Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy.

²Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.

³Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.

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

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? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.

⁷But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

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

⁹but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.

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

¹¹When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say;

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

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

¹⁴But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”

¹⁵And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

¹⁶Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly.

¹⁷And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’

¹⁸Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull 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, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

²¹So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

²²He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.

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

²⁴Consider 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 can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?

²⁶If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry 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 clothed like one of these.

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

²⁹And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying.

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

³¹Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

³²“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

³³Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

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

³⁵“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;

³⁶be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.

³⁷Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.

³⁸If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹“But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

⁴⁰You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

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

⁴²And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time?

⁴³Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives.

⁴⁴Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁵But if that slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and if he begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk,

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

⁴⁷That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating.

⁴⁸But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.

⁴⁹“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

⁵⁰I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!

⁵¹Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!

⁵²From now on five in one household will be 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 immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; 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?

⁵⁸Thus, when you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case, or you may be dragged before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw 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:

²Command the Israelites, and say to them: My offering, the food for my offerings by fire, my pleasing odor, you shall take care to offer to me at its appointed time.

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

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

⁵also one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour for a grain offering, mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil.

⁶It is a regular burnt offering, ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD.

⁷Its drink offering shall be one-fourth of a hin for each lamb; in the sanctuary you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD.

⁸The other lamb you shall offer at twilight with a grain offering and a drink offering like the one in the morning; you shall offer it as an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD.

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

¹⁰this is the burnt offering for every sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

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

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

¹³and one-tenth of choice flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for every lamb — a burnt offering of pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD.

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

¹⁵And there shall be one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

¹⁶On the fourteenth day of the first month there shall be a passover offering to the LORD.

¹⁷And on the fifteenth day of this month is a festival; seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.

¹⁸On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall not work at your occupations.

¹⁹You shall offer an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; see that they are without blemish.

²⁰Their grain offering shall be of choice flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah shall you offer for a bull, and two-tenths for a ram;

²¹one-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 in addition to the burnt offering of the morning, which belongs to the regular burnt offering.

²⁴In the same way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD; it shall be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

²⁵And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.

²⁶On the day of the first fruits, when you offer a grain offering of new grain to the LORD at your festival of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.

²⁷You shall offer a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old.

²⁸Their grain offering shall be of choice flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for one ram,

²⁹one-tenth for each of the seven lambs;

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

³¹In addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, you shall offer them and their drink offering. They shall be without blemish.

¹Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

²For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty,

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

⁴while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.

⁵Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels.

⁶But someone has testified somewhere, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them?

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

⁸subjecting all things under their feet.” Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them,

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

¹⁰It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

¹¹For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,

¹²saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

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

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

¹⁵and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.

¹⁶For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham.

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

¹⁸Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of 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 am grateful to God — whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did — when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.

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

⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.

⁶For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands;

⁷for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

⁸Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God,

⁹who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

¹¹For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher,

¹²and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him.

¹³Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

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

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

¹⁷when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me

¹⁸— may the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! And you know very well how much service he rendered in Ephesus.

¹Then Job answered:

²“Listen carefully to my words, and let this be your consolation.

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

⁴As for me, is my complaint addressed to mortals? Why should I not be impatient?

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

⁶When I think of it I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh.

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

⁸Their children are established in their presence, and their offspring 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 never miscarries.

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

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, ‘Leave us alone! We do not desire to know your ways.

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

¹⁶Is not their prosperity indeed their own achievement? The plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.

¹⁷“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does calamity come upon them? How often does God distribute pains in his anger?

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

¹⁹You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let it be paid back to them, so 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 household after them, when the number of their months is cut off?

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

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

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

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

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

²⁷“Oh, 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 wicked are spared in the day of calamity, and are rescued in the day of wrath?

³¹Who declares their way to their face, and who repays them for what they have done?

³²When they are carried to the grave, a watch is kept over their tomb.

³³The clods of the valley are sweet to them; everyone will follow after, and those who went before 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; his greatness is unsearchable.

⁴One generation shall laud 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.

⁶The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness.

⁷They shall celebrate 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 compassion is over all that he has made.

¹⁰All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your faithful shall bless you.

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

¹²to make known to all people 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 gracious in all his deeds.

