Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:

²“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,

³and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.

⁴Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’

⁵But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.

⁶And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.

⁷But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

⁸Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

⁹Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’

¹⁰So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.

¹²So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.

¹³Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.

¹⁶And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.

¹⁷Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?

¹⁹Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius.

²⁰And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

²¹They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

²²When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

²³The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him,

²⁴saying: “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.

²⁵Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.

²⁶Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.

²⁷Last of all the woman died also.

²⁸Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.”

²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.

³⁰For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.

³¹But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying,

³²‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

³³And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

³⁴But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

³⁵Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,

³⁶“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

³⁷Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

³⁸This is the first and great commandment.

³⁹And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

⁴¹While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,

⁴²saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.”

⁴³He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:

⁴⁴‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’?

⁴⁵If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”

⁴⁶And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

¹Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.

²Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

³And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

⁴to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

⁵Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents.

⁶Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.

⁷And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

⁸So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.

⁹Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

¹⁰And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.

¹¹Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.

¹²Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.

¹³But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.

¹⁴And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are— northward, southward, eastward, and westward;

¹⁵for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.

¹⁶And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.

¹⁷Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

¹⁸Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.

¹It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord:

²I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.

³And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—

⁴how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

⁵Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities.

⁶For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

⁷And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

⁸Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

⁹And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

¹⁰Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹¹I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing.

¹²Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

¹³For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong!

¹⁴Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

¹⁵And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.

¹⁶But be that as it may, I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning!

¹⁷Did I take advantage of you by any of those whom I sent to you?

¹⁸I urged Titus, and sent our brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?

¹⁹Again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God in Christ. But we do all things, beloved, for your edification.

²⁰For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults;

²¹lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.

¹“Man who is born of woman Is of few days and full of trouble.

²He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue.

³And do You open Your eyes on such a one, And bring me to judgment with Yourself?

⁴Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!

⁵Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

⁶Look away from him that he may rest, Till like a hired man he finishes his day.

⁷“For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And that its tender shoots will not cease.

⁸Though its root may grow old in the earth, And its stump may die in the ground,

⁹Yet at the scent of water it will bud And bring forth branches like a plant.

¹⁰But man dies and is laid away; Indeed he breathes his last And where is he?

¹¹As water disappears from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dries up,

¹²So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, They will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep.

¹³“Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

¹⁴If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes.

¹⁵You shall call, and I will answer You; You shall desire the work of Your hands.

¹⁶For now You number my steps, But do not watch over my sin.

¹⁷My transgression is sealed up in a bag, And You cover my iniquity.

¹⁸“But as a mountain falls and crumbles away, And as a rock is moved from its place;

¹⁹As water wears away stones, And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth; So You destroy the hope of man.

²⁰You prevail forever against him, and he passes on; You change his countenance and send him away.

²¹His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.

²²But his flesh will be in pain over it, And his soul will mourn over it.”

¹A Psalm of Asaph. [1] The Mighty One, God the LORD, Has spoken and called the earth From the rising of the sun to its going down.

²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.

³Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; A fire shall devour before Him, And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.

⁴He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that He may judge His people:

⁵“Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

⁶Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge. Selah

⁷“Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you; I am God, your God!

⁸I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices Or your burnt offerings, Which are continually before Me.

⁹I will not take a bull from your house, Nor goats out of your folds.

¹⁰For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.

¹²“If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.

¹³Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High.

¹⁵Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth,

¹⁷Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you?

¹⁸When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers.

¹⁹You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit.

²⁰You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son.

²¹These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.

²²“Now consider this, you who forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces, And there be none to deliver:

²³Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”

¹The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.

²He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, But he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.

³In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, But the lips of the wise will preserve them.

⁴Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.

⁵A faithful witness does not lie, But a false witness will utter lies.

⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom and does not find it, But knowledge is easy to him who understands.

⁷Go from the presence of a foolish man, When you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge.

⁸The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, But the folly of fools is deceit.

