Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,

²“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

³For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “THE VOICE OF ONE CALLING OUT IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!’ ”

⁴Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵At that time Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan;

⁶and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

⁸Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance;

⁹and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham.

¹⁰And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹²His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹³Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him.

¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?”

¹⁵But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *allowed Him.

¹⁶After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him,

¹⁷and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

¹“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, that the LORD your God will put you high above all the nations of the earth.

²And all these blessings will come to you and reach you if you obey the LORD your God:

³“Blessed will you be in the city, and blessed will you be in the country.

⁴“Blessed will be the children of your womb, the produce of your ground, and the offspring of your animals: the newborn of your herd and the young of your flock.

⁵“Blessed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.

⁶“Blessed will you be when you come in, and blessed will you be when you go out.

⁷“The LORD will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated by you; they will go out against you one way and will flee at your presence seven ways.

⁸The LORD will command the blessing for you in your barns and in everything that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

⁹The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.

¹⁰So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.

¹¹And the LORD will give you more than enough prosperity, in the children of your womb, in the offspring of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.

¹²The LORD will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless every work of your hand; and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.

¹³And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will only be above, and not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God which I am commanding you today, to follow them carefully,

¹⁴and do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or the left, to pursue other gods to serve them.

¹⁵“But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to be careful to follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

¹⁶“Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the country.

¹⁷“Cursed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.

¹⁸“Cursed will be the children of your womb, the produce of your ground, the newborn of your herd, and the offspring of your flock.

¹⁹“Cursed will you be when you come in, and cursed will you be when you go out.

²⁰“The LORD will send against you curses, panic, and rebuke, in everything you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have abandoned Me.

²¹The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has eliminated you from the land where you are entering to take possession of it.

²²The LORD will strike you with consumption, inflammation, fever, feverish heat, and with the sword, with blight, and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish.

²³The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.

²⁴The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

²⁵“The LORD will cause you to be defeated by your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways from their presence, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

²⁶Your dead bodies will serve as food for all birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

²⁷“The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, the festering rash, and with scabies, from which you cannot be healed.

²⁸The LORD will strike you with insanity, blindness, and with confusion of mind;

²⁹and you will be groping about at noon, just as a person who is blind gropes in the darkness, and you will not be successful in your ways; but you will only be oppressed and robbed all the time, with no one to save you.

³⁰You will betroth a woman, but another man will violate her; you will build a house, but you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you will not make use of its fruit.

³¹Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey will be snatched away from you, and will not be restored to you; your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you.

³²Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes look on and long for them constantly; but there will be nothing you can do.

³³A people whom you do not know will eat the produce of your ground and every product of your labor, and you will never be anything but oppressed and mistreated continually.

³⁴You will also be driven insane by the sight of what you see.

³⁵The LORD will strike you on the knees and thighs with severe boils from which you cannot be healed, and strike you from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.

³⁶The LORD will bring you and your king, whom you appoint over you, to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, made of wood and stone.

³⁷And you will become an object of horror, a song of mockery, and an object of taunting among all the peoples where the LORD drives you.

³⁸“You will bring out a great amount of seed to the field, but you will gather in little, because the locust will devour it.

³⁹You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor bring in the harvest, because the worm will eat it.

⁴⁰You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, because your olives will drop off prematurely.

⁴¹You will father sons and daughters but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.

⁴²The cricket will take possession of all your trees and the produce of your ground.

⁴³The stranger who is among you will rise above you higher and higher, and you will go down lower and lower.

⁴⁴He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he will be the head, and you will be the tail.

⁴⁵“So all these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.

⁴⁶And they will become a sign and a wonder against you and your descendants forever.

⁴⁷“Since you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a cheerful heart, in gratitude for the abundance of all things,

⁴⁸you will serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and devoid of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

⁴⁹“The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down; a nation whose language you will not understand,

⁵⁰a nation with a defiant attitude, who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young.

⁵¹Furthermore, it will eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed; a nation that will leave you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the newborn of your cattle or the young of your flock, until they have eliminated you.

⁵²And it will besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it will besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the LORD your God has given you.

⁵³Then you will eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, during the siege and the hardship by which your enemy will oppress you.

⁵⁴The man who is refined and very delicate among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife he cherishes, and toward the rest of his children who are left,

⁵⁵so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else left, during the siege and the hardship by which your enemy will oppress you in all your towns.

⁵⁶The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and tenderness, will be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter,

⁵⁷and toward her afterbirth that comes from between her legs, and toward her children to whom she gives birth, because she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the hardship with which your enemy will oppress you in your towns.

⁵⁸“If you are not careful to follow all the words of this Law that are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God,

⁵⁹then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.

⁶⁰And He will bring back on you every disease of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you.

⁶¹Also every sickness and every plague, which are not written in the book of this Law, the LORD will bring on you until you are destroyed.

⁶²Then you will be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the LORD your God.

⁶³And it will come about that, just as the LORD rejoiced over you to be good to you, and make you numerous, so will the LORD rejoice over you to wipe you out and destroy you; and you will be torn away from the land which you are entering to possess.

