Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand.

²They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him.

³And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.”

⁴Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

⁵He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

⁶The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

⁷Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him;

⁸hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon.

⁹He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him;

¹⁰for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him.

¹¹Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!”

¹²But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

¹³He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him.

¹⁴And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message,

¹⁵and to have authority to cast out demons.

¹⁶So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);

¹⁷James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);

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

¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Jesus and Beelzebul Then he went home;

²⁰and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat.

²¹When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”

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

²³And he called them to him, and spoke 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 will not be able to stand.

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

²⁷But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

²⁸“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter;

²⁹but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” —

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

³¹Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him.

³²A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.”

³³And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

³⁴And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

³⁵Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

¹After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

²He said, “Take 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 that I shall show you.”

³So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him.

⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away.

⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.”

⁶Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

⁷Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

⁸Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

⁹When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

¹⁰Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.

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

¹²He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy 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.”

¹³And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

¹⁴So Abraham called that place “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

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

¹⁶and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the LORD: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son,

¹⁷I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies,

¹⁸and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”

¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.

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

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

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

²³Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

²⁴Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

¹You were dead through the trespasses and sins

²in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.

³All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us

⁵even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved —

⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

⁷so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God —

⁹not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

¹⁰For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

¹¹So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” — a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands —

¹²remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to 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 is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.

¹⁵He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,

¹⁶and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

¹⁷So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near;

¹⁸for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.

¹⁹So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,

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

²¹In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;

²²in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

¹Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed.

²Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful to them on the ground that they are members of the church; rather they must serve them all the more, since those who benefit by their service are believers and beloved. False Teaching and True Riches Teach and urge these duties.

³Whoever teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that is in accordance with godliness,

⁴is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words. From these come envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions,

⁵and wrangling among those who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

⁶Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment;

⁷for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it;

⁸but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

⁹But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

¹¹But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.

¹²Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

¹³In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you

¹⁴to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁵which he will bring about at the right time — he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

¹⁶It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

¹⁷As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

¹⁸They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share,

¹⁹thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

²⁰Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the profane chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge;

²¹by professing it some have missed the mark as regards the faith. Grace be with you.

¹Then Job answered:

²“Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning.

³Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling!

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

⁵I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me.

⁶Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me.

⁷There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.

⁸“If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him;

⁹on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.

¹⁰But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold.

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

¹²I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth.

¹³But he stands alone and who can dissuade him? What he desires, that he does.

¹⁴For he will complete what he appoints for me; and many such things are in his mind.

¹⁵Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him.

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

¹⁷If only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face!

¹Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me.

²Deliver me from those who work evil; from the bloodthirsty save me.

³Even now they lie in wait for my life; the mighty stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,

⁴for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. Rouse yourself, come to my help and see!

⁵You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel. Awake to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

⁶Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city.

⁷There they are, bellowing with their mouths, with sharp words on their lips — for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”

⁸But you laugh at them, O LORD; you hold all the nations in derision.

⁹O my strength, I will watch for you; for you, O God, are my fortress.

¹⁰My God in his steadfast love will meet me; my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

¹¹Do not kill them, or my people may forget; make them totter by your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.

¹²For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter,

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

¹⁴Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city.

¹⁵They roam about for food, and growl if they do not get their fill.

¹⁶But I will sing of your might; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been a fortress for me and a refuge in the day of my distress.

¹⁷O my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.

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

²and put a knife to your throat if you have a big appetite.

³Do not desire the ruler’s delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

⁴Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist.

⁵When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes wings to itself, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶Do not eat the bread of the stingy; do not desire their delicacies;

⁷for like a hair in the throat, so are they. “Eat and drink!” they say to you; but they do not mean it.

⁸You will vomit up the little you have eaten, and you will waste your pleasant words.

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

¹⁰Do not remove an ancient landmark or encroach on the fields of orphans,

¹¹for their redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.

¹²Apply your mind to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold discipline from your children; if you beat them with a rod, they will not die.

¹⁴If you beat them with the rod, you will save their lives from Sheol.

¹⁵My child, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.

¹⁶My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.

¹⁸Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my child, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way.

²⁰Do not be among winebibbers, or among gluttonous eaters of meat;

²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them with rags.

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

²³Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.

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

²⁶My child, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.

