Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now on that very occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

²And Jesus responded and said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans just because they have suffered this fate?

³No, I tell you, but unless yourepent, you will all likewise perish.

⁴Or do you think that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worseoffenders than all the other people who live in Jerusalem?

⁵No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

⁶And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.

⁷And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Look! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig treewithout finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’

⁸But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;

⁹and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’ ”

¹⁰Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.

¹¹And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent over double, and could not straighten up at all.

¹²When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.”

¹³And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she stood up straight again, and began glorifying God.

¹⁴But the synagogue leader, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days during which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

¹⁵But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does each of you on the Sabbath not untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it?

¹⁶And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound foreighteen long years, should she not have been released from this restraint on the Sabbath day?”

¹⁷And as He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

¹⁸So He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it?

¹⁹It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”

²⁰And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?

²¹It is likeleaven, which a woman took and hid in threesata of flour until it was all leavened.”

²²And He was passing through one city and village after another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem.

²³And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them,

²⁴“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

²⁵Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin standing outside and knocking on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ and He then will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’

²⁶Then you will begin saying, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets!’

²⁷And yet He willsay, ‘I do not know where you are from; LEAVE ME, ALL YOUEVILDOERS.’

²⁸In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.

²⁹And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.

³⁰And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

³¹At that very time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away and leave this place, because Herod wants to kill You.”

³²And He said to them, “Go and tell thatfox, ‘Behold, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day Ireach My goal.’

³³Nevertheless I must go on My journey today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside Jerusalem.

³⁴Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers heryoung under her wings, and you were unwilling!

³⁵Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’ ”

¹‘Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy assembly; you shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets.

²And you shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect;

³also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram,

⁴and a tenth for each of the seven lambs,

⁵and one male goat as a sin offering, to make atonement for you,

⁶besides the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD.

⁷‘Then on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy assembly, and you shall humble yourselves; you shall not do any work.

⁸You shall present a burnt offering to the LORD as a soothing aroma: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old, that you have without defect;

⁹and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram,

¹⁰and a tenth for each of the seven lambs;

¹¹one male goat as a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement and the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

¹²‘Then on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy assembly; you shall do no laborious work, and you shall celebrate with a feast to the LORD for seven days.

¹³You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the LORD: thirteen bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old, which are without defect;

¹⁴and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams,

¹⁵and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs;

¹⁶and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

¹⁷‘Then on the second day: twelve bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

¹⁸and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

¹⁹and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁰‘Then on the third day: eleven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

²¹and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

²²and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and its drink offering.

²³‘Then on the fourth day: ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

²⁴their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

²⁵and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

²⁶‘Then on the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

²⁷and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

²⁸and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and its drink offering.

²⁹‘Then on the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

³⁰and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

³¹and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offerings.

³²‘Then on the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;

³³and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

³⁴and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

³⁵‘On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly; you shall do no laborious work.

³⁶But you shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect;

³⁷their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;

³⁸and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and its drink offering.

³⁹‘You shall present these to the LORD at your appointed times, besides your vowed offerings and your voluntary offerings, for your burnt offerings, your grain offerings, your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.’ ”

⁴⁰And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel in accordance with everything that the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession: Jesus;

²He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.

³For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house.

⁴For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.

⁵Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later;

⁶but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold firmly to our confidence and the boast of our hope.

⁷Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,

⁸DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS ON THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS,

⁹WHERE YOUR FATHERS PUT ME to the test, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS.

¹⁰THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’;

¹¹AS I SWORE IN MY ANGER, ‘THEY CERTAINLY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.’ ”

¹²Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.

¹³But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

¹⁴For we have become partakers of Christ if we keep the beginning of our commitment firm until the end,

¹⁵while it is said, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.”

¹⁶For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

¹⁷And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness?

¹⁸And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?

¹⁹And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

¹You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

²The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.

³Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

⁴No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him.

⁵And if someone likewise competes as an athlete, he is not crowned as victor unless he competes according to the rules.

⁶The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.

⁷Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

⁸Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel,

⁹for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.

¹⁰For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.

¹¹The statement is trustworthy: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;

¹²If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He will also deny us;

¹³If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

¹⁴Remind them of these things, and solemnly exhort them in the presence of God not to dispute about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the listeners.

¹⁵Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

¹⁶But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,

¹⁷and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,

¹⁸men who have gone astray from the truth, claiming that the resurrection has already taken place; and they are jeopardizing the faith of some.

¹⁹Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His;” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to keep away from wickedness.”

