Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples,

²saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to Me.

³And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them on immediately.”

⁴Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled:

⁵“SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, ‘BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, HUMBLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A DONKEY.’ ”

⁶The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them,

⁷and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on them; and He sat on the cloaks.

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

⁹Now the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

¹²And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.

¹³And He *said to them, “It is written: ‘MY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a DEN OF ROBBERS.”

¹⁴And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and He healed them.

¹⁵But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant,

¹⁶and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘FROM THE MOUTHS OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?”

¹⁷And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

¹⁸Now in the early morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry.

¹⁹And seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves alone; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?”

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

²²And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.”

²³When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”

²⁴But Jesus responded and said to them, “I will also ask you onequestion, which, if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁵The baptism of John was from what source: from heaven or from men?” And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’

²⁶But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.”

²⁷And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.

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

²⁹But he replied, ‘I do not want to.’ Yet afterward he regretted it and went.

³⁰And the man came to his second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I will, sir’; and yet he 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 that the tax collectors and prostituteswill get 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 prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not evenhave second thoughts afterward so as to believe him.

³³“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A FENCE AROUND IT, AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and he leased it to vine-growers and went on a journey.

³⁴And when theharvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit.

³⁵And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

³⁶Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them.

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

³⁸But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take possession of his inheritance!’

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

⁴⁰Therefore, when theowner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?”

⁴¹They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons.”

⁴²Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?

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

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

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.

⁴⁶And although they sought to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, since they considered Him to be a prophet.

¹The LORD spoke again to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them,

²“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘These are the creatures which you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth.

³Whatever has a divided hoof, showing split hoofs, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat.

⁴Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these, among those which chew the cud, or among those which have a divided hoof: the camel, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you.

⁵Likewise, the rock hyrax, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you.

⁶The rabbit also, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you.

⁷And the pig, for though it has a divided hoof, and so it shows a split hoof, it does not chew cud; it is unclean to you.

⁸You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

⁹‘These you may eat, of whatever is in the water: everything that has fins and scales, in the water, in the seas, or in the rivers, you may eat.

¹⁰But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers that does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you,

¹¹and they shall be detestable to you; you may not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses.

¹²Whatever in the water does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

¹³‘Moreover, these you shall detest among the birds; they are detestable, not to be eaten: the eagle, the vulture, and the buzzard,

¹⁴the red kite, the falcon in its kind,

¹⁵every raven in its kind,

¹⁶the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, and the hawk in its kind,

¹⁷the little owl, the cormorant, and the great owl,

¹⁸the white owl, the pelican, and the carrion vulture,

¹⁹the stork, the heron in its kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰‘All the winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.

²¹Yet these you may eat among all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to jump on the earth.

²²These of them you may eat: the locust in its kinds, the devastating locust in its kinds, the cricket in its kinds, and the grasshopper in its kinds.

²³But all other winged insects which are four-footed are detestable to you.

²⁴‘By these, moreover, you will be made unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening,

²⁵and whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

²⁶As for all the animals which have a divided hoof but do not show a split hoof, or do not chew the cud, they are unclean to you; whoever touches them becomes unclean.

²⁷Also whatever walks on its paws, among all the creatures that walk on all fours, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening,

²⁸and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; they are unclean to you.

²⁹‘Now these are to you the unclean among the swarming things which swarm on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and the great lizard in its kinds,

³⁰the gecko, the crocodile, the lizard, the sand reptile, and the chameleon.

³¹These are to you the unclean among all the swarming things; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening.

³²Also anything on which one of them may fall when they are dead becomes unclean, including any wooden article, or clothing, or a hide, or a sack—any article of which use is made—it shall be put in the water and be unclean until evening, then it becomes clean.

³³As for any earthenware vessel into which one of them may fall, whatever is in it becomes unclean and you shall break the vessel.

³⁴Any of the food which may be eaten, on which water comes, shall become unclean, and any liquid which may be drunk in every vessel shall become unclean.

³⁵Moreover, everything on which part of their carcass may fall becomes unclean; an oven or a stove shall be smashed; they are unclean and shall continue as unclean to you.

