Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them,

²“I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.

³And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.”

⁴Then His disciples answered Him, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?”

⁵He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”

⁶So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.

⁷They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.

⁸So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.

⁹Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away,

¹⁰immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

¹¹Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.

¹²But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.”

¹³And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.

¹⁴Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.

¹⁵Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

¹⁶And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”

¹⁷But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened?

¹⁸Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?

¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.”

²⁰“Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.”

²¹So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”

²²Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.

²³So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.

²⁴And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”

²⁵Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.

²⁶Then He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.”

²⁷Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?”

²⁸So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”

²⁹He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”

³⁰Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.

³¹And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

³²He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

³³But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

³⁴When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

³⁵For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

³⁶For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

³⁷Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

³⁸For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

¹And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

²“Speak to Aaron, and say to him, ‘When you arrange the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.’ ”

³And Aaron did so; he arranged the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the LORD commanded Moses.

⁴Now this workmanship of the lampstand was hammered gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was hammered work. According to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

⁵Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

⁶“Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them ceremonially.

⁷Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purification on them, and let them shave all their body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.

⁸Then let them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull as a sin offering.

⁹And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall gather together the whole congregation of the children of Israel.

¹⁰So you shall bring the Levites before the LORD, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites;

¹¹and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD like a wave offering from the children of Israel, that they may perform the work of the LORD.

¹²Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls, and you shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites.

¹³“And you shall stand the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and then offer them like a wave offering to the LORD.

¹⁴Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine.

¹⁵After that the Levites shall go in to service the tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and offer them like a wave offering.

¹⁶For they are wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them for Myself instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel.

¹⁷For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them to Myself.

¹⁸I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel.

¹⁹And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the work for the children of Israel in the tabernacle of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

²⁰Thus Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did to the Levites; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them.

²¹And the Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

²²After that the Levites went in to do their work in the tabernacle of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

²³Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁴“This is what pertains to the Levites: From twenty-five years old and above one may enter to perform service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting;

²⁵and at the age of fifty years they must cease performing this work, and shall work no more.

²⁶They may minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of meeting, to attend to needs, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall do to the Levites regarding their duties.”

¹Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me.

²And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.

³Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.

⁴And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),

⁵to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

⁶But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.

⁷But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter

⁸(for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles),

⁹and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

¹⁰They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.

¹¹Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;

¹²for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.

¹³And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

¹⁴But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?

¹⁵We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,

¹⁶knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

¹⁷“But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!

¹⁸For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

¹⁹For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

²¹I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

¹Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,

²with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

³So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

⁴The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.

⁵And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

⁶I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.

⁷But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

⁸The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

⁹“Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.

¹⁰There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.

¹¹The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.

¹²“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.

¹³These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.

¹⁴These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

¹⁵Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.

¹⁶And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire.

¹⁷For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

¹⁸And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

¹There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

²And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

³Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.

⁴And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

⁵So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly.

⁶Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

⁷And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”

⁸Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”

⁹So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

¹⁰Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

¹¹But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”

¹²And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

¹³Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house;

¹⁴and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,

¹⁵when the Sabeans raided them and took them away—indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

¹⁹and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

²⁰Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

²¹And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

²²In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.

¹A Song of Ascents. [1] Those who trust in the LORD Are like Mount Zion, Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

²As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.

³For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest On the land allotted to the righteous, Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.

⁴Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, And to those who are upright in their hearts.

⁵As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, The LORD shall lead them away With the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel!

¹The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

²To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding,

³To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity;

⁴To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion—

⁵A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

⁶To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother;

⁹For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.

¹¹If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

¹²Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;

¹³We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil;

¹⁴Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse”—

¹⁵My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path;

¹⁶For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird;

¹⁸But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares.

²¹She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words:

²²“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge.

²³Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.

²⁴Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,

²⁵Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke,

²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes,

²⁷When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD,

³⁰They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke.

³¹Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies.

³²For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them;

³³But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

¹And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

²So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.”

³But Naboth said to Ahab, “The LORD forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

⁴So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.

⁵But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”

⁶He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

⁷Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth.

⁹She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people;

¹⁰and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.

¹¹So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them.

¹²They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people.

¹³And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died.

¹⁴Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

¹⁵And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”

¹⁶So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

¹⁷Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

¹⁸“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it.

¹⁹You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ”

²⁰So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD:

²¹‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free.

²²I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’

²³And concerning Jezebel the LORD also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’

²⁴The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.”

²⁵But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up.

²⁶And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

²⁷So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.

²⁸And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

²⁹“See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”

¹And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.”

²Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.

³And He said to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.

⁴For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’

⁵As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.

⁶“And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house.

⁷You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious.

⁸But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

⁹Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.

¹⁰Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.

¹Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

²As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

⁵And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.

⁶Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus,

⁷who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

¹⁰and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?

¹¹And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

¹²Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁴But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.

¹⁵And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.”

¹⁶Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it.

¹⁸Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness.

¹⁹And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment.

²⁰“After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.

²¹And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

²²And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’

²³From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—

²⁴after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’

²⁶“Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him.

²⁸And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death.

²⁹Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised Him from the dead.

³¹He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people.

³²And we declare to you glad tidings— that promise which was made to the fathers.

³³God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’

³⁴And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’

³⁵Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’

³⁶“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;

³⁷but He whom God raised up saw no corruption.

³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins;

³⁹and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

⁴⁰Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:

⁴¹‘Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, A work which you will by no means believe, Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”

⁴²So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.

⁴³Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

⁴⁸Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region.

⁵⁰But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.

⁵¹But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium.

⁵²And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.