Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases.

²Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

³“Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes.

⁴Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town.

⁵And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

⁶So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.

⁷When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead.

⁸Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead.

⁹“I beheaded John,” Herod said, “so who is this man about whom I hear such stories?” And he kept trying to see him.

¹⁰When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida.

¹¹But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, and he healed those who were sick.

¹²Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”

¹³But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?”

¹⁴For there were about 5,000 men there. Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

¹⁵So the people all sat down.

¹⁶Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people.

¹⁷They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!

¹⁸One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

¹⁹“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.”

²⁰Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah sent from God!”

²¹Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was.

²²“The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”

²³Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

²⁴If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

²⁵And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?

²⁶If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

²⁷I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God.”

²⁸About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray.

²⁹And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white.

³⁰Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus.

³¹They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem.

³²Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him.

³³As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials — one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

³⁴But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them.

³⁵Then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.”

³⁶When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They didn’t tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

³⁷The next day, after they had come down the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus.

³⁸A man in the crowd called out to him, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child.

³⁹An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It batters him and hardly ever leaves him alone.

⁴⁰I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”

⁴¹Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you and put up with you?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son here.”

⁴²As the boy came forward, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a violent convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and healed the boy. Then he gave him back to his father.

⁴³Awe gripped the people as they saw this majestic display of God’s power. Jesus Again Predicts His Death While everyone was marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples,

⁴⁴“Listen to me and remember what I say. The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies.”

⁴⁵But they didn’t know what he meant. Its significance was hidden from them, so they couldn’t understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

⁴⁶Then his disciples began arguing about which of them was the greatest.

⁴⁷But Jesus knew their thoughts, so he brought a little child to his side.

⁴⁸Then he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me also welcomes my Father who sent me. Whoever is the least among you is the greatest.”

⁴⁹John said to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn’t in our group.”

⁵⁰But Jesus said, “Don’t stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you.”

⁵¹As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

⁵²He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival.

⁵³But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem.

⁵⁴When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up ?”

⁵⁵But Jesus turned and rebuked them.

⁵⁶So they went on to another village.

⁵⁷As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁸But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

⁵⁹He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”

⁶⁰But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”

⁶¹Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”

⁶²But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

¹When his brothers were ready to leave, Joseph gave these instructions to his palace manager: “Fill each of their sacks with as much grain as they can carry, and put each man’s money back into his sack.

²Then put my personal silver cup at the top of the youngest brother’s sack, along with the money for his grain.” So the manager did as Joseph instructed him.

³The brothers were up at dawn and were sent on their journey with their loaded donkeys.

⁴But when they had gone only a short distance and were barely out of the city, Joseph said to his palace manager, “Chase after them and stop them. When you catch up with them, ask them, ‘Why have you repaid my kindness with such evil?

⁵Why have you stolen my master’s silver cup, which he uses to predict the future? What a wicked thing you have done!’”

⁶When the palace manager caught up with the men, he spoke to them as he had been instructed.

⁷“What are you talking about?” the brothers responded. “We are your servants and would never do such a thing!

⁸Didn’t we return the money we found in our sacks? We brought it back all the way from the land of Canaan. Why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?

⁹If you find his cup with any one of us, let that man die. And all the rest of us, my lord, will be your slaves.”

¹⁰“That’s fair,” the man replied. “But only the one who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go free.”

¹¹They all quickly took their sacks from the backs of their donkeys and opened them.

¹²The palace manager searched the brothers’ sacks, from the oldest to the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack!

¹³When the brothers saw this, they tore their clothing in despair. Then they loaded their donkeys again and returned to the city.

¹⁴Joseph was still in his palace when Judah and his brothers arrived, and they fell to the ground before him.

¹⁵“What have you done?” Joseph demanded. “Don’t you know that a man like me can predict the future?”

¹⁶Judah answered, “Oh, my lord, what can we say to you? How can we explain this? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins. My lord, we have all returned to be your slaves — all of us, not just our brother who had your cup in his sack.”

¹⁷“No,” Joseph said. “I would never do such a thing! Only the man who stole the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back to your father in peace.”

¹⁸Then Judah stepped forward and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant say just one word to you. Please, do not be angry with me, even though you are as powerful as Pharaoh himself.

¹⁹“My lord, previously you asked us, your servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’

²⁰And we responded, ‘Yes, my lord, we have a father who is an old man, and his youngest son is a child of his old age. His full brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him very much.’

²¹“And you said to us, ‘Bring him here so I can see him with my own eyes.’

²²But we said to you, ‘My lord, the boy cannot leave his father, for his father would die.’

²³But you told us, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you will never see my face again.’

