Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.

²He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

³Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.

⁴Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.

⁵Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’

⁶And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.

⁷Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house.

⁸Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you;

⁹cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

¹⁰But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say,

¹¹‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’

¹²I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.

¹³“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

¹⁴But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

¹⁵And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.

¹⁶“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

¹⁷The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”

¹⁸He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.

¹⁹See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.

²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

²¹At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

²²All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

²³Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!

²⁴For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

²⁵Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”

²⁷He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

²⁸And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.

³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

³²So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

³³But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.

³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

³⁵The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’

³⁶Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

³⁷He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

³⁸Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.

³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.

⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.”

⁴¹But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;

⁴²there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

¹Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

²And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.

³Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

⁴Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

⁵And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.

⁶For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

⁷God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.

⁸So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

⁹Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.

¹⁰You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.

¹¹I will provide for you there — since there are five more years of famine to come — so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’

¹²And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you.

¹³You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.”

¹⁴Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck.

¹⁵And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” Pharaoh and his servants were pleased.

¹⁷Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your animals and go back to the land of Canaan.

¹⁸Take your father and your households and come to me, so that I may give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you may enjoy the fat of the land.’

¹⁹You are further charged to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

²⁰Give no thought to your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons according to the instruction of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey.

²²To each one of them he gave a set of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of garments.

²³To his father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey.

²⁴Then he sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Do not quarrel along the way.”

²⁵So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.

²⁶And they told him, “Joseph is still alive! He is even ruler over all the land of Egypt.” He was stunned; he could not believe them.

²⁷But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

²⁸Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die.”

¹Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

²Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.

³By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

⁴By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks.

⁵By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.”

⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

⁷By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.

⁸By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.

⁹By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

¹⁰For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

¹¹By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old — and Sarah herself was barren — because he considered him faithful who had promised.

¹²Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

¹³All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,

¹⁴for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

¹⁵If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.

¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son,

¹⁸of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”

¹⁹He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead — and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

²⁰By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau.

²¹By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, “bowing in worship over the top of his staff.”

²²By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.

²³By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

²⁴By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter,

²⁵choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

²⁶He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward.

²⁷By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger; for he persevered as though he saw him who is invisible.

²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

²⁹By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.

³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.

³¹By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.

³²And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets —

³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,

³⁴quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

³⁵Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.

³⁶Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

³⁷They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented —

³⁸of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised,

⁴⁰since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.

¹My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

²and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

³Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments.

⁴Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist;

⁵but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him:

⁶whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.

⁷Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard.

⁸Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

⁹Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.

¹⁰Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling.

¹¹But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.

¹²I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven on account of his name.

¹³I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, because you have conquered the evil one.

¹⁴I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

¹⁵Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world;

¹⁶for all that is in the world — the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches — comes not from the Father but from the world.

¹⁷And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour.

¹⁹They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us.

²⁰But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge.

²¹I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth.

²²Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

²³No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also.

²⁴Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.

²⁵And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.

²⁶I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you.

²⁷As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.

²⁸And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.

²⁹If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right has been born of him.

¹Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. Look, the tears of the oppressed — with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power — with no one to comfort them.

²And I thought the dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive;

³but better than both is the one who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

⁴Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from one person’s envy of another. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

⁵Fools fold their hands and consume their own flesh.

⁶Better is a handful with quiet than two handfuls with toil, and a chasing after wind.

⁷Again, I saw vanity under the sun:

⁸the case of solitary individuals, without sons or brothers; yet there is no end to all their toil, and their eyes are never satisfied with riches. “For whom am I toiling,” they ask, “and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.

⁹Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.

¹⁰For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.

¹¹Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?

¹²And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

¹³Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king, who will no longer take advice.

¹⁴One can indeed come out of prison to reign, even though born poor in the kingdom.

¹⁵I saw all the living who, moving about under the sun, follow that youth who replaced the king;

¹⁶there was no end to all those people whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

¹God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

²“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

³Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.

⁴Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

⁵They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk around in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶I say, “You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you;

⁷nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince.”

⁸Rise up, O God, judge the earth; for all the nations belong to you!

¹A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

²The tongue of the wise dispenses knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

³The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

⁴A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

⁵A fool despises a parent’s instruction, but the one who heeds admonition is prudent.

