Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

² It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

³Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,

⁴and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

⁶And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

⁷“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?

⁸Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?

⁹Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?

¹⁰So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

¹¹On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.

¹²And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance

¹³and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

¹⁴When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.

¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;

¹⁶and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?

¹⁸Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

¹⁹And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

²⁰Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed,

²¹nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

²²And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

²³ And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them.

²⁴ For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.

²⁵But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.

²⁷ They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot — they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,

²⁹ but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all —

³⁰so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

³¹On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.

³² Remember Lot's wife.

³³ Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

³⁴I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left.

³⁵ There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”

³⁶

³⁷And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

¹These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

²Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the LORD, and these are their stages according to their starting places.

³They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians,

⁴while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them. On their gods also the LORD executed judgments.

⁵So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth.

⁶And they set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.

⁷And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol.

⁸And they set out from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went a three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.

⁹And they set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.

¹⁰And they set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

¹¹And they set out from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin.

¹²And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah.

¹³And they set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush.

¹⁴And they set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

¹⁵And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai.

¹⁶And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.

¹⁷And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

¹⁸And they set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

¹⁹And they set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez.

²⁰And they set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah.

²¹And they set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah.

²²And they set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

²³And they set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

²⁴And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

²⁵And they set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

²⁶And they set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

²⁷And they set out from Tahath and camped at Terah.

²⁸And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah.

²⁹And they set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.

³⁰And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

³¹And they set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan.

³²And they set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad.

³³And they set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

³⁴And they set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

³⁵And they set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber.

³⁶And they set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh).

³⁷And they set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.

³⁸And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the LORD and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.

³⁹And Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

⁴¹And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

⁴²And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

⁴³And they set out from Punon and camped at Oboth.

⁴⁴And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab.

⁴⁵And they set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad.

⁴⁶And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim.

⁴⁷And they set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.

⁴⁸And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho;

⁴⁹they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

⁵⁰And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

⁵¹“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

⁵²then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.

⁵³And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.

⁵⁴You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit.

⁵⁵But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.

⁵⁶And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”

¹For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

²and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.

³He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

⁴See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils!

⁵And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham.

⁶But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

⁷It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.

⁸In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.

⁹One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham,

¹⁰for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

¹¹Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron?

¹²For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.

¹³For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.

¹⁴For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

¹⁵This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek,

¹⁶who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.

¹⁷For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness

¹⁹(for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

²⁰And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath,

²¹but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever.’”

²²This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

²³The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office,

²⁴but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.

²⁵Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

²⁶For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

²⁷He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

²⁸For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

¹But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

²Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.

³Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,

⁴and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,

⁵to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

⁶Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.

⁷Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity,

⁸and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

⁹Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,

¹⁰not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,

¹²training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

¹³waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

¹⁵Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength!

³How you have counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge!

⁴With whose help have you uttered words, and whose breath has come out from you?

⁵The dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants.

⁶Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.

⁷He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing.

⁸He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them.

⁹He covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it his cloud.

¹⁰He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.

¹¹The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke.

¹²By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he shattered Rahab.

¹³By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

¹⁴Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

¹Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!

²Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!

³Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!

⁴Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!

⁵Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

⁶Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

¹Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.

²Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.

³A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools.

⁴Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.

⁵Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

⁶Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.

⁷Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless, is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

⁸Like one who binds the stone in the sling is one who gives honor to a fool.

⁹Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

¹⁰Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.

¹¹Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.

¹²Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

¹³The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!”

¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.

¹⁵The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.

¹⁶The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

¹⁷Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.

¹⁸Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death

¹⁹is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!”

²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.

²¹As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

²²The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.

²³Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart.

²⁴Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart;

²⁵when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart;

²⁶though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

²⁷Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.

²⁸A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

¹In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.

²And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets.

³Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done,

⁴and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon.

⁵Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

⁶So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

⁷And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

⁸Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

⁹And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.

¹⁰At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

¹¹And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it,

¹²and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign

¹³and carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the LORD, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the LORD had foretold.

¹⁴He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land.

¹⁵And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

¹⁶And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war.

¹⁷And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

¹⁸Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

¹⁹And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

²⁰For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

¹The word of the LORD came to me:

²“Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre,

³and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrances to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord GOD: “O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’

⁴Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders made perfect your beauty.

⁵They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.

⁶Of oaks of Bashan they made your oars; they made your deck of pines from the coasts of Cyprus, inlaid with ivory.

⁷Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail, serving as your banner; blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah was your awning.

⁸The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you; they were your pilots.

⁹The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you, caulking your seams; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to barter for your wares.

¹⁰“Persia and Lud and Put were in your army as your men of war. They hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor.

¹¹Men of Arvad and Helech were on your walls all around, and men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they made perfect your beauty.

¹²“Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares.

¹³Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise.

¹⁴From Beth-togarmah they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your wares.

¹⁵The men of Dedan traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony.

¹⁶Syria did business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and ruby.

¹⁷Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and balm.

¹⁸Damascus did business with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon and wool of Sahar

¹⁹and casks of wine from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise.

²⁰Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding.

²¹Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with you.

²²The traders of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold.

²³Haran, Canneh, Eden, traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you.

²⁴In your market these traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made secure.

²⁵The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas.

²⁶“Your rowers have brought you out into the high seas. The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas.

²⁷Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners and your pilots, your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your crew that is in your midst, sink into the heart of the seas on the day of your fall.

²⁸At the sound of the cry of your pilots the countryside shakes,

²⁹and down from their ships come all who handle the oar. The mariners and all the pilots of the sea stand on the land

³⁰and shout aloud over you and cry out bitterly. They cast dust on their heads and wallow in ashes;

³¹they make themselves bald for you and put sackcloth on their waist, and they weep over you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning.

³²In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you and lament over you: ‘Who is like Tyre, like one destroyed in the midst of the sea?

³³When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples; with your abundant wealth and merchandise you enriched the kings of the earth.

³⁴Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters; your merchandise and all your crew in your midst have sunk with you.

³⁵All the inhabitants of the coastlands are appalled at you, and the hair of their kings bristles with horror; their faces are convulsed.

³⁶The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.’”

¹At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort,

²a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.

³About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.”

⁴And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

⁵And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter.

⁶He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him,

⁸and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.

¹⁰And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance

¹¹and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth.

¹²In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.

¹³And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”

¹⁵And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

¹⁷Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate

¹⁸and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there.

¹⁹And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

²⁰Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.”

²¹And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?”

²²And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.”

²³So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

²⁴And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.

²⁶But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.”

²⁷And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered.

²⁸And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

²⁹So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

³⁰And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing

³¹and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.

³²Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’

³³So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

³⁴So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,

³⁵but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

³⁶As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),

³⁷you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed:

³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

³⁹And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,

⁴⁰but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear,

⁴¹not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

⁴²And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

⁴³To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.

⁴⁵And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.

⁴⁶For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared,

⁴⁷“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

⁴⁸And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.