²⁴“So we returned to your servant, our father, and told him what you had said.

²⁵Later, when he said, ‘Go back again and buy us more food,’

²⁶we replied, ‘We can’t go unless you let our youngest brother go with us. We’ll never get to see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

²⁷“Then my father said to us, ‘As you know, my wife had two sons,

²⁸and one of them went away and never returned. Doubtless he was torn to pieces by some wild animal. I have never seen him since.

²⁹Now if you take his brother away from me, and any harm comes to him, you will send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave. ’

³⁰“And now, my lord, I cannot go back to my father without the boy. Our father’s life is bound up in the boy’s life.

³¹If he sees that the boy is not with us, our father will die. We, your servants, will indeed be responsible for sending that grieving, white-haired man to his grave.

³²My lord, I guaranteed to my father that I would take care of the boy. I told him, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, I will bear the blame forever.’

³³“So please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.

³⁴For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see the anguish this would cause my father!”

¹The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship.

²If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.

³But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year.

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

⁵That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer.

⁶You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin.

⁷Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God — as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”

⁸First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses).

⁹Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect.

¹⁰For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

¹¹Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.

¹²But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

¹³There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet.

¹⁴For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says,

¹⁶“This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

¹⁷Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.”

¹⁸And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.

¹⁹And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.

²⁰By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.

²¹And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house,

²²let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

²³Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

²⁴Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

²⁵And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

²⁶Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins.

²⁷There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies.

²⁸For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

²⁹Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us.

³⁰For we know the one who said, “I will take revenge. I will pay them back.” He also said, “The LORD will judge his own people.”

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

³²Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering.

³³Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things.

³⁴You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

³⁵So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!

³⁶Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

³⁷“For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.

³⁸And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”

³⁹But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

¹We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.

²This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us.

³We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

⁴We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

⁵This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.

⁶So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.

⁷But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

⁸If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.

⁹But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

¹⁰If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

¹For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.

²A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.

³A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up.

⁴A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.

⁵A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

⁶A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away.

⁷A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

⁸A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.

⁹What do people really get for all their hard work?

¹⁰I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.

¹¹Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

¹²So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.

¹³And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

¹⁴And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him.

¹⁵What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.

¹⁶I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt!

¹⁷I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds.”

¹⁸I also thought about the human condition — how God proves to people that they are like animals.

¹⁹For people and animals share the same fate — both breathe and both must die. So people have no real advantage over the animals. How meaningless!

²⁰Both go to the same place — they came from dust and they return to dust.

²¹For who can prove that the human spirit goes up and the spirit of animals goes down into the earth?

²²So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is our lot in life. And no one can bring us back to see what happens after we die.

¹Sing praises to God, our strength. Sing to the God of Jacob.

²Sing! Beat the tambourine. Play the sweet lyre and the harp.

³Blow the ram’s horn at new moon, and again at full moon to call a festival!

⁴For this is required by the decrees of Israel; it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.

⁵He made it a law for Israel when he attacked Egypt to set us free. I heard an unknown voice say,

⁶“Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.

⁷You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you; I answered out of the thundercloud and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Interlude

⁸“Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me!

⁹You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god.

¹⁰For it was I, the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

¹¹“But no, my people wouldn’t listen. Israel did not want me around.

¹²So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas.

¹³Oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!

¹⁴How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon my hands would be upon their foes!

¹⁵Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him; they would be doomed forever.

¹⁶But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.”

¹A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

²Those who follow the right path fear the LORD; those who take the wrong path despise him.

³A fool’s proud talk becomes a rod that beats him, but the words of the wise keep them safe.

⁴Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.

⁵An honest witness does not lie; a false witness breathes lies.

⁶A mocker seeks wisdom and never finds it, but knowledge comes easily to those with understanding.

⁷Stay away from fools, for you won’t find knowledge on their lips.

⁸The prudent understand where they are going, but fools deceive themselves.

⁹Fools make fun of guilt, but the godly acknowledge it and seek reconciliation.

¹⁰Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can fully share its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the godly will flourish.

¹²There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

¹³Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains.

¹⁴Backsliders get what they deserve; good people receive their reward.

¹⁵Only simpletons believe everything they’re told! The prudent carefully consider their steps.

¹⁶The wise are cautious and avoid danger; fools plunge ahead with reckless confidence.

¹⁷Short-tempered people do foolish things, and schemers are hated.

¹⁸Simpletons are clothed with foolishness, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹Evil people will bow before good people; the wicked will bow at the gates of the godly.

²⁰The poor are despised even by their neighbors, while the rich have many “friends.”

²¹It is a sin to belittle one’s neighbor; blessed are those who help the poor.

