Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.

²Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.

³Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

⁴Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

⁵He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

⁶Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

⁷Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.

⁸When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.

⁹Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him.

¹⁰For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him.

¹¹Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”

¹²But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.

¹³Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.

¹⁴He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach

¹⁵and to have authority to drive out demons.

¹⁶These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter),

¹⁷James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”),

¹⁸Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot

¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

²⁰Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.

²¹When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

²²And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

²³So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?

²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

²⁵If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

²⁶And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.

²⁷In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.

²⁸Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter,

²⁹but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

³⁰He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

³¹Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.

³²A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

³³“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

³⁴Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

³⁵Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

¹Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

²Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

³Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

⁵He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

⁶Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,

⁷Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

⁹When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

¹⁰Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

¹²“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

¹³Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

¹⁴So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

¹⁵The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time

¹⁶and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

¹⁷I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,

¹⁸and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

¹⁹Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

²⁰Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor:

²¹Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram),

²²Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.”

²³Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor.

²⁴His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.

¹As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.

¹⁰For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

¹¹Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—

¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,

¹⁵by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,

¹⁶and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

¹⁷He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

¹⁸For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

¹All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered.

²Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves. These are the things you are to teach and insist on.

³If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching,

⁴they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions

⁵and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

⁶But godliness with contentment is great gain.

⁷For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

⁸But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

⁹Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

¹¹But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

¹³In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you

¹⁴to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁵which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

¹⁶who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

¹⁷Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

¹⁸Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

¹⁹In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

²⁰Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge,

²¹which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.

¹Then Job replied:

²“Even today my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.

³If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!

⁴I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say to me.

⁶Would he vigorously oppose me? No, he would not press charges against me.

⁷There the upright can establish their innocence before him, and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.

⁸“But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him.

⁹When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

¹⁰But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

¹¹My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.

¹²I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

¹³“But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases.

¹⁴He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store.

¹⁵That is why I am terrified before him; when I think of all this, I fear him.

¹⁶God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.

¹⁷Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.

¹For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam. When Saul had sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, O God; be my fortress against those who are attacking me.

²Deliver me from evildoers and save me from those who are after my blood.

³See how they lie in wait for me! Fierce men conspire against me for no offense or sin of mine, LORD.

⁴I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Arise to help me; look on my plight!

⁵You, LORD God Almighty, you who are the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to wicked traitors.

⁶They return at evening, snarling like dogs, and prowl about the city.

⁷See what they spew from their mouths— the words from their lips are sharp as swords, and they think, “Who can hear us?”

⁸But you laugh at them, LORD; you scoff at all those nations.

⁹You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress,

¹⁰my God on whom I can rely. God will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me.

¹¹But do not kill them, Lord our shield, or my people will forget. In your might uproot them and bring them down.

¹²For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride. For the curses and lies they utter,

¹³consume them in your wrath, consume them till they are no more. Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob.

¹⁴They return at evening, snarling like dogs, and prowl about the city.

¹⁵They wander about for food and howl if not satisfied.

¹⁶But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

¹⁷You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.

¹When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you,

²and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.

³Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.

⁴Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.

⁵Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

⁶Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies;

⁷for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

⁸You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.

⁹Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words.

¹⁰Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die.

¹⁴Punish them with the rod and save them from death.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed;

¹⁶my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.

¹⁸There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path:

²⁰Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,

²¹for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

²²Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy the truth and do not sell it— wisdom, instruction and insight as well.

²⁴The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.

²⁵May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!

²⁶My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways,

²⁷for an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well.

²⁸Like a bandit she lies in wait and multiplies the unfaithful among men.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

³⁰Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.

³¹Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!

³²In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things.

³⁴You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging.

³⁵“They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?”

¹Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.

²He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.

³In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them.

⁴He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side

⁵and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.

⁶Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the LORD our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the LORD’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him.

⁷They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel.

⁸Therefore, the anger of the LORD has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.

⁹This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity.

¹⁰Now I intend to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us.

¹¹My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”

¹²Then these Levites set to work: from the Kohathites, Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah; from the Merarites, Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel; from the Gershonites, Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;

¹³from the descendants of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; from the descendants of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

¹⁴from the descendants of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; from the descendants of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵When they had assembled their fellow Levites and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the temple of the LORD, as the king had ordered, following the word of the LORD.

¹⁶The priests went into the sanctuary of the LORD to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the LORD’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the LORD. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.

¹⁷They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: “We have purified the entire temple of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles.

¹⁹We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the LORD’s altar.”

²⁰Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the LORD.

²¹They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the LORD.

²²So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it against the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and splashed their blood against the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed their blood against the altar.

²³The goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them.

²⁴The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

²⁵He stationed the Levites in the temple of the LORD with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the LORD through his prophets.

²⁶So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.

²⁷Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the LORD began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel.

²⁸The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.

²⁹When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped.

³⁰King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.

³¹Then Hezekiah said, “You have now dedicated yourselves to the LORD. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of the LORD.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.

³²The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs—all of them for burnt offerings to the LORD.

³³The animals consecrated as sacrifices amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats.

³⁴The priests, however, were too few to skin all the burnt offerings; so their relatives the Levites helped them until the task was finished and until other priests had been consecrated, for the Levites had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been.

³⁵There were burnt offerings in abundance, together with the fat of the fellowship offerings and the drink offerings that accompanied the burnt offerings. So the service of the temple of the LORD was reestablished.

³⁶Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.

¹I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape.

²Though they dig down to the depths below, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens above, from there I will bring them down.

³Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.

⁴Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them. “I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good.”

⁵The Lord, the LORD Almighty— he touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it mourn; the whole land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt;

⁶he builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth; he calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the LORD is his name.

⁷“Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?

⁸“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob,” declares the LORD.

⁹“For I will give the command, and I will shake the people of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground.

¹⁰All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’

¹¹“In that day “I will restore David’s fallen shelter— I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins— and will rebuild it as it used to be,

¹²so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the LORD, who will do these things.

¹³“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills,

¹⁴and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. “They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.

¹⁵I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God.

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

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

³So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

⁴The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

⁵When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

⁶They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

⁷who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

⁹Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,

¹⁰“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?

¹¹Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

¹²When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

¹³From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

¹⁴From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”

¹⁶Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!

¹⁷The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country;

¹⁸for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness;

¹⁹and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance.

²⁰All this took about 450 years. “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.

²¹Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.

²²After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

²³“From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.

²⁴Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.

²⁵As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶“Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.

²⁷The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

²⁸Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.

²⁹When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised him from the dead,

³¹and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.

³²“We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors

³³he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “ ‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’

³⁴God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, “ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’

³⁵So it is also stated elsewhere: “ ‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’

³⁶“Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.

³⁷But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

³⁸“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

³⁹Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

⁴⁰Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:

⁴¹“ ‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath.

⁴³When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

⁴⁹The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.

⁵¹So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium.

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