Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

² Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

³Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

⁴“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.

⁵But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

⁷Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

⁸“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God,

⁹but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

¹⁰And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

¹¹ And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say,

¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

¹⁵And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

¹⁶And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,

¹⁷and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’

¹⁸And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

¹⁹And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’

²⁰But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

²¹So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

²²And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.

²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

²⁴ Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

²⁵And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

²⁶If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?

²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

²⁸But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

²⁹And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.

³⁰For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

³¹Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

³² “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

³³ Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

³⁴ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

³⁵ “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning,

³⁶and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

³⁸If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!

³⁹ But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.

⁴⁰You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?”

⁴²And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?

⁴³ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

⁴⁴Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

⁴⁵But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,

⁴⁶the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.

⁴⁷ And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.

⁴⁸ But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

⁴⁹ “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!

⁵⁰ I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!

⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

⁵²For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.

⁵³They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens.

⁵⁵And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.

⁵⁶You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

⁵⁷“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?

⁵⁸ As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison.

⁵⁹I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

¹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.’

³And you shall say to them, This is the food offering that you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a regular offering.

⁴The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight;

⁵also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin of beaten oil.

⁶It is a regular burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

⁷Its drink offering shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb. In the Holy Place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD.

⁸The other lamb you shall offer at twilight. Like the grain offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

⁹“On the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering:

¹⁰this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

¹¹“At the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish;

¹²also three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull, and two tenths of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram;

¹³and a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for every lamb; for a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

¹⁴Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a quarter of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year.

¹⁵Also one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

¹⁶“On the fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD's Passover,

¹⁷and on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast. Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.

¹⁸On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work,

¹⁹but offer a food offering, a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; see that they are without blemish;

²⁰also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three tenths of an ephah shall you offer for a bull, and two tenths for a ram;

²¹a tenth shall you offer for each of the seven lambs;

²²also one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you.

²³You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a regular burnt offering.

²⁴In the same way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

²⁵And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work.

²⁶“On the day of the firstfruits, when you offer a grain offering of new grain to the LORD at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work,

²⁷but offer a burnt offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old;

²⁸also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths for one ram,

²⁹a tenth for each of the seven lambs;

³⁰with one male goat, to make atonement for you.

³¹Besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall offer them and their drink offering. See that they are without blemish.

¹Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

²For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

³how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

⁴while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

⁵For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.

⁶It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?

⁷You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,

⁸putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.

⁹But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

¹⁰For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

¹¹For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

¹²saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

¹³And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

¹⁴Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

¹⁵and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

¹⁶For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

¹⁷Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

¹⁸For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

²To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.

⁴As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.

⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

⁶For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,

⁷for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

⁸Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

⁹who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

¹⁰and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

¹¹for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher,

¹²which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

¹³Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

¹⁵You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

¹⁶May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains,

¹⁷but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me —

¹⁸may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day! — and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Keep listening to my words, and let this be your comfort.

³Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.

⁴As for me, is my complaint against man? Why should I not be impatient?

⁵Look at me and be appalled, and lay your hand over your mouth.

⁶When I remember, I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh.

⁷Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?

⁸Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes.

⁹Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them.

¹⁰Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and does not miscarry.

¹¹They send out their little boys like a flock, and their children dance.

¹²They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.

¹³They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.

¹⁴They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.

¹⁵What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’

¹⁶Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷“How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity comes upon them? That God distributes pains in his anger?

¹⁸That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?

¹⁹You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.

²⁰Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹For what do they care for their houses after them, when the number of their months is cut off?

²²Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those who are on high?

²³One dies in his full vigor, being wholly at ease and secure,

²⁴his pails full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist.

²⁵Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity.

²⁶They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them.

²⁷“Behold, I know your thoughts and your schemes to wrong me.

²⁸For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’

²⁹Have you not asked those who travel the roads, and do you not accept their testimony

³⁰that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity, that he is rescued in the day of wrath?

³¹Who declares his way to his face, and who repays him for what he has done?

³²When he is carried to the grave, watch is kept over his tomb.

³³The clods of the valley are sweet to him; all mankind follows after him, and those who go before him are innumerable.

³⁴How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

¹I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.

²Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.

³Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.

⁴One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

⁵On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

⁶They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.

⁷They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

⁸The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

⁹The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

¹⁰All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!

¹¹They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power,

¹²to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

¹³Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.]

¹⁴The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.

¹⁵The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.

¹⁶You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

¹⁷The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.

¹⁸The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

¹⁹He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

²⁰The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

¹The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.

²Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.

³To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

⁴Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

⁶The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.

⁷The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just.

⁸The way of the guilty is crooked, but the conduct of the pure is upright.

⁹It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.

¹⁰The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.

¹¹When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise; when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.

¹²The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked; he throws the wicked down to ruin.

¹³Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.

¹⁴A gift in secret averts anger, and a concealed bribe, strong wrath.

¹⁵When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

¹⁶One who wanders from the way of good sense will rest in the assembly of the dead.

¹⁷Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

¹⁸The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the traitor for the upright.

¹⁹It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.

²⁰Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.

²¹Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.

²²A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.

²³Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

²⁴“Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.

²⁵The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.

²⁶All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with evil intent.

²⁸A false witness will perish, but the word of a man who hears will endure.

²⁹A wicked man puts on a bold face, but the upright gives thought to his ways.

³⁰No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.

³¹The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.

¹As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD.

²And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz.

³They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.

⁴It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.”

⁵When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,

⁶Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me.

⁷Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”

⁸The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that the king had left Lachish.

⁹Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you.” So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,

¹⁰“Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

¹¹Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered?

¹²Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?

¹³Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

¹⁴Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.

¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.

¹⁶Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.

¹⁷Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands

¹⁸and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed.

¹⁹So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

²⁰Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.

²¹This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: “She despises you, she scorns you — the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you — the daughter of Jerusalem.

²²“Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel!

²³By your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I entered its farthest lodging place, its most fruitful forest.

²⁴I dug wells and drank foreign waters, and I dried up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.’

²⁵“Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into heaps of ruins,

²⁶while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded, and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown.

²⁷“But I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me.

²⁸Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come into my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.

²⁹“And this shall be the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

³⁰And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

³¹For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD will do this.

³²“Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.

³³By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD.

³⁴For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

³⁵And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

³⁶Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.

³⁷And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

¹And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations.

³You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself!

⁴You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries.

⁵Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.

⁶“Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.

⁷Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.

⁸You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.

⁹There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst.

¹⁰In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity.

¹¹One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter.

¹²In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

¹³“Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst.

¹⁴Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.

¹⁵I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you.

¹⁶And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”

¹⁷And the word of the LORD came to me:

¹⁸“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver.

¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

²⁰As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.

²¹I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.

²²As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD; I have poured out my wrath upon you.”

²³And the word of the LORD came to me:

²⁴“Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation.

²⁵The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.

²⁶Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

²⁷Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.

²⁸And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken.

²⁹The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.

³⁰And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.

³¹Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

²and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.

³But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

⁵When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

⁶The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

⁷After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.”

⁹But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

¹⁰Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

¹²Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico.

¹³None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

¹⁴And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

¹⁵so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

¹⁶The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

¹⁷But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy

¹⁸they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

¹⁹But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,

²⁰“Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”

²¹And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

²²But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported,

²³“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”

²⁴Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.

²⁵And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”

²⁶Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,

²⁸saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.”

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

³⁰The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

³¹God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

³²And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.

³⁴But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.

³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.

³⁶For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

³⁷After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

³⁸So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail;

³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,

⁴⁰and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

⁴²And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.