Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham :

²Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.

³Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar). Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram.

⁴Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon.

⁵Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse.

⁶Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).

⁷Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asa.

⁸Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was the father of Uzziah.

⁹Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.

¹⁰Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah.

¹¹Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).

¹²After the Babylonian exile: Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.

¹³Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim. Eliakim was the father of Azor.

¹⁴Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim. Akim was the father of Eliud.

¹⁵Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob.

¹⁶Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

¹⁷All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

¹⁸This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

²⁰As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

²¹And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

²²All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

²³“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.

²⁵But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

²The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

³Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

⁴And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.

⁵God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.

⁶Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.”

⁷And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens.

⁸God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.

⁹Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened.

¹⁰God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

¹¹Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation — every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened.

¹²The land produced vegetation — all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

¹³And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.

¹⁴Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years.

¹⁵Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened.

¹⁶God made two great lights — the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars.

¹⁷God set these lights in the sky to light the earth,

¹⁸to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

¹⁹And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.

²⁰Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.”

²¹So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird — each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

²²Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

²³And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.

²⁴Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind — livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened.

²⁵God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

²⁷So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

²⁸Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

²⁹Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.

³⁰And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground — everything that has life.” And that is what happened.

³¹Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

¹This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.

²God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.

³The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line,

⁴and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

⁵Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

⁶And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.

⁷I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

⁸Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world.

⁹God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son.

¹⁰One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you.

¹¹For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord.

¹²When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.

¹³I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until now. I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen among other Gentiles.

¹⁴For I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world, to the educated and uneducated alike.

¹⁵So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — the Jew first and also the Gentile.

¹⁷This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

¹⁸But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

¹⁹They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.

²⁰For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

²¹Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.

²²Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.

²³And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.

²⁵They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

²⁶That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.

²⁷And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

²⁸Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.

²⁹Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.

³⁰They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.

³¹They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.

³²They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

¹This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give you grace and peace.

²We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly.

³As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people.

⁵For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you.

⁶So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.

⁷As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece — throughout both Macedonia and Achaia.

⁸And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it,

⁹for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God.

¹⁰And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven — Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.

¹There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless — a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.

²He had seven sons and three daughters.

³He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area.

⁴Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them.

⁵When these celebrations ended — sometimes after several days — Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

⁶One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.

⁷“Where have you come from?” the LORD asked Satan. Satan answered the LORD, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

⁸Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless — a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”

⁹Satan replied to the LORD, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God.

¹⁰You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!

¹¹But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”

¹²“All right, you may test him,” the LORD said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the LORD’s presence.

¹³One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting at the oldest brother’s house,

¹⁴a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them,

¹⁵when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

¹⁶While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

¹⁷While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: “Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

¹⁸While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home.

¹⁹Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

²⁰Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship.

²¹He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!”

²²In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.

¹Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.

²But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night.

³They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

⁴But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.

⁵They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly.

⁶For the LORD watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

¹These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel.

²Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise.

³Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair.

⁴These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young.

⁵Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance

⁶by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

⁸My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

⁹What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck.

¹⁰My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them!

¹¹They may say, “Come and join us. Let’s hide and kill someone! Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent!

¹²Let’s swallow them alive, like the grave ; let’s swallow them whole, like those who go down to the pit of death.

¹³Think of the great things we’ll get! We’ll fill our houses with all the stuff we take.

¹⁴Come, throw in your lot with us; we’ll all share the loot.”

¹⁵My child, don’t go along with them! Stay far away from their paths.

¹⁶They rush to commit evil deeds. They hurry to commit murder.

¹⁷If a bird sees a trap being set, it knows to stay away.

¹⁸But these people set an ambush for themselves; they are trying to get themselves killed.

¹⁹Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money; it robs them of life.

²⁰Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square.

²¹She calls to the crowds along the main street, to those gathered in front of the city gate:

²²“How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge?

²³Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise.

²⁴“I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.

²⁵You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered.

²⁶So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you —

²⁷when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone, and anguish and distress overwhelm you.

²⁸“When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.

²⁹For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.

³⁰They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them.

³¹Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes.

³²For simpletons turn away from me — to death. Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.

³³But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.”

¹After the death of Moses the LORD’s servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said,

²“Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them.

