Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to him.

²And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³So he told them this parable:

⁴“What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it?

⁵When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders,

⁶and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’

⁷I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.

⁸“Or what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?

⁹When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!’

¹⁰I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

¹¹He also said: “A man had two sons.

¹²The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them.

¹³Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living.

¹⁴After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing.

¹⁵Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.

¹⁶He longed to eat his fill from the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one would give him anything.

¹⁷When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger!

¹⁸I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.

¹⁹I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired workers.”’

²⁰So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.

²¹The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father told his servants, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

²³Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast,

²⁴because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found! ’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Now his older son was in the field; as he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.

²⁶So he summoned one of the servants, questioning what these things meant.

²⁷‘Your brother is here,’ he told him, ‘and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸“Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.

²⁹But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends.

³⁰But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’

³¹“‘Son,’ he said to him, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

¹The LORD spoke to Moses,

²“Execute vengeance for the Israelites against the Midianites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

³So Moses spoke to the people, “Equip some of your men for war. They will go against Midian to inflict the LORD’s vengeance on them.

⁴Send one thousand men to war from each Israelite tribe.”

⁵So one thousand were recruited from each Israelite tribe out of the thousands in Israel — twelve thousand equipped for war.

⁶Moses sent one thousand from each tribe to war. They went with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, in whose care were the holy objects and signal trumpets.

⁷They waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and killed every male.

⁸Along with the others slain by them, they killed the Midianite kings — Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

⁹The Israelites took the Midianite women and their dependents captive, and they plundered all their cattle, flocks, and property.

¹⁰Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites lived, as well as all their encampments,

¹¹and took away all the spoils of war and the captives, both people and animals.

¹²They brought the prisoners, animals, and spoils of war to Moses, the priest Eleazar, and the Israelite community at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

¹³Moses, the priest Eleazar, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.

¹⁴But Moses became furious with the officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who were returning from the military campaign.

¹⁵“Have you let every female live?” he asked them.

¹⁶“Yet they are the ones who, at Balaam’s advice, incited the Israelites to unfaithfulness against the LORD in the Peor incident, so that the plague came against the LORD’s community.

¹⁷So now, kill every male among the dependents and kill every woman who has gone to bed with a man,

¹⁸but keep alive for yourselves all the young females who have not gone to bed with a man.

¹⁹“You are to remain outside the camp for seven days. All of you and your prisoners who have killed a person or touched the dead are to purify yourselves on the third day and the seventh day.

²⁰Also purify everything: garments, leather goods, things made of goat hair, and every article of wood.”

²¹Then the priest Eleazar said to the soldiers who had gone to battle, “This is the legal statute the LORD commanded Moses:

²²The gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead —

²³everything that can withstand fire — you are to pass through fire, and it will be clean. It must still be purified with the purification water. Anything that cannot withstand fire, pass through the water.

²⁴On the seventh day wash your clothes, and you will be clean. After that you may enter the camp.”

²⁵The LORD told Moses,

²⁶“You, the priest Eleazar, and the family heads of the community are to take a count of what was captured, people and animals.

²⁷Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to war and the entire community.

²⁸Set aside a tribute for the LORD from what belongs to the fighting men who went out to war: one out of every five hundred people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats.

²⁹Take the tribute from their half and give it to the priest Eleazar as a contribution to the LORD.

³⁰From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty from the people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats, all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who perform the duties of the LORD’s tabernacle.”

³¹So Moses and the priest Eleazar did as the LORD commanded Moses.

³²The captives remaining from the plunder the army had taken totaled: 675,000 sheep and goats,

³³72,000 cattle,

³⁴61,000 donkeys,

³⁵and 32,000 people, all the females who had not gone to bed with a man.

³⁶The half portion for those who went out to war numbered: 337,500 sheep and goats,

³⁷and the tribute to the LORD was 675 from the sheep and goats;

³⁸from the 36,000 cattle, the tribute to the LORD was 72;

³⁹from the 30,500 donkeys, the tribute to the LORD was 61;

⁴⁰and from the 16,000 people, the tribute to the LORD was 32 people.

⁴¹Moses gave the tribute to the priest Eleazar as a contribution for the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁴²From the Israelites’ half, which Moses separated from the men who fought,

⁴³the community’s half was: 337,500 sheep and goats,

⁴⁴36,000 cattle,

⁴⁵30,500 donkeys,

⁴⁶and 16,000 people.

⁴⁷Moses took one out of every fifty, selected from the people and the livestock of the Israelites’ half. He gave them to the Levites who perform the duties of the LORD’s tabernacle, as the LORD had commanded him.

⁴⁸The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, approached Moses

⁴⁹and told him, “Your servants have taken a census of the fighting men under our command, and not one of us is missing.

⁵⁰So we have presented to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man found — armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces — to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”

⁵¹Moses and the priest Eleazar received from them all the articles made out of gold.

⁵²All the gold of the contribution they offered to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, was 420 pounds.

⁵³Each of the soldiers had taken plunder for himself.

