Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.

²Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples.

³So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

⁴Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?”

⁵They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.

⁶When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.

⁷Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁸Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”

⁹This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.”

¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus.

¹¹Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

¹²So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him.

¹³First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.

¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.

¹⁵Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest,

¹⁶but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in.

¹⁷The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”

¹⁸Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.

¹⁹Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.

²⁰Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.

²¹Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.”

²²When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”

²³Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?”

²⁴Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

²⁵Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”

²⁶One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?”

²⁷Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.

²⁸Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover.

²⁹So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”

³⁰They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”

³¹Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.”

³²(This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)

³³Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

³⁴Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”

³⁵Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”

³⁶Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

³⁷Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

³⁸Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” Jesus Sentenced to Death After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him.

³⁹But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”

⁴⁰They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.

¹You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and it shall be three cubits high.

²You shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.

³You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze.

⁴You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze; and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.

⁵You shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net shall extend halfway down the altar.

⁶You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze;

⁷the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried.

⁸You shall make it hollow, with boards. They shall be made just as you were shown on the mountain.

⁹You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twisted linen one hundred cubits long for that side;

¹⁰its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.

¹¹Likewise for its length on the north side there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, their pillars twenty and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.

¹²For the width of the court on the west side there shall be fifty cubits of hangings, with ten pillars and ten bases.

¹³The width of the court on the front to the east shall be fifty cubits.

¹⁴There shall be fifteen cubits of hangings on the one side, with three pillars and three bases.

¹⁵There shall be fifteen cubits of hangings on the other side, with three pillars and three bases.

¹⁶For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen, embroidered with needlework; it shall have four pillars and with them four bases.

¹⁷All the pillars around the court shall be banded with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their bases of bronze.

¹⁸The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, the width fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twisted linen and bases of bronze.

¹⁹All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.

²⁰You shall further command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, so that a lamp may be set up to burn regularly.

²¹In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a perpetual ordinance to be observed throughout their generations by the Israelites.

¹Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.

²For those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God; for nobody understands them, since they are speaking mysteries in the Spirit.

³On the other hand, those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.

⁴Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church.

⁵Now I would like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. One who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

⁶Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you in some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?

⁷It is the same way with lifeless instruments that produce sound, such as the flute or the harp. If they do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is being played?

⁸And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?

⁹So with yourselves; if in a tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air.

¹⁰There are doubtless many different kinds of sounds in the world, and nothing is without sound.

¹¹If then I do not know the meaning of a sound, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.

¹²So with yourselves; since you are eager for spiritual gifts, strive to excel in them for building up the church.

¹³Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret.

¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive.

¹⁵What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also.

¹⁶Otherwise, if you say a blessing with the spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since the outsider does not know what you are saying?

¹⁷For you may give thanks well enough, but the other person is not built up.

¹⁸I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you;

¹⁹nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults.

²¹In the law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people; yet even then they will not listen to me,” says the Lord.

²²Tongues, then, are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.

²³If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

²⁴But if all prophesy, an unbeliever or outsider who enters is reproved by all and called to account by all.

²⁵After the secrets of the unbeliever’s heart are disclosed, that person will bow down before God and worship him, declaring, “God is really among you.”

²⁶What should be done then, my friends? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

²⁷If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret.

²⁸But if there is no one to interpret, let them be silent in church and speak to themselves and to God.

²⁹Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.

³⁰If a revelation is made to someone else sitting nearby, let the first person be silent.

³¹For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged.

³²And the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets,

³³for God is a God not of disorder but of peace. (As in all the churches of the saints,

³⁴women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says.

³⁵If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

³⁶Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?)

³⁷Anyone who claims to be a prophet, or to have spiritual powers, must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord.

³⁸Anyone who does not recognize this is not to be recognized.

³⁹So, my friends, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues;

⁴⁰but all things should be done decently and in order.

¹Then Job answered:

²“I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all.

³Have windy words no limit? Or what provokes you that you keep on talking?

⁴I also could talk as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you.

⁵I could encourage you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.

⁶“If I speak, my pain is not assuaged, and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me?

⁷Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company.

