Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,

²and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

³He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money — not even an extra tunic.

⁴Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there.

⁵Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

⁶They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

⁷Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead,

⁸by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen.

⁹Herod said, “John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he tried to see him.

¹⁰On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida.

¹¹When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.

¹²The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.”

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

¹⁴For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

¹⁵They did so and made them all sit down.

¹⁶And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

¹⁷And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

¹⁸Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.”

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

²¹He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone,

²²saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

²³Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

²⁴For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.

²⁵What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?

²⁶Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

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

²⁸Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.

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

³⁰Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.

³¹They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

³²Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

³³Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, 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 terrified as they entered the cloud.

³⁵Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

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

³⁷On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.

³⁸Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child.

³⁹Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him.

⁴⁰I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

⁴¹Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴²While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

⁴³And all were astounded at the greatness of God. Jesus Again Foretells His Death While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples,

⁴⁴“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.”

⁴⁵But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

⁴⁶An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest.

⁴⁷But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side,

⁴⁸and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.”

⁴⁹John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.”

⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.”

⁵¹When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

⁵²And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him;

⁵³but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

⁵⁴When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

⁵⁵But he turned and rebuked them.

⁵⁶Then they went on to another village.

⁵⁷As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “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.”

⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”

⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

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

²Put my cup, the silver cup, in the top of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him.

³As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys.

⁴When they had gone only a short distance from the city, Joseph said to his steward, “Go, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you returned evil for good? Why have you stolen my silver cup?

⁵Is it not from this that my lord drinks? Does he not indeed use it for divination? You have done wrong in doing this.’”

⁶When he overtook them, he repeated these words to them.

⁷They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!

⁸Look, the money that we found at the top of our sacks, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan; why then would we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house?

⁹Should it be found with any one of your servants, let him die; moreover the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰He said, “Even so; in accordance with your words, let it be: he with whom it is found shall become my slave, but the rest of you shall go free.”

¹¹Then each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.

¹²He searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

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

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

¹⁵Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that one such as I can practice divination?”

¹⁶And Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; here we are then, my lord’s slaves, both we and also the one in whose possession the cup has been found.”

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

¹⁸Then Judah stepped up to him and said, “O my lord, let your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are like Pharaoh himself.

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 young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead; 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, so that I may set my eyes on him.’

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

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

²⁴When we went back to your servant my father we told him the words of my lord.

²⁵And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’

²⁶we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother goes with us, will we go down; for we cannot 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;

²⁸one left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces; and I have never seen him since.

²⁹If you take this one also from me, and harm comes to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol.’

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

³¹when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.

³²For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame in the sight of my father all my life.’

³³Now therefore, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord in place of the boy; and let the boy go back with his brothers.

³⁴For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the suffering that would come upon my father.”

¹Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach.

²Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin?

³But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year.

⁴For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me;

⁶in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.

⁷Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me).”

⁸When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law),

⁹then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.

¹⁰And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins.

¹²But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,”

¹³and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.”

¹⁴For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

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

¹⁷he also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

¹⁹Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh),

²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

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

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

²⁴And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds,

²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

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

²⁷but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

²⁸Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

²⁹How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?

³⁰For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

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

³²But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,

³³sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.

³⁴For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.

³⁵Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward.

³⁶For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

³⁷For yet “in a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay;

³⁸but my righteous one will live by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.”

³⁹But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.

¹We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life —

²this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us —

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

⁴We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

⁵This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true;

⁷but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus 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 who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and 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.

¹For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

²a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up 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 throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶a time to seek, 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 for war, and a time for peace.

⁹What gain have the workers from their toil?

¹⁰I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.

¹¹He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live;

¹³moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.

¹⁴I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.

¹⁵That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.

¹⁶Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well.

¹⁷I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work.

¹⁸I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals.

¹⁹For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity.

²⁰All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.

²¹Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?

²²So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?

¹Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.

²Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.

³Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day.

⁴For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known:

⁶“I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.

⁷In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

⁸Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

⁹There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.

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

¹¹“But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.

¹²So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.

¹³O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!

¹⁴Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes.

¹⁵Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever.

¹⁶I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

¹The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands.

²Those who walk uprightly fear the LORD, but one who is devious in conduct despises him.

³The talk of fools is a rod for their backs, but the lips of the wise preserve them.

⁴Where there are no oxen, there is no grain; abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

⁵A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies.

⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for one who understands.

⁷Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not find words of knowledge.

⁸It is the wisdom of the clever to understand where they go, but the folly of fools misleads.

⁹Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy God’s favor.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked is destroyed, but the tent of the upright flourishes.

¹²There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart is sad, and the end of joy is grief.

¹⁴The perverse get what their ways deserve, and the good, what their deeds deserve.

¹⁵The simple believe everything, but the clever consider their steps.

¹⁶The wise are cautious and turn away from evil, but the fool throws off restraint and is careless.