³⁶Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern collecting water shall be clean, though the one who touches their carcass shall be unclean.

³⁷Now if a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is clean.

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

³⁹‘Also if one of the animals dies which you have for food, the one who touches its carcass becomes unclean until evening.

⁴⁰He, too, who eats some of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening, and the one who picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

⁴¹‘Now every swarming thing that swarms on the earth is detestable, not to be eaten.

⁴²Whatever crawls on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, whatever has many feet, in regard to every swarming thing that swarms on the earth, you shall not eat them, because they are detestable.

⁴³Do not make yourselves detestable through any of the swarming things that swarm; and you shall not make yourselves unclean with them so that you become unclean.

⁴⁴For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.

⁴⁵For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; so you shall be holy, because I am holy.’ ”

⁴⁶This is the law regarding the animal and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth,

⁴⁷to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.

¹For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

²if indeed you have heard of the administration of God’s grace which was given to me for you;

³that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before briefly.

⁴By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,

⁵which in other generations was not made known to mankind, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;

⁶to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,

⁷of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.

⁸To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,

⁹and to enlighten all people as to what the plan of the mystery is which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things;

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

¹¹This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

¹²in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.

¹³Therefore I ask you not to become discouraged about my tribulations in your behalf, since they are your glory.

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

¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

¹⁶that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self,

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

¹⁸may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth,

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

²⁰Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

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

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as strangers, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen

²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

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

⁴to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

⁵who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

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

⁷so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

⁸and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

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

¹⁰As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries,

¹¹seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

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

¹³Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹⁴As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

¹⁵but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;

¹⁶because it is written: “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

¹⁷If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

¹⁸knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,

¹⁹but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

²⁰For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these 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.

²²Since you have purified your souls in obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brothers and sisters, fervently love one another from the heart,

²³for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

²⁴For, “ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY IS LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,

²⁵BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.” And this is the word which was preached to you.

¹Then the LORD said to Job,

²“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who rebukes God give an answer.”

³Then Job answered the LORD and said,

⁴“Behold, I am insignificant; what can I say in response to You? I put my hand on my mouth.

⁵I have spoken once, and I will not reply; Or twice, and I will add nothing more.”

⁶Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind and said,

⁷“Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me.

⁸Will you really nullify My judgment? Will you condemn Me so that you may be justified?

⁹Or do you have an arm like God, And can you thunder with a voice like His?

¹⁰“Adorn yourself with pride and dignity, And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.

¹¹Let out your outbursts of anger, And look at everyone who is arrogant, and humble him.

¹²Look at everyone who is arrogant, and humble him, And trample down the wicked where they stand.

¹³Hide them together in the dust; Imprison them in the hidden place.

¹⁴Then I will also confess to you, That your own right hand can save you.

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

¹⁶Behold, his strength in his waist, And his power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He hangs his tail like a cedar; The tendons of his thighs are knit together.

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

¹⁹“He is the first of the ways of God; Let his Maker bring His sword near.

²⁰Indeed the mountains bring him food, And all the animals of the field play there.

²¹He lies down under the lotus plants, In the hiding place of the reeds and the marsh.

²²The lotus plants cover him with shade; The willows of the brook surround him.

²³If a river rages, he is not alarmed; He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth.

²⁴Can anyone capture him when he is on watch, Can anyone pierce his nose with barbs?

¹I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing Your praises before the gods.

²I will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your mercy and Your truth; For You have made Your word great according to all Your name.

³On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.

⁴All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, LORD, When they have heard the words of Your mouth.

⁵And they will sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD.

⁶For the LORD is exalted, Yet He looks after the lowly, But He knows the haughty from afar.

⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will reach out with Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.

⁸The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your faithfulness, LORD, is everlasting; Do not abandon the works of Your hands.

¹Wisdom has built her house, She has carved out her seven pillars;

²She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; She has also set her table;

³She has sent out her attendants, she calls out From the tops of the heights of the city:

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

⁵“Come, eat of my food And drink of the wine I have mixed.

⁶Abandon your foolishness and live, And proceed in the way of understanding.”

⁷One who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And one who rebukes a wicked person gets insults for himself.