⁸And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me; my leanness has risen up against me, and it testifies to my face.

⁹He has torn me in his wrath, and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.

¹⁰They have gaped at me with their mouths; they have struck me insolently on the cheek; they mass themselves together against me.

¹¹God gives me up to the ungodly, and casts me into the hands of the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, and he broke me in two; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target;

¹³his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys, and shows no mercy; he pours out my gall on the ground.

¹⁴He bursts upon me again and again; he rushes at me like a warrior.

¹⁵I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have laid my strength in the dust.

¹⁶My face is red with weeping, and deep darkness is on my eyelids,

¹⁷though there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸“O earth, do not cover my blood; let my outcry find no resting place.

¹⁹Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven, and he that vouches for me is on high.

²⁰My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God,

²¹that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God, as one does for a neighbor.

²²For when a few years have come, I shall go the way from which I shall not return.

¹When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,

²Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion.

³The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back.

⁴The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.

⁵Why is it, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?

⁶O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs?

⁷Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the God of Jacob,

⁸who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.

¹The plans of the mind belong to mortals, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

²All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.

³Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

⁴The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

⁵All those who are arrogant are an abomination to the LORD; be assured, they will not go unpunished.

⁶By loyalty and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one avoids evil.

⁷When the ways of people please the LORD, he causes even their enemies to be at peace with them.

⁸Better is a little with righteousness than large income with injustice.

⁹The human mind plans the way, but the LORD directs the steps.

¹⁰Inspired decisions are on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment.

¹¹Honest balances and scales are the LORD’s; all the weights in the bag are his work.

¹²It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves those who speak what is right.

¹⁴A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, and whoever is wise will appease it.

¹⁵In the light of a king’s face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.

¹⁶How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their way preserve their lives.

¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹⁹It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.

²⁰Those who are attentive to a matter will prosper, and happy are those who trust in the LORD.

²¹The wise of heart is called perceptive, and pleasant speech increases persuasiveness.

²²Wisdom is a fountain of life to one who has it, but folly is the punishment of fools.

²³The mind of the wise makes their speech judicious, and adds persuasiveness to their lips.

²⁴Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

²⁵Sometimes there is a way that seems to be right, but in the end it is the way to death.

²⁶The appetite of workers works for them; their hunger urges them on.

²⁷Scoundrels concoct evil, and their speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸A perverse person spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.

²⁹The violent entice their neighbors, and lead them in a way that is not good.

³⁰One who winks the eyes plans perverse things; one who compresses the lips brings evil to pass.

³¹Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.

³²One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and one whose temper is controlled than one who captures a city.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is the LORD’s alone.

¹The lot for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families reached southward to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south.

²And their south boundary ran from the end of the Dead Sea, from the bay that faces southward;

³it goes out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, makes a turn to Karka,

⁴passes along to Azmon, goes out by the Wadi of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary.

⁵And the east boundary is the Dead Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan;

⁶and the boundary goes up to Beth-hoglah, and passes along north of Beth-arabah; and the boundary goes up to the Stone of Bohan, Reuben’s son;

⁷and the boundary goes up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley; and the boundary passes along to the waters of En-shemesh, and ends at En-rogel;

⁸then the boundary goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnom at the southern slope of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem); and the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim;

⁹then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the towns of Mount Ephron; then the boundary bends around to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim);

¹⁰and the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to Beth-shemesh, and passes along by Timnah;

¹¹the boundary goes out to the slope of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends around to Shikkeron, and passes along to Mount Baalah, and goes out to Jabneel; then the boundary comes to an end at the sea.

¹²And the west boundary was the Mediterranean with its coast. This is the boundary surrounding the people of Judah according to their families.

¹³According to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, he gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).

¹⁴And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.

¹⁵From there he went up against the inhabitants of Debir; now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher.

¹⁶And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.”

¹⁷Othniel son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.

¹⁸When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”

¹⁹She said to him, “Give me a present; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

²⁰This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families.

