Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.

²He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

³And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.

⁴“Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.

⁵And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

⁶So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

⁷Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,

⁸and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.

⁹Herod said, “John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?” So he sought to see Him.

¹⁰And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.

¹¹But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.

¹²When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.”

¹³But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

¹⁴For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”

¹⁵And they did so, and made them all sit down.

¹⁶Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.

¹⁷So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

¹⁸And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”

²⁰He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

²¹And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one,

²²saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

²³Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

²⁴For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

²⁵For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

²⁶For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.

²⁷But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”

²⁸Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

²⁹As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.

³⁰And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah,

³¹who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

³²But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.

³³Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.

³⁵And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”

³⁶When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.

³⁷Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.

³⁸Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.

³⁹And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.

⁴⁰So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

⁴¹Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴²And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.

⁴³And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples,

⁴⁴“Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”

⁴⁵But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.

⁴⁶Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.

⁴⁷And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him,

⁴⁸and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.”

⁴⁹Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.”

⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”

⁵¹Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,

⁵²and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.

⁵³But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.

⁵⁴And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”

⁵⁵But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.

⁵⁶For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

⁵⁷Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

⁵⁹Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”

⁶²But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

¹And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.

²Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain money.” So he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

³As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.

⁴When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?

⁵Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices divination? You have done evil in so doing.’ ”

⁶So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.

⁷And they said to him, “Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing.

⁸Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house?

⁹With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰And he said, “Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless.”

¹¹Then each man speedily let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.

¹²So he searched. He began with the oldest and left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

¹³Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.

¹⁴So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground.

¹⁵And Joseph said to them, “What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?”

¹⁶Then Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; here we are, my lord’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found.”

¹⁷But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸Then Judah came near to him and said: “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh.

¹⁹My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’

²⁰And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, who is young; his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’

²¹Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’

²²And we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’

²³But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’

²⁴“So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord.

²⁵And our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’

²⁶But we said, ‘We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

²⁷Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons;

²⁸and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since.

²⁹But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.’

³⁰“Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life,

³¹it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave.

³²For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’

³³Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.

³⁴For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?”

¹For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

²For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.

³But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.

⁴For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

⁵Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me.

⁶In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.

⁷Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”

⁸Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law),

⁹then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.

¹⁰By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

¹²But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,

¹³from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.

¹⁴For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

¹⁵But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,

¹⁶“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”

¹⁷then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

¹⁸Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

¹⁹Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,

²¹and having a High Priest over the house of God,

²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

²³Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

²⁴And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

²⁵not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

²⁶For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

²⁷but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

²⁸Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

²⁹Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

³⁰For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.”

³¹It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³²But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings:

³³partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated;

³⁴for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

³⁵Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

³⁶For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

³⁷“For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.

³⁸Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

³⁹But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

¹That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—

²the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

³that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

⁴And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

⁵This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

⁶If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

⁷But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

¹To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:

²A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;

³A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;

⁴A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;

⁵A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;

⁷A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;

⁸A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

⁹What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?

¹⁰I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.

¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

¹²I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives,

¹³and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.

¹⁵That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past.

¹⁶Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, Wickedness was there; And in the place of righteousness, Iniquity was there.

¹⁷I said in my heart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.”

¹⁹For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity.

²⁰All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.

²¹Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?

²²So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

¹To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of Asaph. [1] Sing aloud to God our strength; Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.

²Raise a song and strike the timbrel, The pleasant harp with the lute.

³Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.

⁴For this is a statute for Israel, A law of the God of Jacob.

⁵This He established in Joseph as a testimony, When He went throughout the land of Egypt, Where I heard a language I did not understand.

⁶“I removed his shoulder from the burden; His hands were freed from the baskets.

⁷You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

⁸“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me!

⁹There shall be no foreign god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god.

¹⁰I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹¹“But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me.

¹²So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels.

¹³“Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!

¹⁴I would soon subdue their enemies, And turn My hand against their adversaries.

¹⁵The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him, But their fate would endure forever.

¹⁶He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

¹The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.

²He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, But he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.

³In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, But the lips of the wise will preserve them.

⁴Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.

⁵A faithful witness does not lie, But a false witness will utter lies.

⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom and does not find it, But knowledge is easy to him who understands.

⁷Go from the presence of a foolish man, When you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge.

⁸The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, But the folly of fools is deceit.

⁹Fools mock at sin, But among the upright there is favor.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked will be overthrown, But the tent of the upright will flourish.

¹²There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, And the end of mirth may be grief.

¹⁴The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied from above.

¹⁵The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his steps.

¹⁶A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident.

¹⁷A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, And a man of wicked intentions is hated.

¹⁸The simple inherit folly, But the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The evil will bow before the good, And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰The poor man is hated even by his own neighbor, But the rich has many friends.

²¹He who despises his neighbor sins; But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.

²²Do they not go astray who devise evil? But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good.

²³In all labor there is profit, But idle chatter leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their riches, But the foolishness of fools is folly.

²⁵A true witness delivers souls, But a deceitful witness speaks lies.

²⁶In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge.

²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.

²⁸In a multitude of people is a king’s honor, But in the lack of people is the downfall of a prince.

²⁹He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly.

³⁰A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.

³¹He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.

³²The wicked is banished in his wickedness, But the righteous has a refuge in his death.

³³Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, But what is in the heart of fools is made known.

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.

³⁵The king’s favor is toward a wise servant, But his wrath is against him who causes shame.

¹And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren.

²For there were those who said, “We, our sons, and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain, that we may eat and live.”

³There were also some who said, “We have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses, that we might buy grain because of the famine.”

⁴There were also those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our lands and vineyards.

⁵Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards.”

⁶And I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words.

⁷After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, “Each of you is exacting usury from his brother.” So I called a great assembly against them.

⁸And I said to them, “According to our ability we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us?” Then they were silenced and found nothing to say.

⁹Then I said, “What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?

¹⁰I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury!

¹¹Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them.”

¹²So they said, “We will restore it, and will require nothing from them; we will do as you say.” Then I called the priests, and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise.

¹³Then I shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out each man from his house, and from his property, who does not perform this promise. Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD. Then the people did according to this promise.

¹⁴Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the governor’s provisions.

¹⁵But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.

¹⁶Indeed, I also continued the work on this wall, and we did not buy any land. All my servants were gathered there for the work.

¹⁷And at my table were one hundred and fifty Jews and rulers, besides those who came to us from the nations around us.

¹⁸Now that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep. Also fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine. Yet in spite of this I did not demand the governor’s provisions, because the bondage was heavy on this people.

¹⁹Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.

¹In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,

²“Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.” ’ ”

³Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying,

⁴“Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?”

⁵Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways!

⁶“You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

⁷Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways!

⁸Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the LORD.

⁹“You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the LORD of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.

¹⁰Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.

¹¹For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”

¹²Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the LORD.

¹³Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, spoke the LORD’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you, says the LORD.”

¹⁴So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,

¹⁵on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.

¹Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

²And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,

³and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’

⁴Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.

⁵And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him.

⁶But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years.

⁷‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’

⁸Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

⁹“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him

¹⁰and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

¹¹Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance.

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

¹³And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people.

¹⁵So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers.

¹⁶And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.

¹⁷“But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt

¹⁸till another king arose who did not know Joseph.

¹⁹This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.

²⁰At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months.

²¹But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son.

²²And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.

²³“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.

²⁴And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian.

²⁵For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.

²⁶And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’

²⁷But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

²⁸Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’

²⁹Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

³⁰“And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.

³¹When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him,

³²saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look.

³³‘Then the LORD said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

³⁴I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.” ’

³⁵“This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush.

³⁶He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

³⁷“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’

³⁸“This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us,

³⁹whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,

⁴⁰saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’

⁴¹And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

⁴²Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: ‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

⁴³You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’

⁴⁴“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,

⁴⁵which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David,

⁴⁶who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷But Solomon built Him a house.

⁴⁸“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:

⁴⁹‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest?

⁵⁰Has My hand not made all these things?’

⁵¹“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

⁵²Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,

⁵³who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

⁵⁴When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,

⁵⁶and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

⁵⁷Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;

⁵⁸and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

⁶⁰Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.