Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²He 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 forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

⁵And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;

⁶for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’

⁷And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’

⁸I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

⁹“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.

¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish?

¹²Or if the child asks for an egg, will give 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 casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed.

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

¹⁶Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven.

¹⁷But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house.

¹⁸If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? — for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul.

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

²⁰But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

²¹When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe.

²²But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder.

²³Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

²⁴“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’

²⁵When it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.

²⁶Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

²⁷While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!”

²⁸But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”

²⁹When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it asks for 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 the Son of Man will be to this generation.

³¹The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!

³²The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!

³³“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar, but on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.

³⁴Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness.

³⁵Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness.

³⁶If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.”

³⁷While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table.

³⁸The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner.

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

⁴⁰You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?

⁴¹So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you.

⁴²“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others.

⁴³Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.

⁴⁴Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.”

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

⁴⁶And he said, “Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them.

⁴⁷Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed.

⁴⁸So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs.

⁴⁹Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’

⁵⁰so that this generation may be charged with 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, it will be charged against this generation.

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

⁵³When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward him and to cross-examine him about many things,

⁵⁴lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

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

²God 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 of you a great nation there.

⁴I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.”

⁵Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

⁶They also took their livestock and the goods that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him,

⁷his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

⁸Now these are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his offspring, who came to Egypt. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn,

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

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

¹¹The children of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

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

¹³The children of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron.

¹⁴The children of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel

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

¹⁶The children of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

¹⁷The children of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. The children of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel

¹⁸(these are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and these she bore to Jacob — sixteen persons).

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

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

²¹The children of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard

²²(these are the children of Rachel, who were born to Jacob — fourteen persons in all).

²³The children of Dan: Hashum.

²⁴The children of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem

²⁵(these are the children of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and these she bore to Jacob — seven persons in all).

²⁶All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own offspring, not including the wives of his sons, were sixty-six persons in all.

²⁷The children of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.

²⁸Israel sent Judah ahead to Joseph to lead the way before him into Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen,

²⁹Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. He presented himself to him, fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

³⁰Israel said to Joseph, “I can die now, having seen for myself that you are still alive.”

³¹Joseph 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.

³²The 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 you, and says, ‘What is your occupation?’

³⁴you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our ancestors’ — in order that you may settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians.”

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,

²looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

³Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

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

⁵And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children — “My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him;

⁶for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.”

⁷Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline?

⁸If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children.

⁹Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to 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, in order that we may share his holiness.

¹¹Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

¹²Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,

¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

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

¹⁵See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled.

¹⁶See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

¹⁷You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing with tears.

¹⁸You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest,

¹⁹and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them.

²⁰(For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.”

²¹Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”)

²²But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,

²³and to the assembly 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 that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!

²⁶At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.”

²⁷This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken — that is, created things — so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe;

²⁹for indeed our God is a consuming fire.

¹See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

²Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.

³And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

⁴Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

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

⁶No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.

⁷Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

⁸Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

⁹Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God.

¹⁰The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.

¹¹For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

¹²We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.

¹³Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you.

¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death.

¹⁵All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them.

¹⁶We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us — and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.

¹⁷How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

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

¹⁹And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him

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

²¹Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God;

²²and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

²³And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

²⁴All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

¹Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil.

²Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.

³For dreams come with many cares, and a fool’s voice with many words.

⁴When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you vow.

⁵It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not fulfill it.

⁶Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your words, and destroy the work of your hands?

⁷With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words; but fear God.

⁸If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and right, do not be amazed at the matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.

⁹But all things considered, this is an advantage for a land: a king for a plowed field.

¹⁰The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.

¹¹When goods increase, those who eat them increase; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

¹²Sweet is the sleep of laborers, whether they eat little or much; but the surfeit of the rich will not let them sleep.

¹³There is a grievous ill that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt,

¹⁴and those riches were lost in a bad venture; though they are parents of children, they have nothing in their hands.

¹⁵As they came from their mother’s womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil, which they may carry away with their hands.

¹⁶This also is a grievous ill: just as they came, so shall they go; and what gain do they have from toiling for the wind?

¹⁷Besides, all their days they eat in darkness, in much vexation and sickness and resentment.