²¹The towns belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme south, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,

²²Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah,

²³Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan,

²⁴Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,

²⁵Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor),

²⁶Amam, Shema, Moladah,

²⁷Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet,

²⁸Hazar-shual, Beer-sheba, Biziothiah,

²⁹Baalah, Iim, Ezem,

³⁰Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,

³¹Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah,

³²Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: in all, twenty-nine towns, with their villages.

³³And in the lowland, Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

³⁴Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam,

³⁵Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,

³⁶Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, Gederothaim: fourteen towns with their villages.

³⁷Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad,

³⁸Dilan, Mizpeh, Jokthe-el,

³⁹Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,

⁴⁰Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish,

⁴¹Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen towns with their villages.

⁴²Libnah, Ether, Ashan,

⁴³Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib,

⁴⁴Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine towns with their villages.

⁴⁵Ekron, with its dependencies and its villages;

⁴⁶from Ekron to the sea, all that were near Ashdod, with their villages.

⁴⁷Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the Wadi of Egypt, and the Great Sea with its coast.

⁴⁸And in the hill country, Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,

⁴⁹Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir),

⁵⁰Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim,

⁵¹Goshen, Holon, and Giloh: eleven towns with their villages.

⁵²Arab, Dumah, Eshan,

⁵³Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah,

⁵⁴Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior: nine towns with their villages.

⁵⁵Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

⁵⁶Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah,

⁵⁷Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten towns with their villages.

⁵⁸Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor,

⁵⁹Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six towns with their villages.

⁶⁰Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah: two towns with their villages.

⁶¹In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah,

⁶²Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi: six towns with their villages.

⁶³But the people of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so the Jebusites live with the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.

¹But the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land; and aliens will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.

²And the nations will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess the nations as male and female slaves in the LORD’s land; they will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them.

³When the LORD has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve,

⁴you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased! How his insolence has ceased!

⁵The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers,

⁶that struck down the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution.

⁷The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing.

⁸The cypresses exult over you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, “Since you were laid low, no one comes to cut us down.”

⁹Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations.

¹⁰All of them will speak and say to you: “You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!”

¹¹Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your harps; maggots are the bed beneath you, and worms are your covering.

¹²How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!

¹³You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon;

¹⁴I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.”

¹⁵But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit.

¹⁶Those who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you: “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms,

¹⁷who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who would not let his prisoners go home?”

¹⁸All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb;

¹⁹but you are cast out, away from your grave, like loathsome carrion, clothed with the dead, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the Pit, like a corpse trampled underfoot.

²⁰You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people. May the descendants of evildoers nevermore be named!

²¹Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their father. Let them never rise to possess the earth or cover the face of the world with cities.

²²I will rise up against them, says the LORD of hosts, and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, offspring and posterity, says the LORD.

²³And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says the LORD of hosts.

²⁴The LORD of hosts has sworn: As I have designed, so shall it be; and as I have planned, so shall it come to pass:

²⁵I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him under foot; his yoke shall be removed from them, and his burden from their shoulders.

²⁶This is the plan that is planned concerning the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.

²⁷For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

²⁸In the year that King Ahaz died this oracle came:

²⁹Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the root of the snake will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent.

³⁰The firstborn of the poor will graze, and the needy lie down in safety; but I will make your root die of famine, and your remnant I will kill.

³¹Wail, O gate; cry, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in its ranks.

³²What will one answer the messengers of the nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, and the needy among his people will find refuge in her.”

¹About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church.

²He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword.

³After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.)

⁴When he had seized him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

⁵While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him.

⁶The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison.

⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists.

⁸The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

⁹Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel’s help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹²As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many had gathered and were praying.

¹³When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer.

¹⁴On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate.

¹⁵They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.”

¹⁶Meanwhile Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed.

¹⁷He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, “Tell this to James and to the believers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸When morning came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.

¹⁹When Herod had searched for him and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

²⁰Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him in a body; and after winning over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for a reconciliation, because their country depended on the king’s country for food.

²¹On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat on the platform, and delivered a public address to them.

²²The people kept shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a mortal!”

²³And immediately, because he had not given the glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴But the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents.

²⁵Then after completing their mission Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem and brought with them John, whose other name was Mark.