

²⁷Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.

²⁸All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.

²⁹As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

³⁰Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?

³¹It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth.

³²Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

³³With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.

³⁴He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

³⁵That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”

³⁶Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.

³⁷A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.

³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

¹The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:

²“Take a census of the Kohathite branch of the Levites by their clans and families.

³Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.

⁴“This is the work of the Kohathites at the tent of meeting: the care of the most holy things.

⁵When the camp is to move, Aaron and his sons are to go in and take down the shielding curtain and put it over the ark of the covenant law.

⁶Then they are to cover the curtain with a durable leather, spread a cloth of solid blue over that and put the poles in place.

⁷“Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes and bowls, and the jars for drink offerings; the bread that is continually there is to remain on it.

⁸They are to spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover that with the durable leather and put the poles in place.

⁹“They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand that is for light, together with its lamps, its wick trimmers and trays, and all its jars for the olive oil used to supply it.

¹⁰Then they are to wrap it and all its accessories in a covering of the durable leather and put it on a carrying frame.

¹¹“Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth and cover that with the durable leather and put the poles in place.

¹²“They are to take all the articles used for ministering in the sanctuary, wrap them in a blue cloth, cover that with the durable leather and put them on a carrying frame.

¹³“They are to remove the ashes from the bronze altar and spread a purple cloth over it.

¹⁴Then they are to place on it all the utensils used for ministering at the altar, including the firepans, meat forks, shovels and sprinkling bowls. Over it they are to spread a covering of the durable leather and put the poles in place.

¹⁵“After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, only then are the Kohathites to come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the tent of meeting.

¹⁶“Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, is to have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering and the anointing oil. He is to be in charge of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including its holy furnishings and articles.”

¹⁷The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

¹⁸“See that the Kohathite tribal clans are not destroyed from among the Levites.

¹⁹So that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go into the sanctuary and assign to each man his work and what he is to carry.

²⁰But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die.”

²¹The LORD said to Moses,

²²“Take a census also of the Gershonites by their families and clans.

²³Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.

²⁴“This is the service of the Gershonite clans in their carrying and their other work:

²⁵They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, that is, the tent of meeting, its covering and its outer covering of durable leather, the curtains for the entrance to the tent of meeting,

²⁶the curtains of the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and altar, the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard, the ropes and all the equipment used in the service of the tent. The Gershonites are to do all that needs to be done with these things.

²⁷All their service, whether carrying or doing other work, is to be done under the direction of Aaron and his sons. You shall assign to them as their responsibility all they are to carry.

²⁸This is the service of the Gershonite clans at the tent of meeting. Their duties are to be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest.

²⁹“Count the Merarites by their clans and families.

³⁰Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.

³¹As part of all their service at the tent, they are to carry the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts and bases,

³²as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, ropes, all their equipment and everything related to their use. Assign to each man the specific things he is to carry.

³³This is the service of the Merarite clans as they work at the tent of meeting under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest.”

³⁴Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the Kohathites by their clans and families.

³⁵All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting,

³⁶counted by clans, were 2,750.

³⁷This was the total of all those in the Kohathite clans who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the LORD’s command through Moses.

³⁸The Gershonites were counted by their clans and families.

³⁹All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting,

⁴⁰counted by their clans and families, were 2,630.

⁴¹This was the total of those in the Gershonite clans who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the LORD’s command.

⁴²The Merarites were counted by their clans and families.

⁴³All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting,

⁴⁴counted by their clans, were 3,200.

⁴⁵This was the total of those in the Merarite clans. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the LORD’s command through Moses.

⁴⁶So Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans and families.

⁴⁷All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to do the work of serving and carrying the tent of meeting

⁴⁸numbered 8,580.

⁴⁹At the LORD’s command through Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry. Thus they were counted, as the LORD commanded Moses.

¹I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me!

²I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.

³But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

⁴For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

⁵I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.”

⁶I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.

⁷Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge?

