Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not become discouraged,

²saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect any person.

³Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against myopponent.’

⁴For a while he was unwilling; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect any person,

⁵yet because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwiseby continually coming she will wear me out.’ ”

⁶And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge *said;

⁷now, will God not bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him dayand night, and will He delay long for them?

⁸I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He findfaith on the earth?”

⁹Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

¹⁰“Two men went up into thetemple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

¹¹The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

¹²I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

¹³But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, bemerciful to me, the sinner!’

¹⁴I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁵Now they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.

¹⁶But Jesus called for the little ones, saying, “Allow the children to come to Me, and do notforbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁷Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

¹⁸A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Megood? No one isgood except God alone.

²⁰You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’ ”

²¹And he said, “All these things I have kept since my youth.”

²²Now when Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

²³But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely wealthy.

²⁴And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵For it is easier for a camel togo through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁶Those who heard Him said, “And so who can be saved?”

²⁷But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

²⁸Peter said, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.”

²⁹And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children for the sake of the kingdom of God,

³⁰who will not receive many times as much at this time, and in the age to come, eternal life.”

³¹Now He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that have been written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.

³²For He will behanded over to the Gentiles, and will be ridiculed, and abused, and spit upon,

³³and after they have flogged Him, they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise.”

³⁴The disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

³⁵Now as Jesus was approaching Jericho, a man who was blind was sitting by the road, begging.

³⁶But when he heard a crowd going by, he began inquiring what this was.

³⁷They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.

³⁸And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He asked him,

⁴¹“What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!”

⁴²And Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight; your faith hasmade you well.”

⁴³And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, that is, the land of Canaan according to its borders.

³Your southern region shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall extend from the end of the Salt Sea eastward.

⁴Then your border shall change direction from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and continue to Zin, and its termination shall be to the south of Kadesh-barnea; and it shall reach Hazaraddar and continue to Azmon.

⁵Then the border shall change direction from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the sea.

⁶‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea, that is, its coastline; this shall be your western border.

⁷‘And this shall be your northern border: you shall draw your boundary from the Great Sea to Mount Hor.

⁸You shall draw a boundary from Mount Hor to the Lebo-hamath, and the termination of the border shall be at Zedad;

⁹and the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and its termination shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.

¹⁰‘For your eastern border you shall also draw a boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham,

¹¹and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down and reach to the slope on the east side of the Sea of Chinnereth.

¹²And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its termination shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders on all sides.’ ”

¹³So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you are to possess by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes.

¹⁴For the tribe of the sons of Reuben have received theirs according to their fathers’ households, and the tribe of the sons of Gad according to their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their possession.

¹⁵The two and a half tribes have received their possession across the Jordan opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁷“These are the names of the men who shall assign the land to you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.

¹⁸And you shall take one leader of each tribe to assign the land as an inheritance.

¹⁹These are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

²⁰Of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud.

²¹Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.

²²And of the tribe of the sons of Dan, a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli.

²³Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh, a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod.

²⁴Of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim, a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.

²⁵Of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun, a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.

²⁶Of the tribe of the sons of Issachar, a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan.

²⁷Of the tribe of the sons of Asher, a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.

²⁸Of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali, a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”

²⁹These are the ones whom the LORD commanded to apportion the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.

¹Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

²a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord set up, not man.

³For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer.

⁴Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law;

⁵who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE all things BY THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN TO YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.”

⁶But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, to the extent that He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

⁷For if that first covenant had been free of fault, no circumstances would have been sought for a second.

⁸For in finding fault with the people, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL BRING ABOUT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND THE HOUSE OF JUDAH,

⁹NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO BRING THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE ABOUT THEM, SAYS THE LORD.

¹⁰FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT WHICH I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, DECLARES THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

¹¹AND THEY WILL NOT TEACH, EACH ONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EACH ONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR THEY WILL ALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.

