Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,

²“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

³When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

⁴And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

⁵They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:

⁶‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR FROM YOU WILL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’ ”

⁷Then Herod secretly called for the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared.

⁸And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”

⁹After hearing the king, they went on their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on ahead of them until it came to a stop over the place where the Child was to be found.

¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

¹¹And after they came into the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²And after being warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

¹³Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”

¹⁴So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.

¹⁵He stayed there until the death of Herod; this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.”

¹⁶Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent men and killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.

¹⁷Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁸“A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE.”

¹⁹But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said,

²⁰“Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.”

²¹So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee,

²³and came and settled in a city called Nazareth. This happened so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

¹Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments which I am commanding you today.

²So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime

³and write on them all the words of this Law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.

⁴So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime.

⁵Moreover, you shall build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall not wield an iron tool on them.

⁶You shall build the altar of the LORD your God of uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the LORD your God;

⁷and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God.

⁸You shall write on the stones all the words of this Law very clearly.”

⁹Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent and listen, Israel! This day you have become a people for the LORD your God.

¹⁰So you shall obey the LORD your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today.”

¹¹Moses also commanded the people on that day, saying,

¹²“When you cross the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

¹³For the curse, these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

¹⁴The Levites shall then respond and say to all the people of Israel with a loud voice,

¹⁵‘Cursed is the person who makes a carved image or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall reply and say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁶‘Cursed is one who treats his father or mother contemptuously.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁷‘Cursed is one who displaces his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁸‘Cursed is one who misleads a person who is blind on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁹‘Cursed is one who distorts the justice due a stranger, an orphan, or a widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁰‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s garment.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²¹‘Cursed is one who has sexual intercourse with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²²‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²³‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁴‘Cursed is he who attacks his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁵‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to attack an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁶‘Cursed is anyone who does not fulfill the words of this Law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹Now concerning food sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes one conceited, but love edifies people.

²If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know;

³but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

⁴Therefore, concerning the eating of food sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.

⁵For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,

⁶yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

⁷However, not all people have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

⁸Now food will not bring us close to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat.

⁹But take care that this freedom of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

¹⁰For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will his conscience, if he is weak, not be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols?

¹¹For through your knowledge the one who is weak is ruined, the brother or sister for whose sake Christ died.

¹²And so, by sinning against the brothers and sisters and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

¹³Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to sin.

¹After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.

²And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, holding the seal of the living God; and he called out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,

³saying, “Do not harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”

⁴And I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

⁵from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,

⁶from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,

⁷from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,

⁸from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, and from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

⁹After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;

¹⁰and they *cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

¹¹And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

¹²saying, “Amen, blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

¹³Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?”

¹⁴I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.

¹⁶They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat;

¹⁷for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

¹“I am the rose of Sharon, The lily of the valleys.”

²“Like a lily among the thorns, So is my darling among the young women.”

³“Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, So is my beloved among the young men. In his shade I took great delight and sat down, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.

⁴He has brought me to his banquet hall, And his banner over me is love.

⁵Refresh me with raisin cakes, Sustain me with apples, Because I am lovesick.

⁶His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me.”

⁷“Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, That you will not disturb or awaken my love Until she pleases.”

⁸“Listen! My beloved! Behold, he is coming, Leaping on the mountains, Jumping on the hills!

⁹My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is peering through the lattice.

¹⁰“My beloved responded and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along.

¹¹For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone.

¹²The blossoms have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines, And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.

¹³The fig tree has ripened its fruit, And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along!’ ”

¹⁴“My dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the hiding place of the mountain pathway, Let me see how you look, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is pleasant, And you look delightful.”

¹⁵“Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, While our vineyards are in blossom.”

¹⁶“My beloved is mine, and I am his; He pastures his flock among the lilies.

¹⁷Until the cool of the day, when the shadows flee, Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.”

¹I will exalt You, LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

²LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.

³LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.

⁴Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And praise the mention of His holiness.

⁵For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

⁶Now as for me, I said in my prosperity, “I will never be moved.”

⁷LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong; You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

⁸To You, LORD, I called, And to the Lord I pleaded for compassion:

⁹“What gain is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?

¹⁰“Hear, LORD, and be gracious to me; LORD, be my helper.”

¹¹You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have untied my sackcloth and encircled me with joy,

¹²That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transcribed.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

³As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

⁴Take away the impurities from the silver, And there comes out a vessel for the smith;

⁵Take away the wicked before the king, And his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Do not boast in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the same place as great people;

⁷For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,” Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen.

⁸Do not go out hastily to argue your case; Otherwise, what will you do in the end, When your neighbor humiliates you?

⁹Argue your case with your neighbor, And do not reveal the secret of another,

¹⁰Or one who hears it will put you to shame, And the evil report about you will not pass away.

¹¹Like apples of gold in settings of silver, Is a word spoken at the proper time.

¹²Like an earring of gold and a jewelry piece of fine gold, Is a wise person who offers rebukes to a listening ear.

¹³Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest Is a faithful messenger to those who send him, For he refreshes the soul of his masters.

¹⁴Like clouds and wind without rain Is a person who boasts of his gifts falsely.

