Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

²He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say, Father, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come.

³Give us each day our daily bread.

⁴And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not bring us into temptation.”

⁵He also said to them: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

⁶because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’

⁷Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’

⁸I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?

¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

¹³If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

¹⁴Now he was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed.

¹⁵But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”

¹⁶And others, as a test, were demanding of him a sign from heaven.

¹⁷Knowing their thoughts, he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls.

¹⁸If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul.

¹⁹And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

²⁰If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²¹When a strong man, fully armed, guards his estate, his possessions are secure.

²²But when one stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he takes from him all his weapons he trusted in, and divides up his plunder.

²³Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters.

²⁴“When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest, and not finding rest, it then says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’

²⁵Returning, it finds the house swept and put in order.

²⁶Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that person’s last condition is worse than the first.”

²⁷As he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the one who nursed you!”

²⁸He said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”

²⁹As the crowds were increasing, he began saying: “This generation is an evil generation. It demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

³⁰For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

³¹The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and look — something greater than Solomon is here.

³²The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s preaching, and look — something greater than Jonah is here.

³³“No one lights a lamp and puts it in the cellar or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see its light.

³⁴Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness.

³⁵Take care, then, that the light in you is not darkness.

³⁶If, therefore, your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be entirely illuminated, as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

³⁷As he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So he went in and reclined at the table.

³⁸When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that he did not first perform the ritual washing before dinner.

³⁹But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil.

⁴⁰Fools! Didn’t he who made the outside make the inside too?

⁴¹But give from what is within to the poor, and then everything is clean for you.

⁴²“But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God. These things you should have done without neglecting the others.

⁴³“Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

⁴⁴“Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves; the people who walk over them don’t know it.”

⁴⁵One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult us too.”

⁴⁶Then he said: “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, and yet you yourselves don’t touch these burdens with one of your fingers.

⁴⁷“Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

⁴⁸Therefore, you are witnesses that you approve the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their monuments.

⁴⁹Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’

⁵⁰so that this generation may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world — 

⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. “Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible.

⁵²“Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn’t go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were trying to go in.”

⁵³When he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to cross-examine him about many things;

⁵⁴they were lying in wait for him to trap him in something he said.

¹Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, and he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

²That night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” he said. And Jacob replied, “Here I am.”

³God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.

⁴I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back. Joseph will close your eyes when you die.”

⁵Jacob left Beer-sheba. The sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him, along with their dependents and their wives.

⁶They also took their cattle and possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Then Jacob and all his offspring with him came to Egypt.

⁷His sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters, indeed all his offspring, he brought with him to Egypt.

⁸These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt  — Jacob and his sons: Jacob’s firstborn: Reuben.

⁹Reuben’s sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

¹⁰Simeon’s sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.

¹¹Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹²Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

¹³Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron.

¹⁴Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

¹⁵These were Leah’s sons born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, as well as his daughter Dinah. The total number of persons: thirty-three.

¹⁶Gad’s sons: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

¹⁷Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malchiel.

¹⁸These were the sons of Zilpah — whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah — that she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons.

¹⁹The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁰Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. They were born to him by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, a priest at On.

²¹Benjamin’s sons: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

²²These were Rachel’s sons who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons.

²³Dan’s son: Hushim.

²⁴Naphtali’s sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

²⁵These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. She bore to Jacob: seven persons.

²⁶The total number of persons belonging to Jacob — his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons — who came to Egypt: sixty-six.

²⁷And Joseph’s sons who were born to him in Egypt: two persons. All those of Jacob’s household who came to Egypt: seventy persons.

²⁸Now Jacob had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to prepare for his arrival at Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen,

²⁹Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, threw his arms around him, and wept for a long time.

³⁰Then Israel said to Joseph, “I’m ready to die now because I have seen your face and you are still alive!”

³¹Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s family, “I will go up and inform Pharaoh, telling him, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.

³²The men are shepherds; they also raise livestock. They have brought their flocks and herds and all that they have.’

³³When Pharaoh addresses you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’

³⁴you are to say, ‘Your servants, both we and our fathers, have raised livestock from our youth until now.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to Egyptians.”

¹Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,

²keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up.

⁴In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

⁵And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by him,

⁶for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and punishes every son he receives.

⁷Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?

⁸But if you are without discipline — which all receive  — then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

⁹Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?

¹⁰For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but he does it for our benefit, so that we can share his holiness.

¹¹No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

¹²Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees,

¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.

¹⁴Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness  — without it no one will see the Lord.

¹⁵Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and defiling many.

¹⁶And make sure that there isn’t any immoral or irreverent person like Esau, who sold his birthright in exchange for a single meal.

