Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb.

²And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it.

³And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.

⁴The guards shook from fear of him and became like dead men.

⁵And the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.

⁶He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.

⁷And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

⁸And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to report to His disciples.

⁹And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Rejoice!” And they came up and took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him.

¹⁰Then Jesus *said to them, “Do not be afraid; go, bring word to My brothers to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

¹¹Now while they were on their way, some of the men from the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened.

¹²And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,

¹³and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him while we were asleep.’

¹⁴And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and keep you out of trouble.”

¹⁵And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews and is to this day.

¹⁶But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated to them.

¹⁷And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.

¹⁸And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

¹⁹Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

²⁰teaching them tofollow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with youalways, to the end of the age.”

¹Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he stood up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

²And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we shall spend the night in the public square.”

³Yet he strongly urged them, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴Before they lay down, the men of the city—the men of Sodom—surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter;

⁵and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.”

⁶But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him,

⁷and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly.

⁸Now look, I have two daughters who have not had relations with any man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

⁹But they said, “Get out of the way!” They also said, “This one came in as a foreigner, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” So they pressed hard against Lot and moved forward to break the door.

¹⁰But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.

¹¹Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway.

¹²Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else do you have here? A son-in-law and your sons and daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place;

¹³for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the LORD is destroying the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be joking.

¹⁵When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”

¹⁶But he hesitated. So the men grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, because the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city.

¹⁷When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the surrounding area; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.”

¹⁸But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords!

¹⁹Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your compassion, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die;

²⁰now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) so that my life may be saved.”

²¹And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken.

²²Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the town was named Zoar.

²³The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

²⁴Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD out of heaven,

²⁵and He overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding area, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

²⁶But Lot’s wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD;

²⁸and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the surrounding area; and behold, he saw the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹So it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

³⁰Now Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and stayed in the mountains, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.

³¹Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to have relations with us according to the custom of all the earth.

³²Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and let’s sleep with him so that we may keep our family alive through our father.”

³³So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or got up.

³⁴On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept last night with my father; let’s make him drink wine tonight too, then you go in and sleep with him, so that we may keep our family alive through our father.”

³⁵So they had their father drink wine that night too, and the younger got up and slept with him; and he did not know when she lay down or got up.

³⁶And so both of the daughters of Lot conceived by their father.

³⁷The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

³⁸As for the younger, she also gave birth to a son, and named him Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.

¹It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

²Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

³And I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law.

⁴You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace.

⁵For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.

⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

⁷You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?

⁸This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.

⁹A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

¹⁰I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear the punishment, whoever he is.

¹¹But as for me, brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated.

¹²I wish that those who are troubling you would even emasculate themselves.

¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.

¹⁴For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

¹⁵But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

¹⁷For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.

¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

¹⁹Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior,

²⁰idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions,

²¹envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

²⁴Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well.

²⁶Let’s not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

¹It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.

²An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, skillful in teaching,

³not overindulging in wine, not a bully, but gentle, not contentious, free from the love of money.

⁴He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity

⁵(but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),

⁶and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into condemnation incurred by the devil.

⁷And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil.

⁸Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not insincere, not prone to drink much wine, not greedy for money,

⁹but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

¹⁰These men must also first be tested; then have them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.

¹¹Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.

¹²Deacons must be husbands of one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households.

¹³For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long;

¹⁵but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one should act in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

¹⁶Beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

²“Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me respond, Even because of my inward agitation.

³I listened to the reprimand which insults me, And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

⁴Do you know this from ancient times, From the establishment of mankind on earth,

⁵That the rejoicing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless momentary?

⁶Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, And his head touches the clouds,

⁷He perishes forever like his refuse; Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

⁸He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him; Like a vision of the night he is chased away.

⁹The eye which saw him sees him no longer, And his place no longer beholds him.

¹⁰His sons favor the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.

¹¹His bones are full of his youthful strength, But it lies down with him in the dust.

¹²“Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue,

¹³Though he desires it and will not let it go, But holds it in his mouth,

¹⁴Yet his food in his stomach is changed To the venom of cobras within him.