⁵⁴Moses and the priest Eleazar received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.

¹For every high priest taken from among men is appointed in matters pertaining to God for the people, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

²He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he is also clothed with weakness.

³Because of this, he must make an offering for his own sins as well as for the people.

⁴No one takes this honor on himself; instead, a person is called by God, just as Aaron was.

⁵In the same way, Christ did not exalt himself to become a high priest, but God who said to him, You are my Son; today I have become your Father,

⁶also says in another place, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

⁷During his earthly life, he offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.

⁸Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.

⁹After he was perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

¹⁰and he was declared by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

¹¹We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand.

¹²Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food.

¹³Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant.

¹⁴But solid food is for the mature — for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.

¹I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom:

²Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching.

³For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.

⁴They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.

⁵But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

⁶For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

⁸There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.

⁹Make every effort to come to me soon,

¹⁰because Demas has deserted me, since he loved this present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

¹¹Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry.

¹²I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

¹³When you come, bring the cloak I left in Troas with Carpus, as well as the scrolls, especially the parchments.

¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his works.

¹⁵Watch out for him yourself because he strongly opposed our words.

¹⁶At my first defense, no one stood by me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be counted against them.

¹⁷But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that I might fully preach the word and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁹Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

²⁰Erastus has remained at Corinth; I left Trophimus sick at Miletus.

²¹Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters.

²²The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all.

¹Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why do those who know him never see his days?

²The wicked displace boundary markers. They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.

³They drive away the donkeys owned by the fatherless and take the widow’s ox as collateral.

⁴They push the needy off the road; the poor of the land are forced into hiding.

⁵Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, the poor go out to their task of foraging for food; the desert provides nourishment for their children.

⁶They gather their fodder in the field and glean the vineyards of the wicked.

⁷Without clothing, they spend the night naked, having no covering against the cold.

⁸Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks, shelterless.

⁹The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.

¹⁰Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry sheaves but go hungry.

¹¹They crush olives in their presses; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.

¹²From the city, men groan; the mortally wounded cry for help, yet God pays no attention to this crime.

¹³The wicked are those who rebel against the light. They do not recognize its ways or stay on its paths.

¹⁴The murderer rises at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and by night he becomes a thief.

¹⁵The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight, thinking, “No eye will see me,” and he covers his face.

¹⁶In the dark they break into houses; by day they lock themselves in, never experiencing the light.

¹⁷For the morning is like darkness to them. Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!

¹⁸They float on the surface of the water. Their section of the land is cursed, so that they never go to their vineyards.

¹⁹As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

²⁰The womb forgets them; worms feed on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree.

²¹They prey on the childless woman who is unable to conceive, and do not deal kindly with the widow.

²²Yet God drags away the mighty by his power; when he rises up, they have no assurance of life.

²³He gives them a sense of security, so they can rely on it, but his eyes watch over their ways.

²⁴They are exalted for a moment, then gone; they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else. They wither like heads of grain.

²⁵If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar and show that my speech is worthless?

¹Hallelujah! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights.

²Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly armies.

³Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars.

⁴Praise him, highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens.

⁵Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded, and they were created.

⁶He set them in position forever and ever; he gave an order that will never pass away.

⁷Praise the LORD from the earth, all sea monsters and ocean depths,

⁸lightning and hail, snow and cloud, stormy wind that executes his command,

⁹mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,

¹⁰wild animals and all cattle, creatures that crawl and flying birds,

¹¹kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth,

¹²young men as well as young women, old and young together.

¹³Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted. His majesty covers heaven and earth.

¹⁴He has raised up a horn for his people, resulting in praise to all his faithful ones, to the Israelites, the people close to him. Hallelujah!

¹Don’t envy the evil or desire to be with them,

²for their hearts plan violence, and their words stir up trouble.

³A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding;

⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure.

⁵A wise warrior is better than a strong one, and a man of knowledge than one of strength;

⁶for you should wage war with sound guidance — victory comes with many counselors.

⁷Wisdom is inaccessible to a fool; he does not open his mouth at the city gate.

⁸The one who plots evil will be called a schemer.

⁹A foolish scheme is sin, and a mocker is detestable to people.

¹⁰If you do nothing in a difficult time, your strength is limited.

¹¹Rescue those being taken off to death, and save those stumbling toward slaughter.

¹²If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,” won’t he who weighs hearts consider it? Won’t he who protects your life know? Won’t he repay a person according to his work?

¹³Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your palate;

¹⁴realize that wisdom is the same for you. If you find it, you will have a future, and your hope will never fade.

¹⁵Don’t set an ambush, you wicked one, at the camp of the righteous man; don’t destroy his dwelling.

¹⁶Though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin.

¹⁷Don’t gloat when your enemy falls, and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

¹⁸or the LORD will see, be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him.

¹⁹Don’t be agitated by evildoers, and don’t envy the wicked.

²⁰For the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹My son, fear the LORD, as well as the king, and don’t associate with rebels,

²²for destruction will come suddenly from them; who knows what distress these two can bring?

