Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹So Pilate then took Jesus and had Him flogged.

²And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and put a purple cloak on Him;

³and they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and slapped Him in the face again and again.

⁴And then Pilate came out again and *said to them, “See, I am bringing Him out to you so that you will know that I find no grounds at all for charges in His case.”

⁵Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate *said to them, “Behold, the Man!”

⁶So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate *said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him; for I find no grounds for charges in His case!”

⁷The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He made Himself out to be the Son of God!”

⁸Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid;

⁹and he entered the Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰So Pilate *said to Him, “Are you not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?”

¹¹Jesus answered him, “You would have no authorityover Me at all, if it had not been given to you from above; for this reason the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹²As a result of this, Pilate made efforts to release Him; but the Jews shouted, saying, “If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar!”

¹³Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement—but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

¹⁴Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he *said to the Jews, “Look, your King!”

¹⁵So they shouted, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate *said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.”

¹⁶So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.

¹⁷They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called, Golgotha.

¹⁸There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.

¹⁹Now Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

²⁰Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek.

²¹So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; rather, write that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’ ”

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

²³Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts: a part to each soldier, and the tunic also; but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece.

²⁴So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be.” This happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “THEY DIVIDED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEMSELVES, AND THEY CAST LOTS FOR MY CLOTHING.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.

²⁵Now beside the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

²⁷Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, *said, “I am thirsty.”

²⁹A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.

³⁰Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

³¹Now then, since it was the day of preparation, to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews requested of Pilate that their legs be broken, and the bodies be taken away.

³²So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who was crucified with Him;

³³but after they came to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

³⁴Yet one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

³⁵And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.

³⁶For these things took place so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.”

³⁷And again another Scripture says, “THEY WILL LOOK AT HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.”

³⁸Now after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, requested of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body.

³⁹Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras weight.

⁴⁰So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

⁴¹Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.

⁴²Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

¹“Then bring forward to yourself your brother Aaron, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to serve as priest to Me—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

²And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.

³You shall speak to all the skillful people whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may serve as priest to Me.

⁴And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a tunic of checkered work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that he may serve as priest to Me.

⁵They shall take the gold, the violet, the purple, the scarlet material, and the fine linen.

⁶“They shall also make the ephod of gold, of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen, the work of the skilled embroiderer.

⁷It shall have two shoulder pieces joined to its two ends, so that it may be joined.

⁸The skillfully woven band of its overlay, which is on it, shall be like its workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of violet and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen.

⁹And you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel,

¹⁰six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, according to their birth.

¹¹As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall set them in filigree settings of gold.

¹²And you shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall carry their names before the LORD on his two shoulders as a memorial.

¹³And you shall make filigree settings of gold,

¹⁴and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them of twisted cord work, and you shall put the corded chains on the filigree settings.

¹⁵“You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skilled embroiderer; like the work of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen you shall make it.

¹⁶It shall be square and folded double, a span in length and a span in width.

¹⁷And you shall mount on it four rows of stones; the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald;

¹⁸and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond;

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

²⁰and the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree.

²¹The stones shall be engraved according to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, according to their names; they shall be like the engravings of a signet, each according to his name for the twelve tribes.

²²You shall also make on the breastpiece twisted chains of cord work in pure gold.

²³And you shall make on the breastpiece two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece.

²⁴And you shall put the two cords of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece.

²⁵You shall put the other two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, at the front of it.

²⁶And you shall make two rings of gold and place them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on the edge of it, which is toward the inner side of the ephod.

²⁷And you shall make two rings of gold and put them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on the front of it close to the place where it is joined, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

²⁸And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a violet cord, so that it will be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece will not come loose from the ephod.

²⁹So Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he enters the Holy Place, as a memorial before the LORD continually.

³⁰And you shall put in the breastpiece of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the LORD; and Aaron shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the LORD continually.

³¹“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of violet.

³²There shall be an opening at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn.

³³You shall make on its hem pomegranates of violet, purple, and scarlet material all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around:

³⁴a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe.