²⁰Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver implements, but also implements of wood and of earthenware, and some are for honor while others are for dishonor.

²¹Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be an implement for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

²²Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

²³But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.

²⁴The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, skillful in teaching, patient when wronged,

²⁵with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,

²⁶and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

²“Can a strong man be of use to God, Or a wise one be useful to himself?

³Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, Or gain if you make your ways blameless?

⁴Is it because of your reverence that He punishes you, That He enters into judgment against you?

⁵Is your wickedness not abundant, And is there no end to your guilty deeds?

⁶For you have seized pledges from your brothers without cause, And stripped people naked.

⁷You have given the weary no water to drink, And you have withheld bread from the hungry.

⁸But the earth belongs to the powerful man, And the one who is honorable dwells on it.

⁹You have sent widows away empty, And the strength of orphans has been crushed.

¹⁰Therefore traps surround you, And sudden dread terrifies you,

¹¹Or darkness, so that you cannot see, And a flood of water covers you.

¹²“Is God not in the height of heaven? Look also at the highest stars, how high they are!

¹³But you say, ‘What does God know? Can He judge through the thick darkness?

¹⁴Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see; And He walks on the vault of heaven.’

¹⁵Will you keep to the ancient path Which wicked people have walked,

¹⁶Who were snatched away before their time, Whose foundations were washed away by a river?

¹⁷They said to God, ‘Go away from us!’ And ‘What can the Almighty do to them?’

¹⁸Yet He filled their houses with good things; But the advice of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁹The righteous see and are glad, And the innocent mock them, saying,

²⁰‘Truly our enemies are eliminated, And fire has consumed their abundance.’

²¹“Be reconciled with Him, and be at peace; Thereby good will come to you.

²²Please receive instruction from His mouth, And put His words in your heart.

²³If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; If you remove injustice far from your tent,

²⁴And put your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,

²⁵Then the Almighty will be your gold And abundant silver to you.

²⁶For then you will take pleasure in the Almighty And lift up your face to God.

²⁷You will pray to Him, and He will hear you; And you will pay your vows.

²⁸You will also decide something, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways.

²⁹When they have brought you low, you will speak with confidence, And He will save the humble person.

³⁰He will rescue one who is not innocent, And he will be rescued due to the cleanness of your hands.”

¹Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, my soul!

²I will praise the LORD while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³Do not trust in noblemen, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.

⁴His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; On that very day his plans perish.

⁵Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God,

⁶Who made heaven and earth, The sea and everything that is in them; Who keeps faith forever;

⁷Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD frees the prisoners.

⁸The LORD opens the eyes of those who are blind; The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous.

⁹The LORD watches over strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked.

¹⁰The LORD will reign forever, Your God, Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!

¹A good name is to be more desired than great wealth; Favor is better than silver and gold.

²The rich and the poor have a common bond, The LORD is the Maker of them all.

³A prudent person sees evil and hides himself, But the naive proceed, and pay the penalty.

⁴The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; One who guards himself will be far from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he grows older he will not abandon it.

⁷The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.

⁸One who sows injustice will reap disaster, And the rod of his fury will perish.

⁹One who is generous will be blessed, Because he gives some of his food to the poor.

¹⁰Drive out the scoffer, and strife will leave, Even quarreling and dishonor will cease.

¹¹One who loves purity of heart And whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend.

¹²The eyes of the LORD protect knowledge, But He overthrows the words of the treacherous person.

¹³The lazy one says, “There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!”

¹⁴The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; He who is cursed of the LORD will fall into it.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

¹⁶One who oppresses the poor to make more for himself, Or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

¹⁷Extend your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;

¹⁸For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, So that they may be ready on your lips.

¹⁹So that your trust may be in the LORD, I have taught you today, you indeed.

²⁰Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,

²¹To make you know the certainty of the words of truth, So that you may correctly answer him who sent you?

²²Do not rob the poor because he is poor, Nor crush the needy at the gate;

²³For the LORD will plead their case And take the life of those who rob them.

²⁴Do not make friends with a person given to anger, Or go with a hot-tempered person,

²⁵Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for yourself.

²⁶Do not be among those who shake hands, Among those who become guarantors for debts.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to repay, Why should he take your bed from under you?

²⁸Do not move the ancient boundary Which your fathers have set.

²⁹Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure people.

¹In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’ ”

²Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying,

³“Please, LORD, just remember how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight!” And Hezekiah wept profusely.

⁴And even before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

⁵“Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I am going to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD.

⁶And I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.” ’ ”

⁷Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took it and placed it on the inflamed spot, and he recovered.

⁸Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?”