²²If you plan to do evil, you will be lost; if you plan to do good, you will receive unfailing love and faithfulness.

²³Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!

²⁴Wealth is a crown for the wise; the effort of fools yields only foolishness.

²⁵A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is a traitor.

²⁶Those who fear the LORD are secure; he will be a refuge for their children.

²⁷Fear of the LORD is a life-giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death.

²⁸A growing population is a king’s glory; a prince without subjects has nothing.

²⁹People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.

³⁰A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.

³¹Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but helping the poor honors him.

³²The wicked are crushed by disaster, but the godly have a refuge when they die.

³³Wisdom is enshrined in an understanding heart; wisdom is not found among fools.

³⁴Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

³⁵A king rejoices in wise servants but is angry with those who disgrace him.

¹About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews.

²They were saying, “We have such large families. We need more food to survive.”

³Others said, “We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine.”

⁴And others said, “We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes.

⁵We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy, and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others.”

⁶When I heard their complaints, I was very angry.

⁷After thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, “You are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money!” Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem.

⁸At the meeting I said to them, “We are doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?” And they had nothing to say in their defense.

⁹Then I pressed further, “What you are doing is not right! Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations?

¹⁰I myself, as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain, but now let us stop this business of charging interest.

¹¹You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day. And repay the interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil.”

¹²They replied, “We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the nobles and officials swear to do what they had promised.

¹³I shook out the folds of my robe and said, “If you fail to keep your promise, may God shake you like this from your homes and from your property!” The whole assembly responded, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.

¹⁴For the entire twelve years that I was governor of Judah — from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of the reign of King Artaxerxes — neither I nor my officials drew on our official food allowance.

¹⁵The former governors, in contrast, had laid heavy burdens on the people, demanding a daily ration of food and wine, besides forty pieces of silver. Even their assistants took advantage of the people. But because I feared God, I did not act that way.

¹⁶I also devoted myself to working on the wall and refused to acquire any land. And I required all my servants to spend time working on the wall.

¹⁷I asked for nothing, even though I regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at my table, besides all the visitors from other lands!

¹⁸The provisions I paid for each day included one ox, six choice sheep or goats, and a large number of poultry. And every ten days we needed a large supply of all kinds of wine. Yet I refused to claim the governor’s food allowance because the people already carried a heavy burden.

¹⁹Remember, O my God, all that I have done for these people, and bless me for it.

¹On August 29 of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the LORD gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

²“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.’”

³Then the LORD sent this message through the prophet Haggai:

⁴“Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?

⁵This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!

⁶You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!

⁷“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!

⁸Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD.

⁹You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses.

¹⁰It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops.

¹¹I have called for a drought on your fields and hills — a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.”

¹²Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people began to obey the message from the LORD their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the LORD their God had sent, the people feared the LORD.

¹³Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave the people this message from the LORD: “I am with you, says the LORD!”

¹⁴So the LORD sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God’s people. They began to work on the house of their God, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,

¹⁵on September 21 of the second year of King Darius’s reign.

¹Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”

²This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.

³God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’

⁴So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.

⁵“But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants — even though he had no children yet.

⁶God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.

⁷‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’

⁸“God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.

⁹“These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him

¹⁰and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.

¹¹“But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food.

¹²Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons — our ancestors — to buy some.

¹³The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all.

¹⁵So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors.

¹⁶Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.

¹⁷“As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.

¹⁸But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.

¹⁹This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.

²⁰“At that time Moses was born — a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months.

²¹When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son.

²²Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.

²³“One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel.

²⁴He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian.

²⁵Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.

²⁶“The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’

²⁷“But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked.

²⁸‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’

²⁹When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.

³⁰“Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush.

³¹When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the LORD called out to him,

³²‘I am the God of your ancestors — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.

³³“Then the LORD said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.

³⁴I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’

³⁵“So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior.

³⁶And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.

³⁷“Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’

³⁸Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.

³⁹“But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt.

⁴⁰They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’

⁴¹So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made.

⁴²Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written, ‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?

⁴³No, you carried your pagan gods — the shrine of Molech, the star of your god Rephan, and the images you made to worship them. So I will send you into exile as far away as Babylon.’

⁴⁴“Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses.

⁴⁵Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.

⁴⁶“David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷But it was Solomon who actually built it.

⁴⁸However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,

⁴⁹‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that?’ asks the LORD. ‘Could you build me such a resting place?

⁵⁰Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’

⁵¹“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!

⁵²Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One — the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.

⁵³You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”

⁵⁴The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.

⁵⁵But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

⁵⁶And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”

⁵⁷Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him

⁵⁸and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

⁶⁰He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.