¹⁷For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, even though he sought it with tears, because he didn’t find any opportunity for repentance.

¹⁸For you have not come to what could be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, gloom, and storm,

¹⁹to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words. Those who heard it begged that not another word be spoken to them,

²⁰for they could not bear what was commanded: If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.

²¹The appearance was so terrifying that Moses said, I am trembling with fear.

²²Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels, a festive gathering,

²³to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to a Judge, who is God of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect,

²⁴and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel.

²⁵See to it that you do not reject the one who speaks. For if they did not escape when they rejected him who warned them on earth, even less will we if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven.

²⁶His voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.

²⁷This expression, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what can be shaken  — that is, created things — so that what is not shaken might remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,

²⁹for our God is a consuming fire.

¹See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children — and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him.

²Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.

³And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.

⁴Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

⁵You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins, and there is no sin in him.

⁶Everyone who remains in him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen him or known him.

⁷Children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

⁸The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works.

⁹Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.

¹⁰This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.

¹¹For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another,

¹²unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

¹³Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.

¹⁵Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

¹⁶This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

¹⁷If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him — how does God’s love reside in him?

¹⁸Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.

¹⁹This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him

²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.

²¹Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God

²²and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.

²³Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us.

²⁴The one who keeps his commands remains in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he has given us.

¹Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to approach in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong.

²Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

³Just as dreams accompany much labor, so also a fool’s voice comes with many words.

⁴When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because he does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow.

⁵Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it.

⁶Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

⁷For many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.

⁸If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, don’t be astonished at the situation, because one official protects another official, and higher officials protect them.

⁹The profit from the land is taken by all; the king is served by the field.

¹⁰The one who loves silver is never satisfied with silver, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile.

¹¹When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes?

¹²The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep.

¹³There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

¹⁴That wealth was lost in a bad venture, so when he fathered a son, he was empty-handed.

¹⁵As he came from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came; he will take nothing for his efforts that he can carry in his hands.

¹⁶This too is a sickening tragedy: exactly as he comes, so he will go. What does the one gain who struggles for the wind?

¹⁷What is more, he eats in darkness all his days, with much frustration, sickness, and anger.

¹⁸Here is what I have seen to be good: It is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward.

¹⁹Furthermore, everyone to whom God has given riches and wealth, he has also allowed him to enjoy them, take his reward, and rejoice in his labor. This is a gift of God,

²⁰for he does not often consider the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

¹A song. A psalm of Asaph. [1] God, do not keep silent. Do not be deaf, God; do not be quiet.

²See how your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have acted arrogantly.

³They devise clever schemes against your people; they conspire against your treasured ones.

⁴They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation so that Israel’s name will no longer be remembered.”

⁵For they have conspired with one mind; they form an alliance against you  —

⁶the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,

⁷Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.

⁸Even Assyria has joined them; they lend support to the sons of Lot. Selah

⁹Deal with them as you did with Midian, as you did with Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.

¹⁰They were destroyed at En-dor; they became manure for the ground.

¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their tribal leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna,

¹²who said, “Let us seize God’s pastures for ourselves.”

¹³Make them like tumbleweed, my God, like straw before the wind.

¹⁴As fire burns a forest, as a flame blazes through mountains,

¹⁵so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm.

¹⁶Cover their faces with shame so that they will seek your name, LORD.

¹⁷Let them be put to shame and terrified forever; let them perish in disgrace.

¹⁸May they know that you alone — whose name is the LORD  — are the Most High over the whole earth.

¹The reflections of the heart belong to mankind, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

²All a person’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs motives.

³Commit your activities to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

⁴The LORD has prepared everything for his purpose — even the wicked for the day of disaster.

⁵Everyone with a proud heart is detestable to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.

⁶Iniquity is atoned for by loyalty and faithfulness, and one turns from evil by the fear of the LORD.

⁷When a person’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

⁸Better a little with righteousness than great income with injustice.

⁹A person’s heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps.

¹⁰God’s verdict is on the lips of a king; his mouth should not give an unfair judgment.

¹¹Honest balances and scales are the LORD’s; all the weights in the bag are his concern.

¹²Wicked behavior is detestable to kings, since a throne is established through righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are a king’s delight, and he loves one who speaks honestly.

¹⁴A king’s fury is a messenger of death, but a wise person appeases it.

¹⁵When a king’s face lights up, there is life; his favor is like a cloud with spring rain.

¹⁶Get wisdom — how much better it is than gold! And get understanding — it is preferable to silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright avoids evil; the one who guards his way protects his life.

¹⁸Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

¹⁹Better to be lowly of spirit with the humble than to divide plunder with the proud.