¹²FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TOWARD THEIR WRONGDOINGS, AND THEIR SINS I WILL NO LONGER REMEMBER.”

¹³When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is about to disappear.

¹Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed,

²to slander no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing every consideration for all people.

³For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

⁵He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

⁶whom He richly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior,

⁷so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

⁸This statement is trustworthy; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and beneficial for people.

⁹But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are useless and worthless.

¹⁰Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning,

¹¹knowing that such a person has deviated from what is right and is sinning, being self-condemned.

¹²When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.

¹³Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them.

¹⁴Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unproductive.

¹⁵All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.

¹Job again took up his discourse and said,

²“As God lives, who has taken away my right, And the Almighty, who has embittered my soul,

³For as long as life is in me, And the breath of God is in my nostrils,

⁴My lips certainly will not speak unjustly, Nor will my tongue mutter deceit.

⁵Far be it from me that I should declare you right; Until I die, I will not give up my integrity.

⁶I have kept hold of my righteousness and will not let it go. My heart does not rebuke any of my days.

⁷“May my enemy be as the wicked, And my opponent as the criminal.

⁸For what is the hope of the godless when he makes an end of life, When God requires his life?

⁹Will God hear his cry When distress comes upon him?

¹⁰Or will he take pleasure in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times?

¹¹I will instruct you in the power of God; What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹²Behold, all of you have seen it; Why then do you talk of nothing?

¹³“This is the portion of a wicked person from God, And the inheritance which tyrants receive from the Almighty:

¹⁴Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; And his descendants will not be satisfied with bread.

¹⁵His survivors will be buried because of the plague, And their widows will not be able to weep.

¹⁶Though he piles up silver like dust, And prepares garments as plentiful as the clay,

¹⁷He may prepare it, but the righteous will wear it And the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸He has built his house like the spider’s web, Or a hut which the watchman has made.

¹⁹He lies down rich, but never again; He opens his eyes, and it no longer exists.

²⁰Terrors overtake him like a flood; A storm steals him away in the night.

²¹The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; For it sweeps him away from his place.

²²For it will hurl at him without mercy; He will certainly try to flee from its power.

²³People will clap their hands at him, And will whistle at him from their places.

¹Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

²But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, And on His Law he meditates day and night.

³He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

⁴The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind blows away.

⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.

¹Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring.

²Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy and the sand weighty, But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.

⁴Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, But who can stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed.

⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

⁷A satisfied person despises honey, But to a hungry person any bitter thing is sweet.

⁸Like a bird that wanders from its nest, So is a person who wanders from his home.

⁹Oil and perfume make the heart glad, And a person’s advice is sweet to his friend.

¹⁰Do not abandon your friend or your father’s friend, And do not go to your brother’s house on the day of your disaster; Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, So that I may reply to one who taunts me.

¹²A prudent person sees evil and hides himself; But the naive proceed, and pay the penalty.

¹³Take his garment when he becomes a guarantor for a stranger; And for a foreign woman seize a pledge from him.

¹⁴One who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be considered a curse to him.

¹⁵A constant dripping on a day of steady rain And a contentious woman are alike;

¹⁶He who would restrain her restrains the wind, And grasps oil with his right hand.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron, So one person sharpens another.

¹⁸One who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, And one who cares for his master will be honored.

¹⁹As in water a face reflects the face, So the heart of a person reflects the person.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of a person ever satisfied.

²¹The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, And each is tested by the praise accorded him.

²²Though you pound the fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, His foolishness still will not leave him.

²³Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds;

²⁴For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations.

²⁵When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,

²⁶The lambs will be for your clothing, And the goats will bring the price of a field,

²⁷And there will be enough goats’ milk for your food, For the food of your household, And sustenance for your attendants.

¹Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and built a siege wall all around it.

²So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

³On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

⁴Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls that were beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.

⁵But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.

⁶Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him.

⁷And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon.

⁸Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

⁹And he burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire.

