Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.

²So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.

³And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.”

⁴Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent.

⁵And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.

⁶Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

⁷But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea

⁸and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.

⁹So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.

¹⁰For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.

¹¹And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.”

¹²But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.

¹³And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him.

¹⁴Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,

¹⁵and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:

¹⁶Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter;

¹⁷James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;

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

¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

²⁰Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

²¹But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”

²²And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

²³So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan?

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

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

²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.

²⁷No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

²⁸“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter;

²⁹but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”—

³⁰because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

³¹Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.

³²And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.”

³³But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?”

³⁴And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

³⁵For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

¹Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

²Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

³So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

⁴Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.

⁵And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

⁶So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.

⁷But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

⁸And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

⁹Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.

¹⁰And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”

¹²And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

¹³Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

¹⁴And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

¹⁵Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,

¹⁶and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—

¹⁷blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

¹⁸In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

²⁰Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:

²¹Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,

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

²³And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

²⁴His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.

¹And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

²in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

³among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

⁵even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

⁷that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

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

⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast.

¹⁰For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

¹¹Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—

¹²that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

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

¹⁴For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,

¹⁵having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,

¹⁶and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

¹⁷And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.

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

¹⁹Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

²⁰having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

²¹in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

²²in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

¹Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed.

²And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.

³If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness,

⁴he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions,

⁵useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.

⁶Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

⁷For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

⁸And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

⁹But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

¹¹But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.

¹²Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

¹³I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

¹⁴that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,

¹⁵which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

¹⁶who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

¹⁷Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

¹⁸Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,

¹⁹storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

²⁰O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—

²¹by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Even today my complaint is bitter; My hand is listless because of my groaning.

³Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat!

⁴I would present my case before Him, And fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would know the words which He would answer me, And understand what He would say to me.

⁶Would He contend with me in His great power? No! But He would take note of me.

⁷There the upright could reason with Him, And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

⁸“Look, I go forward, but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

⁹When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.

¹⁰But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

¹¹My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside.

¹²I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.

¹³“But He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires, that He does.

¹⁴For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such things are with Him.

¹⁵Therefore I am terrified at His presence; When I consider this, I am afraid of Him.

¹⁶For God made my heart weak, And the Almighty terrifies me;

¹⁷Because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness, And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.

¹To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David when Saul sent men, and they watched the house in order to kill him. [1] Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; Defend me from those who rise up against me.

²Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, And save me from bloodthirsty men.

³For look, they lie in wait for my life; The mighty gather against me, Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O LORD.

⁴They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine. Awake to help me, and behold!

⁵You therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, Awake to punish all the nations; Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah

⁶At evening they return, They growl like a dog, And go all around the city.

⁷Indeed, they belch with their mouth; Swords are in their lips; For they say, “Who hears?”

⁸But You, O LORD, shall laugh at them; You shall have all the nations in derision.

⁹I will wait for You, O You his Strength; For God is my defense.

¹⁰My God of mercy shall come to meet me; God shall let me see my desire on my enemies.

¹¹Do not slay them, lest my people forget; Scatter them by Your power, And bring them down, O Lord our shield.

¹²For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, Let them even be taken in their pride, And for the cursing and lying which they speak.

¹³Consume them in wrath, consume them, That they may not be; And let them know that God rules in Jacob To the ends of the earth. Selah

¹⁴And at evening they return, They growl like a dog, And go all around the city.

¹⁵They wander up and down for food, And howl if they are not satisfied.

¹⁶But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; For You have been my defense And refuge in the day of my trouble.

¹⁷To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises; For God is my defense, My God of mercy.

¹When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you;

²And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite.

³Do not desire his delicacies, For they are deceptive food.

⁴Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease!

⁵Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶Do not eat the bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies;

⁷For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.

⁸The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up, And waste your pleasant words.

⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not remove the ancient landmark, Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;

¹¹For their Redeemer is mighty; He will plead their cause against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction, And your ears to words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.

¹⁴You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself;

¹⁶Yes, my inmost being will rejoice When your lips speak right things.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;

¹⁸For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my son, and be wise; And guide your heart in the way.

²⁰Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;

²¹For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

²²Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.

²⁵Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who bore you rejoice.

²⁶My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways.

²⁷For a harlot is a deep pit, And a seductress is a narrow well.

²⁸She also lies in wait as for a victim, And increases the unfaithful among men.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

³⁰Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine.

³¹Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly;

³²At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things.

³⁴Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:

³⁵“They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”

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

²And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.

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

⁴Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square,

⁵and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place.

⁶For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the LORD our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him.

⁷They have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.

⁸Therefore the wrath of the LORD fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to jeering, as you see with your eyes.

⁹For indeed, because of this our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity.

¹⁰“Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.

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

¹²Then these Levites arose: Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;

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

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

¹⁵And they gathered their brethren, sanctified themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.

¹⁶Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the LORD to the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook Kidron.

¹⁷Now they began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the LORD. So they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

¹⁸Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offerings with all its articles, and the table of the showbread with all its articles.

¹⁹Moreover all the articles which King Ahaz in his reign had cast aside in his transgression we have prepared and sanctified; and there they are, before the altar of the LORD.”

²⁰Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.

²¹And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD.

²²So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Likewise they killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar.

²³Then they brought out the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them.

²⁴And the priests killed them; and they presented their blood on the altar as a sin offering to make an atonement for all Israel, for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.

²⁵And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for thus was the commandment of the LORD by His prophets.

²⁶The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

²⁷Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel.

²⁸So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

²⁹And when they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped.

³⁰Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

³¹Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near, and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD.” So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.

³²And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.

³³The consecrated things were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.

³⁴But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests.

³⁵Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.

³⁶Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly.

¹I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said: “Strike the doorposts, that the thresholds may shake, And break them on the heads of them all. I will slay the last of them with the sword. He who flees from them shall not get away, And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.

²“Though they dig into hell, From there My hand shall take them; Though they climb up to heaven, From there I will bring them down;

³And though they hide themselves on top of Carmel, From there I will search and take them; Though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea, From there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them;

⁴Though they go into captivity before their enemies, From there I will command the sword, And it shall slay them. I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good.”

⁵The Lord GOD of hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, And all who dwell there mourn; All of it shall swell like the River, And subside like the River of Egypt.

⁶He who builds His layers in the sky, And has founded His strata in the earth; Who calls for the waters of the sea, And pours them out on the face of the earth— The LORD is His name.

⁷“Are you not like the people of Ethiopia to Me, O children of Israel?” says the LORD. “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, The Philistines from Caphtor, And the Syrians from Kir?

⁸“Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” Says the LORD.

⁹“For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.

¹⁰All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’

¹¹“On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old;

¹²That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the LORD who does this thing.

¹³“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.

¹⁴I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.

¹⁵I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” Says the LORD your God.

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

²As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

⁵And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.

⁶Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus,

⁷who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

¹⁰and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?

¹¹And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

¹²Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁴But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.

¹⁵And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.”

¹⁶Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it.

¹⁸Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness.

¹⁹And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment.

²⁰“After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.

²¹And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

²²And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’

²³From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—

²⁴after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’

²⁶“Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him.

²⁸And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death.

²⁹Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised Him from the dead.

³¹He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people.

³²And we declare to you glad tidings— that promise which was made to the fathers.

³³God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’

³⁴And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’

³⁵Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’

³⁶“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;

³⁷but He whom God raised up saw no corruption.

³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins;

³⁹and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

⁴⁰Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:

⁴¹‘Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, A work which you will by no means believe, Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”

⁴²So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.

⁴³Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

⁴⁸Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region.

⁵⁰But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.

⁵¹But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium.

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