¹⁸This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot.

¹⁹Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil — this is the gift of God.

²⁰For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives, because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts.

¹O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!

²Even now your enemies are in tumult; those who hate you have raised their heads.

³They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against those you protect.

⁴They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

⁵They conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant —

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

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

⁸Assyria also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah

⁹Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the Wadi Kishon,

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

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

¹²who said, “Let us take the pastures of God for our own possession.”

¹³O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind.

¹⁴As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,

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

¹⁶Fill their faces with shame, so that they may seek your name, O LORD.

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

¹⁸Let them know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.

¹The plans of the mind belong to mortals, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

²All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.

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

⁴The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

⁵All those who are arrogant are an abomination to the LORD; be assured, they will not go unpunished.

⁶By loyalty and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one avoids evil.

⁷When the ways of people please the LORD, he causes even their enemies to be at peace with them.

⁸Better is a little with righteousness than large income with injustice.

⁹The human mind plans the way, but the LORD directs the steps.

¹⁰Inspired decisions are on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment.

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

¹²It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves those who speak what is right.

¹⁴A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, and whoever is wise will appease it.

¹⁵In the light of a king’s face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.

¹⁶How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their way preserve their lives.

¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹⁹It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.

²⁰Those who are attentive to a matter will prosper, and happy are those who trust in the LORD.

²¹The wise of heart is called perceptive, and pleasant speech increases persuasiveness.

²²Wisdom is a fountain of life to one who has it, but folly is the punishment of fools.

²³The mind of the wise makes their speech judicious, and adds persuasiveness to their lips.

²⁴Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

²⁵Sometimes there is a way that seems to be right, but in the end it is the way to death.

²⁶The appetite of workers works for them; their hunger urges them on.

²⁷Scoundrels concoct evil, and their speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸A perverse person spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.

²⁹The violent entice their neighbors, and lead them in a way that is not good.

³⁰One who winks the eyes plans perverse things; one who compresses the lips brings evil to pass.

³¹Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.

³²One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and one whose temper is controlled than one who captures a city.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is the LORD’s alone.

¹Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed,

²I gave my brother Hanani charge over Jerusalem, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel — for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.

³And I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot; while the gatekeepers are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their watch posts, and others before their own houses.”

⁴The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few and no houses had been built.

⁵Then my God put it into my mind to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who were the first to come back, and I found the following written in it:

⁶These are the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried into exile; they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town.

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

⁸the descendants of Parosh, two thousand one hundred seventy-two.

⁹Of Shephatiah, three hundred seventy-two.

¹⁰Of Arah, six hundred fifty-two.

¹¹Of Pahath-moab, namely the descendants of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred eighteen.

¹²Of Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four.

¹³Of Zattu, eight hundred forty-five.

¹⁴Of Zaccai, seven hundred sixty.

¹⁵Of Binnui, six hundred forty-eight.

¹⁶Of Bebai, six hundred twenty-eight.

¹⁷Of Azgad, two thousand three hundred twenty-two.

¹⁸Of Adonikam, six hundred sixty-seven.

¹⁹Of Bigvai, two thousand sixty-seven.

²⁰Of Adin, six hundred fifty-five.

²¹Of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, ninety-eight.

²²Of Hashum, three hundred twenty-eight.

²³Of Bezai, three hundred twenty-four.

²⁴Of Hariph, one hundred twelve.

²⁵Of Gibeon, ninety-five.

²⁶The people of Bethlehem and Netophah, one hundred eighty-eight.

²⁷Of Anathoth, one hundred twenty-eight.

²⁸Of Beth-azmaveth, forty-two.

²⁹Of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred forty-three.

³⁰Of Ramah and Geba, six hundred twenty-one.

³¹Of Michmas, one hundred twenty-two.

³²Of Bethel and Ai, one hundred twenty-three.

³³Of the other Nebo, fifty-two.

³⁴The descendants of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four.

³⁵Of Harim, three hundred twenty.

³⁶Of Jericho, three hundred forty-five.

³⁷Of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty-one.

³⁸Of Senaah, three thousand nine hundred thirty.

³⁹The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy-three.

⁴⁰Of Immer, one thousand fifty-two.