²⁰The one who understands a matter finds success, and the one who trusts in the LORD will be happy.

²¹Anyone with a wise heart is called discerning, and pleasant speech increases learning.

²²Insight is a fountain of life for its possessor, but the discipline of fools is folly.

²³The heart of a wise person instructs his mouth; it adds learning to his speech.

²⁴Pleasant words are a honeycomb: sweet to the taste and health to the body.

²⁵There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.

²⁶A worker’s appetite works for him because his hunger urges him on.

²⁷A worthless person digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸A contrary person spreads conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.

²⁹A violent person lures his neighbor, leading him on a path that is not good.

³⁰The one who narrows his eyes is planning deceptions; the one who compresses his lips brings about evil.

³¹Gray hair is a glorious crown; it is found in the ways of righteousness.

³²Patience is better than power, and controlling one’s emotions, than capturing a city.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

¹When the wall had been rebuilt and I had the doors installed, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.

²Then I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah, commander of the fortress, because he was a faithful man who feared God more than most.

³I said to them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot, and let the doors be shut and securely fastened while the guards are on duty. Station the citizens of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some at their homes.”

⁴The city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and no houses had been built yet.

⁵Then my God put it into my mind to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be registered by genealogy. I found the genealogical record of those who came back first, and I found the following written in it:

⁶These are the people of the province who went up among the captive exiles deported by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Each of them returned to Jerusalem and Judah, to his own town.

⁷They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The number of the Israelite men included

⁸Parosh’s descendants — 2,172

⁹Shephatiah’s descendants — 372

¹⁰Arah’s descendants — 652

¹¹Pahath-moab’s descendants: Jeshua’s and Joab’s descendants — 2,818

¹²Elam’s descendants — 1,254

¹³Zattu’s descendants — 845

¹⁴Zaccai’s descendants — 760

¹⁵Binnui’s descendants — 648

¹⁶Bebai’s descendants — 628

¹⁷Azgad’s descendants — 2,322

¹⁸Adonikam’s descendants — 667

¹⁹Bigvai’s descendants — 2,067

²⁰Adin’s descendants — 655

²¹Ater’s descendants: of Hezekiah — 98

²²Hashum’s descendants — 328

²³Bezai’s descendants — 324

²⁴Hariph’s descendants — 112

²⁵Gibeon’s descendants — 95

²⁶Bethlehem’s and Netophah’s men — 188

²⁷Anathoth’s men — 128

²⁸Beth-azmaveth’s men — 42

²⁹Kiriath-jearim’s, Chephirah’s, and Beeroth’s men — 743

³⁰Ramah’s and Geba’s men — 621

³¹Michmas’s men — 122

³²Bethel’s and Ai’s men — 123

³³the other Nebo’s men — 52

³⁴the other Elam’s people — 1,254

³⁵Harim’s people — 320

³⁶Jericho’s people — 345

³⁷Lod’s, Hadid’s, and Ono’s people — 721

³⁸Senaah’s people — 3,930.

³⁹The priests included Jedaiah’s descendants of the house of Jeshua — 973

⁴⁰Immer’s descendants — 1,052

⁴¹Pashhur’s descendants — 1,247

⁴²Harim’s descendants — 1,017.

⁴³The Levites included Jeshua’s descendants: of Kadmiel Hodevah’s descendants — 74.

⁴⁴The singers included Asaph’s descendants — 148.

⁴⁵The gatekeepers included Shallum’s descendants, Ater’s descendants, Talmon’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants, Hatita’s descendants, Shobai’s descendants — 138.

⁴⁶The temple servants included Ziha’s descendants, Hasupha’s descendants, Tabbaoth’s descendants,

⁴⁷Keros’s descendants, Sia’s descendants, Padon’s descendants,

⁴⁸Lebanah’s descendants, Hagabah’s descendants, Shalmai’s descendants,

⁴⁹Hanan’s descendants, Giddel’s descendants, Gahar’s descendants,

⁵⁰Reaiah’s descendants, Rezin’s descendants, Nekoda’s descendants,

⁵¹Gazzam’s descendants, Uzza’s descendants, Paseah’s descendants,

⁵²Besai’s descendants, Meunim’s descendants, Nephishesim’s descendants,

⁵³Bakbuk’s descendants, Hakupha’s descendants, Harhur’s descendants,

⁵⁴Bazlith’s descendants, Mehida’s descendants, Harsha’s descendants,

⁵⁵Barkos’s descendants, Sisera’s descendants, Temah’s descendants,

⁵⁶Neziah’s descendants, Hatipha’s descendants.

