Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

²And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘ Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.

³Give us each day our daily bread.

⁴And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation.’ ”

⁵And He 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,

⁶because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to serve him’;

⁷and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my childrenand I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’

⁸I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet because of hisshamelessness 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 it will be opened to you.

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

¹¹Nowwhich one of you fathers will his son ask for afish, and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake?

¹²Or he will even ask for an egg, and his father will give him a scorpion?

¹³So if you, despite beingevil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more willyour heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

¹⁴And He was casting out a mute demon; when the demon had gone out, the man who was previously unable to speak talked, and the crowds were amazed.

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

¹⁶Others, to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven.

¹⁷But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided againstitself falls.

¹⁸And if Satan also has been divided against himself, how will his kingdomstand? For you claim that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul.

¹⁹Yet if by Beelzebul I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges.

²⁰But if I cast out the demons bythe finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²¹Whena strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions aresecure.

²²But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, that man takes away his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder.

²³The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

²⁴“When the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it then says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’

²⁵And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.

²⁶Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come in and live there; and the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first.”

²⁷While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that carried You, and the breasts at which You nursed!”

²⁸But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and follow it.”

²⁹Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it demands asign, and so nosign will be given to it except thesign of Jonah.

³⁰For just as Jonah became asign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

³¹The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

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

³³“No one lights a lamp and puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.

³⁴Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye isclear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it isbad, your body also is full of darkness.

³⁵So watch out that the light in you is not darkness.

³⁶Therefore if your whole body is full of light, without any dark part, it will be wholly illuminated, as when the lamp illuminates you with its light.”

³⁷Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee *asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in and reclined at the table.

³⁸When the Pharisee saw this, he was surprised that Jesus had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.

³⁹But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish; but your inside is full of greed and wickedness.

⁴⁰You foolish ones, did He who made the outside not make the inside also?

⁴¹But give that which is within as a charitable gift, andthen all things are clean for you.

⁴²“But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint, rue, and every kind of garden herb, and yet you ignore justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

⁴³Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the seat of honor in the synagogues and personal greetings in the marketplaces.

⁴⁴Woe to you! For you are likeunseen tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

⁴⁵One of the lawyers *said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.”

⁴⁶But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you load people with burdens that are hard to bear,while you yourselves will not eventouch the burdens with one of your fingers.

⁴⁷Woe to you! For you build thetombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them.

⁴⁸So you are witnesses and you approve of the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build theirtombs.

⁴⁹For this reason also, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they willpersecute,

⁵⁰so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be chargedagainst this generation,

⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be chargedagainst this generation.’

⁵²Woe to youlawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

⁵³When He left that place, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to interrogate Him about many subjects,

⁵⁴plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.

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

²And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”

³Then He 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 assuredly bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes.”

⁵Then Jacob left Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

⁶They also took their livestock and their possessions, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him:

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

⁸Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.

⁹And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

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

¹¹And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹²And the sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

¹³And the sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvvah, Iob, and Shimron.

¹⁴And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

¹⁵These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah; all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

¹⁶And the sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

¹⁷And the sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.

¹⁸These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and she bore to Jacob these sixteen persons.

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

²⁰Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.

²¹And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

²²These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; there were fourteen persons in all.

²³And the sons of Dan: Hushim.

²⁴And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

²⁵These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob; there were seven persons in all.

²⁶All the people belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all,

²⁷and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the people of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.

²⁸Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph, to guide him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

²⁹And Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared to him, Joseph threw himself on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.

³⁰Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”

³¹But Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me;

³²and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’

³³When Pharaoh calls for you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’

³⁴you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock since our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

¹Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us,

²looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

⁴You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;

⁵and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE PUNISHED BY HIM;

⁶FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE PUNISHES EVERY SON WHOM HE ACCEPTS.”

⁷It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

⁸But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

⁹Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

¹⁰For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.

¹¹For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

¹²Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,

¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is impaired may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

¹⁴Pursue peace with all people, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

¹⁵See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

¹⁶that there be no sexually immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

¹⁷For you know that even afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

¹⁸For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,

¹⁹and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words, which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.

²⁰For they could not cope with the command, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.”

²¹And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.”

²²But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,

²³to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

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

²⁵See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns us from heaven.

²⁶And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.”

²⁷This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

²⁹for our God is a consuming fire.

¹See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him.

²Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

³And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

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

⁵You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.

⁶No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.

⁷Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;

⁸the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

⁹No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God.

¹⁰By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.

¹¹For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another;

¹²not as Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.

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

¹⁴We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the 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 remaining in him.

¹⁶We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters.

¹⁷But whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him?

¹⁸Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

¹⁹We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him,

²⁰that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things.

²¹Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

²²and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

²³This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.

²⁴The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

¹Guard your steps as you go to the house of God, and approach to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know that they are doing evil.

²Do not be quick with your mouth or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.

³For the dream comes through much effort, and the voice of a fool through many words.

⁴When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow!

⁵It is better that you not vow, than vow and not pay.