³⁵It shall be on Aaron when he ministers; and its sound shall be heard when he enters and leaves the Holy Place before the LORD, so that he will not die.

³⁶“You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘Holy to the LORD.’

³⁷You shall fasten it on a violet cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban.

³⁸It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take away the guilt of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrate, regarding all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be accepted before the LORD.

³⁹“And you shall weave the tunic of checkered work of fine linen, and shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of a weaver.

⁴⁰“For Aaron’s sons you shall also make tunics; you shall also make sashes for them, and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty.

⁴¹Then you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him; and you shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, so that they may serve Me as priests.

⁴²You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their bare flesh; they shall reach from the waist even to the thighs.

⁴³And they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the tent of meeting, or when they approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they do not incur guilt and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and to his descendants after him.

¹Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand,

²by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

³For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

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

⁵and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

⁶After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;

⁷then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;

⁸and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit 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 did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

¹¹Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

¹²Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

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

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

¹⁵Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

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

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

¹⁸Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

¹⁹If we have hoped in Christ only in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰But the fact is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

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

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

²³But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,

²⁴then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to our God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

²⁵For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

²⁶The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

²⁷For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is clear that this excludes the Father who put all things in subjection to Him.

²⁸When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

²⁹For otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?

³⁰Why are we also in danger every hour?

³¹I affirm, brothers and sisters, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, that I die daily.

³²If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what good is it to me? If the dead are not raised, LET’S EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.

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

³⁴Sober up morally and stop sinning, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

³⁵But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”

³⁶You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;

³⁷and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

³⁸But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

³⁹All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of mankind, another flesh of animals, another flesh of birds, and another of fish.

⁴⁰There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.

⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

⁴²So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;

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

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

⁴⁵So also it is written: “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING PERSON.” The last Adam was a life-giving spirit.

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

⁴⁷The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.

⁴⁸As is the earthy one, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly one, so also are those who are heavenly.

⁴⁹Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

⁵⁰Now I say this, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

⁵¹Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, 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 imperishable, and we will be changed.

⁵³For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

⁵⁴But when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written: “DEATH HAS BEEN SWALLOWED UP in victory.

⁵⁵WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY? WHERE, O 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 beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

¹“My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.

²Mockers are certainly with me, And my eye gazes on their provocation.

³“Make a pledge for me with Yourself; Who is there that will be my guarantor?

⁴For You have kept their hearts away from understanding; Therefore You will not exalt them.

⁵He who informs against friends for a share of the spoils, The eyes of his children also will perish.

⁶“But He has made me a proverb among the people, And I am one at whom people spit.

⁷My eye has also become inexpressive because of grief, And all my body parts are like a shadow.

⁸The upright will be appalled at this, And the innocent will stir himself up against the godless.

⁹Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way, And the one who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.

¹⁰But come again all of you now, For I do not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days are past, my plans are torn apart, The wishes of my heart.

¹²They make night into day, saying, ‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.

¹³If I hope for Sheol as my home, I make my bed in the darkness;

¹⁴If I call to the grave, ‘You are my father’; To the maggot, ‘my mother and my sister’;

¹⁵Where then is my hope? And who looks at my hope?

¹⁶Will it go down with me to Sheol? Shall we together go down into the dust?”

¹Not to us, LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, because of Your truth.

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

³But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.

⁴Their idols are silver and gold, The work of human hands.

⁵They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see;

⁶They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell;

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

⁸Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.

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

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

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

¹²The LORD has been mindful of us; He 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, The small together with the great.

¹⁴May the LORD increase you, You and your children.

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

¹⁶The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, But the earth He has given to the sons of mankind.

¹⁷The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down into silence;

¹⁸But as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time and forever. Praise the LORD!

¹Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it Than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully, And will share in the inheritance among brothers.

³The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests hearts.

⁴An evildoer listens to wicked lips; A liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

⁵One who mocks the poor taunts his Maker; One who rejoices at disaster will not go unpunished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the old, And the glory of sons is their fathers.

⁷Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool, Much less are lying lips to a prince.