³I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you —

⁴from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’

⁵No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

⁶“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.

⁷Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.

⁸Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

⁹This is my command — be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

¹⁰Joshua then commanded the officers of Israel,

¹¹“Go through the camp and tell the people to get their provisions ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you.”

¹²Then Joshua called together the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. He told them,

¹³“Remember what Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you: ‘The LORD your God is giving you a place of rest. He has given you this land.’

¹⁴Your wives, children, and livestock may remain here in the land Moses assigned to you on the east side of the Jordan River. But your strong warriors, fully armed, must lead the other tribes across the Jordan to help them conquer their territory. Stay with them

¹⁵until the LORD gives them rest, as he has given you rest, and until they, too, possess the land the LORD your God is giving them. Only then may you return and settle here on the east side of the Jordan River in the land that Moses, the servant of the LORD, assigned to you.”

¹⁶They answered Joshua, “We will do whatever you command us, and we will go wherever you send us.

¹⁷We will obey you just as we obeyed Moses. And may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses.

¹⁸Anyone who rebels against your orders and does not obey your words and everything you command will be put to death. So be strong and courageous!”

¹These are the visions that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. He saw these visions during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.

²Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth! This is what the LORD says: “The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me.

³Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care — but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize my care for them.”

⁴Oh, what a sinful nation they are — loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

⁵Why do you continue to invite punishment? Must you rebel forever? Your head is injured, and your heart is sick.

⁶You are battered from head to foot — covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds — without any soothing ointments or bandages.

⁷Your country lies in ruins, and your towns are burned. Foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes and destroy everything they see.

⁸Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned like a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard, like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest, like a helpless city under siege.

⁹If the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah.

¹⁰Listen to the LORD, you leaders of “Sodom.” Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.”

¹¹“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle. I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

¹²When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?

¹³Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting — they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings.

¹⁴I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals. They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!

¹⁵When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.

¹⁶Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways.

¹⁷Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

¹⁸“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.

¹⁹If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat.

²⁰But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

²¹See how Jerusalem, once so faithful, has become a prostitute. Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled with murderers.

²²Once like pure silver, you have become like worthless slag. Once so pure, you are now like watered-down wine.

²³Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows.

²⁴Therefore, the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says, “I will take revenge on my enemies and pay back my foes!

²⁵I will raise my fist against you. I will melt you down and skim off your slag. I will remove all your impurities.

²⁶Then I will give you good judges again and wise counselors like you used to have. Then Jerusalem will again be called the Home of Justice and the Faithful City.”

²⁷Zion will be restored by justice; those who repent will be revived by righteousness.

²⁸But rebels and sinners will be completely destroyed, and those who desert the LORD will be consumed.

²⁹You will be ashamed of your idol worship in groves of sacred oaks. You will blush because you worshiped in gardens dedicated to idols.

³⁰You will be like a great tree with withered leaves, like a garden without water.

³¹The strongest among you will disappear like straw; their evil deeds will be the spark that sets it on fire. They and their evil works will burn up together, and no one will be able to put out the fire.

¹In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach

²until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit.

³During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

⁴Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.

⁵John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

⁶So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

⁷He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere — in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.

¹⁰As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them.

¹¹“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

¹²Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile.

¹³When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying. Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the zealot), and Judas (son of James).

¹⁴They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.

¹⁵During this time, when about 120 believers were together in one place, Peter stood up and addressed them.

¹⁶“Brothers,” he said, “the Scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus. This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David.

¹⁷Judas was one of us and shared in the ministry with us.”

¹⁸(Judas had bought a field with the money he received for his treachery. Falling headfirst there, his body split open, spilling out all his intestines.

¹⁹The news of his death spread to all the people of Jerusalem, and they gave the place the Aramaic name Akeldama, which means “Field of Blood.”)

²⁰Peter continued, “This was written in the book of Psalms, where it says, ‘Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it.’ It also says, ‘Let someone else take his position.’

²¹“So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus —

²²from the time he was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection.”

²³So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.

²⁴Then they all prayed, “O Lord, you know every heart. Show us which of these men you have chosen

²⁵as an apostle to replace Judas in this ministry, for he has deserted us and gone where he belongs.”

²⁶Then they cast lots, and Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other eleven.