Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now he said to the disciples: “There was a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions.

²So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be my manager.’

³“Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg.

⁴I know what I’ll do so that when I’m removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

⁵“So he summoned each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master? ’ he asked the first one.

⁶“‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he said. “‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

⁷“Next he asked another, ‘How much do you owe?’ “‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he said. “‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘and write eighty.’

⁸“The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light in dealing with their own people.

⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.

¹⁰Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.

¹¹So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine?

¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own?

¹³No servant can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

¹⁴The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and scoffing at him.

¹⁵And he told them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.

¹⁶“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urgently invited to enter it.

¹⁷But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out.

¹⁸“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

¹⁹“There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day.

²⁰But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was lying at his gate.

²¹He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man’s table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores.

²²One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

²³And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side.

²⁴‘Father Abraham! ’ he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!’

²⁵“‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

²⁶Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.’

²⁷“‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send him to my father’s house — 

²⁸because I have five brothers — to warn them, so they won’t also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’

³⁰“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹“But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’”

¹The Reubenites and Gadites had a very large number of livestock. When they surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, they saw that the region was a good one for livestock.

²So the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses, the priest Eleazar, and the leaders of the community and said:

³“The territory of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,

⁴which the LORD struck down before the community of Israel, is good land for livestock, and your servants own livestock.”

⁵They said, “If we have found favor with you, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Don’t make us cross the Jordan.”

⁶But Moses asked the Gadites and Reubenites, “Should your brothers go to war while you stay here?

⁷Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land the LORD has given them?

⁸That’s what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.

⁹After they went up as far as Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the LORD had given them.

¹⁰So the LORD’s anger burned that day, and he swore an oath:

¹¹‘Because they did not remain loyal to me, none of the men twenty years old or more who came up from Egypt will see the land I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob  —

¹²none except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, because they did remain loyal to the LORD.’

¹³The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years until the whole generation that had done what was evil in the LORD’s sight was gone.

¹⁴And here you, a brood of sinners, stand in your fathers’ place adding even more to the LORD’s burning anger against Israel.

¹⁵If you turn back from following him, he will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will destroy all of them.”

¹⁶Then they approached him and said, “We want to build sheep pens here for our livestock and cities for our dependents.

¹⁷But we will arm ourselves and be ready to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our dependents will remain in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁸We will not return to our homes until each of the Israelites has taken possession of his inheritance.

¹⁹Yet we will not have an inheritance with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance will be across the Jordan to the east.”

²⁰Moses replied to them, “If you do this — if you arm yourselves for battle before the LORD,

²¹and every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the LORD until he has driven his enemies from his presence,

²²and the land is subdued before the LORD  — afterward you may return and be free from obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the LORD.

²³But if you don’t do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD; be sure your sin will catch up with you.

²⁴Build cities for your dependents and pens for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”

²⁵The Gadites and Reubenites answered Moses, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands.

²⁶Our dependents, wives, livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead,

²⁷but your servants are equipped for war before the LORD and will go across to the battle as my lord orders.”

²⁸So Moses gave orders about them to the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes.

²⁹Moses told them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, every man in battle formation before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession.

³⁰But if they don’t go across with you in battle formation, they must accept land in Canaan with you.”

³¹The Gadites and Reubenites replied, “What the LORD has spoken to your servants is what we will do.

³²We will cross over in battle formation before the LORD into the land of Canaan, but we will keep our hereditary possession across the Jordan.”

³³So Moses gave them — the Gadites, Reubenites, and half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph — the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites and the kingdom of King Og of Bashan, the land including its cities with the territories surrounding them.

³⁴The Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,

³⁵Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

³⁶Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and built sheep pens.

³⁷The Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,

³⁸as well as Nebo and Baal-meon (whose names were changed), and Sibmah. They gave names to the cities they rebuilt.

³⁹The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

⁴⁰So Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir son of Manasseh, and they settled in it.

⁴¹Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages, which he renamed Jair’s Villages.

⁴²Nobah went and captured Kenath with its surrounding villages and called it Nobah after his own name.

¹Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God,

²teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

³And we will do this if God permits.

⁴For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit,

⁵who tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age,

⁶and who have fallen away. This is because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt.

⁷For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God.

⁸But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned.

⁹Even though we are speaking this way, dearly loved friends, in your case we are confident of things that are better and that pertain to salvation.

¹⁰For God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you demonstrated for his name by serving the saints — and by continuing to serve them.

¹¹Now we desire each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end,

¹²so that you won’t become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance.

¹³For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself:

¹⁴I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you.

¹⁵And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise.

¹⁶For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute.

¹⁷Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath,

¹⁸so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.

¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

²⁰Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

¹Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,

²in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

³In his own time he has revealed his word in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Savior:

⁴To Titus, my true son in our common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

⁵The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town.

⁶An elder must be blameless: the husband of one wife, with faithful children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion.

⁷As an overseer of God’s household, he must be blameless: not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money,

⁸but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled,

⁹holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.

