Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,

²saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.

³If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”

⁴This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

⁵“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.

⁷They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.

⁸Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

⁹And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

¹²And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

¹³He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

¹⁴And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.

¹⁵But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant,

¹⁶and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”

¹⁷And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

¹⁸In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.

¹⁹And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”

²¹And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

²²And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

²³And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

²⁴Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁵The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’

²⁶But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁸ “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’

²⁹And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went.

³⁰And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.

³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.

³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

³³ “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.

³⁴When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.

³⁵ And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

³⁶ Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.

³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’

³⁹And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

⁴¹They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.

⁴⁴And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.

⁴⁶And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

¹And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them,

²“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.

³Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.

⁴Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.

⁵And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.

⁶And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.

⁷And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.

⁸You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

⁹“These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat.

¹⁰But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you.

¹¹You shall regard them as detestable; you shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses.

¹²Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

¹³“And these you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

¹⁴the kite, the falcon of any kind,

¹⁵every raven of any kind,

¹⁶the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind,

¹⁷the little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl,

¹⁸the barn owl, the tawny owl, the carrion vulture,

¹⁹the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰“All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you.

²¹Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to hop on the ground.

²²Of them you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind.

²³But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.

²⁴“And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening,

²⁵and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

²⁶Every animal that parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean.

²⁷And all that walk on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening,

²⁸and he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

²⁹“And these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the ground: the mole rat, the mouse, the great lizard of any kind,

³⁰the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.

³¹These are unclean to you among all that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.

³²And anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or a garment or a skin or a sack, any article that is used for any purpose. It must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it shall be clean.

³³And if any of them falls into any earthenware vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it.

³⁴Any food in it that could be eaten, on which water comes, shall be unclean. And all drink that could be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean.

³⁵And everything on which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean. Whether oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces. They are unclean and shall remain unclean for you.

³⁶Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, but whoever touches a carcass in them shall be unclean.

³⁷And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed grain that is to be sown, it is clean,

³⁸but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹“And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening,

⁴⁰and whoever eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹“Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it shall not be eaten.

⁴²Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable.

⁴³You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them.

⁴⁴For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.

⁴⁵For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

⁴⁶This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground,

⁴⁷to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

¹For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles —

²assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you,

³how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.

⁴When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ,

⁵which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.

⁶This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

⁷Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power.

⁸To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

⁹and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things,

¹⁰so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

¹¹This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,

¹²in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

¹³So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

¹⁶that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith — that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

¹⁸may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

⁵who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,

⁷so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

⁹obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,

¹¹inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

¹²It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

¹³Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹⁴As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

¹⁵but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,

¹⁶since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

¹⁷And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,

¹⁸knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

²⁰He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

²¹who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²²Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

²³since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

²⁴for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,

²⁵but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

¹And the LORD said to Job:

²“Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

³Then Job answered the LORD and said:

⁴“Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.

⁵I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.”

⁶Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

⁷“Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.

⁸Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?

⁹Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?

¹⁰“Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor.

¹¹Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.

¹²Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand.

¹³Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below.

¹⁴Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵“Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

¹⁸His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron.

¹⁹“He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!

²⁰For the mountains yield food for him where all the wild beasts play.

²¹Under the lotus plants he lies, in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.

²²For his shade the lotus trees cover him; the willows of the brook surround him.

²³Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

²⁴Can one take him by his eyes, or pierce his nose with a snare?

¹I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;

²I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

³On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.

⁴All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth,

⁵and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.

⁶For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.

⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.

⁸The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

¹Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars.

²She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table.

³She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town,

⁴“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks sense she says,

⁵“Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.

⁶Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”

⁷Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.

⁸Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

⁹Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

¹¹For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

¹³The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing.

¹⁴She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town,

¹⁵calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way,

¹⁶“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” And to him who lacks sense she says,

¹⁷“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

¹⁸But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

¹After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in.

²And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.”

³And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.”

⁴So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails.

⁵And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards.

⁶Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.

⁷And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.”

⁸And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

⁹Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi.

¹⁰And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.”

¹¹Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.”

¹²And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.”

¹³They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

¹⁴When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands.

¹⁵And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.

¹⁶And Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men.”

¹⁷As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.

¹⁸And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

¹⁹And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day.

²⁰And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

¹In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”

²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,

³and said, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah:

⁵“Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.

⁶I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.

⁷“This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised:

⁸Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.

⁹A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

¹⁰I said, In the middle of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years.

¹¹I said, I shall not see the LORD, the LORD in the land of the living; I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.

¹²My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd's tent; like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end;

¹³I calmed myself until morning; like a lion he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end.

¹⁴Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!

¹⁵What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

¹⁶O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh restore me to health and make me live!

¹⁷Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

¹⁸For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness.

¹⁹The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness.

²⁰The LORD will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the LORD.

²¹Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.”

²²Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?”

¹And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

²Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.

³But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

⁴Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

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

⁶And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did.

⁷For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.

⁸So there was much joy in that city.

⁹But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.

¹⁰They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.”

¹¹And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

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

¹³Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

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

¹⁵who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,

¹⁶for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁷Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

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

¹⁹saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

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

²¹You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

²²Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”

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

²⁵Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.

²⁷And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship

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

²⁹And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

³⁰So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

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

³²Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.

³³In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”

³⁴And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.

³⁶And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

³⁹And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

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