Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come that He would depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

²And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,

³Jesus, knowing that the Father had handed all things over to Him, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God,

⁴*got up from supper and *laid His outer garments aside; and He took a towel and tied it around Himself.

⁵Then He *poured water into the basin, and began washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which He had tied around Himself.

⁶So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, You are washing my feet?”

⁷Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.”

⁸Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have noplace with Me.”

⁹Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean. And you are clean—butnot all of you.”

¹¹For He knew the one who was betraying Him; it was for this reason that He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹²Then, when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you?

¹³You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’; andyou are correct, for so I am.

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

¹⁵For I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you.

¹⁶Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor isone who is sent greater than the one who sent him.

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

¹⁸I am not speaking about all of you. I know the ones whom I have chosen; but this is happening so that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’

¹⁹From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I am He.

²⁰Truly, truly I say to you, the one whoreceives anyone I send,receives Me; and the one whoreceives Mereceives Him who sent Me.”

²¹When Jesus had said these things, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly I say to you that one of you willbetray Me.”

²²The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking.

²³Lying back on Jesus’ chest was one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.

²⁴So Simon Peter *nodded to this disciple and *said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.”

²⁵He then simply leaned back on Jesus’ chest and *said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶Jesus then *answered, “That man is the one for whom I shall dip the piece of bread and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the piece of bread, He *took and *gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

²⁷After this, Satan then entered him. Therefore Jesus *said to him, “What you are doing, do it quickly.”

²⁸Now none of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him.

²⁹For some were assuming, since Judas kept the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we need for the feast”; or else, that he was to give something to the poor.

³⁰So after receiving the piece of bread, he left immediately; and it was night.

³¹Therefore when he had left, Jesus *said, “Nowis the Son of Man glorified, and Godis glorified in Him;

³²if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.

³³Little children, I am still with you a little longer. You will look for Me; and just as I said to theJews, now I also say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

³⁴I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

³⁵By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”

³⁶Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.”

³⁷Peter *said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.”

³⁸Jesus *replied, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.

¹“If someone steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep—

²If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no guilt for bloodshed on his account.

³If the sun has risen on him, there will be guilt for bloodshed on his account—A thief shall certainly make restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

⁴If what he stole is actually found alive in his possession, whether an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double.

⁵“If someone lets a field or vineyard be grazed bare and lets his animal loose so that it grazes in another person’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.

⁶“If a fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes, and stacked grain or the standing grain or the field itself is consumed, the one who started the fire must make restitution.

⁷“If someone gives his neighbor money or goods to keep for him and it is stolen from the neighbor’s house, if the thief is caught, then the thief shall pay double.

⁸If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house shall appear before the judges, to determine whether he laid his hands on his neighbor’s property.

⁹For every breach of trust, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any lost thing about which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before the judges; he whom the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰“If someone gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep for him, and it dies or is injured or is driven away while no one is looking,

¹¹an oath before the LORD shall be taken by the two of them that he has not laid a hand on his neighbor’s property; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not be compelled to make restitution.

¹²But if it is actually stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner.

¹³If it is all torn to pieces, have him bring it as evidence; he shall not be compelled to make restitution for what has been torn to pieces.

¹⁴“And if someone borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it is injured or dies while its owner is not with it, he shall make full restitution.

¹⁵If its owner is with it, the borrower shall not be compelled to make restitution. If it is hired, it came by its hire.

¹⁶“If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and sleeps with her, he must pay a dowry for her to be his wife.

¹⁷If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the dowry for virgins.

¹⁸“You shall not allow a sorceress to live.

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

²⁰“He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed.

²¹“You shall not oppress a stranger nor torment him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

²²You shall not oppress any widow or orphan.

²³If you oppress him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will assuredly hear his cry;

²⁴and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

²⁵“If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest.

²⁶If you ever seize your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets,

²⁷for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else is he to sleep in? And it will come about that when he cries out to Me, I will listen to him, for I am gracious.

²⁸“You shall not curse God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

²⁹“You shall not hold back the offering from your entire harvest and your wine. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me.

³⁰You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother for seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

³¹“You shall be holy people to Me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh torn to pieces in the field; you shall 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; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³My defense to those who examine me is this:

⁴Do we not have a right to eat and drink?

⁵Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

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

⁷Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not consume some of the milk of the flock?

⁸I am not just asserting these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does the Law not say these things as well?

⁹For it is written in the Law of Moses: “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE IT IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He?

¹⁰Or is He speaking entirely for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing in the crops.

¹¹If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

¹²If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

¹³Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar?