⁶In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked.

⁷The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the minds of fools.

⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

⁹The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but he loves the one who pursues righteousness.

¹⁰There is severe discipline for one who forsakes the way, but one who hates a rebuke will die.

¹¹Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD, how much more human hearts!

¹²Scoffers do not like to be rebuked; they will not go to the wise.

¹³A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.

¹⁴The mind of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

¹⁵All the days of the poor are hard, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

¹⁶Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it.

¹⁷Better is a dinner of vegetables where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it.

¹⁸Those who are hot-tempered stir up strife, but those who are slow to anger calm contention.

¹⁹The way of the lazy is overgrown with thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.

²⁰A wise child makes a glad father, but the foolish despise their mothers.

²¹Folly is a joy to one who has no sense, but a person of understanding walks straight ahead.

²²Without counsel, plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed.

²³To make an apt answer is a joy to anyone, and a word in season, how good it is!

²⁴For the wise the path of life leads upward, in order to avoid Sheol below.

²⁵The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but maintains the widow’s boundaries.

²⁶Evil plans are an abomination to the LORD, but gracious words are pure.

²⁷Those who are greedy for unjust gain make trouble for their households, but those who hate bribes will live.

²⁸The mind of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil.

²⁹The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

³⁰The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the body.

³¹The ear that heeds wholesome admonition will lodge among the wise.

³²Those who ignore instruction despise themselves, but those who heed admonition gain understanding.

³³The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor.

¹Now when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had built the wall and that there was no gap left in it (though up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),

²Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm.

³So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you?”

⁴They sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.

⁵In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand.

⁶In it was written, “It is reported among the nations — and Geshem also says it — that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall; and according to this report you wish to become their king.

⁷You have also set up prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘There is a king in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these words. So come, therefore, and let us confer together.”

⁸Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done; you are inventing them out of your own mind”

⁹— for they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

¹⁰One day when I went into the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, tonight they are coming to kill you.”

¹¹But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Would a man like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!”

¹²Then I perceived and saw that God had not sent him at all, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

¹³He was hired for this purpose, to intimidate me and make me sin by acting in this way, and so they could give me a bad name, in order to taunt me.

¹⁴Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

¹⁵So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.

¹⁶And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem; for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

¹⁷Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.

¹⁸For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.

¹⁹Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence, and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

¹In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying:

²Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say,

³Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?

⁴Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD; work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts,

⁵according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear.

⁶For thus says the LORD of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land;

⁷and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the LORD of hosts.

⁸The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts.

⁹The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts.

¹⁰On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying:

¹¹Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests for a ruling:

¹²If one carries consecrated meat in the fold of one’s garment, and with the fold touches bread, or stew, or wine, or oil, or any kind of food, does it become holy? The priests answered, “No.”

¹³Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered, “Yes, it becomes unclean.”

¹⁴Haggai then said, So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, says the LORD; and so with every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.

¹⁵But now, consider what will come to pass from this day on. Before a stone was placed upon a stone in the LORD’s temple,

¹⁶how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty.

¹⁷I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and mildew and hail; yet you did not return to me, says the LORD.

¹⁸Consider from this day on, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider:

¹⁹Is there any seed left in the barn? Do the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still yield nothing? From this day on I will bless you.

²⁰The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month:

²¹Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth,

²²and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders; and the horses and their riders shall fall, every one by the sword of a comrade.

²³On that day, says the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, son of Shealtiel, says the LORD, and make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you, says the LORD of hosts.

¹And Saul approved of their killing him. Saul Persecutes the Church That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.

²Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him.

³But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.

⁴Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word.

⁵Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them.

⁶The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did,

⁷for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured.

⁸So there was great joy in that city.

⁹Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great.

¹⁰All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.”

¹¹And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

¹²But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

¹³Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.

¹⁴Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

¹⁵The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit

¹⁶(for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus).

¹⁷Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

¹⁹saying, “Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money!

²¹You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God.

²²Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.”

²⁴Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.”

²⁵Now after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.)

²⁷So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship

²⁸and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.”

³⁰So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

³²Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.

³³In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”

³⁴The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

³⁵Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.

³⁶As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.