Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

²And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

³He answered them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.”

⁵And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.

⁶But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’

⁷ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,

⁸and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.

⁹ What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

¹⁰And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter.

¹¹And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her,

¹²and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

¹³And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

¹⁶And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

¹⁷And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

¹⁹You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”

²⁰And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”

²¹And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

²²Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

²³And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

²⁸Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”

²⁹Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,

³⁰who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

³²And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,

³³saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.

³⁴And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

³⁵And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

³⁶And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³⁷And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”

³⁸Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”

³⁹And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized,

⁴⁰but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.

⁴²And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

⁴³But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,

⁴⁴and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

⁴⁵For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

⁴⁶And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.

⁴⁷And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”

⁵⁰And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.

⁵¹And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”

⁵²And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Make two silver trumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp.

³And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

⁴But if they blow only one, then the chiefs, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.

⁵When you blow an alarm, the camps that are on the east side shall set out.

⁶And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out.

⁷But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow a long blast, but you shall not sound an alarm.

⁸And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations.

⁹And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.

¹⁰On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the LORD your God.”

¹¹In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony,

¹²and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.

¹³They set out for the first time at the command of the LORD by Moses.

¹⁴The standard of the camp of the people of Judah set out first by their companies, and over their company was Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

¹⁵And over the company of the tribe of the people of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar.

¹⁶And over the company of the tribe of the people of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁷And when the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who carried the tabernacle, set out.

¹⁸And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies, and over their company was Elizur the son of Shedeur.

¹⁹And over the company of the tribe of the people of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

²⁰And over the company of the tribe of the people of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

²¹Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival.

²²And the standard of the camp of the people of Ephraim set out by their companies, and over their company was Elishama the son of Ammihud.

²³And over the company of the tribe of the people of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

²⁴And over the company of the tribe of the people of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.

²⁵Then the standard of the camp of the people of Dan, acting as the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies, and over their company was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

²⁶And over the company of the tribe of the people of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ochran.

²⁷And over the company of the tribe of the people of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.

²⁸This was the order of march of the people of Israel by their companies, when they set out.

²⁹And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the LORD has promised good to Israel.”

³⁰But he said to him, “I will not go. I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.”

³¹And he said, “Please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us.

³²And if you do go with us, whatever good the LORD will do to us, the same will we do to you.”

³³So they set out from the mount of the LORD three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.

³⁴And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.

³⁵And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.”

³⁶And when it rested, he said, “Return, O LORD, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”

¹I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything,

²but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.

³In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

⁴But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

⁵to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

⁶And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

⁷So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

⁸Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.

⁹But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?

¹⁰You observe days and months and seasons and years!

¹¹I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

¹²Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong.

¹³You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first,

¹⁴and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

¹⁵What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.

¹⁶Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?

¹⁷They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.

¹⁸It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you,

¹⁹my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!

²⁰I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

²¹Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?

²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.

²³But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.

²⁴Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.

²⁵Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

²⁶But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

²⁷For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”

²⁸Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

²⁹But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.

³⁰But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.”

³¹So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

¹After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

²for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

³Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

⁴And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”

⁵And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.”

⁶Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.

⁷Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;

⁸it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure” — for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

⁹And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

¹⁰Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

¹¹Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

¹²His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

¹³He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

¹⁴And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

¹⁵From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

¹⁶On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

¹⁷Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God,

¹⁸to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”

¹⁹And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.

²⁰And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

²¹And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

¹After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

²And Job said:

³“Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.’

⁴Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it.

⁵Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

⁶That night — let thick darkness seize it! Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

⁷Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry enter it.

⁸Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.

⁹Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning,

¹⁰because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹“Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire?

¹²Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?

¹³For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,

¹⁴with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves,

¹⁵or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light?

¹⁷There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

¹⁹The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.

²⁰“Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,

²¹who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

²²who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave?

²³Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

²⁴For my sighing comes instead of my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water.

²⁵For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.

²⁶I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes.”

¹Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

²It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

³Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.

⁴Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth.

⁵Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

¹My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,

²for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.

³Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

⁶In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

⁷Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

⁸It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

⁹Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

¹⁰then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

¹¹My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof,

¹²for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

¹³Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,

¹⁴for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.

¹⁹The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;

²⁰by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹My son, do not lose sight of these — keep sound wisdom and discretion,

²²and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.

²³Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble.

²⁴If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,

²⁶for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

²⁷Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

²⁸Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it” — when you have it with you.

²⁹Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.

³⁰Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,

³²for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD, but the upright are in his confidence.

³³The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

³⁴Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace.

¹After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.

²Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.”

³But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?

⁴Now therefore thus says the LORD, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went.

⁵The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?”

⁶And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the LORD, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’”

⁷He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?”

⁸They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’”

¹⁰But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king's order, ‘Come down quickly!’”

¹²But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹³Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight.

¹⁴Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.”

¹⁵Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king

¹⁶and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron — is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? — therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’”

¹⁷So he died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.

¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

¹“And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem.

²And put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.

³And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.

⁴“Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment.

⁵For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel.

⁶And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, a day for each year.

⁷And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city.

⁸And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege.

⁹“And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it.

¹⁰And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it.

¹¹And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from day to day you shall drink.

¹²And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung.”

¹³And the LORD said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.”

¹⁴Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has tainted meat come into my mouth.”

¹⁵Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.”

¹⁶Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.

¹⁷I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment.

¹But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

²And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.

³So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.

⁴When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.

⁵But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”

⁶The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

⁷And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

⁸And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,

⁹and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

¹⁰Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

¹¹But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

¹²And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

¹³After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me.

¹⁴Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name.

¹⁵And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁶“‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it,

¹⁷that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things

¹⁸known from of old.’

¹⁹Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,

²⁰but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.

²¹For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

²²Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

²³with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.

²⁴Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions,

²⁵it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

²⁶men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁷We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.

²⁸For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:

²⁹that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.

³¹And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.

³²And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.

³³And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.

³⁴

³⁵But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

³⁶And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”

³⁷Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.

³⁸But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.

³⁹And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus,

⁴⁰but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

⁴¹And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.