Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

²The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe.

³And they kept coming up to him and saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and were slapping his face.

⁴Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to let you know I find no grounds for charging him.”

⁵Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶When the chief priests and the temple servants saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate responded, “Take him and crucify him yourselves, since I find no grounds for charging him.”

⁷“We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”

⁸When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever.

⁹He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer.

¹⁰So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?”

¹¹“You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹²From that moment Pilate kept trying to release him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar!”

¹³When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat in a place called the Stone Pavement (but in Aramaic, Gabbatha).

¹⁴It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon. Then he told the Jews, “Here is your king!”

¹⁵They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?” “We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶Then he handed him over to be crucified. Then they took Jesus away.

¹⁷Carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

¹⁸There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

²⁰Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.

²¹So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’”

²²Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.

²⁴So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.” This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled that says: They divided my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. This is what the soldiers did.

²⁵Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”

²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

²⁸After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.”

²⁹A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth.

³⁰When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

³¹Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special day). They requested that Pilate have the men’s legs broken and that their bodies be taken away.

³²So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him.

³³When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead.

³⁴But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.

³⁵He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth.

³⁶For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken.

³⁷Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the one they pierced.

³⁸After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus — but secretly because of his fear of the Jews — asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus’s body. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and took his body away.

³⁹Nicodemus (who had previously come to him at night) also came, bringing a mixture of about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes.

⁴⁰They took Jesus’s body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the fragrant spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews.

⁴¹There was a garden in the place where he was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been placed in it.

⁴²They placed Jesus there because of the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.

¹“Have your brother Aaron, with his sons, come to you from the Israelites to serve me as priest — Aaron, his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and beauty.

³You are to instruct all the skilled artisans, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make Aaron’s garments for consecrating him to serve me as priest.

⁴These are the garments that they must make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a specially woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they may serve me as priests.

⁵They should use gold; blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; and fine linen.

⁶“They are to make the ephod of finely spun linen embroidered with gold, and with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn.

⁷It must have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges so that it can be joined together.

⁸The artistically woven waistband that is on the ephod must be of one piece, according to the same workmanship of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen.

⁹“Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of Israel’s sons:

¹⁰six of their names on the first stone and the remaining six names on the second stone, in the order of their birth.

¹¹Engrave the two stones with the names of Israel’s sons as a gem cutter engraves a seal. Mount them, surrounded with gold filigree settings.

¹²Fasten both stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the Israelites. Aaron will carry their names on his two shoulders before the LORD as a reminder.

¹³Fashion gold filigree settings

¹⁴and two chains of pure gold; you will make them of braided cord work, and attach the cord chains to the settings.

¹⁵“You are to make an embroidered breastpiece for making decisions. Make it with the same workmanship as the ephod; make it of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen.

¹⁶It must be square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.

¹⁷Place a setting of gemstones on it, four rows of stones: The first row should be a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald;

¹⁸the second row, a turquoise, a lapis lazuli, and a diamond;

¹⁹the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

²⁰and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They should be adorned with gold filigree in their settings.

²¹The twelve stones are to correspond to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone must be engraved like a seal, with one of the names of the twelve tribes.

²²“You are to make braided chains of pure gold cord work for the breastpiece.

²³Fashion two gold rings for the breastpiece and attach them to its two corners.

²⁴Then attach the two gold cords to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece.

²⁵Attach the other ends of the two cords to the two filigree settings, and in this way attach them to the ephod’s shoulder pieces in the front.

²⁶Make two other gold rings and put them at the two other corners of the breastpiece on the edge that is next to the inner border of the ephod.

²⁷Make two more gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the ephod’s two shoulder pieces on its front, close to its seam, and above the ephod’s woven waistband.

²⁸The artisans are to tie the breastpiece from its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece is above the ephod’s waistband and does not come loose from the ephod.

²⁹“Whenever he enters the sanctuary, Aaron is to carry the names of Israel’s sons over his heart on the breastpiece for decisions, as a continual reminder before the LORD.

³⁰Place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece for decisions, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the LORD. Aaron will continually carry the means of decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.

³¹“You are to make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue yarn.

³²There should be an opening at its top in the center of it. Around the opening, there should be a woven collar with an opening like that of body armor so that it does not tear.

³³Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn on its lower hem and all around it. Put gold bells between them all the way around,

³⁴so that gold bells and pomegranates alternate around the lower hem of the robe.

³⁵The robe will be worn by Aaron whenever he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he enters the sanctuary before the LORD and when he exits, so that he does not die.

³⁶“You are to make a pure gold medallion and engrave it, like the engraving of a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.

