Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“These things I have spoken to you so that you will not be led into sin.

²They willban you from the synagogue, yet an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering aservice to God.

³These things they will do because they have not known the Father nor Me.

⁴But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, youmay remember that I told you of them. However, I did not say these things to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

⁵“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’

⁶But because I have said these things to you, grief has filled your heart.

⁷But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, theHelper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

⁸And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment:

⁹regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me;

¹⁰and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me;

¹¹and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

¹²“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them at the present time.

¹³But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

¹⁴He will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will disclose it to you.

¹⁵All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you.

¹⁶“A little while, and you no longer are going to see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.”

¹⁷So some of His disciples said to one another, “What is this that He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you are not going to see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”

¹⁸So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”

¹⁹Jesus knew that they wanted to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you are not going to see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?

²⁰Truly, truly I say to you that you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy!

²¹Whenever a woman is in labor she haspain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that achild has been born into the world.

²²Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one is going to take your joy away from you.

²³And on that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.

²⁴Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

²⁵“These things I have spoken to you in figures of speech; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.

²⁶On that day you will ask in My name, and I am not saying to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf;

²⁷for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.

²⁸I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

²⁹His disciples *said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and are not using any figure of speech.

³⁰Now we know that You know all things, and that You have no need for anyone to question You; this is why we believe that You came forth from God.”

³¹Jesus replied to them, “Do you now believe?

³²Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.

³³These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

¹“When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.

²When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people.

³He shall say to them, ‘Hear, Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or be terrified by them,

⁴for the LORD your God is the One who is going with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’

⁵The officers also shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man that has built a new house but has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would dedicate it.

⁶And who is the man that has planted a vineyard but has not put it to use? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would put it to use.

⁷And who is the man that is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would marry her.’

⁸Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, so that he does not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart!’

⁹And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of armies at the head of the people.

¹⁰“When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace.

¹¹And if it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and serve you.

¹²However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.

¹³When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword.

¹⁴However, the women, the children, the animals, and everything that is in the city, all of its spoils, you shall take as plunder for yourself; and you shall use the spoils of your enemies which the LORD your God has given you.

¹⁵This is what you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations nearby.

¹⁶Only in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave anything that breathes alive.

¹⁷Instead, you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you,

¹⁸so that they will not teach you to do all the same detestable practices of theirs which they have done for their gods, by which you would sin against the LORD your God.

¹⁹“When you besiege a city for a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, so you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a human, that it should be besieged by you?

²⁰Only the trees that you know are not fruit trees you shall destroy and cut down, so that you may construct siegeworks against the city that is making war against you until it falls.

¹Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

²To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,

⁵that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge,

⁶just as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you,

⁷so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁸who will also confirm you to the end, blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁰Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

¹¹For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.

¹²Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,” or “I am with Christ.”

¹³Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

¹⁴I am thankful that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,

¹⁵so that no one would say you were baptized in my name!

¹⁶But I did baptize the household of Stephanas also; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else.

¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made of no effect.

¹⁸For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

¹⁹For it is written: “I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF THOSE WHO HAVE UNDERSTANDING, I WILL CONFOUND.”

²⁰Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world?

²¹For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

²²For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;

²³but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness,

²⁴but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than mankind, and the weakness of God is stronger than mankind.

²⁶For consider your calling, brothers and sisters, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

²⁷but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

²⁸and the insignificant things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,

²⁹so that no human may boast before God.

³⁰But it is due to Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

³¹so that, just as it is written: “LET THE ONE WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

¹Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:

²May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

³Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints.

⁴For certain people have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into indecent behavior and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

⁵Now I want to remind you, though you know everything once and for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.

⁶And angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling place, these He has kept in eternal restraints under darkness for the judgment of the great day,

⁷just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these angels indulged in sexual perversion and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

⁸Yet in the same way these people also, dreaming, defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak abusively of angelic majesties.

⁹But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him an abusive judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

¹⁰But these people disparage all the things that they do not understand; and all the things that they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.

¹¹Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have given themselves up to the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

¹²These are the ones who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, like shepherds caring only for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted;

¹³wild waves of the sea, churning up their own shameful deeds like dirty foam; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁴It was also about these people that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord has come with many thousands of His holy ones,

¹⁵to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

¹⁶These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.

¹⁷But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁸that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.”

¹⁹These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.

²⁰But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

²¹keep yourselves in the love of God, looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

²²And have mercy on some, who are doubting;

²³save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

²⁴Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy,

²⁵to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen.

¹A good name is better than good oil, And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.

²It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every person, And the living takes it to heart.

