Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting!

²It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin.

³So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.

⁴Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”

⁶The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!

⁷“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’?

⁸No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’

⁹And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not.

¹⁰In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

¹¹As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria.

¹²As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance,

¹³crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

¹⁴He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.

¹⁵One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!”

¹⁶He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?

¹⁸Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

¹⁹And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you. ”

²⁰One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs.

²¹You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you. ”

²²Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it.

²³People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them.

²⁴For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes.

²⁵But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.

²⁷In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸“And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business — eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building —

²⁹until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

³⁰Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

³¹On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home.

³²Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!

³³If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.

³⁴That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left.

³⁵Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. ”

³⁶

³⁷“Where will this happen, Lord?” the disciples asked. Jesus replied, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.”

¹About this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married.

²The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months.

³But when she could no longer hide him, she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River.

⁴The baby’s sister then stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him.

⁵Soon Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, and her attendants walked along the riverbank. When the princess saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her.

⁶When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. The little boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This must be one of the Hebrew children,” she said.

⁷Then the baby’s sister approached the princess. “Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” she asked.

⁸“Yes, do!” the princess replied. So the girl went and called the baby’s mother.

⁹“Take this baby and nurse him for me,” the princess told the baby’s mother. “I will pay you for your help.” So the woman took her baby home and nursed him.

¹⁰Later, when the boy was older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son. The princess named him Moses, for she explained, “I lifted him out of the water.”

¹¹Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews.

¹²After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand.

¹³The next day, when Moses went out to visit his people again, he saw two Hebrew men fighting. “Why are you beating up your friend?” Moses said to the one who had started the fight.

¹⁴The man replied, “Who appointed you to be our prince and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?” Then Moses was afraid, thinking, “Everyone knows what I did.”

¹⁵And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian. When Moses arrived in Midian, he sat down beside a well.

¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters who came as usual to draw water and fill the water troughs for their father’s flocks.

¹⁷But some other shepherds came and chased them away. So Moses jumped up and rescued the girls from the shepherds. Then he drew water for their flocks.

¹⁸When the girls returned to Reuel, their father, he asked, “Why are you back so soon today?”

¹⁹“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered. “And then he drew water for us and watered our flocks.”

²⁰“Then where is he?” their father asked. “Why did you leave him there? Invite him to come and eat with us.”

²¹Moses accepted the invitation, and he settled there with him. In time, Reuel gave Moses his daughter Zipporah to be his wife.

²²Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, for he explained, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

²³Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God.

²⁴God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

²⁵He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.

¹Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

²Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

³We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.

⁴And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

⁵And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

⁶When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

⁷Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.

⁸But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

⁹And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.

¹⁰For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

¹¹So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

¹²When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

¹³Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.

¹⁴Still, everyone died — from the time of Adam to the time of Moses — even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.

¹⁵But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁶And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.

¹⁷For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

¹⁹Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

²⁰God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.

²¹So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John,

²who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

³God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.

⁴This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne;

⁵and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us.

⁶He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

⁷Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him — even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen!

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega — the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come — the Almighty One.”

⁹I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus.

¹⁰It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast.

¹¹It said, “Write in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹²When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands.

¹³And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest.

¹⁴His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire.

¹⁵His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.

¹⁶He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last.

¹⁸I am the living one. I died, but look — I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

¹⁹“Write down what you have seen — both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.

²⁰This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

¹Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.

²But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.

³When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.

⁴Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

⁵Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

⁶Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another — or maybe both.

⁷Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning.

⁸When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless.

⁹Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do.

¹⁰So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.

¹I will sing of the LORD’s unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness.

²Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.

³The LORD said, “I have made a covenant with David, my chosen servant. I have sworn this oath to him:

⁴‘I will establish your descendants as kings forever; they will sit on your throne from now until eternity.’” Interlude

⁵All heaven will praise your great wonders, LORD; myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness.

⁶For who in all of heaven can compare with the LORD? What mightiest angel is anything like the LORD?

⁷The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.

⁸O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O LORD? You are entirely faithful.

⁹You rule the oceans. You subdue their storm-tossed waves.

¹⁰You crushed the great sea monster. You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

¹¹The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; everything in the world is yours — you created it all.

¹²You created north and south. Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon praise your name.

¹³Powerful is your arm! Strong is your hand! Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.

¹⁴Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.

¹⁵Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, LORD.

¹⁶They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation. They exult in your righteousness.

¹⁷You are their glorious strength. It pleases you to make us strong.

¹⁸Yes, our protection comes from the LORD, and he, the Holy One of Israel, has given us our king.

¹⁹Long ago you spoke in a vision to your faithful people. You said, “I have raised up a warrior. I have selected him from the common people to be king.

²⁰I have found my servant David. I have anointed him with my holy oil.

²¹I will steady him with my hand; with my powerful arm I will make him strong.

²²His enemies will not defeat him, nor will the wicked overpower him.

²³I will beat down his adversaries before him and destroy those who hate him.

²⁴My faithfulness and unfailing love will be with him, and by my authority he will grow in power.