⁶Do not let your speech cause you to sin, and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?

⁷For in many dreams and in many words there is futility. Rather, fear God.

⁸If you see oppression of the poor and denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be shocked at the sight; for one official watches over another official, and there are higher officials over them.

⁹After all, a king who cultivates the field is beneficial to the land.

¹⁰One who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor one who loves abundance with its income. This too is futility.

¹¹When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look at them?

¹²The sleep of the laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach of the rich person does not allow him to sleep.

¹³There is a sickening evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth being hoarded by its owner to his detriment.

¹⁴When that wealth was lost through bad business and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him.

¹⁵As he came naked from his mother’s womb, so he will return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.

¹⁶This also is a sickening evil: exactly as a person is born, so will he die. What then is the advantage for him who labors for the wind?

¹⁷All his life he also eats in darkness with great irritation, sickness, and anger.

¹⁸Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink, and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he labors under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.

¹⁹Furthermore, as for every person to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also given him the opportunity to enjoy them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.

²⁰For he will not often call to mind the years of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

¹God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, God, do not be still.

²For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, And those who hate You have exalted themselves.

³They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones.

⁴They have said, “Come, and let’s wipe them out as a nation, So that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.”

⁵For they have conspired together with one mind; They make a covenant against You:

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

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

⁸Assyria also has joined them; They have become a help to the children of Lot. Selah

⁹Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera and Jabin at the river of Kishon,

¹⁰Who were destroyed at En-dor, Who became like dung for the ground.

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

¹²Who said, “Let’s possess for ourselves The pastures of God.”

¹³My God, make them like the whirling dust, Like chaff before the wind.

¹⁴Like fire that burns the forest, And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire,

¹⁵So pursue them with Your heavy gale, And terrify them with Your storm.

¹⁶Fill their faces with dishonor, So that they will seek Your name, LORD.

¹⁷May they be ashamed and dismayed forever, And may they be humiliated and perish,

¹⁸So that they will know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.

¹The plans of the heart belong to a person, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

²All the ways of a person are clean in his own sight, But the LORD examines the motives.

³Commit your works to the LORD, And your plans will be established.

⁴The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.

⁵Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Be assured, he will not go unpunished.

⁶By mercy and truth atonement is made for wrongdoing, And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.

⁷When a person’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, He causes even his enemies to make peace with him.

⁸Better is a little with righteousness Than great income with injustice.

⁹The mind of a person plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

¹⁰A divine verdict is on the lips of the king; His mouth should not err in judgment.

¹¹A just balance and scales belong to the LORD; All the weights of the bag are His concern.

¹²It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts, Because a throne is established on righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are the delight of kings, And one who speaks right is loved.

¹⁴The fury of a king is like messengers of death; But a wise person will appease it.

¹⁵In the light of a king’s face is life, And his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain.

¹⁶How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright is to turn away from evil; One who watches his way protects his life.

¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

¹⁹It is better to be humble in spirit with the needy Than to divide the spoils with the proud.

²⁰One who pays attention to the word will find good, And blessed is one who trusts in the LORD.

²¹The wise in heart will be called understanding, And sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.

²²Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, But the discipline of fools is foolishness.

²³The heart of the wise instructs his mouth And adds persuasiveness to his lips.

²⁴Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

²⁵There is a way which seems right to a person, But its end is the way of death.

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

²⁷A worthless person digs up evil, While his words are like scorching fire.

²⁸A perverse person spreads strife, And a slanderer separates close friends.

²⁹A person of violence entices his neighbor And leads him in a way that is not good.

³⁰He who winks his eyes does so to devise perverse things; He who compresses his lips brings evil to pass.

³¹A gray head is a crown of glory; It is found in the way of righteousness.

³²One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And one who rules his spirit, than one who captures a city.

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

¹Now when the wall was rebuilt and I had installed the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites were appointed,

²then I put Hanani my brother, and Hananiah the commander of the citadel, in charge of Jerusalem, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.

³Then I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot, and while they are standing guard, the gatekeepers are to keep the doors shut and bolted. Also appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each at his post, and each in front of his own house.”

⁴Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few and the houses were not built.

⁵Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the other people to be enrolled by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up first, in which I found the following record:

⁶These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken into exile, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city,

⁷who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The number of men of the people of Israel:

⁸the sons of Parosh, 2,172;

⁹the sons of Shephatiah, 372;

¹⁰the sons of Arah, 652;

¹¹the sons of Pahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818;

¹²the sons of Elam, 1,254;

¹³the sons of Zattu, 845;

¹⁴the sons of Zaccai, 760;

¹⁵the sons of Binnui, 648;

¹⁶the sons of Bebai, 628;

¹⁷the sons of Azgad, 2,322;

¹⁸the sons of Adonikam, 667;

¹⁹the sons of Bigvai, 2,067;

²⁰the sons of Adin, 655;

²¹the sons of Ater, of Hezekiah, 98;

²²the sons of Hashum, 328;

²³the sons of Bezai, 324;

²⁴the sons of Hariph, 112;

²⁵the sons of Gibeon, 95;

²⁶the men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188;

²⁷the men of Anathoth, 128;

²⁸the men of Beth-azmaveth, 42;

²⁹the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;

³⁰the men of Ramah and Geba, 621;

³¹the men of Michmas, 122;

³²the men of Bethel and Ai, 123;

³³the men of the other Nebo, 52;

³⁴the sons of the other Elam, 1,254;

³⁵the sons of Harim, 320;

³⁶the men of Jericho, 345;

³⁷the sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721;

³⁸the sons of Senaah, 3,930.