³Sorrow is better than laughter, For when a face is sad a heart may be happy.

⁴The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, While the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.

⁵It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise person Than for one to listen to the song of fools.

⁶For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool; And this too is futility.

⁷For oppression makes a wise person look foolish, And a bribe corrupts the heart.

⁸The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than arrogance of spirit.

⁹Do not be eager in your spirit to be angry, For anger resides in the heart of fools.

¹⁰Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

¹¹Wisdom along with an inheritance is good, And an advantage to those who see the sun.

¹²For wisdom is protection just as money is protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom keeps its possessors alive.

¹³Consider the work of God, For who is able to straighten what He has bent?

¹⁴On the day of prosperity be happy, But on the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other So that a person will not discover anything that will come after him.

¹⁵I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked person who prolongs his life in his wickedness.

¹⁶Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?

¹⁷Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

¹⁸It is good that you grasp one thing while not letting go of the other; for one who fears God comes out with both of them.

¹⁹Wisdom strengthens a wise person more than ten rulers who are in a city.

²⁰Indeed, there is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin.

²¹Also, do not take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant cursing you,

²²for you know that even you have cursed others many times as well.

²³I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” but wisdom was far from me.

²⁴What has been is remote and very mysterious. Who can discover it?

²⁵I directed my mind to know and to investigate, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of foolishness and the foolishness of insanity.

²⁶And I discovered as more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

²⁷“Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “by adding one thing to another to find an explanation,

²⁸which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these.

²⁹Behold, I have found only this, that God made people upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

¹The LORD is my shepherd, I will not be in need.

²He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.

³He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For the sake of His name.

⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.

⁶Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life, And my dwelling will be in the house of the LORD forever.

¹One who separates himself seeks his own desire; He quarrels against all sound wisdom.

²A fool does not delight in understanding, But in revealing his own mind.

³When a wicked person comes, contempt also comes, And with dishonor comes taunting.

⁴The words of a person’s mouth are deep waters; The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

⁵To show partiality to the wicked is not good, Nor to suppress the righteous in judgment.

⁶A fool’s lips bring strife, And his mouth invites beatings.

⁷A fool’s mouth is his ruin, And his lips are the snare of his soul.

⁸The words of a gossiper are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

⁹He also who is lax in his work Is a brother to him who destroys.

¹⁰The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.

¹¹A rich person’s wealth is his strong city, And like a high wall in his own imagination.

¹²Before destruction the heart of a person is haughty, But humility goes before honor.

¹³One who gives an answer before he hears, It is foolishness and shame to him.

¹⁴The spirit of a person can endure his sickness, But as for a broken spirit, who can endure it?

¹⁵The mind of the discerning acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

¹⁶A person’s gift makes room for him And brings him before great people.

¹⁷The first to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and examines him.

¹⁸The cast lot puts an end to quarrels, And decides between the mighty ones.

¹⁹A brother who is offended is harder to be won than a strong city, And quarrels are like the bars of a citadel.

²⁰With the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.

²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

²²He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the LORD.

²³A poor person utters pleadings, But a rich person answers defiantly.

²⁴A person of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

¹Then David said, “This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

²So David gave orders to gather the strangers who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to cut out stones to build the house of God.

³And David prepared large quantities of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gates and for the clamps, and more bronze than could be weighed;

⁴and timbers of cedar beyond number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought large quantities of cedar timber to David.

⁵David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the LORD shall be exceedingly magnificent, famous, and glorious throughout the lands. Therefore I now will make preparations for it.” So David made ample preparations before his death.

⁶Then he called for his son Solomon, and commanded him to build a house for the LORD God of Israel.

⁷David said to Solomon, “My son, I had intended to build a house for the name of the LORD my God.

⁸But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me.

⁹Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.

¹⁰He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

¹¹Now, my son, the LORD be with you that you may be successful, and build the house of the LORD your God just as He has spoken concerning you.

¹²Only the LORD give you discretion and understanding, and put you in charge of Israel, so that you may keep the Law of the LORD your God.

¹³Then you will prosper, if you are careful to follow the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed.

¹⁴Now behold, with great pains I have prepared for the house of the LORD a hundred thousand talents of gold and a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond measure, for they are in great quantity; I have also prepared timber and stone, and you may add to that.

¹⁵Moreover there are many workmen with you, stonecutters, masons of stone, and carpenters; and all of them are skillful in every kind of work.

¹⁶Of the gold, silver, bronze, and iron there is no limit. Arise and work, and may the LORD be with you.”