¹⁷One who is quick-tempered acts foolishly, and the schemer is hated.

¹⁸The simple are adorned with folly, but the clever are crowned with knowledge.

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

²⁰The poor are disliked even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.

²¹Those who despise their neighbors are sinners, but happy are those who are kind to the poor.

²²Do they not err that plan evil? Those who plan good find loyalty and faithfulness.

²³In all toil there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their wisdom, but folly is the garland of fools.

²⁵A truthful witness saves lives, but one who utters lies is a betrayer.

²⁶In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and one’s children will have a refuge.

²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, so that one may avoid the snares of death.

²⁸The glory of a king is a multitude of people; without people a prince is ruined.

²⁹Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but one who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

³⁰A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh, but passion makes the bones rot.

³¹Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him.

³²The wicked are overthrown by their evildoing, but the righteous find a refuge in their integrity.

³³Wisdom is at home in the mind of one who has understanding, but it is not known in the heart of fools.

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

³⁵A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.

¹Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish kin.

²For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many; we must get grain, so that we may eat and stay alive.”

³There were also those who said, “We are having to pledge our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine.”

⁴And there were those who said, “We are having to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s tax.

⁵Now our flesh is the same as that of our kindred; our children are the same as their children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others.”

⁶I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints.

⁷After thinking it over, I brought charges against the nobles and the officials; I said to them, “You are all taking interest from your own people.” And I called a great assembly to deal with them,

⁸and said to them, “As far as we were able, we have bought back our Jewish kindred who had been sold to other nations; but now you are selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us!” They were silent, and could not find a word to say.

⁹So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God, to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?

¹⁰Moreover I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us stop this taking of interest.

¹¹Restore to them, this very day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the interest on money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.”

¹²Then they said, “We will restore everything and demand nothing more from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests, and made them take an oath to do as they had promised.

¹³I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out everyone from house and from property who does not perform this promise. Thus may they be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.

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

¹⁵The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people, and took food and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God.

¹⁶Indeed, I devoted myself to the work on this wall, and acquired no land; and all my servants were gathered there for the work.

¹⁷Moreover there were at my table one hundred fifty people, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations around us.

¹⁸Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and every ten days skins of wine in abundance; yet with all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because of the heavy burden of labor on the people.

¹⁹Remember for my good, O my God, 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 the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:

²Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD’s house.

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

⁴Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

⁵Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared.

⁶You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.

⁷Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared.

⁸Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD.

⁹You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the LORD of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses.

¹⁰Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.

¹¹And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on human beings and animals, and on all their labors.

¹²Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Joshua 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 the prophet Haggai, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the LORD.

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

¹⁴And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua 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 month, in the sixth month.

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

²And Stephen replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

³and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.’

⁴Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God had him move from there to this country in which you are now living.

⁵He did not give him any of it as a heritage, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as his possession and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child.

⁶And God spoke in these terms, that his descendants would be resident aliens in a country belonging to others, who would enslave them and mistreat them during four hundred years.

⁷‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’

⁸Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹“The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him,

¹⁰and rescued him from all his afflictions, and enabled him to win favor and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

¹¹Now there came a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan, and great suffering, and our ancestors could find no food.

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit.

¹³On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in all;

¹⁵so Jacob went down to Egypt. He himself died there as well as our ancestors,

¹⁶and their bodies were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷“But as the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased and multiplied

¹⁸until another king who had not known Joseph ruled over Egypt.

¹⁹He dealt craftily with our race and forced our ancestors to abandon their infants so that they would die.

²⁰At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful before God. For three months he was brought up in his father’s house;

²¹and when he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

²²So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.

²³“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his relatives, the Israelites.

²⁴When he saw one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.

²⁵He supposed that his kinsfolk would understand that God through him was rescuing them, but they did not understand.

²⁶The next day he came to some of them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong each other?’

²⁷But the man who was wronging his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

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

²⁹When he heard this, Moses fled and became a resident alien in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.

³⁰“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.

³¹When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to look, there came the voice of the Lord:

³²‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.

³³Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

³⁴I have surely seen the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵“It was this Moses whom they rejected when they said, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ and whom God now sent as both ruler and liberator through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

³⁶He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

³⁷This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up a prophet for you from your own people as he raised me up.’

³⁸He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living oracles to give to us.

³⁹Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,

⁴⁰saying to Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will lead the way for us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’

⁴¹At that time they made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned away from them and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you offer to me slain victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

⁴³No; you took along the tent of Moloch, and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; so I will remove you beyond Babylon.’

⁴⁴“Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.

⁴⁵Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David,

⁴⁶who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.

⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

⁴⁸Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands; as the prophet says,

⁴⁹‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?

⁵⁰Did not my hand make all these things?’

⁵¹“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.

⁵²Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers.

⁵³You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.”

⁵⁴When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.

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

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

⁵⁷But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.

⁵⁸Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

⁶⁰Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.