¹⁵He swallows riches, But will vomit them up; God will expel them from his belly.

¹⁶He sucks the poison of cobras; The viper’s tongue kills him.

¹⁷He does not look at the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and curds.

¹⁸He returns the product of his labor And cannot swallow it; As to the riches of his trading, He cannot even enjoy them.

¹⁹For he has oppressed and neglected the poor; He has seized a house which he has not built.

²⁰“Because he knew no quiet within him, He does not retain anything he desires.

²¹Nothing remains for him to devour, Therefore his prosperity does not endure.

²²In the fullness of his excess he will be cramped; The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.

²³When he fills his belly, God will send His fierce anger on him And rain it on him while he is eating.

²⁴He may flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.

²⁵It is drawn and comes out of his back, Even the flashing point from his gallbladder; Terrors come upon him,

²⁶Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures, And unfanned fire will devour him; It will consume the survivor in his tent.

²⁷The heavens will reveal his guilt, And the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸The increase of his house will disappear; His possessions will flow away on the day of His anger.

²⁹This is a wicked person’s portion from God, The inheritance decreed to him by God.”

¹Be gracious to me, God, for a man has trampled upon me; Fighting all day long he oppresses me.

²My enemies have trampled upon me all day long, For they are many who fight proudly against me.

³When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.

⁴In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?

⁵All day long they distort my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil.

⁶They attack, they lurk, They watch my steps, As they have waited to take my life.

⁷Because of their wickedness, will there be an escape for them? In anger make the peoples fall down, God!

⁸You have taken account of my miseries; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?

⁹Then my enemies will turn back on the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me.

¹⁰In God, whose word I praise, In the LORD, whose word I praise,

¹¹In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can mankind do to me?

¹²Your vows are binding upon me, God; I will render thanksgiving offerings to You.

¹³For You have saved my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living.

¹Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

²The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion; One who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

³Avoiding strife is an honor for a person, But any fool will quarrel.

⁴The lazy one does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

⁵A plan in the heart of a person is like deep water, But a person of understanding draws it out.

⁶Many a person proclaims his own loyalty, But who can find a trustworthy person?

⁷A righteous person who walks in his integrity— How blessed are his sons after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of justice Disperses all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin”?

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the LORD.

¹¹It is by his deeds that a boy distinguishes himself, If his conduct is pure and right.

¹²The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them.

¹³Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.

¹⁴“Bad, bad,” says the buyer, But when he goes his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold, and an abundance of jewels; But lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.

¹⁶Take his garment when he becomes guarantor for a stranger; And for foreigners, seize a pledge from him.

¹⁷Bread obtained by a lie is sweet to a person, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

¹⁸Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance.

¹⁹One who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with a gossip.

²⁰He who curses his father or his mother, His lamp will go out in time of darkness.

²¹An inheritance gained in a hurry at the beginning Will not be blessed in the end.

²²Do not say, “I will repay evil”; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.

²³Differing weights are an abomination to the LORD, And a false scale is not good.

²⁴A man’s steps are ordained by the LORD; How then can a person understand his way?

²⁵It is a trap for a person to say carelessly, “It is holy!” And after the vows to make inquiry.

²⁶A wise king scatters the wicked, And drives a threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of a person is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

²⁸Loyalty and truth watch over the king, And he upholds his throne by loyalty.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength, And the honor of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰Bruising wounds clean away evil, And blows cleanse the innermost parts.

¹Now all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

²He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king lay down with his fathers.

³Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem.

⁴He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, in accordance with everything that his father Amaziah had done.

⁵He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him successful.

⁶Now he went out and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the area of Ashdod and among the Philistines.

⁷God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites.

⁸The Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah, and his fame extended to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.

⁹Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress, and he fortified them.

¹⁰He also built towers in the wilderness and carved out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowland and in the plain. He also had plowmen and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields, for he loved the soil.

