Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

²Now when it was time for supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray him.

³Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from God, and that he was going back to God.

⁴So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself.

⁵Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.

⁶He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.”

⁸“You will never wash my feet,” Peter said. Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”

¹⁰“One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”

¹¹For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹²When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you?

¹³You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am.

¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

¹⁵For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.

¹⁶“Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him.

¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

¹⁸“I’m not speaking about all of you; I know those I have chosen. But the Scripture must be fulfilled: The one who eats my bread has raised his heel against me.

¹⁹I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am he.

²⁰Truly I tell you, whoever receives anyone I send receives me, and the one who receives me receives him who sent me.”

²¹When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in his spirit and testified, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

²²The disciples started looking at one another — uncertain which one he was speaking about.

²³One of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining close beside Jesus.

²⁴Simon Peter motioned to him to find out who it was he was talking about.

²⁵So he leaned back against Jesus and asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶Jesus replied, “He’s the one I give the piece of bread to after I have dipped it.” When he had dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son.

²⁷After Judas ate the piece of bread, Satan entered him. So Jesus told him, “What you’re doing, do quickly.”

²⁸None of those reclining at the table knew why he said this to him.

²⁹Since Judas kept the money-bag, some thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival,” or that he should give something to the poor.

³⁰After receiving the piece of bread, he immediately left. And it was night.

³¹When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.

³²If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

³³Children, I am with you a little while longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so now I tell you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

³⁴“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.

³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

³⁶“Lord,” Simon Peter said to him, “where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.”

³⁷“Lord,” Peter asked, “why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

³⁸Jesus replied, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly I tell you, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.

¹“When a man steals an ox or a sheep and butchers it or sells it, he must repay five cattle for the ox or four sheep for the sheep.

²If a thief is caught in the act of breaking in, and he is beaten to death, no one is guilty of bloodshed.

³But if this happens after sunrise, the householder is guilty of bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution. If he is unable, he is to be sold because of his theft.

⁴If what was stolen — whether ox, donkey, or sheep — is actually found alive in his possession, he must repay double.

⁵“When a man lets a field or vineyard be grazed in, and then allows his animals to go and graze in someone else’s field, he must repay with the best of his own field or vineyard.

⁶“When a fire gets out of control, spreads to thornbushes, and consumes stacks of cut grain, standing grain, or a field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution for what was burned.

⁷“When a man gives his neighbor valuables or goods to keep, but they are stolen from that person’s house, the thief, if caught, must repay double.

⁸If the thief is not caught, the owner of the house must present himself to the judges to determine whether or not he has taken his neighbor’s property.

⁹In any case of wrongdoing involving an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or anything else lost, and someone claims, ‘That’s mine,’ the case between the two parties is to come before the judges. The one the judges condemn must repay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰“When a man gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to care for, but it dies, is injured, or is stolen, while no one is watching,

¹¹there must be an oath before the LORD between the two of them to determine whether or not he has taken his neighbor’s property. Its owner must accept the oath, and the other man does not have to make restitution.

¹²But if, in fact, the animal was stolen from his custody, he must make restitution to its owner.

¹³If it was actually torn apart by a wild animal, he is to bring it as evidence; he does not have to make restitution for the torn carcass.

¹⁴“When a man borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it is injured or dies while its owner is not there with it, the man must make full restitution.

¹⁵If its owner is there with it, the man does not have to make restitution. If it was rented, the loss is covered by its rental price.

¹⁶“If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and he sleeps with her, he must certainly pay the bridal price for her to be his wife.

¹⁷If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must pay an amount in silver equal to the bridal price for virgins.

¹⁸“Do not allow a sorceress to live.

¹⁹“Whoever has sexual intercourse with an animal must be put to death.

²⁰“Whoever sacrifices to any gods, except the LORD alone, is to be set apart for destruction.

²¹“You must not exploit a resident alien or oppress him, since you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

²²“You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.

²³If you do mistreat them, they will no doubt cry to me, and I will certainly hear their cry.

²⁴My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.

²⁵“If you lend silver to my people, to the poor person among you, you must not be like a creditor to him; you must not charge him interest.

²⁶“If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him before sunset.

²⁷For it is his only covering; it is the clothing for his body. What will he sleep in? And if he cries out to me, I will listen because I am gracious.

²⁸“You must not blaspheme God or curse a leader among your people.

²⁹“You must not hold back offerings from your harvest or your vats. Give me the firstborn of your sons.

³⁰Do the same with your cattle and your flock. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to me.

³¹“Be my holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; throw it to the dogs.

¹Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

²If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, because you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³My defense to those who examine me is this:

⁴Don’t we have the right to eat and drink?

⁵Don’t we have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife like the other apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas?

