Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying,

² “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son,

³and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.

⁴ Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’

⁵But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,

⁶while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.

⁷The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

⁸Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.

⁹Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’

¹⁰And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.

¹²And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.

¹³Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴For many are called, but few are chosen.”

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words.

¹⁶And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.

¹⁷Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?

¹⁹Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.

²⁰And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”

²¹They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

²²When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

²³The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question,

²⁴saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’

²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.

²⁶So too the second and third, down to the seventh.

²⁷After them all, the woman died.

²⁸In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

²⁹But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

³⁰For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

³¹And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:

³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

³³And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

³⁴But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

³⁵And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

³⁶“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

³⁷And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

³⁸This is the great and first commandment.

³⁹And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

⁴¹Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,

⁴²saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”

⁴³He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,

⁴⁴ “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

⁴⁵If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

⁴⁶And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean.

³And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

⁴Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.

⁵But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.

⁶“And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering,

⁷and he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female.

⁸And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”

¹I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

³eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

⁴There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call —

⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

⁸Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

⁹(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?

¹⁰He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

¹¹And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

¹³until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

¹⁴so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

¹⁵Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

¹⁷Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

¹⁹They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

²⁰But that is not the way you learned Christ! —

²¹assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,

²²to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

²⁴and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

²⁶Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

²⁷and give no opportunity to the devil.

²⁸Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

²⁹Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

³¹Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

³²Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

¹So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

²Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation —

³if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,

⁵you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁶For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

⁷So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

⁸and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

⁹But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

¹²Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

¹³Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,

¹⁴or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

¹⁶Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

¹⁷Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

¹⁸Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

¹⁹For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

²⁰For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

²¹For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

²²He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

²³When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

²⁵For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

¹“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?

²Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?

³Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever?

⁵Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls?

⁶Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay your hands on him; remember the battle — you will not do it again!

⁹Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him.

¹⁰No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?

¹¹Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

¹²“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.

¹³Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle?

¹⁴Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror.

¹⁵His back is made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal.

¹⁶One is so near to another that no air can come between them.

¹⁷They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated.

¹⁸His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.

¹⁹Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth.

²⁰Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

²¹His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth.

²²In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him.

²³The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable.

²⁴His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone.

²⁵When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves.

²⁶Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

²⁷He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸The arrow cannot make him flee; for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.

²⁹Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of javelins.

³⁰His underparts are like sharp potsherds; he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.

³¹He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

³²Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be white-haired.

³³On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear.

³⁴He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride.”

¹O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

²You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

³You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

⁵You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

⁷Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

⁸If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

⁹If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

¹⁰even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”

¹²even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

¹³For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

¹⁴I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

¹⁷How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

¹⁹Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me!

²⁰They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain.

²¹Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

²²I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

²⁴And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

¹The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

²Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.

³The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

⁴A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

⁵He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

⁷The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.

⁹Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

¹⁰Whoever winks the eye causes trouble, and a babbling fool will come to ruin.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

¹²Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

¹³On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense.

¹⁴The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.

¹⁵A rich man's wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their ruin.

¹⁶The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin.

¹⁷Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.

¹⁸The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool.

¹⁹When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense.

²²The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

²³Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.

²⁴What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

²⁵When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever.

²⁶Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.

²⁷The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.

²⁸The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

²⁹The way of the LORD is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers.

³⁰The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.

³¹The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.

¹Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her.

²The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.”

³But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.

⁴After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

⁵And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

⁶So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”

⁷Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

⁸Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

⁹Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

¹⁰Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.”

¹¹And he said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

¹²So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.

¹³Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

¹⁴So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.

¹⁵And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.”

¹⁶And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death.

¹⁷And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

¹⁸When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.

¹⁹She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.

²⁰And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.

²¹And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.

²²But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

²³Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.”

²⁴And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.”

²⁵And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars.

²⁶And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.”

²⁷Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.

²⁸Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

²⁹And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.

³⁰And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.

³¹Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

¹At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.

²And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

³Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.”

⁴He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

⁵Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:

⁶Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD.

⁷And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

⁸Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”

¹But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

²and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

³Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.

⁴And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

⁵And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

⁶But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

⁷The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

⁸Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

⁹And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,

¹²and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”

¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.

¹⁴And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

¹⁶For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

¹⁷So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;

¹⁹and taking food, he was strengthened. Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.

²⁰And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

²¹And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”

²²But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

²³When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,

²⁴but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him,

²⁵but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

²⁶And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

²⁷But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.

²⁸So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him.

³⁰And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

³²Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.

³³There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed.

³⁴And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose.

³⁵And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

³⁶Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity.

³⁷In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.

³⁸Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.”

³⁹So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them.

⁴⁰But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

⁴¹And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

⁴²And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

⁴³And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.