Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

² Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

³Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

⁴“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.

⁵But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

⁷Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

⁸“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God,

⁹but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

¹⁰And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

¹¹ And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say,

¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

¹⁵And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

¹⁶And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,

¹⁷and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’

¹⁸And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

¹⁹And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’

²⁰But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

²¹So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

²²And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.

²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

²⁴ Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

²⁵And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

²⁶If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?

²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

²⁸But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

²⁹And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.

³⁰For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

³¹Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

³² “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

³³ Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

³⁴ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

³⁵ “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning,

³⁶and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

³⁸If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!

³⁹ But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.

⁴⁰You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?”

⁴²And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?

⁴³ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

⁴⁴Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

⁴⁵But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,

⁴⁶the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.

⁴⁷ And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.

⁴⁸ But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

⁴⁹ “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!

⁵⁰ I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!

⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

⁵²For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.

⁵³They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens.

⁵⁵And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.

⁵⁶You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

⁵⁷“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?

⁵⁸ As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison.

⁵⁹I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

¹So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.”

²And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh.

³Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.”

⁴They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

⁵Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.

⁶The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

⁷Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

⁸And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?”

⁹And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.”

¹⁰And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

¹¹Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

¹²And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

¹³Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine.

¹⁴And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

¹⁵And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.”

¹⁶And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.”

¹⁷So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.

¹⁸And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land.

¹⁹Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

²⁰So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh's.

²¹As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other.

²²Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.

²³Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.

²⁴And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.”

²⁵And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.”

²⁶So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's.

²⁷Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

²⁸And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

²⁹And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt,

³⁰but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

¹Let brotherly love continue.

²Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

³Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

⁴Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

⁵Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

⁶So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

⁷Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

⁹Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.

¹⁰We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.

¹¹For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.

¹²So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.

¹³Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.

¹⁴For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

¹⁵Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

¹⁶Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

¹⁸Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.

¹⁹I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

²⁰Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,

²¹equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²²I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

²³You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon.

²⁴Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.

²⁵Grace be with all of you.

¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

²By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

³and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

⁴Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

⁵They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.

⁶We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

⁸Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

⁹In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

¹⁰In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

¹³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

¹⁵Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

¹⁶So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

¹⁷By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

¹⁹We love because he first loved us.

²⁰If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

²¹And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

¹There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind:

²a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.

³If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

⁴For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered.

⁵Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he.

⁶Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good — do not all go to the one place?

⁷All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.

⁸For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living?

⁹Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹⁰Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he.

¹¹The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man?

¹²For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?

¹How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!

²My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

³Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.

⁴Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah

⁵Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

⁶As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.

⁷They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.

⁸O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

⁹Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!

¹⁰For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

¹¹For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

¹²O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!

¹Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.

³The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.

⁴An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

⁵Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.

⁷Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince.

⁸A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns he prospers.

⁹Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

¹⁰A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.

¹¹An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹²Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly.

¹³If anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.

¹⁵He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.

¹⁶Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁸One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.

¹⁹Whoever loves transgression loves strife; he who makes his door high seeks destruction.

²⁰A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.

²¹He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.

²²A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

²³The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.

²⁶To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

²⁷Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

¹And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel.

²So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month.

³And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

⁴And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand.

⁵And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood.

⁶And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

⁷Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places.

⁸They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

⁹And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.

¹⁰Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

¹¹So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.”

¹²And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

¹³On the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law.

¹⁴And they found it written in the Law that the LORD had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,

¹⁵and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.”

¹⁶So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim.

¹⁷And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing.

¹⁸And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.

¹And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand!

²Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”

³And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him

⁴and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it.

⁵And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

⁶Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the LORD.

⁷Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.

⁸For thus said the LORD of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye:

⁹“Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me.

¹⁰Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD.

¹¹And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.

¹²And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”

¹³Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

¹At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort,

²a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.

³About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.”

⁴And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

⁵And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter.

⁶He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him,

⁸and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.

¹⁰And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance

¹¹and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth.

¹²In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.

¹³And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”

¹⁵And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

¹⁷Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate

¹⁸and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there.

¹⁹And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

²⁰Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.”

²¹And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?”

²²And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.”

²³So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

²⁴And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.

²⁶But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.”

²⁷And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered.

²⁸And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

²⁹So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

³⁰And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing

³¹and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.

³²Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’

³³So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

³⁴So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,

³⁵but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

³⁶As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),

³⁷you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed:

³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

³⁹And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,

⁴⁰but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear,

⁴¹not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

⁴²And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

⁴³To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.

⁴⁵And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.

⁴⁶For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared,

⁴⁷“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

⁴⁸And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.