¹⁰For there are many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from the circumcision party.

¹¹It is necessary to silence them; they are ruining entire households by teaching what they shouldn’t in order to get money dishonestly.

¹²One of their very own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

¹³This testimony is true. For this reason, rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith

¹⁴and may not pay attention to Jewish myths and the commands of people who reject the truth.

¹⁵To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience are defiled.

¹⁶They claim to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²Dominion and dread belong to him, the one who establishes harmony in his heights.

³Can his troops be numbered? Does his light not shine on everyone?

⁴How can a human be justified before God? How can one born of woman be pure?

⁵If even the moon does not shine and the stars are not pure in his sight,

⁶how much less a human, who is a maggot, a son of man, who is a worm!

¹Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

²Let Israel celebrate its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.

³Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and lyre.

⁴For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

⁵Let the faithful celebrate in triumphal glory; let them shout for joy on their beds.

⁶Let the exaltation of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands,

⁷inflicting vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples,

⁸binding their kings with chains and their dignitaries with iron shackles,

⁹carrying out the judgment decreed against them. This honor is for all his faithful people. Hallelujah!

¹These too are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of King Hezekiah of Judah, copied.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to investigate a matter.

³As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be investigated.

⁴Remove impurities from silver, and material will be produced for a silversmith.

⁵Remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Don’t boast about yourself before the king, and don’t stand in the place of the great;

⁷for it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here!” than to demote you in plain view of a noble.

⁸Don’t take a matter to court hastily. Otherwise, what will you do afterward if your opponent humiliates you?

⁹Make your case with your opponent without revealing another’s secret;

¹⁰otherwise, the one who hears will disgrace you, and you’ll never live it down.

¹¹A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples in silver settings.

¹²A wise correction to a receptive ear is like a gold ring or an ornament of gold.

¹³To those who send him, a trustworthy envoy is like the coolness of snow on a harvest day; he refreshes the life of his masters.

¹⁴The one who boasts about a gift that does not exist is like clouds and wind without rain.

¹⁵A ruler can be persuaded through patience, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

¹⁶If you find honey, eat only what you need; otherwise, you’ll get sick from it and vomit.

¹⁷Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house; otherwise, he’ll get sick of you and hate you.

¹⁸A person giving false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Trusting an unreliable person in a difficult time is like a rotten tooth or a faltering foot.

²⁰Singing songs to a troubled heart is like taking off clothing on a cold day or like pouring vinegar on soda.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

²²for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

²³The north wind produces rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.

²⁴Better to live on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a nagging wife.

²⁵Good news from a distant land is like cold water to a parched throat.

²⁶A righteous person who yields to the wicked is like a muddied spring or a polluted well.

²⁷It is not good to eat too much honey or to seek glory after glory.

²⁸A person who does not control his temper is like a city whose wall is broken down.

¹So the king sent messengers, and they gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him.

²Then the king went to the LORD’s temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets — all the people from the youngest to the oldest. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the LORD’s temple.

³Next, the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant in the LORD’s presence to follow the LORD and to keep his commands, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul in order to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed to the covenant.

⁴Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiah and the priests of the second rank and the doorkeepers to bring out of the LORD’s sanctuary all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the stars in the sky. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.

⁵Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high places in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and all the stars in the sky.

⁶He brought out the Asherah pole from the LORD’s temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it at the Kidron Valley, beat it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.

⁷He also tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes that were in the LORD’s temple, in which the women were weaving tapestries for Asherah.

⁸Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the city gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city (on the left at the city gate).

⁹The priests of the high places, however, did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem; instead, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

¹⁰He defiled Topheth, which is in Ben Himmon Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.

¹¹He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They had been at the entrance of the LORD’s temple in the precincts by the chamber of Nathan-melech, the eunuch. He also burned the chariots of the sun.

¹²The king tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had made on the roof of Ahaz’s upper chamber. He also tore down the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the LORD’s temple. Then he smashed them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.

¹³The king also defiled the high places that were across from Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abhorrent idol of the Sidonians; for Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab; and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites.

¹⁴He broke the sacred pillars into pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, then filled their places with human bones.

¹⁵He even tore down the altar at Bethel and the high place that had been made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He burned the high place, crushed it to dust, and burned the Asherah.

¹⁶As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mountain. He sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar. He defiled it according to the word of the LORD proclaimed by the man of God who proclaimed these things.

¹⁷Then he said, “What is this monument I see?” The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done to the altar at Bethel.”

¹⁸So he said, “Let him rest. Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.

¹⁹Josiah also removed all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to anger the LORD. Josiah did the same things to them that he had done at Bethel.

²⁰He slaughtered on the altars all the priests of those high places, and he burned human bones on the altars. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

²¹The king commanded all the people, “Observe the Passover of the LORD your God as written in the book of the covenant.”

²²No such Passover had ever been observed from the time of the judges who judged Israel through the entire time of the kings of Israel and Judah.

