Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When daybreak came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put him to death.

²After tying him up, they led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

³Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, was full of remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.

⁴“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What’s that to us?” they said. “See to it yourself!”

⁵So he threw the silver into the temple and departed. Then he went and hanged himself.

⁶The chief priests took the silver and said, “It’s not permitted to put it into the temple treasury, since it is blood money.”

⁷They conferred together and bought the potter’s field with it as a burial place for foreigners.

⁸Therefore that field has been called “Blood Field” to this day.

⁹Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him whose price was set by the Israelites,

¹⁰and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.

¹¹Now Jesus stood before the governor. “Are you the King of the Jews?” the governor asked him. Jesus answered, “You say so.”

¹²While he was being accused by the chief priests and elders, he didn’t answer.

¹³Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how much they are testifying against you?”

¹⁴But he didn’t answer him on even one charge, so that the governor was quite amazed.

¹⁵At the festival the governor’s custom was to release to the crowd a prisoner they wanted.

¹⁶At that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

¹⁷So when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Who is it you want me to release for you — Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”

¹⁸For he knew it was because of envy that they had handed him over.

¹⁹While he was sitting on the judge’s bench, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for today I’ve suffered terribly in a dream because of him.”

²⁰The chief priests and the elders, however, persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to execute Jesus.

²¹The governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” “Barabbas!” they answered.

²²Pilate asked them, “What should I do then with Jesus, who is called Christ?” They all answered, “Crucify him!”

²³Then he said, “Why? What has he done wrong?” But they kept shouting all the more, “Crucify him!”

²⁴When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that a riot was starting instead, he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. See to it yourselves!”

²⁵All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

²⁶Then he released Barabbas to them and, after having Jesus flogged, handed him over to be crucified.

²⁷Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s residence and gathered the whole company around him.

²⁸They stripped him and dressed him in a scarlet robe.

²⁹They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and placed a staff in his right hand. And they knelt down before him and mocked him: “Hail, King of the Jews!”

³⁰Then they spat on him, took the staff, and kept hitting him on the head.

³¹After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.

³²As they were going out, they found a Cyrenian man named Simon. They forced him to carry his cross.

³³When they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull),

³⁴they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink. But when he tasted it, he refused to drink it.

³⁵After crucifying him, they divided his clothes by casting lots.

³⁶Then they sat down and were guarding him there.

³⁷Above his head they put up the charge against him in writing: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

³⁸Then two criminals were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.

³⁹Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads

⁴⁰and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

⁴¹In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him and said,

⁴²“He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

⁴³He trusts in God; let God rescue him now — if he takes pleasure in him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

⁴⁴In the same way even the criminals who were crucified with him taunted him.

⁴⁵From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land.

⁴⁶About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

⁴⁷When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling for Elijah.”

⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and offered him a drink.

⁴⁹But the rest said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰But Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit.

⁵¹Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.

⁵²The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

⁵³And they came out of the tombs after his resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.

⁵⁴When the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him were there, watching from a distance.

⁵⁶Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

⁵⁷When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.

⁵⁸He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. Then Pilate ordered that it be released.

⁵⁹So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen,

⁶⁰and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb.

⁶¹Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were seated there, facing the tomb.

⁶²The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate

⁶³and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’

⁶⁴So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵“You have a guard of soldiers,” Pilate told them. “Go and make it as secure as you know how.”

⁶⁶They went and secured the tomb by setting a seal on the stone and placing the guard.

¹The LORD appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day.

²He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, bowed to the ground,

³and said, “My lord, if I have found favor with you, please do not go on past your servant.

⁴Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

⁵I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.” “Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”

⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread.”

⁷Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it.

⁸Then Abraham took curds and milk, as well as the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served them as they ate under the tree.

⁹“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he answered.

¹⁰The LORD said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

¹¹Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

¹²So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?”

¹³But the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’

¹⁴Is anything impossible for the LORD? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”

¹⁵Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”

¹⁶The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off.

¹⁷Then the LORD said, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham?

¹⁸Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.

¹⁹For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just. This is how the LORD will fulfill to Abraham what he promised him.”

²⁰Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious.

²¹I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to me. If not, I will find out.”

²²The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the LORD.

²³Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people who are in it?

²⁵You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of the whole earth do what is just?”

²⁶The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

²⁷Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord — even though I am dust and ashes —

²⁸suppose the fifty righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

²⁹Then he spoke to him again, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it on account of forty.”