⁵⁷The descendants of Solomon’s servants included Sotai’s descendants, Sophereth’s descendants, Perida’s descendants,

⁵⁸Jaala’s descendants, Darkon’s descendants, Giddel’s descendants,

⁵⁹Shephatiah’s descendants, Hattil’s descendants, Pochereth-hazzebaim’s descendants, Amon’s descendants.

⁶⁰All the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants — 392.

⁶¹The following are those who came from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but were unable to prove that their ancestral families and their lineage were Israelite:

⁶²Delaiah’s descendants, Tobiah’s descendants, and Nekoda’s descendants — 642

⁶³and from the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai — who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and who bore their name.

⁶⁴These searched for their entries in the genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were disqualified from the priesthood.

⁶⁵The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁶The whole combined assembly numbered — 42,360

⁶⁷not including their 7,337 male and female servants, as well as their 245 male and female singers.

⁶⁸They had 736 horses, 245 mules,

⁶⁹435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

⁷⁰Some of the family heads contributed to the project. The governor gave 1,000 gold coins, 50 bowls, and 530 priestly garments to the treasury.

⁷¹Some of the family heads gave 20,000 gold coins and 2,200 silver minas to the treasury for the project.

⁷²The rest of the people gave 20,000 gold coins, 2,000 silver minas, and 67 priestly garments.

⁷³The priests, Levites, gatekeepers, temple singers, some of the people, temple servants, and all Israel settled in their towns. When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,

¹In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo:

²“The LORD was extremely angry with your ancestors.

³So tell the people, ‘This is what the LORD of Armies says: Return to me — this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies — and I will return to you, says the LORD of Armies.

⁴Do not be like your ancestors; the earlier prophets proclaimed to them: This is what the LORD of Armies says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they did not listen or pay attention to me — this is the LORD’s declaration.

⁵Where are your ancestors now? And do the prophets live forever?

⁶But didn’t my words and my statutes that I commanded my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors? ’” So the people repented and said, “As the LORD of Armies decided to deal with us for our ways and our deeds, so he has dealt with us.”

⁷On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo:

⁸I looked out in the night and saw a man riding on a chestnut horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the valley. Behind him were chestnut, brown, and white horses.

⁹I asked, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who was talking to me replied, “I will show you what they are.”

¹⁰Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.”

¹¹They reported to the angel of the LORD standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and right now the whole earth is calm and quiet.”

¹²Then the angel of the LORD responded, “How long, LORD of Armies, will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that you have been angry with these seventy years?”

¹³The LORD replied with kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.

¹⁴So the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim: The LORD of Armies says: I am extremely jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.

¹⁵I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease, for I was a little angry, but they made the destruction worse.

¹⁶Therefore, this is what the LORD says: In mercy, I have returned to Jerusalem; my house will be rebuilt within it — this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies — and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.

¹⁷“Proclaim further: This is what the LORD of Armies says: My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will once more comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”

¹⁸Then I looked up and saw four horns.

¹⁹So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

²⁰Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.

²¹I asked, “What are they coming to do?” He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so no one could raise his head. These craftsmen have come to terrify them, to cut off the horns of the nations that raised a horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

¹Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest

²and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

³As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.

⁴Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

⁵“Who are you, Lord?” Saul said. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied.

⁶“But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one.

⁸Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.

⁹He was unable to see for three days and did not eat or drink.

¹⁰There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” “Here I am, Lord,” he replied.

¹¹“Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there.

¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.”

¹³“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.

¹⁴And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites.

¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

¹⁷Ananias went and entered the house. He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

¹⁹And after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some time.

²⁰Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.”

²¹All who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn’t this the man in Jerusalem who was causing havoc for those who called on this name and came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

²²But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

²³After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him,

²⁴but Saul learned of their plot. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him,

²⁵but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the wall.

²⁶When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple.

²⁷Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.

²⁸Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him.

³⁰When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

³²As Peter was traveling from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda.

³³There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years.

³⁴Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed,” and immediately he got up.

³⁵So all who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

³⁶In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which is translated Dorcas). She was always doing good works and acts of charity.

³⁷About that time she became sick and died. After washing her, they placed her in a room upstairs.

³⁸Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there and sent two men to him who urged him, “Don’t delay in coming with us.”

³⁹Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they led him to the room upstairs. And all the widows approached him, weeping and showing him the robes and clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with them.

⁴⁰Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down, prayed, and turning toward the body said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.

⁴¹He gave her his hand and helped her stand up. He called the saints and widows and presented her alive.

⁴²This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

⁴³Peter stayed for some time in Joppa with Simon, a leather tanner.