³⁷Fasten it to a cord of blue yarn so it can be placed on the turban; the medallion is to be on the front of the turban.

³⁸It will be on Aaron’s forehead so that Aaron may bear the guilt connected with the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate as all their holy gifts. It is always to be on his forehead, so that they may find acceptance with the LORD.

³⁹“You are to weave the tunic from fine linen, make a turban of fine linen, and make an embroidered sash.

⁴⁰Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons to give them glory and beauty.

⁴¹Put these on your brother Aaron and his sons; then anoint, ordain, and consecrate them, so that they may serve me as priests.

⁴²Make them linen undergarments to cover their naked bodies; they must extend from the waist to the thighs.

⁴³These must be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary area, so that they do not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and for his future descendants.

¹Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand

²and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.

³For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

⁶Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.

⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

⁸Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

¹¹Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

¹²Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?

¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;

¹⁴and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.

¹⁵Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ — whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised.

¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

¹⁸Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished.

¹⁹If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

²⁰But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

²¹For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.

²²For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

²³But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

²⁴Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.

²⁵For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet.

²⁶The last enemy to be abolished is death.

²⁷For God has put everything under his feet. Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception.

²⁸When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

²⁹Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?

³⁰Why are we in danger every hour?

³¹I face death every day, as surely as I may boast about you, brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

³²If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus as a mere man, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

³⁴Come to your senses and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.

³⁵But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?”

³⁶You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

³⁷And as for what you sow — you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain.

³⁸But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body.

³⁹Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

⁴⁰There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones.

⁴¹There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor.

⁴²So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption;

⁴³sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power;

⁴⁴sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

⁴⁵So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

⁴⁷The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

⁴⁸Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.

⁴⁹And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

⁵⁰What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption.

⁵¹Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,

⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

⁵³For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.

⁵⁴When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory.

⁵⁵Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

⁵⁸Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

¹My spirit is broken. My days are extinguished. A graveyard awaits me.

²Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.

³Accept my pledge! Put up security for me. Who else will be my sponsor?

⁴You have closed their minds to understanding, therefore you will not honor them.

⁵If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶He has made me an object of scorn to the people; I have become a man people spit at.

⁷My eyes have grown dim from grief, and my whole body has become but a shadow.

⁸The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are roused against the godless.

⁹Yet the righteous person will hold to his way, and the one whose hands are clean will grow stronger.

¹⁰But come back and try again, all of you. I will not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days have slipped by; my plans have been ruined, even the things dear to my heart.

¹²They turned night into day and made light seem near in the face of darkness.

¹³If I await Sheol as my home, spread out my bed in darkness,

¹⁴and say to corruption, “You are my father,” and to the maggot, “My mother” or “My sister,”

¹⁵where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?

¹⁶Will it go down to the gates of Sheol, or will we descend together to the dust?

¹Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory because of your faithful love, because of your truth.

²Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

³Our God is in heaven and does whatever he pleases.

⁴Their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.

⁵They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.

⁶They have ears but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell.

⁷They have hands but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throats.

⁸Those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them.

⁹Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield.

¹⁰House of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield.

¹¹You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield.

¹²The LORD remembers us and will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron;

¹³he will bless those who fear the LORD  — small and great alike.

¹⁴May the LORD add to your numbers, both yours and your children’s.

¹⁵May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

¹⁶The heavens are the LORD’s, but the earth he has given to the human race.

¹⁷It is not the dead who praise the LORD, nor any of those descending into the silence of death.

¹⁸But we will bless the LORD, both now and forever. Hallelujah!

¹Better a dry crust with peace than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and share an inheritance among brothers.

³A crucible for silver, and a smelter for gold, and the LORD is the tester of hearts.

⁴A wicked person listens to malicious talk; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

⁵The one who mocks the poor insults his Maker, and one who rejoices over calamity will not go unpunished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly, and the pride of children is their fathers.

⁷Eloquent words are not appropriate on a fool’s lips; how much worse are lies for a ruler.

⁸A bribe seems like a magic stone to its owner; wherever he turns, he succeeds.

⁹Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but whoever gossips about it separates friends.

¹⁰A rebuke cuts into a perceptive person more than a hundred lashes into a fool.

¹¹An evil person desires only rebellion; a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹²Better for a person to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his foolishness.

¹³If anyone returns evil for good, evil will never depart from his house.

¹⁴To start a conflict is to release a flood; stop the dispute before it breaks out.

¹⁵Acquitting the guilty and condemning the just  — both are detestable to the LORD.

¹⁶Why does a fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.

¹⁸One without sense enters an agreement and puts up security for his friend.

