Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

²In My Father’s house are manyrooms; if that were not so,I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you.

³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be.

⁴And you know the way where I am going.”

⁵Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how do we know the way?”

⁶Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.

⁷If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

⁸Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

⁹Jesus *said to him, “Have I been withyou for so long a time, and yetyou have not come to know Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works.

¹¹Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

¹²Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father.

¹³And whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

¹⁴If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

¹⁵“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

¹⁶I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever;

¹⁷the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.

¹⁸“I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.

¹⁹After a little while, the world no longer is going to see Me, but you are going to see Me; because I live, you also will live.

²⁰On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I in you.

²¹The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him.”

²²Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, “Lord, what has happened that You are going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?”

²³Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.

²⁴The one who does not love Me does not follow My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

²⁵“These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you.

²⁶But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you.

²⁷Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you.Do not let your hearts be troubled, norfearful.

²⁸You heard that I said to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoicedbecause I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

²⁹And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.

³⁰I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he hasnothing in regard to Me,

³¹but so that the world may know that I love the Father,I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let’s go from here.

¹“You shall not give a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked person to be a malicious witness.

²You shall not follow the crowd in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to join together with a crowd in order to pervert justice;

³nor shall you show favor to a poor person in his dispute.

⁴“If you encounter your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you must return it to him.

⁵If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave it helpless for its owner; you must arrange the load with him.

⁶“You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute.

⁷Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.

⁸“You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just.

⁹“You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰“Now you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield,

¹¹but in the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie uncultivated, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the animal of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

¹²“For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as the stranger residing with you, may refresh themselves.

¹³Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be careful; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.

¹⁴“Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me.

¹⁵You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. And no one is to appear before Me empty-handed.

¹⁶Also you shall keep the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.

¹⁷Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

¹⁸“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor is the fat of My feast to remain overnight until morning.

¹⁹“You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the LORD your God. “You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.

²⁰“Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

²¹Be attentive to him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your rebellion, since My name is in him.

²²But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

²³For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them.

²⁴You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their memorial stones in pieces.

²⁵And you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst.

²⁶There will be no one miscarrying or unable to have children in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

²⁷I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

²⁸And I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from you.

²⁹I will not drive them out from you in a single year, so that the land will not become desolate and the animals of the field become too numerous for you.

³⁰I will drive them out from you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.

³¹I will set your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River; for I will hand over the inhabitants of the land to you, and you will drive them out from you.

³²You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.

³³They shall not live in your land, otherwise they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it is certain to be a snare to you.”

¹For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and they all passed through the sea;

²and they all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

³and they all ate the same spiritual food,

⁴and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

⁵Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased; for their dead bodies were spread out in the wilderness.

⁶Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they indeed craved them.

⁷Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND TO DRINK, AND ROSE UP TO PLAY.”

⁸Nor are we to commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.

⁹Nor are we to put the Lord to the test, as some of them did, and were killed by the snakes.

¹⁰Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer.

¹¹Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

¹²Therefore let the one who thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall.

¹³No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

¹⁴Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

¹⁵I speak as to wise people; you then, judge what I say.

¹⁶Is the cup of blessing which we bless not a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is the bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ?

¹⁷Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.

¹⁸Look at the people of Israel; are those who eat the sacrifices not partners in the altar?

¹⁹What do I mean then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?

²⁰No, but I say that things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become partners with demons.

²¹You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

²²Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?

²³All things are permitted, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted, but not all things build people up.

²⁴No one is to seek his own advantage, but rather that of his neighbor.

²⁵Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions, for the sake of conscience;

²⁶FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S, AND ALL IT CONTAINS.

²⁷If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions, for the sake of conscience.

²⁸But if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of that one who informed you and for the sake of conscience;

²⁹Now by “conscience” I do not mean your own, but the other person’s; for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience?

³⁰If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered about that for which I give thanks?

³¹Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all things for the glory of God.

³²Do not offend Jews or Greeks, or the church of God;

³³just as I also please everyone in all things, not seeking my own benefit but the benefit of the many, so that they may be saved.

¹And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,

²in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

³There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;

⁴they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

⁵And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will reign forever and ever.

⁶And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

⁷“And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

⁹And he *said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”

¹⁰And he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.

¹¹Let the one who does wrong still do wrong, and the one who is filthy still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous still practice righteousness, and the one who is holy still keep himself holy.”