¹¹Moreover, Uzziah had an army ready for battle, which entered combat by divisions according to the number of their muster, recorded by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the official, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s officers.

¹²The total number of the heads of the households, of valiant warriors, was 2,600.

¹³Under their direction was an army of 307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against the enemy.

¹⁴Moreover, Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and slingstones.

¹⁵In Jerusalem he made machines of war invented by skillful workmen to be on the towers and the corners, for the purpose of shooting arrows and great stones. So his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.

¹⁶But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was untrue to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.

¹⁷Then Azariah the priest entered after him, and with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant men.

¹⁸They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been untrue and will have no honor from the LORD God.”

¹⁹But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense.

²⁰Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they quickly removed him from there, and he himself also hurried to get out because the LORD had stricken him.

²¹King Uzziah had leprosy to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, afflicted as he was with leprosy, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. And his son Jotham was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, the first to the last, the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, has written.

²³So Uzziah lay down with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the grave which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He had leprosy.” And his son Jotham became king in his place.

¹Woe to those who are carefree in Zion, And to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, The dignitaries of the foremost of nations, To whom the house of Israel comes.

²Go over to Calneh and look, And go from there to Hamath the great, Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms, Or is their territory greater than yours?

³Are you postponing the day of disaster, And would you bring near the seat of violence?

⁴Those who lie on beds of ivory, And lounge around on their couches, And eat lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the fattened cattle,

⁵Who improvise to the sound of the harp, And like David have composed songs for themselves,

⁶Who drink wine from sacred bowls While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils— Yet they have not grieved over the collapse of Joseph.

⁷Therefore, they will now go into exile at the head of the exiles, And the revelry of those who lounge around will come to an end.

⁸The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, the LORD God of armies has declared: “I loathe the arrogance of Jacob, And detest his citadels; Therefore I will give up the city and all it contains.”

⁹And it will be, if ten men are left in one house, they will die.

¹⁰Then one’s uncle, or his undertaker, will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will answer, “Keep quiet! For the name of the LORD is not to be mentioned.”

¹¹For behold, the LORD is going to command that the great house be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.

¹²Do horses run on rocks? Or does one plow them with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison, And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,

¹³You who rejoice in Lodebar, And say, “Have we not by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves?”

¹⁴“For behold, I am going to raise up a nation against you, House of Israel,” declares the LORD God of armies, “And they will torment you from the entrance of Hamath To the brook of the Arabah.”

¹Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort,

²a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.

³About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴And he looked at him intently and became terrified, and said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and charitable gifts have ascended as a memorial offering before God.

⁵Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;

⁶he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷When the angel who *spoke to him left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier from his personal attendants,

⁸and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.

¹⁰But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance;

¹¹and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,

¹²and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky.

¹³A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”

¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.”

¹⁵Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.

¹⁷Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to Simon’s house, and they appeared at the gate;

¹⁸and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.

¹⁹While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

²⁰But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”

²¹Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”

²²They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.”

²³So he invited them in and gave them lodging. Now on the next day he got ready and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

²⁴On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him.

²⁶But Peter helped him up, saying, “Stand up; I, too, am just a man.”

²⁷As he talked with him, he entered and *found many people assembled.

²⁸And he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner; and yet God has shown me that I am not to call any person unholy or unclean.

²⁹That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask, for what reason did you send for me?”

³⁰Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining clothing,

³¹and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your charitable gifts have been remembered before God.

³²Therefore send some men to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’

³³So I sent men to you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear everything that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

³⁴Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,

³⁵but in every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him.

³⁶The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)—

³⁷you yourselves know the thing that happened throughout Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.

³⁸You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

³⁹We are witnesses of all the things that He did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.

⁴⁰God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He be revealed,

⁴¹not to all the people, but to witnesses who had been chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

⁴²And He ordered us to preach to the people, and to testify solemnly that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.

⁴³All the prophets testify of Him, that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.

⁴⁵All the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles.

⁴⁶For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded,

⁴⁷“Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”

⁴⁸And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.