⁴¹Of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred forty-seven.

⁴²Of Harim, one thousand seventeen.

⁴³The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the descendants of Hodevah, seventy-four.

⁴⁴The singers: the descendants of Asaph, one hundred forty-eight.

⁴⁵The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, of Ater, of Talmon, of Akkub, of Hatita, of Shobai, one hundred thirty-eight.

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

⁴⁷of Keros, of Sia, of Padon,

⁴⁸of Lebana, of Hagaba, of Shalmai,

⁴⁹of Hanan, of Giddel, of Gahar,

⁵⁰of Reaiah, of Rezin, of Nekoda,

⁵¹of Gazzam, of Uzza, of Paseah,

⁵²of Besai, of Meunim, of Nephushesim,

⁵³of Bakbuk, of Hakupha, of Harhur,

⁵⁴of Bazlith, of Mehida, of Harsha,

⁵⁵of Barkos, of Sisera, of Temah,

⁵⁶of Neziah, of Hatipha.

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

⁵⁸of Jaala, of Darkon, of Giddel,

⁵⁹of Shephatiah, of Hattil, of Pochereth-hazzebaim, of Amon.

⁶⁰All the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants were three hundred ninety-two.

⁶¹The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove their ancestral houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel:

⁶²the descendants of Delaiah, of Tobiah, of Nekoda, six hundred forty-two.

⁶³Also, of the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, of Hakkoz, of Barzillai (who had married one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name).

⁶⁴These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean;

⁶⁵the governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until a priest with Urim and Thummim should come.

⁶⁶The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred sixty,

⁶⁷besides their male and female slaves, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven; and they had two hundred forty-five singers, male and female.

⁶⁸They had seven hundred thirty-six horses, two hundred forty-five mules,

⁶⁹four hundred thirty-five camels, and six thousand seven hundred twenty donkeys.

⁷⁰Now some of the heads of ancestral houses contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury one thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, and five hundred thirty priestly robes.

⁷¹And some of the heads of ancestral houses gave into the building fund twenty thousand darics of gold and two thousand two hundred minas of silver.

⁷²And what the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold, two thousand minas of silver, and sixty-seven priestly robes.

⁷³So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel settled in their towns. Ezra Summons the People to Obey the Law When the seventh month came — the people of Israel being 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, saying:

²The LORD was very angry with your ancestors.

³Therefore say to them, Thus says the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.

⁴Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.” But they did not hear or heed me, says the LORD.

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

⁶But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your ancestors? So they repented and said, “The LORD of hosts has dealt with us according to our ways and deeds, just as he planned to do.”

⁷On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, 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; and Zechariah said,

⁸In the night I saw a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.

⁹Then I said, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.”

¹⁰So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, “They are those whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.”

¹¹Then they spoke to the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and lo, the whole earth remains at peace.”

¹²Then the angel of the LORD said, “O LORD of hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?”

¹³Then the LORD replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.

¹⁴So the angel who talked with me said to me, Proclaim this message: Thus says the LORD of hosts; I am very jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion.

¹⁵And I am extremely angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they made the disaster worse.

¹⁶Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.

¹⁷Proclaim further: Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.

¹⁸And I looked up and saw four horns.

¹⁹I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he answered me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

²⁰Then the LORD showed me four blacksmiths.

²¹And I asked, “What are they coming to do?” He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no head could be raised; but these have come to terrify them, to strike down the horns of the nations that lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”

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

²and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

³Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

⁵He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

⁶But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

⁷The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.

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

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

¹⁰Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying,

¹²and he has seen in 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 about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem;

¹⁴and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel;

¹⁶I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

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

¹⁸And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized,

¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul Preaches in Damascus For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,

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

²¹All who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

²²Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah.

²³After some time had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,

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

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

²⁶When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

²⁷But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.

²⁸So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him.

³⁰When the believers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

³²Now as Peter went here and there among all the believers, he came down also to the saints living in Lydda.

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

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

³⁵And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

³⁶Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity.

³⁷At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs.

³⁸Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.”

³⁹So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them.

⁴⁰Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.

⁴¹He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive.

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

⁴³Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.