¹²“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward each one as his work deserves.

¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

¹⁴Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life, and may enter the city by the gates.

¹⁵Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral persons, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

¹⁶“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you of these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

¹⁷The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires, take the water of life without cost.

¹⁸I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;

¹⁹and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

²⁰He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

¹Then Job responded,

²“Truly then you are the people, And with you wisdom will die!

³But I have intelligence as well as you; I am not inferior to you. And who does not know such things as these?

⁴I am a joke to my friends, The one who called on God and He answered him; The just and blameless man is a joke.

⁵He who is at ease holds disaster in contempt, As prepared for those whose feet slip.

⁶The tents of the destroyers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure, Whom God brings into their power.

⁷“But just ask the animals, and have them teach you; And the birds of the sky, and have them tell you.

⁸Or speak to the earth, and have it teach you; And have the fish of the sea tell you.

⁹Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this,

¹⁰In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

¹¹Does the ear not put words to the test, As the palate tastes its food?

¹²Wisdom is with the aged, And with long life comes understanding.

¹³“Wisdom and might are with Him; Advice and understanding belong to Him.

¹⁴Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt; He imprisons a person, and there is no release.

¹⁵Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up; And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth.

¹⁶Strength and sound wisdom are with Him. One who goes astray and one who leads astray belong to Him.

¹⁷He makes advisers walk barefoot And makes fools of judges.

¹⁸He undoes the binding of kings, And ties a loincloth around their waist.

¹⁹He makes priests walk barefoot, And overthrows the secure ones.

²⁰He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders.

²¹He pours contempt on nobles, And loosens the belt of the strong.

²²He reveals mysteries from the darkness, And brings the deep darkness into light.

²³He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.

²⁴He deprives the leaders of the earth’s people of intelligence And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.

²⁵They grope in darkness with no light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken person.

¹The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

²The LORD will stretch out Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”

³Your people will volunteer freely on the day of Your power; In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.

⁴The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

⁵The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.

⁶He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.

⁷He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head.

¹One who loves discipline loves knowledge, But one who hates rebuke is stupid.

²A good person will obtain favor from the LORD, But He will condemn a person who devises evil.

³A person will not be established by wickedness, But the root of the righteous will not be moved.

⁴An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, But she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, But the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked wait in ambush for blood, But the mouth of the upright will rescue them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown and are no more, But the house of the righteous will stand.

⁸A person will be praised according to his insight, But one of perverse mind will be despised.

⁹Better is one who is lightly esteemed and has a servant, Than one who honors himself and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous person has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.

¹¹One who works his land will have plenty of bread, But one who pursues worthless things lacks sense.

¹²The wicked person desires the plunder of evil people, But the root of the righteous yields fruit.

¹³An evil person is ensnared by the offense of his lips, But the righteous will escape from trouble.

¹⁴A person will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, And the deeds of a person’s hands will return to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a person who listens to advice is wise.

¹⁶A fool’s anger is known at once, But a prudent person conceals dishonor.

¹⁷One who declares truth tells what is right, But a false witness, deceit.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips will endure forever, But a lying tongue is only for a moment.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy.

²¹No harm happens to the righteous, But the wicked are filled with trouble.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal faithfully are His delight.

²³A prudent person conceals knowledge, But the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.

²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy hand will be put to forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.

²⁶The righteous person is a guide to his neighbor, But the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷A lazy person does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a person is diligence.

²⁸In the way of righteousness there is life, And in its pathway there is no death.

¹Then it came about, when Jabin king of Hazor heard about it, that he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph,

²and to the kings who were of the north in the hill country, and in the Arabah—south of Chinneroth and in the lowland, and on the heights of Dor on the west—

³to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the hill country, and the Hivite at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.

⁴Then they came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.

⁵So all of these kings gathered together, and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

⁶Yet the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I am going to turn all of them over to Israel as good as dead; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”

⁷So Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly at the waters of Merom, and attacked them.

⁸And the LORD handed them over to Israel, so that they defeated them, and pursued them as far as Great Sidon, and Misrephoth-maim, and the Valley of Mizpeh to the east; and they struck them until no survivor was left to them.

⁹And Joshua did to them just as the LORD had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

¹⁰Then Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor previously was the head of all these kingdoms.

¹¹They struck every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire.

¹²Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings; and he struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed them, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded.