⁶Or do only Barnabas and I have no right to refrain from working?

⁷Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock?

⁸Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the law also say the same thing?

⁹For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain. Is God really concerned about oxen?

¹⁰Isn’t he really saying it for our sake? Yes, this is written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing the crop.

¹¹If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you?

¹²If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right; instead, we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ.

¹³Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar?

¹⁴In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.

¹⁵For my part I have used none of these rights, nor have I written these things that they may be applied in my case. For it would be better for me to die than for anyone to deprive me of my boast!

¹⁶For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am compelled to preach  — and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

¹⁷For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am entrusted with a commission.

¹⁸What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my rights in the gospel.

¹⁹Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win more people.

²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law — though I myself am not under the law  — to win those under the law.

²¹To those who are without the law, like one without the law — though I am not without God’s law but under the law of Christ — to win those without the law.

²²To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.

²³Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings.

²⁴Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize.

²⁵Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown.

²⁶So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air.

²⁷Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

²I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

³Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God.

⁴He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

⁵Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”

⁶Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life.

⁷The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

⁸But the cowards, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars  — their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

⁹Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

¹⁰He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

¹¹arrayed with God’s glory. Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

¹²The city had a massive high wall, with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’s sons were inscribed on the gates.

¹³There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

¹⁴The city wall had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were on the foundations.

¹⁵The one who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

¹⁶The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal.

¹⁷Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the angel used.

¹⁸The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold clear as glass.

¹⁹The foundations of the city wall were adorned with every kind of jewel: the first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,

²⁰the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.

²¹The twelve gates are twelve pearls; each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.

²²I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

²³The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

²⁵Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there.

²⁶They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

²⁷Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

²Should this abundance of words go unanswered and such a talker be acquitted?

³Should your babbling put others to silence, so that you can keep on ridiculing with no one to humiliate you?

⁴You have said, “My teaching is sound, and I am pure in your sight.”

⁵But if only God would speak and open his lips against you!

⁶He would show you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God has chosen to overlook some of your iniquity.

⁷Can you fathom the depths of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?

⁸They are higher than the heavens — what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol — what can you know?

⁹Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.

¹⁰If he passes by and throws someone in prison or convenes a court, who can stop him?

¹¹Surely he knows which people are worthless. If he sees iniquity, will he not take note of it?

¹²But a stupid person will gain understanding as soon as a wild donkey is born a human!

¹³As for you, if you redirect your heart and spread out your hands to him in prayer —

¹⁴if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it, and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents —

¹⁵then you will hold your head high, free from fault. You will be firmly established and unafraid.

¹⁶For you will forget your suffering, recalling it only as water that has flowed by.

¹⁷Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.

¹⁸You will be confident, because there is hope. You will look carefully about and lie down in safety.

¹⁹You will lie down with no one to frighten you, and many will seek your favor.

²⁰But the sight of the wicked will fail. Their way of escape will be cut off, and their only hope is their last breath.

¹For the choir director. A psalm of David. [1] God of my praise, do not be silent.

²For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.

³They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.

⁴In return for my love they accuse me, but I continue to pray.

⁵They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

⁶Set a wicked person over him; let an accuser stand at his right hand.

⁷When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his prayer be counted as sin.

⁸Let his days be few; let another take over his position.

⁹Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.

¹⁰Let his children wander as beggars, searching for food far from their demolished homes.

¹¹Let a creditor seize all he has; let strangers plunder what he has worked for.

¹²Let no one show him kindness, and let no one be gracious to his fatherless children.

¹³Let the line of his descendants be cut off; let their name be blotted out in the next generation.

¹⁴Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and do not let his mother’s sin be blotted out.

¹⁵Let their sins always remain before the LORD, and let him remove all memory of them from the earth.

¹⁶For he did not think to show kindness, but pursued the suffering, needy, and brokenhearted in order to put them to death.

¹⁷He loved cursing — let it fall on him; he took no delight in blessing — let it be far from him.

¹⁸He wore cursing like his coat — let it enter his body like water and go into his bones like oil.

¹⁹Let it be like a robe he wraps around himself, like a belt he always wears.

²⁰Let this be the LORD’s payment to my accusers, to those who speak evil against me.

²¹But you, LORD, my Lord, deal kindly with me for your name’s sake; because your faithful love is good, rescue me.

²²For I am suffering and needy; my heart is wounded within me.

²³I fade away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.

²⁴My knees are weak from fasting, and my body is emaciated.

²⁵I have become an object of ridicule to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads in scorn.

²⁶Help me, LORD my God; save me according to your faithful love

²⁷so they may know that this is your hand and that you, LORD, have done it.

²⁸Though they curse, you will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but your servant will rejoice.