³⁹The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973;

⁴⁰the sons of Immer, 1,052;

⁴¹the sons of Pashhur, 1,247;

⁴²the sons of Harim, 1,017.

⁴³The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodevah, 74.

⁴⁴The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148.

⁴⁵The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138.

⁴⁶The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth,

⁴⁷the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon,

⁴⁸the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Shalmai,

⁴⁹the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar,

⁵⁰the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda,

⁵¹the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah,

⁵²the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephushesim,

⁵³the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur,

⁵⁴the sons of Bazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha,

⁵⁵the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah,

⁵⁶the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.

⁵⁷The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida,

⁵⁸the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,

⁵⁹the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Amon.

⁶⁰All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants totaled 392.

⁶¹These were the ones who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer; but they could not provide evidence for their fathers’ households or their descendants, whether they were of Israel:

⁶²the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642.

⁶³And of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and was named after them.

⁶⁴These searched among their ancestral registration, but it could not be located; therefore they were considered unclean and disqualified from the priesthood.

⁶⁵And the governor said to them that they were not to eat from the most holy things until a priest arose with Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁶The whole assembly together totaled 42,360,

⁶⁷besides their male slaves and their female slaves, of whom there were 7,337; and they had 245 male and female singers.

⁶⁸Their horses were 736; their mules, 245;

⁶⁹their camels, 435; their donkeys, 6,720.

⁷⁰Some of the heads of fathers’ households gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury a thousand gold drachmas, fifty basins, and 530 priests’ garments.

⁷¹And some of the heads of fathers’ households gave to the treasury for the work twenty thousand gold drachmas and 2,200 silver minas.

⁷²What the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand gold drachmas, two thousand silver minas, and sixty-seven priests’ garments.

⁷³Now the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel lived in their cities. And when the seventh month came, the sons of Israel were in their cities.

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

²“The LORD was very angry with your fathers.

³Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the LORD of armies says: “Return to Me,” declares the LORD of armies, “that I may return to you,” says the LORD of armies.

⁴“Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘This is what the LORD of armies says: “Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.” ’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me,” declares the LORD.

⁵“Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?

⁶But did My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, not overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of armies planned to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’ ” ’ ”

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

⁸I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel, and white horses behind him.

⁹Then I said, “What are these, my lord?” And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”

¹⁰And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees responded and said, “These are the ones whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.”

¹¹So they responded to the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees and said, “We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is still and quiet.”

¹²Then the angel of the LORD said, “LORD of armies, how long will You take no pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been indignant for these seventy years?”

¹³And the LORD responded to the angel who was speaking with me with gracious words, comforting words.

¹⁴So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘This is what the LORD of armies says: “I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.

¹⁵But I am very angry with the nations who are carefree; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster.”

¹⁶Therefore the LORD says this: “I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it,” declares the LORD of armies, “and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.” ’

¹⁷Again, proclaim, saying, ‘This is what the LORD of armies says: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.” ’ ”

¹⁸Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns.

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

²⁰Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.

²¹And I said, “What are these coming to do?” And he said, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah so that no one lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to frighten them, to throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”

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

²and asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them in shackles to Jerusalem.

³Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;

⁴and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

⁵And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

⁶but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.”

⁷The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

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

⁹And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying,

¹²and he has seenin a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”

¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints in Jerusalem;

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

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a choseninstrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

¹⁶for I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.”

¹⁷So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸And immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;

¹⁹and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were in Damascus,

²⁰and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

²¹All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

²²But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

²³When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him,

²⁴but their plot became known to Saul. They were also closely watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death;

²⁵but his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

²⁶When he came to Jerusalem, he tried repeatedly to associate with the disciples; and yet they were all afraid of him, as they did not believe that he was a disciple.

²⁷But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus at Damascus.

²⁸And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death.

³⁰Now when the brothers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

³¹So the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, as it was being built up; and as it continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it kept increasing.

³²Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he also came down to the saints who lived at Lydda.

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

³⁴Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your own bed.” Immediately he got up.

³⁵And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

³⁶Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means Dorcas); this woman was excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually.

³⁷But it happened at that time that she became sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upstairs room.

³⁸Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Do not delay in coming to us.”

³⁹So Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the room upstairs; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.

⁴⁰But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

⁴¹And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

⁴²It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

⁴³And Peter stayed in Joppa many days with a tanner named Simon.