Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up

²and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.”

³He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me,

⁴was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?”

⁵And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’

⁶But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

⁷So they answered that they did not know where it came from.

⁸And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

⁹And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while.

¹⁰When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

¹¹ And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.

¹² And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out.

¹³Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’

¹⁴But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’

¹⁵And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

¹⁶ He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!”

¹⁷But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

¹⁹The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.

²⁰So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.

²¹So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God.

²²Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”

²³But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them,

²⁴“Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar's.”

²⁵He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

²⁶And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.

²⁷There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,

²⁸and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children.

³⁰And the second

³¹and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died.

³²Afterward the woman also died.

³³In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

³⁴And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,

³⁵but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,

³⁶for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

³⁷But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

³⁸Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”

³⁹Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.”

⁴⁰For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

⁴¹But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David's son?

⁴²For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,

⁴³until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

⁴⁴David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?”

⁴⁵And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples,

⁴⁶“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,

⁴⁷ who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

¹The heads of the fathers' houses of the clan of the people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel.

²They said, “The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.

³But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.

⁴And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

⁵And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph is right.

⁶This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father.

⁷The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

⁸And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers.

⁹So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’”

¹⁰The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD commanded Moses,

¹¹for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers.

¹²They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's clan.

¹³These are the commandments and the rules that the LORD commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

¹For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.

²Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?

³But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.

⁴For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;

⁶in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.

⁷Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

⁸When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law),

⁹then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.

¹⁰And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

¹²But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

¹³waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.

¹⁴For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

¹⁶“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”

¹⁷then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,

²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

²³Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

²⁴And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

²⁶For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

²⁷but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

²⁸Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

²⁹How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

³⁰For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

³¹It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³²But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,

³³sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.

³⁴For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

³⁵Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

³⁶For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

³⁷For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;

³⁸but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”

³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

²Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

³for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

⁴And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

⁶But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

⁷For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,

¹⁰and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.

¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

¹²Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

¹⁵Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

¹⁸Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

¹⁹Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

²⁰for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

²¹Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

²²But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

²⁴For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

²⁵But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

²⁶If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

¹And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

²“Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me,

³when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,

⁴as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent,

⁵when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me,

⁶when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

⁷When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the square,

⁸the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose and stood;

⁹the princes refrained from talking and laid their hand on their mouth;

¹⁰the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

¹¹When the ear heard, it called me blessed, and when the eye saw, it approved,

¹²because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him.

¹³The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.

¹⁷I broke the fangs of the unrighteous and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

¹⁸Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand,

¹⁹my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches,

²⁰my glory fresh with me, and my bow ever new in my hand.’

²¹“Men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel.

²²After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them.

²³They waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.

²⁴I smiled on them when they had no confidence, and the light of my face they did not cast down.

²⁵I chose their way and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.

¹O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;

²many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah

³But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

⁴I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

⁵I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.

⁶I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

⁷Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Selah

¹He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

²When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

³He who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.

⁴By justice a king builds up the land, but he who exacts gifts tears it down.

⁵A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

⁶An evil man is ensnared in his transgression, but a righteous man sings and rejoices.

⁷A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.

⁸Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath.

⁹If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.

¹⁰Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the upright.

¹¹A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

¹²If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked.

¹³The poor man and the oppressor meet together; the LORD gives light to the eyes of both.

¹⁴If a king faithfully judges the poor, his throne will be established forever.

¹⁵The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

¹⁶When the wicked increase, transgression increases, but the righteous will look upon their downfall.

¹⁷Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.

¹⁸Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

¹⁹By mere words a servant is not disciplined, for though he understands, he will not respond.

²⁰Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

²¹Whoever pampers his servant from childhood will in the end find him his heir.

²²A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression.

²³One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

²⁴The partner of a thief hates his own life; he hears the curse, but discloses nothing.

²⁵The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.

²⁶Many seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice.

²⁷An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked.

¹These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,

²Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

³The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah; these three Bath-shua the Canaanite bore to him. Now Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death.

⁴His daughter-in-law Tamar also bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.

⁵The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.

⁶The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, five in all.

⁷The son of Carmi: Achan, the troubler of Israel, who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing;

⁸and Ethan's son was Azariah.

⁹The sons of Hezron that were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai.

¹⁰Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, prince of the sons of Judah.

¹¹Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz,

¹²Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse.

