Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.

²The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

³The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

⁵They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

⁶Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

⁸All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.

⁹I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.

¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away — and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.

¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.

¹⁶I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.

¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

¹⁹Again the Jews were divided because of these words.

²⁰Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?”

²¹Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

²²At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter,

²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.

²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

²⁵Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me;

²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.

²⁷My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.

²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.

²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.

³⁰The Father and I are one.”

³¹The Jews took up stones again to stone him.

³²Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?”

³³The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.”

³⁴Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?

³⁵If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ — and the scripture cannot be annulled —

³⁶can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?

³⁷If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me.

³⁸But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

³⁹Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there.

⁴¹Many came to him, and they were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”

⁴²And many believed in him there.

¹On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

²They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

³Then Moses went up to God; the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites:

⁴You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

⁵Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine,

⁶but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”

⁷So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.

⁸The people all answered as one: “Everything that the LORD has spoken we will do.” Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

⁹Then the LORD said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after.” The People Consecrated When Moses had told the words of the people to the LORD,

¹⁰the LORD said to Moses: “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes

¹¹and prepare for the third day, because on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

¹²You shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Be careful not to go up the mountain or to touch the edge of it. Any who touch the mountain shall be put to death.

¹³No hand shall touch them, but they shall be stoned or shot with arrows; whether animal or human being, they shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they may go up on the mountain.”

¹⁴So Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes.

¹⁵And he said to the people, “Prepare for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

¹⁶On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

¹⁷Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

¹⁸Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the LORD had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently.

¹⁹As the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses would speak and God would answer him in thunder.

²⁰When the LORD descended upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, the LORD summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to the LORD to look; otherwise many of them will perish.

²²Even the priests who approach the LORD must consecrate themselves or the LORD will break out against them.”

²³Moses said to the LORD, “The people are not permitted to come up to Mount Sinai; for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and keep it holy.’”

²⁴The LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you; but do not let either the priests or the people break through to come up to the LORD; otherwise he will break out against them.”

²⁵So Moses went down to the people and told them.

¹When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints?

²Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?

³Do you not know that we are to judge angels — to say nothing of ordinary matters?

⁴If you have ordinary cases, then, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church?

⁵I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to decide between one believer and another,

⁶but a believer goes to court against a believer — and before unbelievers at that?

⁷In fact, to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?

⁸But you yourselves wrong and defraud — and believers at that.

⁹Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites,

¹⁰thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers — none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.

¹¹And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

¹²“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

¹³“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

¹⁴And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.

¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!

¹⁶Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.”

¹⁷But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

¹⁸Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself.

¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?

²⁰For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

¹After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor.

²He called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul bird, a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.

³For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxury.”

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and so that you do not share in her plagues;

⁵for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

⁶Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.

⁷As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, so give her a like measure of torment and grief. Since in her heart she says, ‘I rule as a queen; I am no widow, and I will never see grief,’

⁸therefore her plagues will come in a single day — pestilence and mourning and famine — and she will be burned with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

⁹And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning;

¹⁰they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas, alas, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.”

¹¹And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore,

¹²cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble,

¹³cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves — and human lives.

¹⁴“The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your dainties and your splendor are lost to you, never to be found again!”

¹⁵The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

¹⁶“Alas, alas, the great city, clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!

¹⁷For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!” And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off

¹⁸and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?”

¹⁹And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, the great city, where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in one hour she has been laid waste.”

²⁰Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has given judgment for you against her.

²¹Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “With such violence Babylon the great city will be thrown down, and will be found no more;

²²and the sound of harpists and minstrels and of flutists and trumpeters will be heard in you no more; and an artisan of any trade will be found in you no more; and the sound of the millstone will be heard in you no more;

²³and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more; and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more; for your merchants were the magnates of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.

²⁴And in you was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slaughtered on earth.”

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:

²“How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind?

³Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?

⁴If your children sinned against him, he delivered them into the power of their transgression.

⁵If you will seek God and make supplication to the Almighty,

⁶if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore to you your rightful place.

⁷Though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great.

⁸“For inquire now of bygone generations, and consider what their ancestors have found;

⁹for we are but of yesterday, and we know nothing, for our days on earth are but a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you and utter words out of their understanding?

¹¹“Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water?

¹²While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant.

¹³Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish.

¹⁴Their confidence is gossamer, a spider’s house their trust.

¹⁵If one leans against its house, it will not stand; if one lays hold of it, it will not endure.

¹⁶The wicked thrive before the sun, and their shoots spread over the garden.

¹⁷Their roots twine around the stoneheap; they live among the rocks.

¹⁸If they are destroyed from their place, then it will deny them, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’

¹⁹See, these are their happy ways, and out of the earth still others will spring.

²⁰“See, God will not reject a blameless person, nor take the hand of evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouts of joy.

²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

¹Praise the LORD! O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.

²Who can utter the mighty doings of the LORD, or declare all his praise?

³Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times.

⁴Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people; help me when you deliver them;

⁵that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory in your heritage.

⁶Both we and our ancestors have sinned; we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.

⁷Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wonderful works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea.

⁸Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, so that he might make known his mighty power.

⁹He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry; he led them through the deep as through a desert.

¹⁰So he saved them from the hand of the foe, and delivered them from the hand of the enemy.

¹¹The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left.

¹²Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.

¹³But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.

¹⁴But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert;

¹⁵he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them.

¹⁶They were jealous of Moses in the camp, and of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.

¹⁷The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the faction of Abiram.

¹⁸Fire also broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.