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, satisfying the desire of every living thing.

¹⁷The LORD is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.

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

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

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

²¹My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will 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.

²All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, 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 want.

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 right.

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

¹⁰The souls of the wicked desire evil; their neighbors find no mercy in their eyes.

¹¹When a scoffer is punished, the simple become wiser; when the wise are instructed, they increase in knowledge.

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

¹³If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard.

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

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

¹⁶Whoever wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.

¹⁷Whoever loves pleasure will suffer want; whoever loves wine and oil will not be rich.

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

¹⁹It is better to live in a desert land than with a contentious and fretful wife.

²⁰Precious treasure remains in the house of the wise, but the fool devours it.

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

²²One wise person went up against a city of warriors and brought down the stronghold in which they trusted.

²³To watch over mouth and tongue is to keep out of trouble.

²⁴The proud, haughty person, named “Scoffer,” acts with arrogant pride.

²⁵The craving of the lazy person is fatal, for lazy hands refuse to labor.

²⁶All day long the wicked covet, but the righteous give and do not hold back.

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

²⁸A false witness will perish, but a good listener will testify successfully.

²⁹The wicked put on a bold face, but the upright give thought to their 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.

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

²And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah 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 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.

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

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

⁹When the king heard concerning King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, “See, he has set out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,

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

¹¹See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered?

¹²Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my predecessors 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; then 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, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are 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; 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 hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods but the work of human hands — wood and stone — and so they were destroyed.

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

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

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

²²“Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and haughtily lifted your eyes? 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 retreat, its densest forest.

²⁴I dug wells and drank foreign waters, 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 make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins,

²⁶while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded; they 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 rising and your sitting, your going out and coming in, and your raging against me.

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

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

³⁰The surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward;

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

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

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

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

³⁵That very night the angel of the LORD set out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies.

³⁶Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left, went home, and lived at Nineveh.

³⁷As he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. His son Esar-haddon succeeded him.

¹The word of the LORD came to me:

²You, mortal, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to it all its abominable deeds.

³You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city! Shedding blood within itself; its time has come; making its idols, defiling itself.

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

⁵Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you infamous one, full of tumult.

⁶The princes of Israel in you, everyone according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.

⁷Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the alien residing within you suffers extortion; the orphan and the widow are wronged in you.

⁸You have despised my holy things, and profaned my sabbaths.

⁹In you are those who slander to shed blood, those in you who eat upon the mountains, who commit lewdness in your midst.

¹⁰In you they uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women in their menstrual periods.

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

¹²In you, they take bribes to shed blood; you take both advance interest and accrued interest, and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; and you have forgotten me, says the Lord GOD.

¹³See, I strike my hands together at the dishonest gain you have made, and at the blood that has been shed within you.

¹⁴Can your courage endure, or can your hands remain strong in the days when 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 purge your filthiness out of you.

¹⁶And I shall be profaned through you in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am the LORD.

¹⁷The word of the LORD came to me:

¹⁸Mortal, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them, silver, bronze, tin, iron, and lead. In the smelter they have become dross.

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

²⁰As one gathers silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into a smelter, to blow the fire upon them in order to melt them; 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 upon you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted within it.

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

²³The word of the LORD came to me:

²⁴Mortal, say to it: You are a land that is not cleansed, not rained upon in the day of indignation.

²⁵Its princes within it are like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows within it.

²⁶Its priests have done violence to my teaching 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.

²⁷Its officials within it are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.

²⁸Its prophets have smeared whitewash on their behalf, 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 alien without redress.

³⁰And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.

³¹Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I have returned their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord GOD.

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

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

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

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!”

⁵Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it.

⁶The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him.

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

⁸Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, 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 died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

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

¹²Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.

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

¹⁴Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women,

¹⁵so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by.

¹⁶A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.

¹⁷Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy,

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

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

²⁰“Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.”

²¹When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

²²But when the temple police went there, 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 perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on.

²⁵Then someone arrived and announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”

²⁶Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them,

²⁸saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.”

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

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

³¹God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might 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, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time.

³⁵Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men.

³⁶For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared.

³⁷After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also 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; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail;

³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them — in that case you may even be found fighting against God!” They were convinced by him,

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

⁴¹As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

⁴²And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.