¹³Jesse fathered Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab the second, Shimea the third,

¹⁴Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth,

¹⁵Ozem the sixth, David the seventh.

¹⁶And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three.

¹⁷Abigail bore Amasa, and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.

¹⁸Caleb the son of Hezron fathered children by his wife Azubah, and by Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon.

¹⁹When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur.

²⁰Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel.

²¹Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old, and she bore him Segub.

²²And Segub fathered Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead.

²³But Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-jair, Kenath, and its villages, sixty towns. All these were descendants of Machir, the father of Gilead.

²⁴After the death of Hezron, Caleb went in to Ephrathah, the wife of Hezron his father, and she bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa.

²⁵The sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron: Ram, his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah.

²⁶Jerahmeel also had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.

²⁷The sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker.

²⁸The sons of Onam: Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur.

²⁹The name of Abishur's wife was Abihail, and she bore him Ahban and Molid.

³⁰The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim; and Seled died childless.

³¹The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai.

³²The sons of Jada, Shammai's brother: Jether and Jonathan; and Jether died childless.

³³The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel.

³⁴Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave whose name was Jarha.

³⁵So Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to Jarha his slave, and she bore him Attai.

³⁶Attai fathered Nathan, and Nathan fathered Zabad.

³⁷Zabad fathered Ephlal, and Ephlal fathered Obed.

³⁸Obed fathered Jehu, and Jehu fathered Azariah.

³⁹Azariah fathered Helez, and Helez fathered Eleasah.

⁴⁰Eleasah fathered Sismai, and Sismai fathered Shallum.

⁴¹Shallum fathered Jekamiah, and Jekamiah fathered Elishama.

⁴²The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel: Mareshah his firstborn, who fathered Ziph. The son of Mareshah: Hebron.

⁴³The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem and Shema.

⁴⁴Shema fathered Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem fathered Shammai.

⁴⁵The son of Shammai: Maon; and Maon fathered Beth-zur.

⁴⁶Ephah also, Caleb's concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran fathered Gazez.

⁴⁷The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph.

⁴⁸Maacah, Caleb's concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah.

⁴⁹She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.

⁵⁰These were the descendants of Caleb. The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim,

⁵¹Salma, the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader.

⁵²Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had other sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth.

⁵³And the clans of Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; from these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites.

⁵⁴The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites.

⁵⁵The clans also of the scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

¹The word of the LORD came to me:

²“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’

³For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.

⁴A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Cush, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away, and her foundations are torn down.

⁵Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.

⁶“Thus says the LORD: Those who support Egypt shall fall, and her proud might shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within her by the sword, declares the Lord GOD.

⁷And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries, and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.

⁸Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have set fire to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken.

⁹“On that day messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting people of Cush, and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom; for, behold, it comes!

¹⁰“Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

¹¹He and his people with him, the most ruthless of nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land, and they shall draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.

¹²And I will dry up the Nile and will sell the land into the hand of evildoers; I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, by the hand of foreigners; I am the LORD; I have spoken.

¹³“Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis; there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt; so I will put fear in the land of Egypt.

¹⁴I will make Pathros a desolation and will set fire to Zoan and will execute judgments on Thebes.

¹⁵And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude of Thebes.

¹⁶And I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium shall be in great agony; Thebes shall be breached, and Memphis shall face enemies by day.

¹⁷The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword, and the women shall go into captivity.

¹⁸At Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark, when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt, and her proud might shall come to an end in her; she shall be covered by a cloud, and her daughters shall go into captivity.

¹⁹Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

²⁰In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:

²¹“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword.

²²Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand.

²³I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries.

²⁴And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded.

²⁵I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt.

²⁶And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

¹Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

²While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

⁵When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them.

⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

⁷He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

¹⁰and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

¹¹And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.

¹²Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem,

¹⁴but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.”

¹⁶So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen.

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.

¹⁸And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

¹⁹And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.

²⁰All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

²¹Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

²²And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

²³Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.

²⁴Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.

²⁸And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed.

²⁹And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised him from the dead,

³¹and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

³²And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers,

³³this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’

³⁴And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

³⁵Therefore he says also in another psalm, “‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

³⁶For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption,

³⁷but he whom God raised up did not see corruption.

³⁸Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

³⁹and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

⁴⁰Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

⁴¹“‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”

⁴²As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.

⁴³And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.

⁴⁶And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

⁴⁸And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

⁵¹But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.

⁵²And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.