¹⁵Through patience a ruler may be persuaded, And a gentle tongue breaks bone.

¹⁶Have you found honey? Eat only what you need, So that you do not have it in excess and vomit it.

¹⁷Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor’s house, Or he will become weary of you and hate you.

¹⁸Like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow Is a person who gives false testimony against his neighbor.

¹⁹Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot Is confidence in a treacherous person in time of trouble.

²⁰Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda, Is one who sings songs to a troubled heart.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

²²For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the LORD will reward you.

²³The north wind brings rain, And a gossiping tongue brings an angry face.

²⁴It is better to live on a corner of the roof, Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

²⁵Like cold water to a weary soul, So is good news from a distant land.

²⁶Like a trampled spring and a polluted well, So is a righteous person who gives way before the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey, Nor is it glory to search out one’s own glory.

²⁸Like a city that is broken into and without walls So is a person who has no self-control over his spirit.

¹Then King David said to the entire assembly, “My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced, and the work is great; for the temple is not for mankind, but for the LORD God.

²Now with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance.

³In addition, in my delight in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already provided for the holy temple,

⁴namely, three thousand talents of gold, from the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings;

⁵gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver, that is, for all the work done by the craftsmen. Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the LORD?”

⁶Then the rulers of the fathers’ households, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and hundreds, with the supervisors of the king’s work, offered willingly;

⁷and for the service of the house of God they gave five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of brass, and a hundred thousand talents of iron.

⁸Whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, in care of Jehiel the Gershonite.

⁹Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the LORD wholeheartedly, and King David also rejoiced greatly.

¹⁰So David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever.

¹¹Yours, LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and on the earth; Yours is the dominion, LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.

¹²Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.

¹³Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.

¹⁴“But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given to You.

¹⁵For we are strangers before You, and temporary residents, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope.

¹⁶LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and everything is Yours.

¹⁷Since I know, my God, that You put the heart to the test and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You.

¹⁸LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts to You;

¹⁹and give my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies, and Your statutes, and to do them all, and to build the temple for which I have made provision.”

²⁰Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless the LORD your God.” And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed down and paid homage to the LORD and the king.

²¹On the next day they made sacrifices to the LORD and offered burnt offerings to the LORD, a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.

²²So they ate and drank that day before the LORD with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king a second time, and they anointed him as ruler for the LORD and Zadok as priest.

²³Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of his father David; and he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.

²⁴And all the officials, the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David pledged allegiance to King Solomon.

²⁵The LORD highly honored Solomon in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him royal majesty which had not been bestowed on any king before him in Israel.

²⁶Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.

²⁷The period which he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years and in Jerusalem thirty-three years.

²⁸Then he died at a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; and his son Solomon reigned in his place.

²⁹Now the acts of King David, from the first to the last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the chronicles of Gad the seer,

³⁰with all of his reign, his power, and the circumstances which came upon him, Israel, and all the kingdoms of the lands.

¹In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—

²in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

³So I gave my attention to the Lord God, to seek Him by prayer and pleading, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

⁴I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,

⁵we have sinned, we have done wrong, and acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.

⁶Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our leaders, our fathers, and all the people of the land.

⁷“Righteousness belongs to You, Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You.

⁸Open shame belongs to us, LORD, to our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.

⁹To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, because we have rebelled against Him;

¹⁰and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets.

¹¹Indeed, all Israel has violated Your Law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has gushed forth on us, along with the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him.

¹²So He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great disaster; for under the entire heaven there has not been done anything like what was done in Jerusalem.

¹³Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our wrongdoing and giving attention to Your truth.

¹⁴So the LORD has kept the disaster in store and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.

¹⁵“And now, Lord, our God, You who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked.

¹⁶Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the wrongdoings of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an object of taunting to all those around us.

¹⁷So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas, and for Your sake, Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.

¹⁸My God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our pleas before You based on any merits of our own, but based on Your great compassion.

¹⁹Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

²⁰While I was still speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God,

²¹while I was still speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.

²²And he instructed me and talked with me and said, “Daniel, I have come now to give you insight with understanding.

²³At the beginning of your pleas the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, because you are highly esteemed; so pay attention to the message and gain understanding of the vision.

²⁴“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

²⁵So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress.

²⁶Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.

²⁷And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate.”

¹Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm.

²And he had James the brother of John executed with a sword.

³When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well. (Now these were the days of Unleavened Bread.)

⁴When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, turning him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending only after the Passover to bring him before the people.

⁵So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made to God intensely by the church.

⁶On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.

⁷And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near Peter, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands.

⁸And the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and strap on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

⁹And he went out and continued to follow, and yet he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰Now when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

¹¹When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹²And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

¹³When he knocked at the door of the gate, a slave woman named Rhoda came to answer.

¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.

¹⁵They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.”

¹⁶But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.

¹⁷But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James and the brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.

¹⁹When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.

²⁰Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one mind they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was supported with grain from the king’s country.

²¹On an appointed day, after putting on his royal apparel, Herod took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.

²²The people repeatedly cried out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”

²³And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

²⁵And Barnabas and Saul returned when they had fulfilled their mission to Jerusalem, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.