Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him,

²and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

³and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

⁴And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable,

⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.

⁶And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

⁷And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.

⁸And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

⁹And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant,

¹⁰he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

¹¹ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

¹²The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

¹³And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

¹⁴And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

¹⁵As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

¹⁶ “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.

¹⁷ For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.

¹⁸ Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

¹⁹Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd.

²⁰And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.”

²¹But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

²²One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out,

²³and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.

²⁴And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.

²⁵He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

²⁶Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

²⁷When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs.

²⁸When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.”

²⁹For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.)

³⁰Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him.

³¹And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.

³²Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission.

³³Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

³⁴When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.

³⁵Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.

³⁶And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.

³⁷Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.

³⁸The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,

³⁹“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

⁴⁰Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.

⁴¹And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house,

⁴²for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.

⁴³And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.

⁴⁴She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.

⁴⁵And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!”

⁴⁶But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.”

⁴⁷And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.

⁴⁸And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

⁴⁹While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.”

⁵⁰But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.”

⁵¹And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child.

⁵²And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.”

⁵³And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.

⁵⁴But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.”

⁵⁵And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat.

⁵⁶And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

¹Now the famine was severe in the land.

²And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.”

³But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’

⁴If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.

⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?”

⁷They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.

⁹I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.

¹⁰If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds.

¹²Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.

¹³Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man.

¹⁴May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

¹⁵So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.”

¹⁷The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph's house.

¹⁸And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys.”

¹⁹So they went up to the steward of Joseph's house and spoke with him at the door of the house,

²⁰and said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food.

²¹And when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man's money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us,

²²and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.”

²³He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴And when the man had brought the men into Joseph's house and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder,

²⁵they prepared the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground.

²⁷And he inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

²⁸They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.

²⁹And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!”

³⁰Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there.

³¹Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, “Serve the food.”

³²They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

³³And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement.

³⁴Portions were taken to them from Joseph's table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.

¹Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.

²For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place.

³Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place,

⁴having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.

⁵Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

⁶These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties,

⁷but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.

⁸By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing

⁹(which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,

¹⁰but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

¹¹But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)

¹²he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

¹³For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,

¹⁴how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

¹⁵Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

¹⁶For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established.

¹⁷For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.

¹⁸Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.

¹⁹For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,

²⁰saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.”

²¹And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship.

²²Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

²³Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

²⁴For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

²⁵Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,

²⁶for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

²⁷And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

²⁸so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

¹This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,

²that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,

³knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.

⁴They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”

⁵For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,

⁶and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.

⁷But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

⁸But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

⁹The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

¹¹Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,

¹²waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!

¹³But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

¹⁵And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,

¹⁶as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

¹⁷You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

¹I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.

²I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”

³I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine — my heart still guiding me with wisdom — and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

⁴I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

⁵I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.

⁶I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.

⁷I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.

⁸I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.

⁹So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁰And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.

¹¹Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

¹²So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.

¹³Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.

¹⁴The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.

¹⁵Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

¹⁶For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!

¹⁷So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹⁸I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,

¹⁹and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

²⁰So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,

²¹because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

²²What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?

²³For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

²⁴There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,

²⁵for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?

²⁶For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.

²Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might and come to save us!

³Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁴O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?

⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure.

⁶You make us an object of contention for our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁸You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.

⁹You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches.

¹¹It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River.

¹²Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?

¹³The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.

¹⁴Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine,

¹⁵the stock that your right hand planted, and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.

¹⁶They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your face!

¹⁷But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!

¹⁸Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name!

¹⁹Restore us, O LORD God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

¹A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

²From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence.

³Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

⁴The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

⁵The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace.

⁶Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked.

⁷One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

⁸The ransom of a man's life is his wealth, but a poor man hears no threat.

⁹The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

¹⁰By insolence comes nothing but strife, but with those who take advice is wisdom.

¹¹Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

¹⁵Good sense wins favor, but the way of the treacherous is their ruin.

¹⁶Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool flaunts his folly.

¹⁷A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a faithful envoy brings healing.

¹⁸Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honored.

¹⁹A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.

²⁰Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

²¹Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.

²²A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.

²³The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice.

²⁴Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

²⁵The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want.

¹Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews.

²And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”

³Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building — if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!”

⁴Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives.

⁵Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

⁶So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

⁷But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry.

⁸And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.

⁹And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

¹⁰In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.”

¹¹And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.”

¹²At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.”

¹³So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

¹⁴And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

¹⁵When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.

¹⁶From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah,

¹⁷who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.

¹⁸And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

¹⁹And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.

²⁰In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

²¹So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.

²²I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.”

²³So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.

¹Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city!

²She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD; she does not draw near to her God.

³Her officials within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning.

⁴Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men; her priests profane what is holy; they do violence to the law.

⁵The LORD within her is righteous; he does no injustice; every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame.

⁶“I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant.

⁷I said, ‘Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you.’ But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt.

⁸“Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed.

⁹“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord.

¹⁰From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering.

¹¹“On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.

¹²But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD,

¹³those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”

¹⁴Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!

¹⁵The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.

¹⁶On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.

¹⁷The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

¹⁸I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.

¹⁹Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.

²⁰At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the LORD.

¹Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

²And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.

³Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

⁵And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.

⁶These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

⁷And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

⁸And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

⁹Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen.

¹⁰But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

¹¹Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

¹²And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council,

¹³and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law,

¹⁴for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”

¹⁵And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.