Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.

²Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy.

³And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?”

⁴But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him, and sent him away.

⁵Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?”

⁶And they could not reply to this.

⁷When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.

⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host;

⁹and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place.

¹⁰But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.

¹¹For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

¹²He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid.

¹³But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

¹⁴And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

¹⁵One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

¹⁶Then Jesus said to him, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many.

¹⁷At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’

¹⁸But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’

¹⁹Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’

²⁰Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’

²¹So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

²²And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’

²³Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.

²⁴For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’”

²⁵Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them,

²⁶“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.

²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?

²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him,

³⁰saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

³¹Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?

³²If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.

³³So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

³⁴“Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?

³⁵It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

¹Then Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the Israelites: This is what the LORD has commanded.

²When a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

³When a woman makes a vow to the LORD, or binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house, in her youth,

⁴and her father hears of her vow or her pledge by which she has bound herself, and says nothing to her; then all her vows shall stand, and any pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand.

⁵But if her father expresses disapproval to her at the time that he hears of it, no vow of hers, and no pledge by which she has bound herself, shall stand; and the LORD will forgive her, because her father had expressed to her his disapproval.

⁶If she marries, while obligated by her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself,

⁷and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her at the time that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.

⁸But if, at the time that her husband hears of it, he expresses disapproval to her, then he shall nullify the vow by which she was obligated, or the thoughtless utterance of her lips, by which she bound herself; and the LORD will forgive her.

⁹(But every vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall be binding upon her.)

¹⁰And if she made a vow in her husband’s house, or bound herself by a pledge with an oath,

¹¹and her husband heard it and said nothing to her, and did not express disapproval to her, then all her vows shall stand, and any pledge by which she bound herself shall stand.

¹²But if her husband nullifies them at the time that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning her pledge of herself, shall not stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will forgive her.

¹³Any vow or any binding oath to deny herself, her husband may allow to stand, or her husband may nullify.

¹⁴But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he validates all her vows, or all her pledges, by which she is obligated; he has validated them, because he said nothing to her at the time that he heard of them.

¹⁵But if he nullifies them some time after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her guilt.

¹⁶These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning a husband and his wife, and a father and his daughter while she is still young and in her father’s house.

¹Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

²For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

³For we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “As in my anger I swore, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” though his works were finished at the foundation of the world.

⁴For in one place it speaks about the seventh day as follows, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”

⁵And again in this place it says, “They shall not enter my rest.”

⁶Since therefore it remains open for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,

⁷again he sets a certain day — “today” — saying through David much later, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not speak later about another day.

⁹So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God;

¹⁰for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labors as God did from his.

¹¹Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs.

¹²Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

¹³And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

¹⁴Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.

¹⁶Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

¹You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come.

²For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

³inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good,

⁴treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

⁵holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them!

⁶For among them are those who make their way into households and captivate silly women, overwhelmed by their sins and swayed by all kinds of desires,

⁷who are always being instructed and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

⁸As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people, of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith, also oppose the truth.

⁹But they will not make much progress, because, as in the case of those two men, their folly will become plain to everyone.

¹⁰Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,

¹¹my persecutions, and my suffering the things that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

¹²Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

¹³But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived.

¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it,

¹⁵and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

¹⁷so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

¹Then Job answered:

²“Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning.

³Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling!

⁴I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me.

⁶Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me.

⁷There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.

⁸“If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him;

⁹on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.

¹⁰But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold.

¹¹My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside.

¹²I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth.

¹³But he stands alone and who can dissuade him? What he desires, that he does.

¹⁴For he will complete what he appoints for me; and many such things are in his mind.

¹⁵Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him.

¹⁶God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me;

¹⁷If only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face!

¹Praise the LORD! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.

²The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.

³He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.

⁴He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.

⁵Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

⁶The LORD lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground.

⁷Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre.

⁸He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass grow on the hills.

⁹He gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry.

¹⁰His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;

¹¹but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

¹²Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!

¹³For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you.

¹⁴He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat.

¹⁵He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.

¹⁶He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.

¹⁷He hurls down hail like crumbs — who can stand before his cold?

¹⁸He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.

¹⁹He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.

²⁰He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!

¹When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,

²and put a knife to your throat if you have a big appetite.

³Do not desire the ruler’s delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

⁴Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist.

⁵When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes wings to itself, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶Do not eat the bread of the stingy; do not desire their delicacies;

⁷for like a hair in the throat, so are they. “Eat and drink!” they say to you; but they do not mean it.

⁸You will vomit up the little you have eaten, and you will waste your pleasant words.

⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, who will only despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not remove an ancient landmark or encroach on the fields of orphans,

¹¹for their redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.

¹²Apply your mind to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold discipline from your children; if you beat them with a rod, they will not die.

¹⁴If you beat them with the rod, you will save their lives from Sheol.

¹⁵My child, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.

¹⁶My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.

¹⁸Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my child, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way.

²⁰Do not be among winebibbers, or among gluttonous eaters of meat;

²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them with rags.

²²Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.

²⁵Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.

²⁶My child, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.

²⁸She lies in wait like a robber and increases the number of the faithless.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

³⁰Those who linger late over wine, those who keep trying mixed wines.

³¹Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

³²At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder.

³³Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things.

³⁴You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.

³⁵“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.”

¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.

²He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, following the abominable practices of the nations that the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

³For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he erected altars for Baal, made a sacred pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them.