¹⁰So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the bodyguards tore down the walls around Jerusalem.

¹¹Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguards, led into exile the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the people.

¹²But the captain of the bodyguards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

¹³Now the Chaldeans smashed to pieces the bronze pillars which were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze Sea which were in the house of the LORD, and carried the bronze to Babylon.

¹⁴And they took away the pots, the shovels, the shears, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils which were used in temple service.

¹⁵The captain of the bodyguards also took away the firepans and the basins, what was fine gold and what was fine silver.

¹⁶The two pillars, the one Sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD—the bronze of all these articles was too heavy to weigh.

¹⁷The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was three cubits, with latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, same features with latticework.

¹⁸Then the captain of the bodyguards took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three doorkeepers.

¹⁹And from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and five of the king’s advisers who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city.

²⁰Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

²¹Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.

²²Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them.

²³When all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.

²⁴And Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”

²⁵But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

²⁶Then all the people, from the small to the great, and the captains of the forces set out and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

²⁷Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison;

²⁸and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

²⁹So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life;

³⁰and as his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.

¹The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,

²“Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘The Lord GOD says this: “Because your heart is haughty And you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods In the heart of the seas’; Yet you are a mortal and not God, Although you make your heart like the heart of God—

³Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; There is no secret that is a match for you!

⁴By your wisdom and understanding You have acquired riches for yourself And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.

⁵By your great wisdom, by your trade You have increased your riches, And your heart is haughty because of your riches—

⁶Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have made your heart Like the heart of God,

⁷Therefore, behold, I am going to bring strangers against you, The most ruthless of the nations. And they will draw their swords Against the beauty of your wisdom And profane your splendor.

⁸They will bring you down to the pit, And you will die the death of those who are killed In the heart of the seas.

⁹Will you still say, “I am a god,” In the presence of one who kills you, Though you are a mortal and not God, In the hands of those who wound you?

¹⁰You will die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of strangers, For I have spoken!’ declares the Lord GOD!” ’ ”

¹¹Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹²“Son of man, take up a song of mourning over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

¹³You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared.

¹⁴You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.

¹⁵You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you.

¹⁶By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, you covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.

¹⁷Your heart was haughty because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I threw you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you.

¹⁸By the multitude of your wrongdoings, In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you.

¹⁹All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You have become terrified And you will cease to be forever.” ’ ”

²⁰And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²¹“Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, prophesy against her

²²and say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Sidon, And I will appear in My glory in your midst. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I execute judgments against her, And I will reveal Myself as holy in her.

²³For I will send a plague to her And blood to her streets, And the wounded will fall in her midst By the sword upon her on every side; Then they will know that I am the LORD.

²⁴And there will no longer be for the house of Israel a painful thorn or a hurtful thorn bush from any surrounding them who despised them; then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.”

²⁵‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and show Myself holy among them in the sight of the nations, then they will live on their land which I gave to My servant Jacob.

²⁶They will live on it securely; and they will build houses, plant vineyards, and live securely when I execute judgments upon all around them who despise them. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.” ’ ”

¹Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

²And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, the Jewish believers took issue with him,

³saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴But Peter began and explained at length to them in an orderly sequence, saying,

⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was,

⁶and I stared at it and was thinking about it, and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky.

⁷I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’

⁸But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’

¹⁰This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky.

¹¹And behold, at that moment three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea came up to the house where we were staying.

¹²And the Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.

¹³And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send some men to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;

¹⁴and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’

¹⁵And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning.

¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptizedwith the Holy Spirit.’

¹⁷Therefore, if God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

¹⁹So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

²⁰But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus.

²¹And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

²²The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.

²³Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord;

²⁴for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And considerable numbers were added to the Lord.

²⁵And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul;

²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

²⁷Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸One of them, named Agabus, stood up and indicated by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.

²⁹And to the extent that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brothers and sisters living in Judea.

³⁰And they did this, sending it with Barnabas and Saul to the elders.