¹⁴So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.

¹⁵But I have used none of these things. And I have not written these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than that. No one shall make my boast an empty one!

¹⁶For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for I am under compulsion; for woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.

¹⁷For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a commission nonetheless.

¹⁸What, then, is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹For though I am free from all people, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may gain more.

²⁰To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the Law, I became as one under the Law, though not being under the Law myself, so that I might gain those who are under the Law;

²¹to those who are without the Law, I became as one without the Law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might gain those who are without the Law.

²²To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; I have become all things to all people, so that I may by all means save some.

²³I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

²⁴Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

²⁵Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

²⁶Therefore I run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as to avoid hitting air;

²⁷but I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached 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 passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

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

³And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

⁴and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

⁵And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for 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 give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost.

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

⁸But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

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

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

¹¹having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.

¹²It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.

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

¹⁴And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

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

¹⁶The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, twelve thousand stadia; its length, width, and height are equal.

¹⁷And he measured its wall, 144 cubits, by human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.

¹⁸The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

¹⁹The foundation stones of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;

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

²¹And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

²²I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

²³And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated 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.

²⁵In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;

²⁶and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;

²⁷and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

²“Shall a multitude of words go unanswered, And a talkative man be acquitted?

³Shall your boasts silence people? And will you scoff, and no one rebuke?

⁴For you have said, ‘My teaching is pure, And I am innocent in your eyes.’

⁵But if only God would speak, And open His lips against you,

⁶And show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know then that God forgets part of your guilt.

⁷“Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?

⁸They are as high as the heavens; what can you do? Deeper than Sheol; what can you know?

⁹Its measurement is longer than the earth And broader than the sea.

¹⁰If He passes by or apprehends people, Or calls an assembly, who can restrain Him?

¹¹For He knows false people, And He sees injustice without investigating.

¹²An idiot will become intelligent When a wild donkey is born a human.

¹³“If you would direct your heart rightly And spread out your hands to Him,

¹⁴If wrongdoing is in your hand, put it far away, And do not let malice dwell in your tents;

¹⁵Then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral blemish, And you would be firmly established and not fear.

¹⁶For you would forget your trouble; Like waters that have passed by, you would remember it.

¹⁷Your life would be brighter than noonday; Darkness would be like the morning.

¹⁸Then you would trust, because there is hope; And you would look around and rest securely.

¹⁹You would lie down and none would disturb you, And many would flatter you.

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last.”

¹God of my praise, Do not be silent!

²For they have opened a wicked and deceitful mouth against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

³They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And have fought against me without cause.

⁴In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer.

⁵So they have repaid me evil for good, And hatred for my love.

⁶Appoint a wicked person over him, And may an accuser stand at his right hand.

⁷When he is judged, may he come out guilty, And may his prayer become sin.

⁸May his days be few; May another take his office.

⁹May his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow.

¹⁰May his children wander about and beg; And may they seek sustenance far from their ruined homes.

¹¹May the creditor seize everything that he has, And may strangers plunder the product of his labor.

¹²May there be none to extend kindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.

¹³May his descendants be eliminated; May their name be wiped out in a following generation.

¹⁴May the guilt of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And do not let the sin of his mother be wiped out.

¹⁵May they be before the LORD continually, So that He may eliminate their memory from the earth;

¹⁶Because he did not remember to show mercy, But persecuted the afflicted and needy person, And the despondent in heart, to put them to death.

¹⁷He also loved cursing, so it came to him; And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.

¹⁸But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, And it entered his body like water, And like oil into his bones.

¹⁹May it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself, And as a belt which he constantly wears around himself.

²⁰May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, And of those who speak evil against my soul.

²¹But You, GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name; Because Your mercy is good, rescue me;

²²For I am afflicted and needy, And my heart is wounded within me.

²³I am passing like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like the locust.

²⁴My knees are weak from fasting, And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness.

²⁵I also have become a disgrace to them; When they see me, they shake their head.

²⁶Help me, LORD my God; Save me according to Your mercy.

²⁷And may they know that this is Your hand; You, LORD, have done it.

²⁸They will curse, but You bless; When they arise, they will be ashamed, But Your servant will be glad.

²⁹May my accusers be clothed with dishonor, And may they cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.

³⁰With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD; And I will praise Him in the midst of many.

³¹For He stands at the right hand of the needy, To save him from those who judge his soul.

¹A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.

²When pride comes, then comes dishonor; But with the humble there is wisdom.

³The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the treacherous will destroy them.

⁴Riches do not benefit on the day of wrath, But righteousness rescues from death.