⁹Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will perform the word that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”

¹⁰So Hezekiah said, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but have the shadow turn backward ten steps.”

¹¹Then Isaiah the prophet called out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

¹²At that time Berodach-baladan, a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

¹³And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the balsam oil, the scented oil, the house of his armor, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.”

¹⁵Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

¹⁶Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD:

¹⁷‘Behold, the days are coming when everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the LORD.

¹⁸‘And some of your sons who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”

¹⁹Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is it not good, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

²⁰Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he constructed the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

²¹So Hezekiah lay down with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

¹The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

²“Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;

³and they prostituted themselves in Egypt. They prostituted themselves in their youth; there their breasts were squeezed and there their virgin breasts were handled.

⁴Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they gave birth to sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

⁵“Oholah prostituted herself while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, her neighbors,

⁶who were clothed in purple, governors and officials, all of them handsome young men, horsemen riding on horses.

⁷She bestowed her obscene practices on them, all of whom were the choicest men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she defiled herself.

⁸She did not abandon her obscene practices from the time in Egypt; for in her youth men had slept with her, and they handled her virgin breasts and poured out their obscene practice on her.

⁹Therefore, I handed her over to her lovers, to the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.

¹⁰They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they killed her with the sword. So she became a subject of gossip among women, and they executed judgments on her.

¹¹“Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her obscene practices were more than the prostitution of her sister.

¹²She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, opulently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them handsome young men.

¹³And I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took the same way.

¹⁴So she increased her obscene practices. And she saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans drawn in bright red,

¹⁵wearing belts around their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.

¹⁶And when she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

¹⁷And the Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their obscene practice. And when she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.

¹⁸She exposed her obscene practices and exposed her nakedness; then I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister in disgust.

¹⁹Yet she multiplied her obscene practices, remembering the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt.

²⁰She lusted after their lovers, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose discharge is like the discharge of horses.

²¹So you longed for the outrageous sin of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your breasts because of the breasts of your youth.

²²“Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold I am going to incite your lovers against you, from whom you turned away in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side:

²³the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; handsome young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.

²⁴And they will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a contingent of peoples. They will attack you on every side with shield, buckler, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs.

²⁵I will set My jealousy against you, so that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your survivors will be consumed by the fire.

²⁶They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewelry.

²⁷So I will remove from you your outrageous sin and your prostitution that you brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not raise your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’

²⁸For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am going to hand you over to those whom you hate, to those from whom you turned away in disgust.

²⁹They will deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, both your outrageous sin and your obscene practices.

³⁰These things will be done to you because you have adulterously pursued the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols.

³¹You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’

³²This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, Which is deep and wide. You will be laughed at and held in derision; Because it contains much.

³³You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, A cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.

³⁴And you will drink it and drain it. Then you will gnaw on its fragments And tear your breasts; for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord GOD.

³⁵Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and discarded Me behind your back, suffer on your own part the punishment for your outrageous sin and your obscene practices.’ ”

³⁶Moreover, the LORD said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.

³⁷For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. So they have committed adultery with their idols, and even made their sons, whom they bore to Me, pass through the fire to them as food.

³⁸Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day, and have profaned My Sabbaths.

³⁹For when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and behold, this is what they did within My house.

⁴⁰“Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from a great distance, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came—for whom you bathed, put makeup on your eyes, and adorned yourselves with jewelry;

⁴¹and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged in front of it on which you had set My incense and My oil.

⁴²And the sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and heavy drinkers were brought from the wilderness with people from the multitude of humanity. And they put bracelets on the wrists of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.

⁴³“Then I said concerning her who was worn out by adulteries, ‘Will they now commit adultery with her when she is like this?’

⁴⁴But they went in to her as they would go in to a prostitute. This is how they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.

⁴⁵But they, righteous people, will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

⁴⁶“For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Bring up a contingent against them and turn them over to terror and plunder.

⁴⁷The contingent will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire.

⁴⁸So I will eliminate outrageous conduct from the land, so that all women will take warning and not commit outrageous sin as you have done.

⁴⁹Your outrageous conduct will be repaid to you, and you will bear the guilt for your idols; so you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”

¹Now at this time, as the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.

²So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

³Instead, brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

⁵The announcement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.

⁶And they brought these men before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.

⁷The word of God kept spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

⁸And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

⁹But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen.

¹⁰But they were unable to cope with his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

¹¹Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

¹²And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away, and brought him before the Council.

¹³They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop speaking against this holy place and the Law;

¹⁴for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵And all who were sitting in the Council stared at him, and they saw his face, which was like the face of an angel.