²³These sayings also belong to the wise: It is not good to show partiality in judgment.

²⁴Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”  — peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a generous blessing will come to them.

²⁶He who gives an honest answer gives a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Complete your outdoor work, and prepare your field; afterward, build your house.

²⁸Don’t testify against your neighbor without cause. Don’t deceive with your lips.

²⁹Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me; I’ll repay the man for what he has done.”

³⁰I went by the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of one lacking sense.

³¹Thistles had come up everywhere, weeds covered the ground, and the stone wall was ruined.

³²I saw, and took it to heart; I looked, and received instruction:

³³a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest,

³⁴and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need, like a bandit.

¹Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.

²He did what was right in the LORD’s sight and walked in all the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn to the right or the left.

³In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent the court secretary Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the LORD’s temple, saying,

⁴“Go up to the high priest Hilkiah so that he may total up the silver brought into the LORD’s temple — the silver the doorkeepers have collected from the people.

⁵It is to be given to those doing the work — those who oversee the LORD’s temple. They in turn are to give it to the workmen in the LORD’s temple to repair the damage.

⁶They are to give it to the carpenters, builders, and masons to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the temple.

⁷But no accounting is to be required from them for the silver given to them since they work with integrity.”

⁸The high priest Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the LORD’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

⁹Then the court secretary Shaphan went to the king and reported, “Your servants have emptied out the silver that was found in the temple and have given it to those doing the work — those who oversee the LORD’s temple.”

¹⁰Then the court secretary Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book,” and Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.

¹¹When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

¹²Then he commanded the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, the court secretary Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah:

¹³“Go and inquire of the LORD for me, the people, and all Judah about the words in this book that has been found. For great is the LORD’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”

¹⁴So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah, wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her.

¹⁵She said to them, “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: Say to the man who sent you to me,

¹⁶‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, fulfilling all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read,

¹⁷because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods in order to anger me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’

¹⁸Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD: ‘This is what the LORD God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard,

¹⁹because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard’ — this is the LORD’s declaration.

²⁰‘Therefore, I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place.’” Then they reported to the king.

¹Then the word of the LORD came to me:

²“Son of man, face the Ammonites and prophesy against them.

³Say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the Lord GOD: This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you said, “Aha!” about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it was laid waste, and about the house of Judah when they went into exile,

⁴therefore I am about to give you to the people of the east as a possession. They will set up their encampments and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk.

⁵I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

⁶“‘For this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced over the land of Israel with wholehearted contempt,

⁷therefore I am about to stretch out my hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and eliminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

⁸“‘This is what the Lord GOD says: Because Moab and Seir said, “Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations.”

⁹Therefore I am about to expose Moab’s flank beginning with its frontier cities, the splendor of the land: Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim.

¹⁰I will give it along with Ammon to the people of the east as a possession, so that Ammon will not be remembered among the nations.

¹¹So I will execute judgments against Moab, and they will know that I am the LORD.

¹²“‘This is what the Lord GOD says: Because Edom acted vengefully against the house of Judah and incurred grievous guilt by taking revenge on them,

¹³therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off both man and animal from it. I will make it a wasteland; they will fall by the sword from Teman to Dedan.

¹⁴I will take my vengeance on Edom through my people Israel, and they will deal with Edom according to my anger and wrath. So they will know my vengeance. This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.

¹⁵“‘This is what the Lord GOD says: Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with deep contempt, destroying because of their perpetual hatred,

¹⁶therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines, cutting off the Cherethites and wiping out what remains of the coastal peoples.

¹⁷I will execute severe vengeance against them with furious rebukes. They will know that I am the LORD when I take my vengeance on them.’”

¹Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.

²Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.

³Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.

⁴So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the word.

⁵Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them.

⁶The crowds were all paying attention to what Philip said, as they listened and saw the signs he was performing.

⁷For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.

⁸So there was great joy in that city.

⁹A man named Simon had previously practiced sorcery in that city and amazed the Samaritan people, while claiming to be somebody great.

¹⁰They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they said, “This man is called the Great Power of God.”

¹¹They were attentive to him because he had amazed them with his sorceries for a long time.

¹²But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

¹³Even Simon himself believed. And after he was baptized, he followed Philip everywhere and was amazed as he observed the signs and great miracles that were being performed.

¹⁴When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

¹⁵After they went down there, they prayed for them so the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit because he had not yet come down on any of them.

¹⁶(They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. )

¹⁷Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

¹⁹saying, “Give me this power also so that anyone I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰But Peter told him, “May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

²¹You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God.

²²Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart’s intent may be forgiven.

²³For I see you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by wickedness.”

²⁴“Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon replied, “so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

²⁵So, after they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they traveled back to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road. )

²⁷So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem

²⁸and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud.

²⁹The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.”

³⁰When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

³¹“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³²Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.

³³In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who will describe his generation? For his life is taken from the earth.

³⁴The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about — himself or someone else?”

³⁵Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning with that Scripture.

³⁶As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water. What would keep me from being baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer but went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰Philip appeared in Azotus, and he was traveling and preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.