²⁹My accusers will be clothed with disgrace; they will wear their shame like a cloak.

³⁰I will fervently thank the LORD with my mouth; I will praise him in the presence of many.

³¹For he stands at the right hand of the needy to save him from those who would condemn him.

¹Dishonest scales are detestable to the LORD, but an accurate weight is his delight.

²When arrogance comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.

³The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the treacherous destroys them.

⁴Wealth is not profitable on a day of wrath, but righteousness rescues from death.

⁵The righteousness of the blameless clears his path, but the wicked person will fall because of his wickedness.

⁶The righteousness of the upright rescues them, but the treacherous are trapped by their own desires.

⁷When the wicked person dies, his expectation comes to nothing, and hope placed in wealth vanishes.

⁸The righteous one is rescued from trouble; in his place, the wicked one goes in.

⁹With his mouth the ungodly destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous are rescued.

¹⁰When the righteous thrive, a city rejoices; when the wicked die, there is joyful shouting.

¹¹A city is built up by the blessing of the upright, but it is torn down by the mouth of the wicked.

¹²Whoever shows contempt for his neighbor lacks sense, but a person with understanding keeps silent.

¹³A gossip goes around revealing a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.

¹⁴Without guidance, a people will fall, but with many counselors there is deliverance.

¹⁵If someone puts up security for a stranger, he will suffer for it, but the one who hates such agreements is protected.

¹⁶A gracious woman gains honor, but violent people gain only riches.

¹⁷A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel person brings ruin on himself.

¹⁸The wicked person earns an empty wage, but the one who sows righteousness, a true reward.

¹⁹Genuine righteousness leads to life, but pursuing evil leads to death.

²⁰Those with twisted minds are detestable to the LORD, but those with blameless conduct are his delight.

²¹Be assured that a wicked person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will escape.

²²A beautiful woman who rejects good sense is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout.

²³The desire of the righteous turns out well, but the hope of the wicked leads to wrath.

²⁴One person gives freely, yet gains more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.

²⁵A generous person will be enriched, and the one who gives a drink of water will receive water.

²⁶People will curse anyone who hoards grain, but a blessing will come to the one who sells it.

²⁷The one who searches for what is good seeks favor, but if someone looks for trouble, it will come to him.

²⁸Anyone trusting in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage.

²⁹The one who brings ruin on his household will inherit the wind, and a fool will be a slave to someone whose heart is wise.

³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and a wise person captivates people. 

³¹If the righteous will be repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and sinful.

¹Now King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and completely destroyed it, treating Ai and its king as he had Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living among them.

²So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed because Gibeon was a large city like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors.

³Therefore King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent word to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon, saying,

⁴“Come up and help me. We will attack Gibeon, because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”

⁵So the five Amorite kings — the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon — joined forces, advanced with all their armies, besieged Gibeon, and fought against it.

⁶Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Don’t give up on your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, for all the Amorite kings living in the hill country have joined forces against us.”

⁷So Joshua and all his troops, including all his best soldiers, came from Gilgal.

⁸The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to stand against you.”

⁹So Joshua caught them by surprise, after marching all night from Gilgal.

¹⁰The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel. He defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them through the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

¹¹As they fled before Israel, the LORD threw large hailstones on them from the sky along the descent of Beth-horon all the way to Azekah, and they died. More of them died from the hail than the Israelites killed with the sword.

¹²On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

¹³And the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on its enemies. Isn’t this written in the Book of Jashar? So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed its setting almost a full day.

¹⁴There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.

¹⁵Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.

¹⁶Now the five defeated kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah.

¹⁷It was reported to Joshua: “The five kings have been found; they are hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”

¹⁸Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and station men by it to guard the kings.

¹⁹But as for the rest of you, don’t stay there. Pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Don’t let them enter their cities, for the LORD your God has handed them over to you.”

²⁰So Joshua and the Israelites finished inflicting a terrible slaughter on them until they were destroyed, although a few survivors ran away to the fortified cities.

²¹The people returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. And no one dared to threaten the Israelites.

²²Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings to me out of there.”

²³That is what they did. They brought the five kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon to Joshua out of the cave.

²⁴When they had brought the kings to him, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the military commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks.

²⁵Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Be strong and courageous, for the LORD will do this to all the enemies you fight.”

²⁶After this, Joshua struck them down and executed them. He hung their bodies on five trees and they were there until evening.

²⁷At sunset Joshua commanded that they be taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave where they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are still there today.

²⁸On that day Joshua captured Makkedah and struck it down with the sword, including its king. He completely destroyed it and everyone in it, leaving no survivors. So he treated the king of Makkedah as he had the king of Jericho.

²⁹Joshua and all Israel with him crossed from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.