⁶⁴Furthermore, the LORD will scatter you among all the peoples, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you will serve other gods, made of wood and stone, which you and your fathers have not known.

⁶⁵Among those nations you will find no peace, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul.

⁶⁶So your lives will be hanging in doubt before you; and you will be terrified night and day, and have no assurance of your life.

⁶⁷In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And at evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the terror of your heart which you fear, and the sight of your eyes which you will see.

⁶⁸And the LORD will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I said to you, ‘You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”

¹Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

²If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³My defense to those who examine me is this:

⁴Do we not have a right to eat and drink?

⁵Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

⁶Or do only Barnabas and I have no right to refrain from working?

⁷Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not consume some of the milk of the flock?

⁸I am not just asserting these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does the Law not say these things as well?

⁹For it is written in the Law of Moses: “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE IT IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He?

¹⁰Or is He speaking entirely for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing in the crops.

¹¹If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

¹²If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

¹³Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar?

¹⁴So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.

¹⁵But I have used none of these things. And I have not written these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than that. No one shall make my boast an empty one!

¹⁶For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for I am under compulsion; for woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.

¹⁷For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a commission nonetheless.

¹⁸What, then, is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹For though I am free from all people, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may gain more.

²⁰To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the Law, I became as one under the Law, though not being under the Law myself, so that I might gain those who are under the Law;

²¹to those who are without the Law, I became as one without the Law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might gain those who are without the Law.

²²To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; I have become all things to all people, so that I may by all means save some.

²³I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

²⁴Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

²⁵Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

²⁶Therefore I run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as to avoid hitting air;

²⁷but I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

¹When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

²And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

³Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.

⁴And the smoke of the incense ascended from the angel’s hand with the prayers of the saints before God.

⁵Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and hurled it to the earth; and there were peals of thunder and sounds, and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

⁶And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.

⁷The first sounded, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

⁸The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood,

⁹and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters.

¹¹The star is named Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters because they were made bitter.

¹²The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.

¹³Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

¹“On my bed night after night I sought him Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him.

²‘I must arise now and go around in the city; In the streets and in the public squares I must seek him whom my soul loves.’ I sought him but did not find him.

³The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me, And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’

⁴Hardly had I left them When I found him whom my soul loves; I held on to him and would not let him go Until I had brought him to my mother’s house, And into the room of her who conceived me.”

⁵“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.”

⁶“What is this coming up from the wilderness Like columns of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all the scented powders of the merchant?

⁷Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon; Sixty warriors around it, Of the warriors of Israel.

⁸All of them are wielders of the sword, Expert in war; Each man has his sword at his side, Guarding against the terrors of the night.

⁹King Solomon has made for himself a sedan chair From the timber of Lebanon.

¹⁰He made its posts of silver, Its back of gold And its seat of purple fabric, With its interior lovingly inlaid By the daughters of Jerusalem.

¹¹Go out, you daughters of Zion, And look at King Solomon with the crown With which his mother has crowned him On the day of his wedding, And on the day of the joy of his heart.”

¹In You, LORD, I have taken refuge; Let me never be put to shame; In Your righteousness rescue me.

²Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly; Be a rock of strength for me, A stronghold to save me.

³For You are my rock and my fortress; For the sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me.

⁴You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength.

⁵Into Your hand I entrust my spirit; You have redeemed me, LORD, God of truth.

⁶I hate those who devote themselves to worthless idols, But I trust in the LORD.

⁷I will rejoice and be glad in Your faithfulness, Because You have seen my misery; You have known the troubles of my soul,

⁸And You have not handed me over to the enemy; You have set my feet in a large place.

⁹Be gracious to me, LORD, for I am in distress; My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body too.

¹⁰For my life is spent with sorrow And my years with sighing; My strength has failed because of my guilt, And my body has wasted away.

¹¹Because of all my adversaries, I have become a disgrace, Especially to my neighbors, And an object of dread to my acquaintances; Those who see me in the street flee from me.

¹²I am forgotten like a dead person, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.

¹³For I have heard the slander of many, Terror is on every side; While they took counsel together against me, They schemed to take away my life.

¹⁴But as for me, I trust in You, LORD, I say, “You are my God.”

¹⁵My times are in Your hand; Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.

¹⁶Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me in Your faithfulness.

¹⁷Let me not be put to shame, LORD, for I call upon You; Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.

¹⁸Let the lying lips be speechless, Which speak arrogantly against the righteous With pride and contempt.

¹⁹How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have performed for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of mankind!

²⁰You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of mankind; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.

²¹Blessed be the LORD, For He has shown His marvelous faithfulness to me in a besieged city.

²²As for me, I said in my alarm, “I am cut off from Your eyes”; Nevertheless You heard the sound of my pleadings When I called to You for help.

²³Love the LORD, all His godly ones! The LORD watches over the faithful But fully repays the one who acts arrogantly.

²⁴Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who wait for the LORD.

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

²Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, So a curse without cause does not come to rest.

³A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the back of fools.

⁴Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, Or you will also be like him.

⁵Answer a fool as his foolishness deserves, So that he will not be wise in his own eyes.