⁸A bribe is a charm in the sight of its owner; Wherever he turns, he prospers.

⁹One who conceals an offense seeks love, But one who repeats a matter separates close friends.

¹⁰A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding Than a hundred blows into a fool.

¹¹A rebellious person seeks only evil, So a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹²Let a person meet a bear robbed of her cubs, Rather than a fool in his foolishness.

¹³One who returns evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like letting out water, So abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.

¹⁵One who justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

¹⁶Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, When he has no sense?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁸A person lacking in sense shakes hands And becomes guarantor in the presence of his neighbor.

¹⁹One who loves wrongdoing loves strife; One who makes his doorway high seeks destruction.

²⁰One who has a crooked mind finds nothing good, And one who is corrupted in his language falls into evil.

²¹He who fathers a fool does so to his sorrow, And 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 accepts a bribe from an inside pocket To pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴Wisdom is in the presence of one who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son is a grief to his father, And bitterness to her who gave birth to him.

²⁶It is also not good to fine the righteous, Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

²⁷One who withholds his words has knowledge, And one who has a cool spirit is a person of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.

¹Then the lot for the sons of Joseph went from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east into the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel.

²It went from Bethel to Luz, and continued to the border of the Archites at Ataroth.

³Then it went down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of lower Beth-horon even to Gezer, and it ended at the sea.

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

⁵Now this was the territory of the sons of Ephraim according to their families: the border of their inheritance eastward was Ataroth-addar, as far as upper Beth-horon.

⁶Then the border went westward at Michmethath on the north, and the border turned eastward to Taanath-shiloh and continued beyond it to the east of Janoah.

⁷Then it went down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, then reached Jericho and came out at the Jordan.

⁸From Tappuah the border continued westward to the brook of Kanah, and it ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families,

⁹together with the cities which were set apart for the sons of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

¹⁰But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers.

¹The pronouncement concerning Moab: Certainly in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined; Certainly in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.

²The people have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba; Everyone’s head is bald and every beard is cut off.

³In their streets they have put on sackcloth; On their housetops and in their public squares Everyone is wailing, overcome with weeping.

⁴Heshbon and Elealeh also cry out, Their voice is heard all the way to Jahaz; Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; His soul trembles within him.

⁵My heart cries out for Moab; His fugitives are as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah, For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping; Indeed, on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their collapse.

⁶For the waters of Nimrim are desolate. Indeed, the grass is withered, the new growth has died, There is no greenery.

⁷Therefore the abundance which they have acquired and stored up, They carry it off over the brook of Arabim.

⁸For the cry of distress has gone around the territory of Moab, Its wailing goes as far as Eglaim and its howling to Beer-elim.

⁹For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; I will certainly bring added woes upon Dimon, A lion upon the fugitives of Moab and the remnant of the land.

¹Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

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

³Then, when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

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

⁵When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.

⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

⁷who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him,

¹⁰and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

¹¹Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

¹²Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁴But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue officials sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

¹⁶Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it.

¹⁸For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.

¹⁹When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about 450 years.

²⁰After these things 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 He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

²³From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

²⁴after John had proclaimed, before His coming, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the declarations of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him.

²⁸And though they found no grounds for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed.

²⁹When they had carried out everything that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised Him from the dead;

³¹and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people.

³²And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,

³³that God has fulfilled this promise to those of us who are the descendants by raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE FATHERED YOU.’

³⁴As for the fact that He raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and faithful mercies of DAVID.’

³⁵Therefore, He also says in another Psalm: ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’

³⁶For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, and was buried among his fathers and underwent decay;

³⁷but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.

³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

³⁹and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

⁴⁰Therefore, see that the thing spoken of in the Prophets does not come upon you:

⁴¹‘LOOK, YOU SCOFFERS, AND BE ASTONISHED, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’ ”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people repeatedly begged to have these things spoken to them the next Sabbath.

⁴³Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The next Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.

⁴⁶Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE APPOINTED YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’ ”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.

⁵¹But they shook off the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

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