¹⁹They made a calf at Horeb and worshiped a cast image.

²⁰They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.

²¹They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

²²wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

²³Therefore he said he would destroy them — had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

²⁴Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise.

²⁵They grumbled in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the LORD.

²⁶Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness,

²⁷and would disperse their descendants among the nations, scattering them over the lands.

²⁸Then they attached themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;

²⁹they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

³⁰Then Phinehas stood up and interceded, and the plague was stopped.

³¹And that has been reckoned to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever.

³²They angered the LORD at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account;

³³for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke words that were rash.

³⁴They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them,

³⁵but they mingled with the nations and learned to do as they did.

³⁶They served their idols, which became a snare to them.

³⁷They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons;

³⁸they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.

³⁹Thus they became unclean by their acts, and prostituted themselves in their doings.

⁴⁰Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage;

⁴¹he gave them into the hand of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them.

⁴²Their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their power.

⁴³Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes, and were brought low through their iniquity.

⁴⁴Nevertheless he regarded their distress when he heard their cry.

⁴⁵For their sake he remembered his covenant, and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

⁴⁶He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive.

⁴⁷Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

⁴⁸Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the LORD!

¹Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?

²On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand;

³beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out:

⁴“To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live.

⁵O simple ones, learn prudence; acquire intelligence, you who lack it.

⁶Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right;

⁷for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

⁸All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.

⁹They are all straight to one who understands and right to those who find knowledge.

¹⁰Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold;

¹¹for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

¹²I, wisdom, live with prudence, and I attain knowledge and discretion.

¹³The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

¹⁴I have good advice and sound wisdom; I have insight, I have strength.

¹⁵By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just;

¹⁶by me rulers rule, and nobles, all who govern rightly.

¹⁷I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

¹⁸Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and prosperity.

¹⁹My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.

²⁰I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,

²¹endowing with wealth those who love me, and filling their treasuries.

²²The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago.

²³Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

²⁴When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.

²⁵Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth —

²⁶when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil.

²⁷When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

²⁸when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,

²⁹when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

³⁰then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,

³¹rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.

³²“And now, my children, listen to me: happy are those who keep my ways.

³³Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.

³⁴Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.

³⁵For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD;

³⁶but those who miss me injure themselves; all who hate me love death.”

¹But the Israelites broke faith in regard to the devoted things: Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things; and the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites.

²Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai.

³Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Not all the people need go up; about two or three thousand men should go up and attack Ai. Since they are so few, do not make the whole people toil up there.”

⁴So about three thousand of the people went up there; and they fled before the men of Ai.

⁵The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them, chasing them from outside the gate as far as Shebarim and killing them on the slope. The hearts of the people melted and turned to water.

⁶Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the ground on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.

⁷Joshua said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Why have you brought this people across the Jordan at all, to hand us over to the Amorites so as to destroy us? Would that we had been content to settle beyond the Jordan!

⁸O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned their backs to their enemies!

⁹The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will you do for your great name?”

¹⁰The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen upon your face?

¹¹Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I imposed on them. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have acted deceitfully, and they have put them among their own belongings.

¹²Therefore the Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies; they turn their backs to their enemies, because they have become a thing devoted for destruction themselves. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.

¹³Proceed to sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “There are devoted things among you, O Israel; you will be unable to stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.”

¹⁴In the morning therefore you shall come forward tribe by tribe. The tribe that the LORD takes shall come near by clans, the clan that the LORD takes shall come near by households, and the household that the LORD takes shall come near one by one.

¹⁵And the one who is taken as having the devoted things shall be burned with fire, together with all that he has, for having transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and for having done an outrageous thing in Israel.’”

¹⁶So Joshua rose early in the morning, and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken.

¹⁷He brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken; and he brought near the clan of the Zerahites, family by family, and Zabdi was taken.

¹⁸And he brought near his household one by one, and Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.

¹⁹Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel and make confession to him. Tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

²⁰And Achan answered Joshua, “It is true; I am the one who sinned against the LORD God of Israel. This is what I did:

²¹when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them. They now lie hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

²²So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent with the silver underneath.

²³They took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites; and they spread them out before the LORD.

²⁴Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, with the silver, the mantle, and the bar of gold, with his sons and daughters, with his oxen, donkeys, and sheep, and his tent and all that he had; and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor.

²⁵Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD is bringing trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him to death; they burned them with fire, cast stones on them,

²⁶and raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his burning anger. Therefore that place to this day is called the Valley of Achor.

¹In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple.

²Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.

³And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

⁴The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.

⁵And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

⁶Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.

⁷The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.”

⁸Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

⁹And he said, “Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’

¹⁰Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.”

¹¹Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate;

¹²until the LORD sends everyone far away, and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land.

¹³Even if a tenth part remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.

¹While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them,

²much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead.

³So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

⁴But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.

⁵The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,

⁶with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.

⁷When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,

⁹if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed,

¹⁰let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.

¹¹This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’

¹²There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”

¹³Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.

¹⁴When they saw the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

¹⁵So they ordered them to leave the council while they discussed the matter with one another.

¹⁶They said, “What will we do with them? For it is obvious to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable sign has been done through them; we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But to keep it from spreading further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.”

¹⁸So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge;

²⁰for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹After threatening them again, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened.

²²For the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.

²³After they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them,

²⁵it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant: ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine vain things?

²⁶The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers have gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’

²⁷For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,

²⁸to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

²⁹And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness,

³⁰while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

³²Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.

³³With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

³⁴There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.

³⁵They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

³⁶There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”).

³⁷He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.