²³But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the LORD’s Passover was observed in Jerusalem.

²⁴In addition, Josiah eradicated the mediums, the spiritists, household idols, images, and all the abhorrent things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this in order to carry out the words of the law that were written in the book that the priest Hilkiah found in the LORD’s temple.

²⁵Before him there was no king like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him.

²⁶In spite of all that, the LORD did not turn from the fury of his intense burning anger, which burned against Judah because of all the affronts with which Manasseh had angered him.

²⁷For the LORD had said, “I will also remove Judah from my presence just as I have removed Israel. I will reject this city Jerusalem, that I have chosen, and the temple about which I said, ‘My name will be there.’”

²⁸The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.

²⁹During his reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went to confront him, and at Megiddo when Neco saw him he killed him.

³⁰From Megiddo his servants carried his dead body in a chariot, brought him into Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. Then the common people took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.

³¹Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.

³²He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight just as his ancestors had done.

³³Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath to keep him from reigning in Jerusalem, and he imposed on the land a fine of seventy-five hundred pounds of silver and seventy-five pounds of gold.

³⁴Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there.

³⁵So Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but at Pharaoh’s command he taxed the land to give it. He exacted the silver and the gold from the common people, each according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

³⁶Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah.

³⁷He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight just as his ancestors had done.

¹In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:

²“Son of man, because Tyre said about Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gateway to the peoples is shattered. She has been turned over to me. I will be filled now that she lies in ruins,’

³therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I am against you, Tyre! I will raise up many nations against you, just as the sea raises its waves.

⁴They will destroy the walls of Tyre and demolish her towers. I will scrape the soil from her and turn her into a bare rock.

⁵She will become a place in the sea to spread nets, for I have spoken.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD. “She will become plunder for the nations,

⁶and her villages on the mainland will be slaughtered by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

⁷For this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I am about to bring King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre from the north with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a huge assembly of troops.

⁸He will slaughter your villages on the mainland with the sword. He will set up siege works, build a ramp, and raise a wall of shields against you.

⁹He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his iron tools.

¹⁰His horses will be so numerous that their dust will cover you. When he enters your gates as an army entering a breached city, your walls will shake from the noise of cavalry, wagons, and chariots.

¹¹He will trample all your streets with the hooves of his horses. He will slaughter your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground.

¹²They will take your wealth as spoil and plunder your merchandise. They will also demolish your walls and tear down your beautiful homes. Then they will throw your stones, timber, and soil into the water.

¹³I will put an end to the noise of your songs, and the sound of your lyres will no longer be heard.

¹⁴I will turn you into a bare rock, and you will be a place to spread nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the LORD, have spoken.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.

¹⁵This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: “Won’t the coasts and islands quake at the sound of your downfall, when the wounded groan and slaughter occurs within you?

¹⁶All the princes of the sea will descend from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble continually, and be appalled at you.

¹⁷Then they will lament for you and say of you, ‘How you have perished, city of renown, you who were populated from the seas! She who was powerful on the sea, she and all of her inhabitants inflicted their terror.

¹⁸Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your downfall; the islands in the sea are alarmed by your demise.’”

¹⁹For this is what the Lord GOD says: “When I make you a ruined city like other deserted cities, when I raise up the deep against you so that the mighty waters cover you,

²⁰then I will bring you down to be with those who descend to the Pit, to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the underworld like the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or display your splendor in the land of the living.

²¹I will make you an object of horror, and you will no longer exist. You will be sought but will never be found again.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.

¹Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest

²and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

³As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.

⁴Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

⁵“Who are you, Lord?” Saul said. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied.

⁶“But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one.

⁸Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.

⁹He was unable to see for three days and did not eat or drink.

¹⁰There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” “Here I am, Lord,” he replied.

¹¹“Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there.

¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.”

¹³“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.

¹⁴And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites.

¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

¹⁷Ananias went and entered the house. He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

¹⁹And after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some time.

²⁰Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.”

²¹All who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn’t this the man in Jerusalem who was causing havoc for those who called on this name and came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

²²But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

²³After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him,

²⁴but Saul learned of their plot. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him,

²⁵but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the wall.

²⁶When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple.

²⁷Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.

²⁸Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him.

³⁰When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

³²As Peter was traveling from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda.

³³There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years.

³⁴Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed,” and immediately he got up.

³⁵So all who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

³⁶In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which is translated Dorcas). She was always doing good works and acts of charity.

³⁷About that time she became sick and died. After washing her, they placed her in a room upstairs.

³⁸Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there and sent two men to him who urged him, “Don’t delay in coming with us.”

³⁹Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they led him to the room upstairs. And all the widows approached him, weeping and showing him the robes and clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with them.

⁴⁰Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down, prayed, and turning toward the body said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.

⁴¹He gave her his hand and helped her stand up. He called the saints and widows and presented her alive.

⁴²This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

⁴³Peter stayed for some time in Joppa with Simon, a leather tanner.