²⁸She lies in wait like a robber and increases the number of the faithless.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

³⁰Those who linger late over wine, those who keep trying mixed wines.

³¹Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

³²At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder.

³³Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things.

³⁴You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.

³⁵“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.”

¹Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.

²He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, just as his ancestor 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.

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

⁵He said to them, “Listen to me, Levites! Sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and carry out the filth from the holy place.

⁶For our ancestors have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God; they have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the dwelling of the LORD, and turned their backs.

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

⁸Therefore the wrath of the LORD came upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.

⁹Our fathers have fallen by the sword and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

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

¹¹My sons, do not now be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence to minister to him, and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.”

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

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

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

¹⁵They gathered their brothers, sanctified themselves, and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.

¹⁶The priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD; and the Levites took them and carried them out to the Wadi Kidron.

¹⁷They 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; then for eight days they sanctified the house of the LORD, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

¹⁸Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the rows of bread and all its utensils.

¹⁹All the utensils that King Ahaz repudiated during his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and sanctified; see, they are in front of the altar of the LORD.”

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

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

²²So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and dashed it against the altar; they slaughtered the rams and their blood was dashed against the altar; they also slaughtered the lambs and their blood was dashed against the altar.

²³Then the male goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly; they laid their hands on them,

²⁴and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood at the altar, to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

²⁵He stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king’s seer and of the prophet Nathan, for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets.

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

²⁷Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song to the LORD began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of King David of Israel.

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

²⁹When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped.

³⁰King Hezekiah and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of the seer Asaph. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.

³¹Then Hezekiah said, “You have now consecrated yourselves to the LORD; come near, bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the LORD.” The assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings; and all who were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.

³²The number of the burnt offerings that 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 offerings were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.

³⁴But the priests were too few and could not skin all the burnt offerings, so, until other priests had sanctified themselves, their kindred, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished — for the Levites were more conscientious than the priests in sanctifying themselves.

³⁵Besides the great number of burnt offerings there was the fat of the offerings of well-being, and there were the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the LORD was restored.

³⁶And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because of what God had done for the people; for the thing had come about suddenly.

¹I saw the LORD standing beside the altar, and he said: Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away, not one of them shall escape.

²Though they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.

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

⁴And though they go into captivity in front of their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix 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 live in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile, and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;

⁶who builds his upper chambers in the heavens, and founds his vault upon the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the surface of the earth — the LORD is his name.

⁷Are you not like the Ethiopians to me, O people of Israel? says the LORD. Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?

⁸The eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth — except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, — says the LORD.

⁹For lo, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the ground.

¹⁰All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, “Evil shall not overtake or meet us.”

¹¹On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old;

¹²in order that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name, says the LORD who does this.

¹³The time is surely coming, says the LORD, when the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps, and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.

¹⁴I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.

¹⁵I will plant them upon their land, and they shall never again be plucked up out of the land that I have given them, — says the LORD your God.

¹Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, 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.”

³Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

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

⁵When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also to assist them.

⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus.

⁷He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.

⁸But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

¹⁰and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

¹¹And now listen — the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand.

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

¹³Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem;

¹⁴but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the law and the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it.”

¹⁶So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak: “You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen.

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.

¹⁸For about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

¹⁹After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance

²⁰for about four hundred fifty years. After that he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel.

²¹Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years.

²²When he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’

²³Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised;

²⁴before his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And as John was finishing his work, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals on his feet.’

²⁶“My brothers, you descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him.

²⁸Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed.

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

³⁰But God raised him from the dead;

³¹and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people.

³²And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors

³³he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’

³⁴As to his raising him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, ‘I will give you the holy promises made to David.’

³⁵Therefore he has also said in another psalm, ‘You will not let your Holy One experience corruption.’

³⁶For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died, was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption;

³⁷but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption.

³⁸Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you;

³⁹by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

⁴⁰Beware, therefore, that what the prophets said does not happen to you:

⁴¹‘Look, you scoffers! Be amazed and perish, for in your days I am doing a work, a work that you will never believe, even if someone tells you.’”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people urged them to speak about these things again the next sabbath.

⁴³When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The next sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; and blaspheming, they contradicted what was spoken by Paul.

⁴⁶Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers.

⁴⁹Thus the word of the Lord spread throughout the region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.

⁵¹So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them, and went to Iconium.

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