³⁰Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord, suppose twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of twenty.”

³²Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose ten are found there?” He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of ten.”

³³When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

¹Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.

²Instead, he is under guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.

³In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elements of the world.

⁴When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

⁵to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

⁶And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”

⁷So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.

⁸But in the past, since you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods.

⁹But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elements? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?

¹⁰You are observing special days, months, seasons, and years.

¹¹I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.

¹²I beg you, brothers and sisters: Become like me, for I also became like you. You have not wronged me;

¹³you know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a weakness of the flesh.

¹⁴You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you. On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself.

¹⁵Where, then, is your blessing? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

¹⁶So then, have I become your enemy because I told you the truth?

¹⁷They court you eagerly, but not for good. They want to exclude you from me, so that you would pursue them.

¹⁸But it is always good to be pursued in a good manner — and not just when I am with you.

¹⁹My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you.

²⁰I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don’t know what to do about you.

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law?

²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.

²³But the one by the slave was born as a result of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born through promise.

²⁴These things are being taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery — this is Hagar.

²⁵Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

²⁶But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

²⁷For it is written, Rejoice, childless woman, unable to give birth. Burst into song and shout, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate woman will be many, more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.

²⁸Now you too, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.

²⁹But just as then the child born as a result of the flesh persecuted the one born as a result of the Spirit, so also now.

³⁰But what does the Scripture say? “Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman.”

³¹Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave but of the free woman.

¹First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone,

²for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

³This is good, and it pleases God our Savior,

⁴who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

⁵For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus,

⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.

⁷For this I was appointed a herald, an apostle (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.

⁹Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense, not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel,

¹⁰but with good works, as is proper for women who profess to worship God.

¹¹A woman is to learn quietly with full submission.

¹²I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; instead, she is to remain quiet.

¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

¹⁴And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed.

¹⁵But she will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with good sense.

¹Then Job answered:

²How long will you torment me and crush me with words?

³You have humiliated me ten times now, and you mistreat me without shame.

⁴Even if it is true that I have sinned, my mistake concerns only me.

⁵If you really want to appear superior to me and would use my disgrace as evidence against me,

⁶then understand that it is God who has wronged me and caught me in his net.

⁷I cry out: “Violence!” but get no response; I call for help, but there is no justice.

⁸He has blocked my way so that I cannot pass through; he has veiled my paths with darkness.

⁹He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.

¹⁰He tears me down on every side so that I am ruined. He uproots my hope like a tree.

¹¹His anger burns against me, and he regards me as one of his enemies.

¹²His troops advance together; they construct a ramp against me and camp around my tent.

¹³He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me.

¹⁴My relatives stop coming by, and my close friends have forgotten me.

¹⁵My house guests and female servants regard me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.

¹⁶I call for my servant, but he does not answer, even if I beg him with my own mouth.

¹⁷My breath is offensive to my wife, and my own family finds me repulsive.

¹⁸Even young boys scorn me. When I stand up, they mock me.

¹⁹All of my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.

²⁰My skin and my flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.

²¹Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for God’s hand has struck me.

²²Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?

²³I wish that my words were written down, that they were recorded on a scroll

²⁴or were inscribed in stone forever by an iron stylus and lead!

²⁵But I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the end he will stand on the dust.

²⁶Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh.

²⁷I will see him myself; my eyes will look at him, and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me.

²⁸If you say, “How will we pursue him, since the root of the problem lies with him?”

²⁹then be afraid of the sword, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.

¹For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A of David. [1] God, listen to my prayer and do not hide from my plea for help.

²Pay attention to me and answer me. I am restless and in turmoil with my complaint,

³because of the enemy’s words, because of the pressure of the wicked. For they bring down disaster on me and harass me in anger.

⁴My heart shudders within me; terrors of death sweep over me.

⁵Fear and trembling grip me; horror has overwhelmed me.

⁶I said, “If only I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest.

⁷How far away I would flee; I would stay in the wilderness. Selah

⁸I would hurry to my shelter from the raging wind and the storm.”

⁹Lord, confuse and confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city;

¹⁰day and night they make the rounds on its walls. Crime and trouble are within it;

¹¹destruction is inside it; oppression and deceit never leave its marketplace.

¹²Now it is not an enemy who insults me — otherwise I could bear it; it is not a foe who rises up against me — otherwise I could hide from him.

¹³But it is you, a man who is my peer, my companion and good friend!