⁵The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

⁶The righteousness of the upright will rescue them, But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.

⁷When a wicked person dies, his expectation will perish, And the hope of strong people perishes.

⁸The righteous is rescued from trouble, But the wicked takes his place.

⁹With his mouth the godless person destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be rescued.

¹⁰When things go well for the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

¹¹By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, But by the mouth of the wicked, it is torn down.

¹²One who despises his neighbor lacks sense, But a person of understanding keeps silent.

¹³One who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, But one who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

¹⁴Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in an abundance of counselors there is victory.

¹⁵One who is a guarantor for a stranger will certainly suffer for it, But one who hates being a guarantor is secure.

¹⁶A gracious woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches.

¹⁷A merciful person does himself good, But the cruel person does himself harm.

¹⁸A wicked person earns deceptive wages, But one who sows righteousness gets a true reward.

¹⁹One who is steadfast in righteousness attains life, But one who pursues evil attains his own death.

²⁰The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, But the blameless in their walk are His delight.

²¹Be assured, the evil person will not go unpunished, But the descendants of the righteous will be rescued.

²²As a ring of gold in a pig’s snout So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

²³The desire of the righteous is only good, But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

²⁴There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in poverty.

²⁵A generous person will be prosperous, And one who gives others plenty of water will himself be given plenty.

²⁶One who withholds grain, the people will curse him, But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

²⁷One who diligently seeks good seeks favor, But one who seeks evil, evil will come to him.

²⁸One who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.

²⁹One who troubles his own house will inherit wind, And the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.

³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And one who is wise gains souls.

³¹If the righteous will be repaid on the earth, How much more the wicked and the sinner!

¹Now it came about when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai, and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king), and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were within their land,

²that he feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.

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

⁴“Come up to me and help me, and let’s attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel.”

⁵So the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they with all their armies, and camped by Gibeon and fought against it.

⁶Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us.”

⁷So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the valiant warriors.

⁸And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have handed them over to you; not one of them will stand against you.”

⁹So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal.

¹⁰And the LORD brought them into confusion before Israel, and He struck them down in a great defeat at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent to Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

¹¹And as they fled from Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the LORD hurled large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

¹²Then Joshua spoke to the LORD on the day when the LORD turned the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, And moon, at the Valley of Aijalon!”

¹³So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the Book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hurry to go down for about a whole day.

¹⁴There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.

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

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

¹⁷And it was told to Joshua, saying, “The five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”

¹⁸So Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and post men by it to guard them,

¹⁹but do not stay there yourselves; pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the LORD your God has handed them over to you.”

²⁰It came about when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them down in a very great defeat, until they were destroyed, and the survivors of them who escaped had entered the fortified cities,

²¹that all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua at Makkedah in peace. No one uttered a word against any of the sons of Israel.

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

²³They did so, and brought these five kings out to him from the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

²⁴When they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the leaders of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come forward, put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and put their feet on their necks.

²⁵Joshua then said to them, “Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for the LORD will do this to all your enemies with whom you fight.”

²⁶So afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees; and they were hung on the trees until evening.

²⁷Then it came about at sunset that Joshua gave the command, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and put large stones over the mouth of the cave, to this very day.

²⁸Now Joshua captured Makkedah on that day, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword; he utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it. He left no survivor. So he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

²⁹Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah, and fought against Libnah.

³⁰And the LORD also handed it over to Israel, with its king, and he struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor in it. So he did to its king just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

³¹And Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish, and they camped by it and fought against it.

³²And the LORD handed Lachish over to Israel; and he captured it on the second day, and struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, according to all that he had done to Libnah.

³³Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish, and Joshua defeated him and his people until he had left him no survivor.

³⁴And Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon, and they camped by it and fought against it.

³⁵They captured it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword; and he utterly destroyed on that day every person who was in it, according to all that he had done to Lachish.

³⁶Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron, and they fought against it.

³⁷And they captured it and struck it and its king and all its cities and all the persons who were in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor, according to all that he had done to Eglon. And he utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it.

³⁸Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to Debir, and they fought against it.

³⁹He captured it and its king and all its cities, and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Just as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, as he had also done to Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰So Joshua struck all the land, the hill country and the Negev and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.

⁴¹Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea even as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen even as far as Gibeon.

⁴²Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.

⁴³So Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.

¹But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

²The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.

³You will multiply the nation, You will increase their joy; They will rejoice in Your presence As with the joy of harvest, As people rejoice when they divide the spoils.

⁴For You will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.

⁵For every boot of the marching warrior in the roar of battle, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

⁶For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of armies will accomplish this.