³⁰The LORD also handed it and its king over to Israel. He struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword, and left no survivors in it. He treated Libnah’s king as he had the king of Jericho.

³¹From Libnah, Joshua and all Israel with him crossed to Lachish. They laid siege to it and attacked it.

³²The LORD handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua captured it on the second day. He struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah.

³³At that time King Horam of Gezer went to help Lachish, but Joshua struck him down along with his people, leaving no survivors.

³⁴Then Joshua crossed from Lachish to Eglon and all Israel with him. They laid siege to it and attacked it.

³⁵On that day they captured it and struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword. He completely destroyed it that day, just as he had done to Lachish.

³⁶Next, Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it.

³⁷They captured it and struck down its king, all its villages, and everyone in it with the sword. He left no survivors, just as he had done at Eglon. He completely destroyed Hebron and everyone in it.

³⁸Finally, Joshua turned toward Debir and attacked it. And all Israel was with him.

³⁹He captured it — its king and all its villages. They struck them down with the sword and completely destroyed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. He treated Debir and its king as he had treated Hebron and as he had treated Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰So Joshua conquered the whole region  — the hill country, the Negev, the Judean foothills, and the slopes — with all their kings, leaving no survivors. He completely destroyed every living being, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.

⁴¹Joshua conquered everyone from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen as far as Gibeon.

⁴²Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.

⁴³Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.

¹Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future he will bring honor to the way of the sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.

²The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.

³You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before you as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.

⁴For you have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as you did on the day of Midian.

⁵For every trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire.

⁶For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this.

⁸The Lord sent a message against Jacob; it came against Israel.

⁹All the people — Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria  — will know it. They will say with pride and arrogance:

¹⁰“The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with cut stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.”

¹¹The LORD has raised up Rezin’s adversaries against him and stirred up his enemies.

¹²Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have consumed Israel with open mouths. In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike.

¹³The people did not turn to him who struck them; they did not seek the LORD of Armies.

¹⁴So the LORD cut off Israel’s head and tail, palm branch and reed in a single day.

¹⁵The head is the elder, the honored one; the tail is the prophet, the one teaching lies.

¹⁶The leaders of the people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.

¹⁷Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over Israel’s young men and has no compassion on its fatherless and widows, for everyone is a godless evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike.

¹⁸For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets so that they go up in a column of smoke.

¹⁹The land is scorched by the wrath of the LORD of Armies, and the people are like fuel for the fire. No one has compassion on his brother.

²⁰They carve meat on the right, but they are still hungry; they have eaten on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one eats the flesh of his own arm.

²¹Manasseh is with Ephraim, and Ephraim with Manasseh; together, both are against Judah. In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike.

¹“Are these things true?” the high priest asked.

²“Brothers and fathers,” he replied, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

³and said to him: Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.

⁴“Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land in which you are now living.

⁵He didn’t give him an inheritance in it — not even a foot of ground — but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless.

⁶God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for four hundred years.

⁷I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship me in this place.

⁸And so he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him

¹⁰and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household.

¹¹Now a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan, and our ancestors could find no food.

¹²When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time.

¹³The second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all,

¹⁵and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there,

¹⁶were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷“As the time was approaching to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt

¹⁸until a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt.

¹⁹He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them abandon their infants outside so that they wouldn’t survive.

²⁰At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home for three months.

²¹When he was put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son.

²²So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.

²³“When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites.

²⁴When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian.

²⁵He assumed his people would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.

²⁶The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other? ’

²⁷“But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying: Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us?

²⁸Do you want to kill me, the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?

²⁹“When he heard this, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.

³¹When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came:

³²I am the God of your ancestors — the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.

³³“The Lord said to him: Take off the sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground.

³⁴I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt.

³⁵“This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?  — this one God sent as a ruler and a deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

³⁶This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

³⁷“This is the Moses who said to the Israelites: God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers and sisters.

³⁸He is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors. He received living oracles to give to us.

³⁹Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

⁴⁰They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.

⁴¹They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made.

⁴²God turned away and gave them up to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: House of Israel, did you bring me offerings and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness?

⁴³You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship. So I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.

⁴⁴“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.

⁴⁵Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them, until the days of David.

⁴⁶He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷It was Solomon, rather, who built him a house,

⁴⁸but the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says:

⁴⁹Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. What sort of house will you build for me? says the Lord, or what will be my resting place?

⁵⁰Did not my hand make all these things?

⁵¹“You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also.

⁵²Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.

⁵³You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it.”

⁵⁴When they heard these things, they were enraged and gnashed their teeth at him.

⁵⁵Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

⁵⁶He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

⁵⁷They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him.

⁵⁸They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹While they were stoning Stephen, he called out: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

⁶⁰He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he died.