Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.

²It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

³So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.

⁴Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

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

⁶He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

⁷“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’?

⁸Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’?

⁹Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?

¹⁰So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ”

¹¹Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

¹²As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance

¹³and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

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

¹⁵One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.

¹⁶He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?

¹⁸Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”

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

²⁰Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed,

²¹nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

²²Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.

²³People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them.

²⁴For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.

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

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

²⁷People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

²⁹But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

³⁰“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

³¹On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.

³²Remember Lot’s wife!

³³Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.

³⁴I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.

³⁵Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

³⁶

³⁷“Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

¹Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

²At the LORD’s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages:

³The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians,

⁴who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had brought judgment on their gods.

⁵The Israelites left Rameses and camped at Sukkoth.

⁶They left Sukkoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the desert.

⁷They left Etham, turned back to Pi Hahiroth, to the east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol.

⁸They left Pi Hahiroth and passed through the sea into the desert, and when they had traveled for three days in the Desert of Etham, they camped at Marah.

⁹They left Marah and went to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.

¹⁰They left Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

¹¹They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin.

¹²They left the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.

¹³They left Dophkah and camped at Alush.

¹⁴They left Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

¹⁵They left Rephidim and camped in the Desert of Sinai.

¹⁶They left the Desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.

¹⁷They left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

¹⁸They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

¹⁹They left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.

²⁰They left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.

²¹They left Libnah and camped at Rissah.

²²They left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

²³They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

²⁴They left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

²⁵They left Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

²⁶They left Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

²⁷They left Tahath and camped at Terah.

²⁸They left Terah and camped at Mithkah.

²⁹They left Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.

³⁰They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

³¹They left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan.

³²They left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.

³³They left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

³⁴They left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

³⁵They left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.

³⁶They left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.

³⁷They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the border of Edom.

³⁸At the LORD’s command Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor, where he died on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt.

³⁹Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.

⁴¹They left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

⁴²They left Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

⁴³They left Punon and camped at Oboth.

⁴⁴They left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab.

⁴⁵They left Iye Abarim and camped at Dibon Gad.

⁴⁶They left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.

⁴⁷They left Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, near Nebo.

⁴⁸They left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

⁴⁹There on the plains of Moab they camped along the Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim.

⁵⁰On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the LORD said to Moses,

⁵¹“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,

⁵²drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.

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

⁵⁴Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes.

⁵⁵“ ‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.

⁵⁶And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.’ ”

¹This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him,

²and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.”

³Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

⁴Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!

⁵Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham.

⁶This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

⁷And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater.

⁸In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living.

⁹One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham,

¹⁰because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

¹¹If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?

¹²For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also.

¹³He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar.

¹⁴For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

¹⁵And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears,

¹⁶one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.

¹⁷For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless

¹⁹(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

²⁰And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath,

²¹but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’ ”

²²Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

²³Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office;

²⁴but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.

²⁵Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

²⁶Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

²⁷Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

²⁸For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

¹You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.

²Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

³Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.

⁴Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children,

⁵to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

⁶Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.

⁷In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness

⁸and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

⁹Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them,

¹⁰and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

¹³while we wait for the 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 wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

¹⁵These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

¹Then Job replied:

²“How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble!

³What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!

⁴Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?

⁵“The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

⁶The realm of the dead is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.

⁷He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.

⁸He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.

⁹He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.

¹⁰He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.

¹¹The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.

¹²By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.

¹³By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.

¹⁴And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”

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

²Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.

³Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre,

⁴praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe,

⁵praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.

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

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

²Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

³A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!

⁴Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.

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

⁶Sending a message by the hands of a fool is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison.

⁷Like the useless legs of one who is lame is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

⁸Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.

⁹Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

¹⁰Like an archer who wounds at random is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.

¹¹As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.

¹²Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.

¹³A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!”

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

¹⁵A sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.

¹⁶A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven people who answer discreetly.

¹⁷Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.

¹⁸Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death

¹⁹is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

²⁰Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.

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

²²The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.

²³Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.

²⁴Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit.

²⁵Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts.

²⁶Their malice may be concealed by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

²⁷Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

¹During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled.

²The LORD sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the LORD proclaimed by his servants the prophets.

³Surely these things happened to Judah according to the LORD’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done,

⁴including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was not willing to forgive.

⁵As for the other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

⁶Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.

⁷The king of Egypt did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

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

⁹He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father had done.

¹⁰At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it,

¹¹and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it.

¹²Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered to him. In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner.