⁹Fools mock at sin, But among the upright there is favor.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked will be overthrown, But the tent of the upright will flourish.

¹²There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, And the end of mirth may be grief.

¹⁴The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied from above.

¹⁵The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his steps.

¹⁶A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident.

¹⁷A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, And a man of wicked intentions is hated.

¹⁸The simple inherit folly, But the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The evil will bow before the good, And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰The poor man is hated even by his own neighbor, But the rich has many friends.

²¹He who despises his neighbor sins; But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.

²²Do they not go astray who devise evil? But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good.

²³In all labor there is profit, But idle chatter leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their riches, But the foolishness of fools is folly.

²⁵A true witness delivers souls, But a deceitful witness speaks lies.

²⁶In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge.

²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.

²⁸In a multitude of people is a king’s honor, But in the lack of people is the downfall of a prince.

²⁹He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly.

³⁰A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.

³¹He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.

³²The wicked is banished in his wickedness, But the righteous has a refuge in his death.

³³Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, But what is in the heart of fools is made known.

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.

³⁵The king’s favor is toward a wise servant, But his wrath is against him who causes shame.

¹It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.

²Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi).

³And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

⁴So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

⁵Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

⁶and said: “O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?

⁷Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?

⁸And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying,

⁹‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’

¹⁰And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them—

¹¹here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.

¹²O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

¹³Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD.

¹⁴Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.

¹⁵And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

¹⁶Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel.

¹⁷You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.”

¹⁸And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.

¹⁹Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with voices loud and high.

²⁰So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”

²¹And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever.”

²²Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.

²³For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

²⁴So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.

²⁵When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much.

²⁶And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there they blessed the LORD; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day.

²⁷Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies.

²⁸So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the LORD.

²⁹And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel.

³⁰Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.

³¹So Jehoshaphat was king over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

³²And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the LORD.

³³Nevertheless the high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

³⁴Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, indeed they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

³⁵After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted very wickedly.

³⁶And he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion Geber.

³⁷But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works.” Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

¹“For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,

²I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.

³They have cast lots for My people, Have given a boy as payment for a harlot, And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

⁴“Indeed, what have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head;

⁵Because you have taken My silver and My gold, And have carried into your temples My prized possessions.

⁶Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem You have sold to the Greeks, That you may remove them far from their borders.

⁷“Behold, I will raise them Out of the place to which you have sold them, And will return your retaliation upon your own head.

⁸I will sell your sons and your daughters Into the hand of the people of Judah, And they will sell them to the Sabeans, To a people far off; For the LORD has spoken.”

⁹Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near, Let them come up.

¹⁰Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ ”

¹¹Assemble and come, all you nations, And gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD.

¹²“Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

¹³Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full, The vats overflow— For their wickedness is great.”

¹⁴Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

¹⁵The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars will diminish their brightness.

¹⁶The LORD also will roar from Zion, And utter His voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and earth will shake; But the LORD will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel.

¹⁷“So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, And no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”

¹⁸And it will come to pass in that day That the mountains shall drip with new wine, The hills shall flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; A fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD And water the Valley of Acacias.

¹⁹“Egypt shall be a desolation, And Edom a desolate wilderness, Because of violence against the people of Judah, For they have shed innocent blood in their land.

²⁰But Judah shall abide forever, And Jerusalem from generation to generation.

²¹For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted; For the LORD dwells in Zion.”

¹Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,

²being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

³And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

⁴However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

⁵And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes,

⁶as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

⁷And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:

⁹If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well,

¹⁰let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.

¹¹This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’

¹²Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

¹³Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

¹⁴And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

¹⁵But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,

¹⁶saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”

¹⁸So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.

²⁰For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

²¹So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.

²²For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

²³And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.

²⁴So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

²⁵who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things?

²⁶The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and against His Christ.’

²⁷“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together

²⁸to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

²⁹Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,

³⁰by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

³¹And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

³²Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

³³And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

³⁴Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,

³⁵and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

³⁶And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus,

³⁷having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.