⁶One who sends a message by the hand of a fool Chops off his own feet and drinks violence.

⁷Like useless legs to one who cannot walk, So is a proverb in the mouths of fools.

⁸Like one who binds a stone in a sling, So is one who gives honor to a fool.

⁹Like a thorn that sticks in the hand of a heavy drinker, So is a proverb in the mouths of fools.

¹⁰Like an archer who wounds everyone, So is one who hires a fool or hires those who pass by.

¹¹Like a dog that returns to its vomit, So is a fool who repeats his foolishness.

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

¹³A lazy one says, “There is a lion on the road! A lion is in the public square!”

¹⁴As the door turns on its hinges, So does a lazy one on his bed.

¹⁵A lazy one buries his hand in the dish; He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.

¹⁶A lazy one is wiser in his own eyes Than seven people who can give a discreet answer.

¹⁷Like one who takes a dog by the ears, So is one who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him.

¹⁸Like a maniac who shoots Flaming arrows, arrows, and death,

¹⁹So is a person who deceives his neighbor, And says, “Was I not joking?”

²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out, And where there is no gossiper, quarreling quiets down.

²¹Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, So is a contentious person to kindle strife.

²²The words of a gossiper are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

²³Like an earthenware vessel overlaid with silver impurities Are burning lips and a wicked heart.

²⁴One who hates disguises it with his lips, But he harbors deceit in his heart.

²⁵When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, Because there are seven abominations in his heart.

²⁶Though his hatred covers itself with deception, His wickedness will be revealed in the assembly.

²⁷One who digs a pit will fall into it, And one who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it crushes, And a flattering mouth works ruin.

¹Now Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and exalted him greatly.

²And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands, of hundreds, and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households.

³Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place which was at Gibeon, because God’s tent of meeting was there which Moses, the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

⁴However, David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.

⁵Now the bronze altar which Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the tabernacle of the LORD, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out.

⁶And Solomon went up there before the LORD to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

⁷In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.”

⁸And Solomon said to God, “You have dealt with my father David with great faithfulness, and have made me king in his place.

⁹Now, LORD God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

¹⁰Now give me wisdom and knowledge, so that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?”

¹¹Then God said to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you did not ask for riches, wealth, or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor did you even ask for long life, but you asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge so that you may rule My people over whom I have made you king,

¹²wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. I will also give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed, nor will those who will come after you.”

¹³So Solomon went from the high place which was at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.

¹⁴Solomon amassed chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

¹⁵The king made silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamores in the lowland.

¹⁶Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s traders acquired them from Kue for a price.

¹⁷They imported chariots from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver apiece, horses for 150 apiece, and by the same means they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

¹In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar; and the message was true and it concerned great conflict, but he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision.

²In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks.

³I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed.

⁴On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris,

⁵I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man dressed in linen, whose waist had a belt of pure gold of Uphaz.

⁶His body also was like topaz, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.

⁷Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great fear fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves.

⁸So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my complexion turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength.

⁹But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.

¹⁰Then behold, a hand touched me and shook me on my hands and knees.

¹¹And he said to me, “Daniel, you who are treasured, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand at your place, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.

¹²Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.

¹³But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing in my way for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.

¹⁴Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, because the vision pertains to the days still future.”

¹⁵When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless.

¹⁶And behold, one who resembled a human was touching my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke and said to him who was standing before me, “My lord, due to the vision anguish has come upon me, and I have retained no strength.

¹⁷For how can such a servant of my lord talk with such as my lord? As for me, there remains just now no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me.”

¹⁸Then this one with human appearance touched me again and strengthened me.

¹⁹And he said, “You who are treasured, do not be afraid. Peace be to you; take courage and be courageous!” Now as soon as he spoke to me, I felt strengthened and said, “May my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”

²⁰Then he said, “Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am leaving, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come.

²¹However, I will tell you what is recorded in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince.

¹Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

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

³Then, when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

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

⁵When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.

⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

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

⁸But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him,

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

¹¹Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

¹²Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁴But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue officials sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

¹⁶Paul 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 an uplifted arm He led them out from it.

¹⁸For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.

¹⁹When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about 450 years.

²⁰After these things 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.

²²After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

²³From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

²⁴after John had proclaimed, before His coming, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

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

²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the declarations of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him.

²⁸And though they found no grounds for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed.

²⁹When they had carried out everything that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised Him from the dead;

³¹and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people.

³²And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,

³³that God has fulfilled this promise to those of us who are the descendants by raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE FATHERED YOU.’

³⁴As for the fact that He raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and faithful mercies of DAVID.’

³⁵Therefore, He also says in another Psalm: ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’

³⁶For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, and was buried among his fathers and underwent decay;

³⁷but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.

³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

³⁹and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

⁴⁰Therefore, see that the thing spoken of in the Prophets does not come upon you:

⁴¹‘LOOK, YOU SCOFFERS, AND BE ASTONISHED, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’ ”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people repeatedly begged to have these things spoken to them the next Sabbath.

⁴³Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The next Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.

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

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE APPOINTED YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’ ”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.

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

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