¹⁷David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon, saying,

¹⁸“Is the LORD your God not with you? And has He not given you rest on every side? For He has handed over to me the inhabitants of the land, and the land is subdued before the LORD and before His people.

¹⁹Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; then arise, and build the sanctuary of the LORD God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the LORD.”

¹Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.

²Then the king gave orders to call in the soothsayer priests, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.

³The king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.”

⁴Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic: “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”

⁵The king replied to the Chaldeans, “The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be turned into a rubbish heap.

⁶But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.”

⁷They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”

⁸The king replied, “I know for certain that you are trying to buy time, because you have perceived that the command from me is firm,

⁹that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, so that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation.”

¹⁰The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is no person on earth who could declare the matter to the king, because no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any soothsayer priest, sorcerer, or Chaldean.

¹¹Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”

¹²Because of this, the king became angry and extremely furious, and he gave orders to kill all the wise men of Babylon.

¹³So the decree was issued that the wise men be killed; and they looked for Daniel and his friends, to kill them.

¹⁴Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon;

¹⁵he said to Arioch, the king’s officer, “For what reason is the decree from the king so harsh?” Then Arioch informed Daniel of the matter.

¹⁶So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him a grace period, so that he might declare the interpretation to the king.

¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter,

¹⁸so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven;

²⁰Daniel said, “May the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.

²¹It is He who changes the times and the periods; He removes kings and appoints kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, And knowledge to people of understanding.

²²It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.

²³To You, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

²⁴Thereupon, Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to kill the wise men of Babylon; he went and said this to him: “Do not kill the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”

²⁵Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel into the king’s presence and spoke to him as follows: “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!”

²⁶The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?”

²⁷Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the secret about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, sorcerers, soothsayer priests, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king.

²⁸However, there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed.

²⁹As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will take place.

³⁰But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living person, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.

³¹“You, O king, were watching and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary radiance, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome.

³²The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,

³³its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

³⁴You continued watching until a stone was broken off without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.

³⁵Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed to pieces all at the same time, and they were like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the entire earth.

³⁶“This was the dream; and now we will tell its interpretation before the king.

³⁷You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the honor;

³⁸and wherever the sons of mankind live, or the animals of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has handed them over to you and has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.

³⁹And after you another kingdom will arise inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.

⁴⁰Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; just as iron smashes and crushes everything, so, like iron that crushes, it will smash and crush all these things.

⁴¹And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have within it some of the toughness of iron, since you saw the iron mixed with common clay.

⁴²And just as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong, and part of it will be fragile.

⁴³In that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in their descendants; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not combine with pottery.

⁴⁴And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.

⁴⁵Just as you saw that a stone was broken off from the mountain without hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is certain and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

⁴⁶Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid humble respect to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and incense.

⁴⁷The king responded to Daniel and said, “Your God truly is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.”

⁴⁸Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon, and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

⁴⁹And Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s court.

¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

²and kept back some of the proceeds for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.

³But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the proceeds of the land?

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.”

⁵And as he heard these words, Ananias collapsed and died; and great fear came over all who heard about it.

⁶The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

⁷Now an interval of about three hours elapsed, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for this price?” And she said, “Yes, for that price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

¹⁰And immediately she collapsed at his feet and died; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard about these things.

¹²At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all together in Solomon’s portico.

¹³But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem.

¹⁴And increasingly believers in the Lord, large numbers of men and women, were being added to their number,

¹⁵to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any of them.

¹⁶The people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together as well, bringing people who were sick or tormented with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

¹⁷But the high priest stood up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

¹⁸They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public prison.

¹⁹But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and leading them out, he said,

²⁰“Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple area the whole message of this Life.”

²¹Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple area about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest and his associates came, they called the Council together, that is, all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison for them to be brought.

²²But the officers who came did not find them in the prison; and they returned and reported,

²³saying, “We found the prison locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

²⁴Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this.

²⁵But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple area and teaching the people!”

²⁶Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).

²⁷When they had brought them, they had them stand before the Council. The high priest interrogated them,

²⁸saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this Man’s blood upon us.”

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

³⁰The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging Him on a cross.

³¹He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

³²And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

³³But when they heard this, they became infuriated and nearly decided to execute them.

³⁴But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.

³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful as to what you are about to do with these men.

³⁶For, some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

³⁷After this man, Judas of Galilee appeared in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he also perished, and all those who followed him were scattered.

³⁸And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, for if the source of this plan or movement is men, it will be overthrown;

³⁹but if the source is God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”

⁴⁰They followed his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.

⁴¹So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.

⁴²And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and preaching the good news of Jesus as the Christ.