²⁵I will extend his rule over the sea, his dominion over the rivers.

²⁶And he will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’

²⁷I will make him my firstborn son, the mightiest king on earth.

²⁸I will love him and be kind to him forever; my covenant with him will never end.

²⁹I will preserve an heir for him; his throne will be as endless as the days of heaven.

³⁰But if his descendants forsake my instructions and fail to obey my regulations,

³¹if they do not obey my decrees and fail to keep my commands,

³²then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their disobedience with beating.

³³But I will never stop loving him nor fail to keep my promise to him.

³⁴No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back a single word I said.

³⁵I have sworn an oath to David, and in my holiness I cannot lie:

³⁶His dynasty will go on forever; his kingdom will endure as the sun.

³⁷It will be as eternal as the moon, my faithful witness in the sky!” Interlude

³⁸But now you have rejected him and cast him off. You are angry with your anointed king.

³⁹You have renounced your covenant with him; you have thrown his crown in the dust.

⁴⁰You have broken down the walls protecting him and ruined every fort defending him.

⁴¹Everyone who comes along has robbed him, and he has become a joke to his neighbors.

⁴²You have strengthened his enemies and made them all rejoice.

⁴³You have made his sword useless and refused to help him in battle.

⁴⁴You have ended his splendor and overturned his throne.

⁴⁵You have made him old before his time and publicly disgraced him. Interlude

⁴⁶O LORD, how long will this go on? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your anger burn like fire?

⁴⁷Remember how short my life is, how empty and futile this human existence!

⁴⁸No one can live forever; all will die. No one can escape the power of the grave. Interlude

⁴⁹Lord, where is your unfailing love? You promised it to David with a faithful pledge.

⁵⁰Consider, Lord, how your servants are disgraced! I carry in my heart the insults of so many people.

⁵¹Your enemies have mocked me, O LORD; they mock your anointed king wherever he goes.

⁵²Praise the LORD forever! Amen and amen!

¹Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.

²The rich and poor have this in common: The LORD made them both.

³A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

⁴True humility and fear of the LORD lead to riches, honor, and long life.

⁵Corrupt people walk a thorny, treacherous road; whoever values life will avoid it.

⁶Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

⁷Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸Those who plant injustice will harvest disaster, and their reign of terror will come to an end.

⁹Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.

¹⁰Throw out the mocker, and fighting goes, too. Quarrels and insults will disappear.

¹¹Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the king as a friend.

¹²The LORD preserves those with knowledge, but he ruins the plans of the treacherous.

¹³The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!”

¹⁴The mouth of an immoral woman is a dangerous trap; those who make the LORD angry will fall into it.

¹⁵A youngster’s heart is filled with foolishness, but physical discipline will drive it far away.

¹⁶A person who gets ahead by oppressing the poor or by showering gifts on the rich will end in poverty.

¹⁷Listen to the words of the wise; apply your heart to my instruction.

¹⁸For it is good to keep these sayings in your heart and always ready on your lips.

¹⁹I am teaching you today — yes, you — so you will trust in the LORD.

²⁰I have written thirty sayings for you, filled with advice and knowledge.

²¹In this way, you may know the truth and take an accurate report to those who sent you.

²²Don’t rob the poor just because you can, or exploit the needy in court.

²³For the LORD is their defender. He will ruin anyone who ruins them.

²⁴Don’t befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people,

²⁵or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul.

²⁶Don’t agree to guarantee another person’s debt or put up security for someone else.

²⁷If you can’t pay it, even your bed will be snatched from under you.

²⁸Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers set up by previous generations.

²⁹Do you see any truly competent workers? They will serve kings rather than working for ordinary people.

¹On that same day, as the Book of Moses was being read to the people, the passage was found that said no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be permitted to enter the assembly of God.

²For they had not provided the Israelites with food and water in the wilderness. Instead, they hired Balaam to curse them, though our God turned the curse into a blessing.

³When this passage of the Law was read, all those of foreign descent were immediately excluded from the assembly.

⁴Before this had happened, Eliashib the priest, who had been appointed as supervisor of the storerooms of the Temple of our God and who was also a relative of Tobiah,

⁵had converted a large storage room and placed it at Tobiah’s disposal. The room had previously been used for storing the grain offerings, the frankincense, various articles for the Temple, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil (which were prescribed for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers), as well as the offerings for the priests.

⁶I was not in Jerusalem at that time, for I had returned to King Artaxerxes of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign, though I later asked his permission to return.

⁷When I arrived back in Jerusalem, I learned about Eliashib’s evil deed in providing Tobiah with a room in the courtyards of the Temple of God.

⁸I became very upset and threw all of Tobiah’s belongings out of the room.

⁹Then I demanded that the rooms be purified, and I brought back the articles for God’s Temple, the grain offerings, and the frankincense.

¹⁰I also discovered that the Levites had not been given their prescribed portions of food, so they and the singers who were to conduct the worship services had all returned to work their fields.

¹¹I immediately confronted the leaders and demanded, “Why has the Temple of God been neglected?” Then I called all the Levites back again and restored them to their proper duties.