⁸Do not rebuke a scoffer, or he will hate you; Rebuke a wise person and he will love you.

⁹Give instruction to a wise person and he will become still wiser; Teach a righteous person and he will increase his insight.

¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will suffer from it.

¹³A woman of foolishness is boisterous, She has a lack of understanding and knows nothing.

¹⁴She sits at the doorway of her house, On a seat by the high places of the city,

¹⁵Calling to those who pass by, Who are going straight on their paths:

¹⁶“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,” And to him who lacks understanding 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.

¹But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat, and said, “I will go in to my wife in her room.” But her father did not let him enter.

²Her father said, “I really thought that you hated her intensely; so I gave her to your companion. Is her younger sister not more beautiful than she? Please let her be yours instead.”

³Samson then said to them, “This time I will have been blameless regarding the Philistines when I do them harm.”

⁴And Samson went and caught three hundred jackals, and took torches, and turned the jackals tail to tail and put one torch in the middle between two tails.

⁵When he had set fire to the torches, he released the jackals into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to both the bundled heaps and the standing grain, along with the vineyards and olive groves.

⁶Then the Philistines said, “Who did this?” And some said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his companion.” So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father to death with fire.

⁷Then Samson said to them, “If this is how you act, I will certainly take revenge on you, and only after that will I stop.”

⁸So he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter; and afterward he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

⁹Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah, and spread out in Lehi.

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

¹¹Then three thousand 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, “Just as they did to me, so I have done to them.”

¹²Then they said to him, “We have come down to bind you so that we may hand you over to the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not kill me.”

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

¹⁴When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him so that the ropes that were on his arms were like flax that has burned with fire, and his restraints dropped from his hands.

¹⁵Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out with his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it.

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

¹⁷When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi.

¹⁸Then he became very thirsty, and he called to the LORD and said, “You have handed this great victory over to Your servant, and now am I to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

¹⁹But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, his strength returned and he revived. Therefore he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.

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

¹In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’ ”

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

³and said, “Please, LORD, just remember how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept profusely.

⁴Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying,

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

⁶And I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city.” ’

⁷“And this shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will perform this word that He has spoken:

⁸Behold, I will make the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

⁹This is a writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

¹⁰I said, “In the middle of my life I am to enter the gates of Sheol; I have been deprived of the rest of my years.”

¹¹I said, “I will not see the LORD, The LORD in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind among the inhabitants of the world.

¹²Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me; As a weaver I rolled up my life. He cuts me off from the loom; From day until night You make an end of me.

¹³I composed my soul until morning. Like a lion—so He breaks all my bones, From day until night You make an end of me.

¹⁴Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter; I moan like a dove; My eyes look wistfully to the heights; Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.

¹⁵“What shall I say? For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it; I will walk quietly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

¹⁶Lord, by these things people live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; Restore me to health and let me live!

¹⁷Behold, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; But You have kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have hurled all my sins behind Your back.

¹⁸For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

¹⁹It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today; A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.

²⁰The LORD is certain to save me; So we will play my songs on stringed instruments All the days of our life at the house of the LORD.”

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

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

¹Now Saul approved of putting Stephen to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.

²Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him.

³But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would drag away men and women and put them in prison.

⁴Therefore, those who had been scattered went through places preaching the word.

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

⁶The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.

⁷For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed.

⁸So there was much rejoicing in that city.

⁹Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;

¹⁰and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “This man is the Power of God that is called Great.”

¹¹And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic arts.

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

¹³Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

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

¹⁵who came down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶(For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

¹⁷Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving 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 this authority to me as well, so that everyone 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 acquire the gift of God with money!

²¹You have no part or share in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

²²Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of unrighteousness.”

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

²⁵So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

²⁷So he got ready and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,

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

²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”

³⁰Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

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

³²Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “HE WAS LED LIKE A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND LIKE A LAMB THAT IS SILENT BEFORE ITS SHEARER, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.

³³IN HUMILIATION HIS JUSTICE WAS TAKEN AWAY; WHO WILL DESCRIBE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE EARTH.”

³⁴The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?”

³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

³⁶As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸And he ordered that the chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.

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