¹⁴We used to have close fellowship; we walked with the crowd into the house of God.

¹⁵Let death take them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, because evil is in their homes and within them.

¹⁶But I call to God, and the LORD will save me.

¹⁷I complain and groan morning, noon, and night, and he hears my voice.

¹⁸Though many are against me, he will redeem me from my battle unharmed.

¹⁹God, the one enthroned from long ago, will hear and will humiliate them Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.

²⁰My friend acts violently against those at peace with him; he violates his covenant.

²¹His buttery words are smooth, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords.

²²Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

²³God, you will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and treachery will not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.

¹Better a poor person who lives with integrity than someone who has deceitful lips and is a fool.

²Even zeal is not good without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily sins.

³A person’s own foolishness leads him astray, yet his heart rages against the LORD.

⁴Wealth attracts many friends, but a poor person is separated from his friend.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.

⁶Many seek a ruler’s favor, and everyone is a friend of one who gives gifts.

⁷All the brothers of a poor person hate him; how much more do his friends keep their distance from him! He may pursue them with words, but they are not there.

⁸The one who acquires good sense loves himself; one who safeguards understanding finds success.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies perishes.

¹⁰Luxury is not appropriate for a fool —  how much less for a slave to rule over princes!

¹¹A person’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.

¹²A king’s rage is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a wife’s nagging is an endless dripping.

¹⁴A house and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁵Laziness induces deep sleep, and a lazy person will go hungry.

¹⁶The one who keeps commands preserves himself; one who disregards his ways will die.

¹⁷Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and he will give a reward to the lender.

¹⁸Discipline your son while there is hope; don’t set your heart on being the cause of his death.

¹⁹A person with intense anger bears the penalty; if you rescue him, you’ll have to do it again.

²⁰Listen to counsel and receive instruction so that you may be wise later in life.

²¹Many plans are in a person’s heart, but the LORD’s decree will prevail.

²²What is desirable in a person is his fidelity; better to be a poor person than a liar.

²³The fear of the LORD leads to life; one will sleep at night without danger.

²⁴The slacker buries his hand in the bowl; he doesn’t even bring it back to his mouth!

²⁵Strike a mocker, and the inexperienced learn a lesson; rebuke the discerning, and he gains knowledge.

²⁶The one who plunders his father and evicts his mother is a disgraceful and shameful son.

²⁷If you stop listening to correction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸A worthless witness mocks justice, and a wicked mouth swallows iniquity.

²⁹Judgments are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.

¹Amaziah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem.

²He did what was right in the LORD’s sight but not wholeheartedly.

³As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, he executed his servants who had killed his father the king.

⁴However, he did not put their children to death, because — as it is written in the Law, in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded — “Fathers are not to die because of children, and children are not to die because of fathers, but each one will die for his own sin.”

⁵Then Amaziah gathered Judah and assembled them according to ancestral families, according to commanders of thousands, and according to commanders of hundreds. He numbered those twenty years old or more for all Judah and Benjamin. He found there to be three hundred thousand fit young men who could serve in the army, bearing spear and shield.

⁶Then for 7,500 pounds of silver he hired one hundred thousand valiant warriors from Israel.

⁷However, a man of God came to him and said, “King, do not let Israel’s army go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel — all the Ephraimites.

⁸But if you go with them, do it! Be strong for battle! But God will make you stumble before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to make one stumble.”

⁹Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “What should I do about the 7,500 pounds of silver I gave to Israel’s division?” The man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”

¹⁰So Amaziah released the division that came to him from Ephraim to go home. But they got very angry with Judah and returned home in a fierce rage.

¹¹Amaziah strengthened his position and led his people to the Salt Valley. He struck down ten thousand Seirites,

¹²and the Judahites captured ten thousand alive. They took them to the top of a cliff where they threw them off, and all of them were dashed to pieces.

¹³As for the men of the division that Amaziah sent back so they would not go with him into battle, they raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, struck down three thousand of their people, and took a great deal of plunder.

¹⁴After Amaziah came from the attack on the Edomites, he brought the gods of the Seirites and set them up as his gods. He worshiped before them and burned incense to them.

¹⁵So the LORD’s anger was against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why have you sought a people’s gods that could not rescue their own people from you?”

¹⁶While he was still speaking to him, the king asked, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Stop, why should you lose your life?” So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God intends to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my advice.”

¹⁷King Amaziah of Judah took counsel and sent word to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, and challenged him: “Come, let’s meet face to face.”