⁸I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you.

⁹And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.

¹⁰As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine.

¹¹Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

¹²And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about.

¹³For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

¹⁴And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

¹⁵It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

¹⁶I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting.

¹⁷In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool.

¹⁸Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast.

¹⁹You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!

²⁰In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face.

²¹To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about.

²²Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I.

²³Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.

²⁴Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.

²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,

²⁶I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.

²⁷I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

²⁸Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

²⁹Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

³⁰If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

³¹The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.

³²In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me.

³³But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.

¹The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.

²The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

³One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.

⁴People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”

⁵The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months.

⁶It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.

⁷It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

⁸All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

⁹Whoever has ears, let them hear.

¹⁰“If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.” This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

¹¹Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.

¹²It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.

¹³And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people.

¹⁴Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

¹⁵The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.

¹⁶It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,

¹⁷so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

¹⁸This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

¹I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk. Eat, friends, and drink; drink your fill of love.

²I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”

³I have taken off my robe— must I put it on again? I have washed my feet— must I soil them again?

⁴My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.

⁵I arose to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, on the handles of the bolt.

⁶I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer.

⁷The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls!

⁸Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you— if you find my beloved, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love.

⁹How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you so charge us?

¹⁰My beloved is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.

¹¹His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.

¹²His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels.

¹³His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh.

¹⁴His arms are rods of gold set with topaz. His body is like polished ivory decorated with lapis lazuli.

¹⁵His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.

¹⁶His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.

¹A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?

²My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

³He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;

⁴indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

⁶the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

⁷The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;

⁸the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

¹The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

²When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order.

³A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.

⁴Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked, but those who heed it resist them.

⁵Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully.

⁶Better the poor whose walk is blameless than the rich whose ways are perverse.

⁷A discerning son heeds instruction, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.

⁸Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor.

⁹If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.

¹⁰Whoever leads the upright along an evil path will fall into their own trap, but the blameless will receive a good inheritance.

¹¹The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.

¹²When the righteous triumph, there is great elation; but when the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding.

¹³Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

¹⁴Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.

¹⁵Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.

¹⁶A tyrannical ruler practices extortion, but one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy a long reign.

¹⁷Anyone tormented by the guilt of murder will seek refuge in the grave; let no one hold them back.

¹⁸The one whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but the one whose ways are perverse will fall into the pit.

¹⁹Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.

²⁰A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

²¹To show partiality is not good— yet a person will do wrong for a piece of bread.

²²The stingy are eager to get rich and are unaware that poverty awaits them.

²³Whoever rebukes a person will in the end gain favor rather than one who has a flattering tongue.

²⁴Whoever robs their father or mother and says, “It’s not wrong,” is partner to one who destroys.

²⁵The greedy stir up conflict, but those who trust in the LORD will prosper.

²⁶Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.

²⁷Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.

²⁸When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding; but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive.

¹Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

²Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah:

³“Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.

⁴You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”

⁵So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.

⁶The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

⁷Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to him:

⁹“Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.”

¹⁰So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?”

¹¹As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

¹²“As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

¹³Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.

¹⁴For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’ ”

¹⁵She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.

¹⁶For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

¹⁷Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.

¹⁸She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

¹⁹“Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.

²⁰Then he cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?”

²¹Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

²²The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.

²³Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

²⁴Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”

¹Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest

²and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

³As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

⁵“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

⁶“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.

⁸Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.

⁹For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

¹⁰In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered.

¹¹The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.

¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

¹³“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem.

¹⁴And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.

¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

¹⁷Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,

¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

²⁰At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

²¹All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

²²Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

²³After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him,

²⁴but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him.

²⁵But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

²⁶When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.

²⁷But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.

²⁸So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him.

³⁰When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

³²As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda.

³³There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years.

³⁴“Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up.

³⁵All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

³⁶In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.

³⁷About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.

³⁸Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

³⁹Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

⁴⁰Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.

⁴¹He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive.

⁴²This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

⁴³Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.