⁴He built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my name.”

⁵He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

⁶He made his son pass through fire; he practiced soothsaying and augury, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

⁷The carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever;

⁸I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land that I gave to their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.”

⁹But they did not listen; Manasseh misled them to do more evil than the nations had done that the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

¹⁰The LORD said by his servants the prophets,

¹¹“Because King Manasseh of Judah has committed these abominations, has done things more wicked than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has caused Judah also to sin with his idols;

¹²therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such evil that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.

¹³I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line for Samaria, and the plummet for the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

¹⁴I will cast off the remnant of my heritage, and give them into the hand of their enemies; they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies,

¹⁵because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their ancestors came out of Egypt, even to this day.”

¹⁶Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he caused Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹⁷Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?

¹⁸Manasseh slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza. His son Amon succeeded him.

¹⁹Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

²⁰He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done.

²¹He walked in all the way in which his father walked, served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them;

²²he abandoned the LORD, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.

²³The servants of Amon conspired against him, and killed the king in his house.

²⁴But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in place of him.

²⁵Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?

²⁶He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza; then his son Josiah succeeded him.

¹In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:

²Mortal, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.

³And utter an allegory to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Set on the pot, set it on, pour in water also;

⁴put in it the pieces, all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones.

⁵Take the choicest one of the flock, pile the logs under it; boil its pieces, seethe also its bones in it.

⁶Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, the pot whose rust is in it, whose rust has not gone out of it! Empty it piece by piece, making no choice at all.

⁷For the blood she shed is inside it; she placed it on a bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground, to cover it with earth.

⁸To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have placed the blood she shed on a bare rock, so that it may not be covered.

⁹Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile great.

¹⁰Heap up the logs, kindle the fire; boil the meat well, mix in the spices, let the bones be burned.

¹¹Stand it empty upon the coals, so that it may become hot, its copper glow, its filth melt in it, its rust be consumed.

¹²In vain I have wearied myself; its thick rust does not depart. To the fire with its rust!

¹³Yet, when I cleansed you in your filthy lewdness, you did not become clean from your filth; you shall not again be cleansed until I have satisfied my fury upon you.

¹⁴I the LORD have spoken; the time is coming, I will act. I will not refrain, I will not spare, I will not relent. According to your ways and your doings I will judge you, says the Lord GOD.

¹⁵The word of the LORD came to me:

¹⁶Mortal, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down.

¹⁷Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your upper lip or eat the bread of mourners.

¹⁸So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.

¹⁹Then the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting this way?”

²⁰Then I said to them: The word of the LORD came to me:

²¹Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and your heart’s desire; and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword.

²²And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your upper lip or eat the bread of mourners.

²³Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and groan to one another.

²⁴Thus Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; you shall do just as he has done. When this comes, then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

²⁵And you, mortal, on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their heart’s affection, and also their sons and their daughters,

²⁶on that day, one who has escaped will come to you to report to you the news.

²⁷On that day your mouth shall be opened to the one who has escaped, and you shall speak and no longer be silent. So you shall be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

¹Then the high priest asked him, “Are these things so?”

²And Stephen replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

³and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.’

⁴Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God had him move from there to this country in which you are now living.

⁵He did not give him any of it as a heritage, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as his possession and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child.

⁶And God spoke in these terms, that his descendants would be resident aliens in a country belonging to others, who would enslave them and mistreat them during four hundred years.

⁷‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’

⁸Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹“The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him,

¹⁰and rescued him from all his afflictions, and enabled him to win favor and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

¹¹Now there came a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan, and great suffering, and our ancestors could find no food.

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit.

¹³On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in all;

¹⁵so Jacob went down to Egypt. He himself died there as well as our ancestors,

¹⁶and their bodies were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷“But as the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased and multiplied

¹⁸until another king who had not known Joseph ruled over Egypt.

¹⁹He dealt craftily with our race and forced our ancestors to abandon their infants so that they would die.

²⁰At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful before God. For three months he was brought up in his father’s house;

²¹and when he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

²²So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.

²³“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his relatives, the Israelites.

²⁴When he saw one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.

²⁵He supposed that his kinsfolk would understand that God through him was rescuing them, but they did not understand.

²⁶The next day he came to some of them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong each other?’

²⁷But the man who was wronging his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

²⁸Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’

²⁹When he heard this, Moses fled and became a resident alien in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.

³⁰“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.

³¹When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to look, there came the voice of the Lord:

³²‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.

³³Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

³⁴I have surely seen the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵“It was this Moses whom they rejected when they said, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ and whom God now sent as both ruler and liberator through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

³⁶He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

³⁷This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up a prophet for you from your own people as he raised me up.’

³⁸He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living oracles to give to us.

³⁹Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,

⁴⁰saying to Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will lead the way for us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’

⁴¹At that time they made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned away from them and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you offer to me slain victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

⁴³No; you took along the tent of Moloch, and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; so I will remove you beyond Babylon.’

⁴⁴“Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.

⁴⁵Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David,

⁴⁶who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.

⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

⁴⁸Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands; as the prophet says,

⁴⁹‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?

⁵⁰Did not my hand make all these things?’

⁵¹“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.

⁵²Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers.

⁵³You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.”

⁵⁴When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.

⁵⁵But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

⁵⁶“Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

⁵⁷But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.

⁵⁸Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

⁶⁰Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.