¹³However, Israel did not burn any cities that stood on their mounds, except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned.

¹⁴And all the spoils of these cities and the cattle, the sons of Israel took as their plunder; but they struck every person with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They left no one breathing.

¹⁵Just as the LORD had commanded His servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹⁶So Joshua took all that land: the hill country and all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, the Arabah, the hill country of Israel and its lowland

¹⁷from Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir, even as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. And he captured all their kings, and struck them and put them to death.

¹⁸Joshua waged war a long time with all these kings.

¹⁹There was not a city which made peace with the sons of Israel except the Hivites living in Gibeon; they took them all in battle.

²⁰For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²¹Then Joshua came at that time and eliminated the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and all the hill country of Israel. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.

²²There were no Anakim left in the land of the sons of Israel; only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod some remained.

²³So Joshua took the whole land, in accordance with everything that the LORD had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. So the land was at rest from war.

¹Woe to those who enact unjust statutes And to those who constantly record harmful decisions,

²So as to deprive the needy of justice And rob the poor among My people of their rights, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans.

³Now what will you do in the day of punishment, And in the devastation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your wealth?

⁴Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives Or fall among those killed. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.

⁵Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,

⁶I send it against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My fury To capture spoils and to seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets.

⁷Yet it does not so intend, Nor does it plan so in its heart, But rather it is its purpose to destroy And to eliminate many nations.

⁸For it says, “Are not my officers all kings?

⁹Is not Calno like Carchemish, Or Hamath like Arpad, Or Samaria like Damascus?

¹⁰As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, Whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

¹¹Shall I not do the same to Jerusalem and her images Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”

¹²So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the arrogant pride of his eyes.”

¹³For he has said, “By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, Because I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a powerful man I brought down their inhabitants,

¹⁴And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest, And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped its wing, opened its beak, or chirped.”

¹⁵Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it? That would be like a club wielding those who lift it, Or like a rod lifting the one who is not wood.

¹⁶Therefore the Lord, the GOD of armies, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.

¹⁷And the Light of Israel will become a fire and Israel’s Holy One a flame, And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.

¹⁸And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick person wastes away.

¹⁹And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number That a child could write them down.

²⁰Now on that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will no longer rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

²¹A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

²²For though your people, Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

²³For a complete destruction, one that is determined, the Lord GOD of armies will execute in the midst of the whole land.

²⁴Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of armies says: “My people, you who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod, and lifts up his staff against you the way Egypt did.

²⁵For in a very little while My indignation against you will be ended and My anger will be directed toward their destruction.”

²⁶The LORD of armies will wield a whip against him like the defeat of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the sea, and He will lift it up the way He did in Egypt.

²⁷So it will be on that day, that his burden will be removed from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.

²⁸He has come against Aiath, He has passed through Migron; At Michmash he deposited his baggage.

²⁹They have gone through the pass, saying, “Geba will be our encampment for the night.” Ramah is terrified, and Gibeah of Saul has fled.

³⁰Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, Laishah and wretched Anathoth!

³¹Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.

³²Yet today he will halt at Nob; He shakes his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

³³Behold, the Lord, the GOD of armies, will lop off the branches with terrifying power; Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down, And those who are lofty will be brought low.

³⁴He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.

¹Now Saul approved of putting Stephen to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.

²Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him.

³But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would drag away men and women and put them in prison.

⁴Therefore, those who had been scattered went through places preaching the word.

⁵Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them.

⁶The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.

⁷For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed.

⁸So there was much rejoicing in that city.

⁹Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;

¹⁰and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “This man is the Power of God that is called Great.”

¹¹And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic arts.

¹²But when they believed Philip as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being baptized.

¹³Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

¹⁴Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,

¹⁵who came down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶(For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

¹⁷Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

¹⁹saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire the gift of God with money!

²¹You have no part or share in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

²²Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of unrighteousness.”

²⁴But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

²⁵So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

²⁷So he got ready and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,

²⁸and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet.

²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”

³⁰Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³²Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “HE WAS LED LIKE A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND LIKE A LAMB THAT IS SILENT BEFORE ITS SHEARER, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.

³³IN HUMILIATION HIS JUSTICE WAS TAKEN AWAY; WHO WILL DESCRIBE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE EARTH.”

³⁴The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?”

³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

³⁶As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸And he ordered that the chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.