⁸The Lord sends a message against Jacob, And it falls on Israel.

⁹And all the people know it, That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart:

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

¹¹Therefore the LORD raises superior adversaries against them from Rezin And provokes their enemies,

¹²The Arameans from the east and the Philistines from the west; And they devour Israel with gaping jaws. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away, And His hand is still stretched out.

¹³Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the LORD of armies.

¹⁴So the LORD cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.

¹⁵The head is the elder and esteemed man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.

¹⁶For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are confused.

¹⁷Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, Nor does He have compassion on their orphans or their widows; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away, And His hand is still stretched out.

¹⁸For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns; It also sets the thickets of the forest aflame And they roll upward in a column of smoke.

¹⁹By the wrath of the LORD of armies the land is burned, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No one spares his brother.

²⁰They devour what is on the right hand but are still hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand, but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.

²¹Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, And together they are against Judah. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.

¹Now the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

²And Stephen said, “Listen to me, brothers and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

³and He said to him, ‘GO FROM YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME TO THE LAND WHICH I WILL SHOW YOU.’

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

⁵But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child.

⁶But God spoke to this effect, that his DESCENDANTS WOULD BE STRANGERS IN A LAND THAT WAS NOT THEIRS, AND THEY WOULD ENSLAVE AND MISTREAT them for four hundred years.

⁷‘AND WHATEVER NATION TO WHICH THEY ARE ENSLAVED I MYSELF WILL JUDGE,’ said God, ‘AND AFTER THAT THEY WILL COME OUT AND SERVE ME IN THIS PLACE.’

⁸And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs.

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

¹⁰and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and his entire household.

¹¹“Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food.

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.

¹³And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent word and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five people in all.

¹⁵And Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there.

¹⁶And they were brought back from there to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷“But as the time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

¹⁸until ANOTHER KING AROSE OVER EGYPT WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH.

¹⁹It was he who shrewdly took advantage of our nation and mistreated our fathers in order that they would abandon their infants in the Nile, so that they would not survive.

²⁰At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father’s home.

²¹And after he had been put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.

²²Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was proficient in speaking and action.

²³But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his countrymen, the sons of Israel.

²⁴And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian.

²⁵And he thought that his brothers understood that God was granting them deliverance through him; but they did not understand.

²⁶And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting each other, and he tried to reconcile them to peace, by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you injuring each other?’

²⁷But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US?

²⁸YOU DO NOT INTEND TO KILL ME AS YOU KILLED THE EGYPTIAN YESTERDAY, DO YOU?’

²⁹At this remark, MOSES FLED AND BECAME A STRANGER IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN, where he fathered two sons.

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

³¹When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came:

³²‘I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND ISAAC, AND JACOB.’ Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look closely.

³³But the LORD said to him, ‘REMOVE YOUR SANDALS FROM YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE ON WHICH YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY GROUND.

³⁴I HAVE CERTAINLY SEEN THE OPPRESSION OF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE IN EGYPT, AND HAVE HEARD THEIR GROANING, AND I HAVE COME DOWN TO RESCUE THEM; AND NOW COME, I WILL SEND YOU TO EGYPT.’

³⁵“This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.

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

³⁷This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN.’

³⁸This is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness together with the angel who spoke to him at length on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to you.

³⁹Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,

⁴⁰saying to Aaron, ‘MAKE US A GOD WHO WILL GO BEFORE US; FOR THIS MOSES WHO LED US OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT—WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM.’

⁴¹At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned away and gave them over to serve the heavenly lights; as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘YOU DID NOT OFFER ME VICTIMS AND SACRIFICES FOR FORTY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS, DID YOU, HOUSE OF ISRAEL?

⁴³YOU ALSO TOOK ALONG THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH AND THE STAR OF YOUR GOD ROMPHA, THE IMAGES WHICH YOU MADE TO WORSHIP. I ALSO WILL DEPORT YOU BEYOND BABYLON.’

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

⁴⁵Our fathers in turn received it, and they also brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations that God drove out from our fathers, until the time of David.

⁴⁶David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.

⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.

⁴⁸However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:

⁴⁹‘HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND THE EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?’ says the Lord, ‘OR WHAT PLACE IS THERE FOR MY REST?

⁵⁰WAS IT NOT MY HAND THAT MADE ALL THESE THINGS?’

⁵¹“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.

⁵²Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, and you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him;

⁵³you who received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

⁵⁴Now when they heard this, they were infuriated, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;

⁵⁶and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one mind.

⁵⁸When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

⁶⁰Then he fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.