Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.

²So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

³“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg—

⁴I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

⁵“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

⁶“ ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

⁷“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

⁸“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.

⁹I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

¹⁰“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

¹¹So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

¹²And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

¹³“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

¹⁴The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.

¹⁵He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.

¹⁶“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.

¹⁷It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

¹⁸“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

¹⁹“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.

²⁰At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores

²¹and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²²“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

²³In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

²⁴So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

²⁵“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

²⁶And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

²⁷“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family,

²⁸for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

³⁰“ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

¹These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah;

³Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin;

⁴Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.

⁵The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,

⁷but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

⁸Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.

⁹“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us.

¹⁰Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”

¹¹So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

¹²But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites

¹³and worked them ruthlessly.

¹⁴They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

¹⁵The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

¹⁶“When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”

¹⁷The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.

¹⁸Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

¹⁹The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

²⁰So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.

²¹And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

²²Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

¹What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?

²If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.

³What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

⁴Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.

⁵However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

⁶David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

⁸Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

⁹Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.

¹⁰Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!

¹¹And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.

¹²And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

¹³It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

¹⁴For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless,

¹⁵because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

¹⁷As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

¹⁸Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

¹⁹Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.

²⁰Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

²¹being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

²²This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

²³The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone,

²⁴but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

²⁵He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

¹Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

²Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

³Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.

⁴For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

⁵Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.

⁶And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

⁷In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

⁸In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings.

⁹But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

¹⁰Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

¹¹Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

¹²These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.

¹³They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁴Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones

¹⁵to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

¹⁶These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

¹⁷But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.

¹⁸They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”

¹⁹These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

²⁰But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,

²¹keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

²²Be merciful to those who doubt;

²³save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

²⁴To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—

²⁵to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

¹As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

²The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.

³Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are.

⁴If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great offenses to rest.

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler:

⁶Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones.

⁷I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.

⁸Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

⁹Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.

¹⁰If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.

¹¹If a snake bites before it is charmed, the charmer receives no fee.

¹²Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips.

¹³At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness—

¹⁴and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming— who can tell someone else what will happen after them?

¹⁵The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town.

¹⁶Woe to the land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning.

¹⁷Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time— for strength and not for drunkenness.

¹⁸Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks.

¹⁹A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry, and money is the answer for everything.

²⁰Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

¹A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. LORD, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you.

²May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.

³I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death.

⁴I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength.

⁵I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.

⁶You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.

⁷Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.

⁸You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;

⁹my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.

¹⁰Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

¹¹Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction?

¹²Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

¹³But I cry to you for help, LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you.

¹⁴Why, LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?

¹⁵From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

¹⁶Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.

¹⁷All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.

¹⁸You have taken from me friend and neighbor— darkness is my closest friend.

¹In the LORD’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.

²A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart.

³To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

⁴Haughty eyes and a proud heart— the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

⁶A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.

⁷The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is right.

⁸The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

⁹Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

¹⁰The wicked crave evil; their neighbors get no mercy from them.

¹¹When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.

¹²The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin.

¹³Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

¹⁴A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.

¹⁵When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

¹⁶Whoever strays from the path of prudence comes to rest in the company of the dead.

¹⁷Whoever loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.

¹⁸The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright.

¹⁹Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.

²⁰The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.

²¹Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.

²²One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty and pull down the stronghold in which they trust.

²³Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.

²⁴The proud and arrogant person—“Mocker” is his name— behaves with insolent fury.

²⁵The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.

²⁶All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable— how much more so when brought with evil intent!

²⁸A false witness will perish, but a careful listener will testify successfully.

²⁹The wicked put up a bold front, but the upright give thought to their ways.

³⁰There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.

³¹The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.

¹These were the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Joshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

²Amariah, Malluk, Hattush,

³Shekaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,

⁴Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,

⁵Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah,

⁶Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,

⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah and Jedaiah. These were the leaders of the priests and their associates in the days of Joshua.

⁸The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and also Mattaniah, who, together with his associates, was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving.

⁹Bakbukiah and Unni, their associates, stood opposite them in the services.

¹⁰Joshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada,

¹¹Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua.

¹²In the days of Joiakim, these were the heads of the priestly families: of Seraiah’s family, Meraiah; of Jeremiah’s, Hananiah;

¹³of Ezra’s, Meshullam; of Amariah’s, Jehohanan;

¹⁴of Malluk’s, Jonathan; of Shekaniah’s, Joseph;

¹⁵of Harim’s, Adna; of Meremoth’s, Helkai;

¹⁶of Iddo’s, Zechariah; of Ginnethon’s, Meshullam;

¹⁷of Abijah’s, Zikri; of Miniamin’s and of Moadiah’s, Piltai;

¹⁸of Bilgah’s, Shammua; of Shemaiah’s, Jehonathan;

¹⁹of Joiarib’s, Mattenai; of Jedaiah’s, Uzzi;

²⁰of Sallu’s, Kallai; of Amok’s, Eber;

²¹of Hilkiah’s, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah’s, Nethanel.

²²The family heads of the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan and Jaddua, as well as those of the priests, were recorded in the reign of Darius the Persian.

²³The family heads among the descendants of Levi up to the time of Johanan son of Eliashib were recorded in the book of the annals.

²⁴And the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their associates, who stood opposite them to give praise and thanksgiving, one section responding to the other, as prescribed by David the man of God.

²⁵Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates.

²⁶They served in the days of Joiakim son of Joshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest, the teacher of the Law.

²⁷At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres.

²⁸The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem—from the villages of the Netophathites,

²⁹from Beth Gilgal, and from the area of Geba and Azmaveth, for the musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem.

³⁰When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall.

³¹I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed on top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate.

³²Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed them,

³³along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,

³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah,

³⁵as well as some priests with trumpets, and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zakkur, the son of Asaph,

³⁶and his associates—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani—with musical instruments prescribed by David the man of God. Ezra the teacher of the Law led the procession.

³⁷At the Fountain Gate they continued directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the site of David’s palace to the Water Gate on the east.

³⁸The second choir proceeded in the opposite direction. I followed them on top of the wall, together with half the people—past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall,

³⁹over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. At the Gate of the Guard they stopped.

⁴⁰The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God; so did I, together with half the officials,

⁴¹as well as the priests—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah with their trumpets—

⁴²and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam and Ezer. The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah.

⁴³And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

⁴⁴At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes. From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites.

⁴⁵They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did also the musicians and gatekeepers, according to the commands of David and his son Solomon.

⁴⁶For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the musicians and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

⁴⁷So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the musicians and the gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.

¹I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze.

²The first chariot had red horses, the second black,

³the third white, and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful.

⁴I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.

⁶The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

⁷When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth. And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.

⁸Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit rest in the land of the north.”

⁹The word of the LORD came to me:

¹⁰“Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon. Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.

¹¹Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak.

¹²Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD.

¹³It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’

¹⁴The crown will be given to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of the LORD.

¹⁵Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the LORD your God.”

¹At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.

²But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

³So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.

⁴The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles.

⁵There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.

⁶But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country,

⁷where they continued to preach the gospel.

⁸In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked.

⁹He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed

¹⁰and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

¹¹When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.

¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

¹⁴But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:

¹⁵“Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

¹⁶In the past, he let all nations go their own way.

¹⁷Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”

¹⁸Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.

²⁰But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

²¹They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch,

²²strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

²³Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

²⁴After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia,

²⁵and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

²⁶From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

²⁷On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

²⁸And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.