¹²And once more all the people of Judah began bringing their tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil to the Temple storerooms.

¹³I assigned supervisors for the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah, one of the Levites. And I appointed Hanan son of Zaccur and grandson of Mattaniah as their assistant. These men had an excellent reputation, and it was their job to make honest distributions to their fellow Levites.

¹⁴Remember this good deed, O my God, and do not forget all that I have faithfully done for the Temple of my God and its services.

¹⁵In those days I saw men of Judah treading out their winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also bringing in grain, loading it on donkeys, and bringing their wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of produce to Jerusalem to sell on the Sabbath. So I rebuked them for selling their produce on that day.

¹⁶Some men from Tyre, who lived in Jerusalem, were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise. They were selling it on the Sabbath to the people of Judah — and in Jerusalem at that!

¹⁷So I confronted the nobles of Judah. “Why are you profaning the Sabbath in this evil way?” I asked.

¹⁸“Wasn’t it just this sort of thing that your ancestors did that caused our God to bring all this trouble upon us and our city? Now you are bringing even more wrath upon Israel by permitting the Sabbath to be desecrated in this way!”

¹⁹Then I commanded that the gates of Jerusalem should be shut as darkness fell every Friday evening, not to be opened until the Sabbath ended. I sent some of my own servants to guard the gates so that no merchandise could be brought in on the Sabbath day.

²⁰The merchants and tradesmen with a variety of wares camped outside Jerusalem once or twice.

²¹But I spoke sharply to them and said, “What are you doing out here, camping around the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you!” And that was the last time they came on the Sabbath.

²²Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and to guard the gates in order to preserve the holiness of the Sabbath. Remember this good deed also, O my God! Have compassion on me according to your great and unfailing love.

²³About the same time I realized that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

²⁴Furthermore, half their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of some other people and could not speak the language of Judah at all.

²⁵So I confronted them and called down curses on them. I beat some of them and pulled out their hair. I made them swear in the name of God that they would not let their children intermarry with the pagan people of the land.

²⁶“Wasn’t this exactly what led King Solomon of Israel into sin?” I demanded. “There was no king from any nation who could compare to him, and God loved him and made him king over all Israel. But even he was led into sin by his foreign wives.

²⁷How could you even think of committing this sinful deed and acting unfaithfully toward God by marrying foreign women?”

²⁸One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest had married a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, so I banished him from my presence.

²⁹Remember them, O my God, for they have defiled the priesthood and the solemn vows of the priests and Levites.

³⁰So I purged out everything foreign and assigned tasks to the priests and Levites, making certain that each knew his work.

³¹I also made sure that the supply of wood for the altar and the first portions of the harvest were brought at the proper times. Remember this in my favor, O my God.

¹On December 7 of the fourth year of King Darius’s reign, another message came to Zechariah from the LORD.

²The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech, along with their attendants, to seek the LORD’s favor.

³They were to ask this question of the prophets and the priests at the Temple of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies: “Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction, as we have done for so many years?”

⁴The LORD of Heaven’s Armies sent me this message in reply:

⁵“Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting?

⁶And even now in your holy festivals, aren’t you eating and drinking just to please yourselves?

⁷Isn’t this the same message the LORD proclaimed through the prophets in years past when Jerusalem and the towns of Judah were bustling with people, and the Negev and the foothills of Judah were well populated?’”

⁸Then this message came to Zechariah from the LORD:

⁹“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another.

¹⁰Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.

¹¹“Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing.

¹²They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the LORD of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.

¹³“Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

¹⁴As with a whirlwind, I scattered them among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. They turned their pleasant land into a desert.”

¹While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers : “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

²Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question.

³The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them — much to everyone’s joy — that the Gentiles, too, were being converted.

⁴When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them.

⁵But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”

⁶So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue.

⁷At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe.

⁸God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.

⁹He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith.

¹⁰So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?

¹¹We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”

¹²Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

¹³When they had finished, James stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me.

¹⁴Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself.

¹⁵And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written:

¹⁶‘Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house of David. I will rebuild its ruins and restore it,

¹⁷so that the rest of humanity might seek the LORD, including the Gentiles — all those I have called to be mine. The LORD has spoken —

¹⁸he who made these things known so long ago.’

¹⁹“And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

²⁰Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood.

²¹For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.”

²²Then the apostles and elders together with the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders — Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas.

²³This is the letter they took with them: “This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!

²⁴“We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but we did not send them!

²⁵So we decided, having come to complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

²⁶who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁷We are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided concerning your question.

²⁸“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements:

²⁹You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰The messengers went at once to Antioch, where they called a general meeting of the believers and delivered the letter.

³¹And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message.

³²Then Judas and Silas, both being prophets, spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and strengthening their faith.

³³They stayed for a while, and then the believers sent them back to the church in Jerusalem with a blessing of peace.

³⁴

³⁵Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch. They and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord there.

³⁶After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.”

³⁷Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark.

³⁸But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work.

³⁹Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus.

⁴⁰Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care.

⁴¹Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.