Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.

²There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

³When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

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

⁵“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

⁷If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

⁸Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

⁹Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?

¹⁰Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.

¹¹Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

¹²“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

¹³You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.

¹⁴Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

¹⁵“If you love me, obey my commandments.

¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.

¹⁷He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

¹⁸No, I will not abandon you as orphans — I will come to you.

¹⁹Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live.

²⁰When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

²¹Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

²²Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?”

²³Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.

²⁴Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.

²⁵I am telling you these things now while I am still with you.

²⁶But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative — that is, the Holy Spirit — he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

²⁷“I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

²⁸Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am.

²⁹I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.

³⁰“I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me,

³¹but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going.

¹“You must not pass along false rumors. You must not cooperate with evil people by lying on the witness stand.

²“You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice.

³And do not slant your testimony in favor of a person just because that person is poor.

⁴“If you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has strayed away, take it back to its owner.

⁵If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help.

⁶“In a lawsuit, you must not deny justice to the poor.

⁷“Be sure never to charge anyone falsely with evil. Never sentence an innocent or blameless person to death, for I never declare a guilty person to be innocent.

⁸“Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth.

⁹“You must not oppress foreigners. You know what it’s like to be a foreigner, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰“Plant and harvest your crops for six years,

¹¹but let the land be renewed and lie uncultivated during the seventh year. Then let the poor among you harvest whatever grows on its own. Leave the rest for wild animals to eat. The same applies to your vineyards and olive groves.

¹²“You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working. This gives your ox and your donkey a chance to rest. It also allows your slaves and the foreigners living among you to be refreshed.

¹³“Pay close attention to all my instructions. You must not call on the name of any other gods. Do not even speak their names.

¹⁴“Each year you must celebrate three festivals in my honor.

¹⁵First, celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you. Celebrate this festival annually at the appointed time in early spring, in the month of Abib, for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. No one may appear before me without an offering.

¹⁶“Second, celebrate the Festival of Harvest, when you bring me the first crops of your harvest. “Finally, celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the harvest season, when you have harvested all the crops from your fields.

¹⁷At these three times each year, every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the LORD.

¹⁸“You must not offer the blood of my sacrificial offerings together with any baked goods containing yeast. And do not leave the fat from the festival offerings until the next morning.

¹⁹“As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the house of the LORD your God. “You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²⁰“See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.

²¹Pay close attention to him, and obey his instructions. Do not rebel against him, for he is my representative, and he will not forgive your rebellion.

²²But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose you.

²³For my angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, so you may live there. And I will destroy them completely.

²⁴You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.

²⁵“You must serve only the LORD your God. If you do, I will bless you with food and water, and I will protect you from illness.

²⁶There will be no miscarriages or infertility in your land, and I will give you long, full lives.

²⁷“I will send my terror ahead of you and create panic among all the people whose lands you invade. I will make all your enemies turn and run.

²⁸I will send terror ahead of you to drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites.

²⁹But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals would multiply and threaten you.

³⁰I will drive them out a little at a time until your population has increased enough to take possession of the land.

³¹And I will fix your boundaries from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the eastern wilderness to the Euphrates River. I will hand over to you the people now living in the land, and you will drive them out ahead of you.

³²“Make no treaties with them or their gods.

³³They must not live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me. If you serve their gods, you will be caught in the trap of idolatry.”

¹I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground.

²In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses.

³All of them ate the same spiritual food,

⁴and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.

⁵Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

⁶These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,

⁷or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”

⁸And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.

⁹Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites.

¹⁰And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death.

¹¹These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

¹²If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.

¹³The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

¹⁴So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols.

¹⁵You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true.

¹⁶When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ?

¹⁷And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.

¹⁸Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?

¹⁹What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods?

²⁰No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons.

²¹You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too.

²²What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?

²³You say, “I am allowed to do anything” — but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything” — but not everything is beneficial.

²⁴Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.

²⁵So you may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace without raising questions of conscience.

²⁶For “the earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it.”

²⁷If someone who isn’t a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience.

²⁸(But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you.

²⁹It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks?

³⁰If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?

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

³²Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God.

³³I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.

¹Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

²It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.

³No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.

⁴And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.

⁵And there will be no night there — no need for lamps or sun — for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

⁶Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon. ”

⁷“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book. ”

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

⁹But he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!”

¹⁰Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near.

¹¹Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.”

¹²“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.

¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

¹⁴Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.

¹⁵Outside the city are the dogs — the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.

¹⁶“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.”

¹⁷The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.

¹⁸And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book.

¹⁹And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.

²⁰He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

²¹May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.

¹Then Job spoke again:

²“You people really know everything, don’t you? And when you die, wisdom will die with you!

³Well, I know a few things myself — and you’re no better than I am. Who doesn’t know these things you’ve been saying?

⁴Yet my friends laugh at me, for I call on God and expect an answer. I am a just and blameless man, yet they laugh at me.