¹³As the LORD had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the LORD and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the LORD.

¹⁴He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.

¹⁵Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother, his wives, his officials and the prominent people of the land.

¹⁶The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans.

¹⁷He 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 in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.

¹⁹He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.

²⁰It was because of the LORD’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence. Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

¹The word of the LORD came to me:

²“Son of man, take up a lament concerning Tyre.

³Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “ ‘You say, Tyre, “I am perfect in beauty.”

⁴Your domain was on the high seas; your builders brought your beauty to perfection.

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

⁶Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of cypress wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, adorned with ivory.

⁷Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail and served as your banner; your awnings were of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah.

⁸Men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen; your skilled men, Tyre, were aboard as your sailors.

⁹Veteran craftsmen of Byblos were on board as shipwrights to caulk your seams. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came alongside to trade for your wares.

¹⁰“ ‘Men of Persia, Lydia and Put served as soldiers in your army. They hung their shields and helmets on your walls, bringing you splendor.

¹¹Men of Arvad and Helek guarded your walls on every side; men of Gammad were in your towers. They hung their shields around your walls; they brought your beauty to perfection.

¹²“ ‘Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your merchandise.

¹³“ ‘Greece, Tubal and Meshek did business with you; they traded human beings and articles of bronze for your wares.

¹⁴“ ‘Men of Beth Togarmah exchanged chariot horses, cavalry horses and mules for your merchandise.

¹⁵“ ‘The men of Rhodes traded with you, and many coastlands were your customers; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony.

¹⁶“ ‘Aram did business with you because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple fabric, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies for your merchandise.

¹⁷“ ‘Judah and Israel traded with you; they exchanged wheat from Minnith and confections, honey, olive oil and balm for your wares.

¹⁸“ ‘Damascus did business with you because of your many products and great wealth of goods. They offered wine from Helbon, wool from Zahar

¹⁹and casks of wine from Izal in exchange for your wares: wrought iron, cassia and calamus.

²⁰“ ‘Dedan traded in saddle blankets with you.

²¹“ ‘Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers; they did business with you in lambs, rams and goats.

²²“ ‘The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your merchandise they exchanged the finest of all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold.

²³“ ‘Harran, Kanneh and Eden and merchants of Sheba, Ashur and Kilmad traded with you.

²⁴In your marketplace they traded with you beautiful garments, blue fabric, embroidered work and multicolored rugs with cords twisted and tightly knotted.

²⁵“ ‘The ships of Tarshish serve as carriers for your wares. You are filled with heavy cargo as you sail the sea.

²⁶Your oarsmen take you out to the high seas. But the east wind will break you to pieces far out at sea.

²⁷Your wealth, merchandise and wares, your mariners, sailors and shipwrights, your merchants and all your soldiers, and everyone else on board will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your shipwreck.

²⁸The shorelands will quake when your sailors cry out.

²⁹All who handle the oars will abandon their ships; the mariners and all the sailors will stand on the shore.

³⁰They will raise their voice and cry bitterly over you; they will sprinkle dust on their heads and roll in ashes.

³¹They will shave their heads because of you and will put on sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and with bitter mourning.

³²As they wail and mourn over you, they will take up a lament concerning you: “Who was ever silenced like Tyre, surrounded by the sea?”

³³When your merchandise went out on the seas, you satisfied many nations; with your great wealth and your wares you enriched the kings of the earth.

³⁴Now you are shattered by the sea in the depths of the waters; your wares and all your company have gone down with you.

³⁵All who live in the coastlands are appalled at you; their kings shudder with horror and their faces are distorted with fear.

³⁶The merchants among the nations scoff at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’ ”

¹At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.

²He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

³One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

⁴Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.

⁵Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.

⁶He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants.

⁸He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

⁹About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.

¹⁰He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.

¹¹He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.

¹²It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds.

¹³Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

¹⁴“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

¹⁵The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

¹⁷While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.

¹⁸They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

¹⁹While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you.

²⁰So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

²¹Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

²²The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.”

²³Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along.

²⁴The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence.

²⁶But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

²⁷While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people.

²⁸He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.

²⁹So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

³⁰Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me

³¹and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.

³²Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’

³³So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism

³⁵but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

³⁶You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

³⁷You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—

³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

³⁹“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross,

⁴⁰but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.

⁴¹He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.

⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.

⁴⁵The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.

⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,

⁴⁷“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

⁴⁸So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.