¹⁸King Jehoash of Israel sent word to King Amaziah of Judah, saying, “The thistle in Lebanon sent a message to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle.

¹⁹You have said, ‘Look, I have defeated Edom,’ and you have become overconfident that you will get glory. Now stay at home. Why stir up such trouble so that you fall and Judah with you?”

²⁰But Amaziah would not listen, for this turn of events was from God in order to hand them over to their enemies because they went after the gods of Edom.

²¹So King Jehoash of Israel advanced. He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face at Beth-shemesh that belonged to Judah.

²²Judah was routed before Israel, and each man fled to his own tent.

²³King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s King Amaziah son of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh. Then Jehoash took him to Jerusalem and broke down two hundred yards of Jerusalem’s wall from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.

²⁴He took all the gold, silver, all the utensils that were found with Obed-edom in God’s temple, the treasures of the king’s palace, and the hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

²⁵Judah’s King Amaziah son of Joash lived fifteen years after the death of Israel’s King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz.

²⁶The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

²⁷From the time Amaziah turned from following the LORD, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. However, men were sent after him to Lachish, and they put him to death there.

²⁸They carried him back on horses and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

¹Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament, house of Israel:

²She has fallen; Virgin Israel will never rise again. She lies abandoned on her land with no one to raise her up.

³For the Lord GOD says: The city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left in the house of Israel.

⁴For the LORD says to the house of Israel: Seek me and live!

⁵Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal or journey to Beer-sheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

⁶Seek the LORD and live, or he will spread like fire throughout the house of Joseph; it will consume everything with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.

⁷Those who turn justice into wormwood also throw righteousness to the ground.

⁸The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the water of the sea and pours it out over the surface of the earth  — the LORD is his name.

⁹He brings destruction on the strong, and it falls on the fortress.

¹⁰They hate the one who convicts the guilty at the city gate, and they despise the one who speaks with integrity.

¹¹Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact a grain tax from him, you will never live in the houses of cut stone you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.

¹²For I know your crimes are many and your sins innumerable. They oppress the righteous, take a bribe, and deprive the poor of justice at the city gates.

¹³Therefore, those who have insight will keep silent at such a time, for the days are evil.

¹⁴Pursue good and not evil so that you may live, and the LORD, the God of Armies, will be with you as you have claimed.

¹⁵Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the city gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies, the Lord, says: There will be wailing in all the public squares; they will cry out in anguish in all the streets. The farmer will be called on to mourn, and professional mourners to wail.

¹⁷There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass among you. The LORD has spoken.

¹⁸Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! What will the day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.

¹⁹It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him.

²⁰Won’t the day of the LORD be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it?

²¹I hate, I despise, your feasts! I can’t stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.

²²Even if you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.

²³Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

²⁴But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.

²⁵“House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to me during the forty years in the wilderness?

²⁶But you have taken up Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, images you have made for yourselves.

²⁷So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus.” The LORD, the God of Armies, is his name. He has spoken.

¹Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest

²and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

³As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.

⁴Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

⁵“Who are you, Lord?” Saul said. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied.

⁶“But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one.

⁸Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.

⁹He was unable to see for three days and did not eat or drink.

¹⁰There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” “Here I am, Lord,” he replied.

¹¹“Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there.

¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.”

¹³“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.

¹⁴And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites.

¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

¹⁷Ananias went and entered the house. He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

¹⁹And after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some time.

²⁰Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.”

²¹All who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn’t this the man in Jerusalem who was causing havoc for those who called on this name and came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

²²But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

²³After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him,

²⁴but Saul learned of their plot. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him,

²⁵but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the wall.

²⁶When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple.

²⁷Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.

²⁸Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him.

³⁰When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

³²As Peter was traveling from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda.

³³There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years.

³⁴Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed,” and immediately he got up.

³⁵So all who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

³⁶In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which is translated Dorcas). She was always doing good works and acts of charity.

³⁷About that time she became sick and died. After washing her, they placed her in a room upstairs.

³⁸Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there and sent two men to him who urged him, “Don’t delay in coming with us.”

³⁹Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they led him to the room upstairs. And all the widows approached him, weeping and showing him the robes and clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with them.

⁴⁰Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down, prayed, and turning toward the body said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.

⁴¹He gave her his hand and helped her stand up. He called the saints and widows and presented her alive.

⁴²This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

⁴³Peter stayed for some time in Joppa with Simon, a leather tanner.