⁵People who are at ease mock those in trouble. They give a push to people who are stumbling.

⁶But robbers are left in peace, and those who provoke God live in safety — though God keeps them in his power.

⁷“Just ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.

⁸Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish in the sea speak to you.

⁹For they all know that my disaster has come from the hand of the LORD.

¹⁰For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of every human being.

¹¹The ear tests the words it hears just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.

¹²Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.

¹³“But true wisdom and power are found in God; counsel and understanding are his.

¹⁴What he destroys cannot be rebuilt. When he puts someone in prison, there is no escape.

¹⁵If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert. If he releases the waters, they flood the earth.

¹⁶Yes, strength and wisdom are his; deceivers and deceived are both in his power.

¹⁷He leads counselors away, stripped of good judgment; wise judges become fools.

¹⁸He removes the royal robe of kings. They are led away with ropes around their waist.

¹⁹He leads priests away, stripped of status; he overthrows those with long years in power.

²⁰He silences the trusted adviser and removes the insight of the elders.

²¹He pours disgrace upon princes and disarms the strong.

²²“He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness; he brings light to the deepest gloom.

²³He builds up nations, and he destroys them. He expands nations, and he abandons them.

²⁴He strips kings of understanding and leaves them wandering in a pathless wasteland.

²⁵They grope in the darkness without a light. He makes them stagger like drunkards.

¹The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”

²The LORD will extend your powerful kingdom from Jerusalem ; you will rule over your enemies.

³When you go to war, your people will serve you willingly. You are arrayed in holy garments, and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew.

⁴The LORD has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

⁵The Lord stands at your right hand to protect you. He will strike down many kings when his anger erupts.

⁶He will punish the nations and fill their lands with corpses; he will shatter heads over the whole earth.

⁷But he himself will be refreshed from brooks along the way. He will be victorious.

¹To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.

²The LORD approves of those who are good, but he condemns those who plan wickedness.

³Wickedness never brings stability, but the godly have deep roots.

⁴A worthy wife is a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful woman is like cancer in his bones.

⁵The plans of the godly are just; the advice of the wicked is treacherous.

⁶The words of the wicked are like a murderous ambush, but the words of the godly save lives.

⁷The wicked die and disappear, but the family of the godly stands firm.

⁸A sensible person wins admiration, but a warped mind is despised.

⁹Better to be an ordinary person with a servant than to be self-important but have no food.

¹⁰The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel.

¹¹A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.

¹²Thieves are jealous of each other’s loot, but the godly are well rooted and bear their own fruit.

¹³The wicked are trapped by their own words, but the godly escape such trouble.

¹⁴Wise words bring many benefits, and hard work brings rewards.

¹⁵Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.

¹⁶A fool is quick-tempered, but a wise person stays calm when insulted.

¹⁷An honest witness tells the truth; a false witness tells lies.

¹⁸Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.

¹⁹Truthful words stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed.

²⁰Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace!

²¹No harm comes to the godly, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.

²²The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth.

²³The wise don’t make a show of their knowledge, but fools broadcast their foolishness.

²⁴Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave.

²⁵Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.

²⁶The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.

²⁷Lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find.

²⁸The way of the godly leads to life; that path does not lead to death.

¹When King Jabin of Hazor heard what had happened, he sent messages to the following kings: King Jobab of Madon; the king of Shimron; the king of Acshaph;

²all the kings of the northern hill country; the kings in the Jordan Valley south of Galilee ; the kings in the Galilean foothills ; the kings of Naphoth-dor on the west;

³the kings of Canaan, both east and west; the kings of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites in the towns on the slopes of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

⁴All these kings came out to fight. Their combined armies formed a vast horde. And with all their horses and chariots, they covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore.

⁵The kings joined forces and established their camp around the water near Merom to fight against Israel.

⁶Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel as dead men. Then you must cripple their horses and burn their chariots.”

⁷So Joshua and all his fighting men traveled to the water near Merom and attacked suddenly.

⁸And the LORD gave them victory over their enemies. The Israelites chased them as far as Greater Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward into the valley of Mizpah, until not one enemy warrior was left alive.

⁹Then Joshua crippled the horses and burned all the chariots, as the LORD had instructed.

¹⁰Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor and killed its king. (Hazor had at one time been the capital of all these kingdoms.)

¹¹The Israelites completely destroyed every living thing in the city, leaving no survivors. Not a single person was spared. And then Joshua burned the city.

¹²Joshua slaughtered all the other kings and their people, completely destroying them, just as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded.

¹³But the Israelites did not burn any of the towns built on mounds except Hazor, which Joshua burned.

¹⁴And the Israelites took all the plunder and livestock of the ravaged towns for themselves. But they killed all the people, leaving no survivors.

¹⁵As the LORD had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. And Joshua did as he was told, carefully obeying all the commands that the LORD had given to Moses.