¹⁹One who loves to offend loves strife; one who builds a high threshold invites injury.

²⁰One with a twisted mind will not succeed, and one with deceitful speech will fall into ruin.

²¹A man fathers a fool to his own sorrow; the father of a fool has no joy.

²²A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

²³A wicked person secretly takes a bribe to subvert the course of justice.

²⁴Wisdom is the focus of the perceptive, but a fool’s eyes roam to the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son is grief to his father and bitterness to the one who bore him.

²⁶It is certainly not good to fine an innocent person or to beat a noble for his honesty.

²⁷The one who has knowledge restrains his words, and one who keeps a cool head is a person of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent — discerning, when he seals his lips.

¹The allotment for the descendants of Joseph went from the Jordan at Jericho to the Waters of Jericho on the east, through the wilderness ascending from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel.

²From Bethel it went to Luz and proceeded to the border of the Archites by Ataroth.

³It then descended westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.

⁴So Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, received their inheritance.

⁵This was the territory of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: The border of their inheritance went from Ataroth-addar on the east to Upper Beth-horon.

⁶In the north the border went westward from Michmethath; it turned eastward from Taanath-shiloh and passed it east of Janoah.

⁷From Janoah it descended to Ataroth and Naarah, and then reached Jericho and went to the Jordan.

⁸From Tappuah the border went westward along the Brook of Kanah and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans, together with

⁹the cities set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of the descendants of Manasseh — all these cities with their settlements.

¹⁰However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites still live in Ephraim today, but they are forced laborers.

¹A pronouncement concerning Moab: Ar in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night. Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night.

²Dibon went up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails on Nebo and at Medeba. Every head is shaved; every beard is chopped short.

³In its streets they wear sackcloth; on its rooftops and in its public squares everyone wails, falling down and weeping.

⁴Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz. Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out, and they tremble.

⁵My heart cries out over Moab, whose fugitives flee as far as Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah; they go up the Ascent of Luhith weeping; they raise a cry of destruction on the road to Horonaim.

⁶The Waters of Nimrim are desolate; the grass is withered, the foliage is gone, and the vegetation has vanished.

⁷So they carry their wealth and belongings over the Wadi of the Willows.

⁸For their cry echoes throughout the territory of Moab. Their wailing reaches Eglaim; their wailing reaches Beer-elim.

⁹The Waters of Dibon are full of blood, but I will bring on Dibon even more than this — a lion for those who escape from Moab, and for the survivors in the land.

¹Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

²As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.

⁴So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

⁵Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.

⁶When they had traveled the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

⁷He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (that is the meaning of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul — also called Paul — filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at Elymas

¹⁰and said, “You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, you son of the devil and enemy of all that is right. Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?

¹¹Now, look, the Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

¹²Then, when he saw what happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and went back to Jerusalem.

¹⁴They continued their journey from Perga and reached Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, you can speak.”

¹⁶Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites, and you who fear God, listen!

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, made the people prosper during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty arm.

¹⁸And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness;

¹⁹and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.

²⁰This all took about 450 years. After this, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

²¹Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

²²After removing him, he raised up David as their king and testified about him:’ I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my will.’

²³“From this man’s descendants, as he promised, God brought to Israel the Savior, Jesus.

²⁴Before his coming to public attention, John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵Now as John was completing his mission, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the one. But one is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.’

²⁶“Brothers and sisters, children of Abraham’s race, and those among you who fear God, it is to us that the word of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷Since the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him or the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, they have fulfilled their words by condemning him.

²⁸Though they found no grounds for the death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him killed.

²⁹When they had carried out all that had been written about him, they took him down from the tree and put him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised him from the dead,

³¹and he appeared for many days to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

³²And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors.

³³God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm: You are my Son; today I have become your Father.

³⁴As to his raising him from the dead, never to return to decay, he has spoken in this way, I will give you the holy and sure promises of David.

³⁵Therefore he also says in another passage, You will not let your Holy One see decay.

³⁶For David, after serving God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and decayed,

³⁷but the one God raised up did not decay.

³⁸Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers and sisters, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you.

³⁹Everyone who believes is justified through him from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.

⁴⁰So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:

⁴¹Look, you scoffers, marvel and vanish away, because I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will never believe, even if someone were to explain it to you.”

⁴²As they were leaving, the people urged them to speak about these matters the following Sabbath.

⁴³After the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The following Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what Paul was saying, insulting him.

⁴⁶Paul and Barnabas boldly replied, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the end of the earth.”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and honored the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the prominent God-fearing women and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district.

⁵¹But Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet against them and went to Iconium.

⁵²And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.