¹⁶So Joshua conquered the entire region — the hill country, the entire Negev, the whole area around the town of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, the mountains of Israel, and the Galilean foothills.

¹⁷The Israelite territory now extended all the way from Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir in the south, as far north as Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon in the valley of Lebanon. Joshua killed all the kings of those territories,

¹⁸waging war for a long time to accomplish this.

¹⁹No one in this region made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites of Gibeon. All the others were defeated.

²⁰For the LORD hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites. So they were completely destroyed without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²¹During this period Joshua destroyed all the descendants of Anak, who lived in the hill country of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and the entire hill country of Judah and Israel. He killed them all and completely destroyed their towns.

²²None of the descendants of Anak were left in all the land of Israel, though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

²³So Joshua took control of the entire land, just as the LORD had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally had rest from war.

¹What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue unfair laws.

²They deprive the poor of justice and deny the rights of the needy among my people. They prey on widows and take advantage of orphans.

³What will you do when I punish you, when I send disaster upon you from a distant land? To whom will you turn for help? Where will your treasures be safe?

⁴You will stumble along as prisoners or lie among the dead. But even then the LORD’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.

⁵“What sorrow awaits Assyria, the rod of my anger. I use it as a club to express my anger.

⁶I am sending Assyria against a godless nation, against a people with whom I am angry. Assyria will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath its feet.

⁷But the king of Assyria will not understand that he is my tool; his mind does not work that way. His plan is simply to destroy, to cut down nation after nation.

⁸He will say, ‘Each of my princes will soon be a king.

⁹We destroyed Calno just as we did Carchemish. Hamath fell before us as Arpad did. And we destroyed Samaria just as we did Damascus.

¹⁰Yes, we have finished off many a kingdom whose gods were greater than those in Jerusalem and Samaria.

¹¹So we will defeat Jerusalem and her gods, just as we destroyed Samaria with hers.’”

¹²After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him — for he is proud and arrogant.

¹³He boasts, “By my own powerful arm I have done this. With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it. I have broken down the defenses of nations and carried off their treasures. I have knocked down their kings like a bull.

¹⁴I have robbed their nests of riches and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs. No one can even flap a wing against me or utter a peep of protest.”

¹⁵But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it? Can a wooden cane walk by itself?

¹⁶Therefore, the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops, and a flaming fire will consume its glory.

¹⁷The LORD, the Light of Israel, will be a fire; the Holy One will be a flame. He will devour the thorns and briers with fire, burning up the enemy in a single night.

¹⁸The LORD will consume Assyria’s glory like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land; it will waste away like sick people in a plague.

¹⁹Of all that glorious forest, only a few trees will survive — so few that a child could count them!

²⁰In that day the remnant left in Israel, the survivors in the house of Jacob, will no longer depend on allies who seek to destroy them. But they will faithfully trust the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

²¹A remnant will return; yes, the remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.

²²But though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant of them will return. The LORD has rightly decided to destroy his people.

²³Yes, the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, has already decided to destroy the entire land.

²⁴So this is what the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, says: “O my people in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you with rod and club as the Egyptians did long ago.

²⁵In a little while my anger against you will end, and then my anger will rise up to destroy them.”

²⁶The LORD of Heaven’s Armies will lash them with his whip, as he did when Gideon triumphed over the Midianites at the rock of Oreb, or when the LORD’s staff was raised to drown the Egyptian army in the sea.

²⁷In that day the LORD will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders.

²⁸Look, the Assyrians are now at Aiath. They are passing through Migron and are storing their equipment at Micmash.

²⁹They are crossing the pass and are camping at Geba. Fear strikes the town of Ramah. All the people of Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, are running for their lives.

³⁰Scream in terror, you people of Gallim! Shout out a warning to Laishah. Oh, poor Anathoth!

³¹There go the people of Madmenah, all fleeing. The citizens of Gebim are trying to hide.

³²The enemy stops at Nob for the rest of that day. He shakes his fist at beautiful Mount Zion, the mountain of Jerusalem.

³³But look! The Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will chop down the mighty tree of Assyria with great power! He will cut down the proud. That lofty tree will be brought down.

³⁴He will cut down the forest trees with an ax. Lebanon will fall to the Mighty One.

¹Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. Persecution Scatters the Believers A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria.

²(Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.)

³But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.

⁴But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.

⁵Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah.

⁶Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did.

⁷Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed.

⁸So there was great joy in that city.

⁹A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great.

¹⁰Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One — the Power of God.”

¹¹They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.

¹²But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized.

¹³Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.

¹⁴When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there.

¹⁵As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁷Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power.

¹⁹“Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”

²⁰But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought!

²¹You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God.

²²Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts,

²³for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”

²⁴“Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!”

²⁵After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News.

²⁶As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

²⁷So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship,

²⁸and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

²⁹The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”

³⁰Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

³²The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.

³³He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”

³⁴The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?”

³⁵So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.

³⁶As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.