Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus left the temple area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.

²But He responded and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

⁴And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no onemisleads you.

⁵For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am theChrist,’ and they willmislead many people.

⁶And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.

⁷For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

⁸But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

¹⁰And at that time many willfall away, and they willbetray one another and hate one another.

¹¹And many false prophets will rise up andmislead many people.

¹²And because lawlessness is increased,most people’s love will become cold.

¹³But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved.

¹⁴This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the wholeworld as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵“Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place— let the reader understand—

¹⁶then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

¹⁷Whoever is on thehousetop must not go down to get things out of his house.

¹⁸Andwhoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.

¹⁹But woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days!

²⁰Moreover, pray thatwhen you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.

²¹For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again.

²²And if those days had not been cut short, nolife would have been saved; but for the sake of theelect those days will be cut short.

²³Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is theChrist,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him.

²⁴For false christs and false prophets will arise and will provide greatsigns and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even theelect.

²⁵Behold, I have told you in advance.

²⁶So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them.

²⁷For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Manbe.

²⁸Wherever the corpse is, there thevultures will gather.

²⁹“But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

³⁰And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.

³¹And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET BLAST, and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER Hiselect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

³²“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near;

³³so you too, when you see all these things,recognize thatHe is near, right at thedoor.

³⁴Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶“But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

³⁷Forthe coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.

³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,

³⁹and they did notunderstand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

⁴⁰At that time there will be two men in the field; onewill be taken and onewill be left.

⁴¹Two women will be grinding at themill; onewill be taken and onewill be left.

⁴²“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

⁴³Butbe sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

⁴⁴For this reason you must be ready as well; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵“Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time?

⁴⁶Blessed is that slave whom hismaster finds so doing when he comes.

⁴⁷Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁸But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘Mymasteris not coming for a long time,’

⁴⁹and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk;

⁵⁰then themaster of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know,

⁵¹and he willcut him in two and assignhim a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“This shall be the law of the person with leprosy on the day of his cleansing. Now he shall be brought to the priest;

³and the priest shall go out to a place outside of the camp. Then the priest shall look, and if the leprous infection has been healed in the person with leprosy,

⁴then the priest shall give orders to take two live clean birds, cedar wood, a scarlet string, and hyssop for the one who is to be cleansed.

⁵The priest shall also give orders to slaughter the one bird in an earthenware vessel over running water.

⁶As for the live bird, he shall take it together with the cedar wood, the scarlet string, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the running water.

⁷He shall then sprinkle seven times the one who is to be cleansed from the leprosy and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the live bird go free over the open field.

⁸The one to be cleansed shall then wash his clothes and shave off all his hair, and bathe in water and be clean. And afterward he may enter the camp, but he shall stay outside his tent for seven days.

⁹Then it shall be on the seventh day that he shall shave off all his hair: he shall shave his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair. He shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and be clean.

¹⁰“Now on the eighth day he is to take two male lambs without defect, and a yearling ewe lamb without defect, and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil;

¹¹and the priest who is going to pronounce him clean shall present the person to be cleansed and the offerings before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

¹²Then the priest shall take the one male lamb and bring it as a guilt offering, with the log of oil, and present them as a wave offering before the LORD.

¹³Next he shall slaughter the male lamb in the place where they slaughter the sin offering and the burnt offering, at the place of the sanctuary—for the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy.

¹⁴The priest shall then take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

¹⁵The priest shall also take some of the log of oil, and pour it into his left palm;

¹⁶the priest shall then dip his right-hand finger into the oil that is in his left palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of the oil seven times before the LORD.

¹⁷Of the remaining oil which is in his palm, the priest shall put some on the right ear lobe of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering;

¹⁸as for the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s palm, he shall put it on the head of the one to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the LORD.

¹⁹The priest shall next offer the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Then afterward, he shall slaughter the burnt offering.

²⁰The priest shall offer up the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be clean.

²¹“But if he is poor and his means are insufficient, then he is to take one male lamb for a guilt offering as a wave offering to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and a log of oil,

²²and two turtledoves or two young doves, which are within his means. The one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.

²³Then on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, before the LORD.

²⁴The priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall offer them as a wave offering before the LORD.

²⁵Next he shall slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering; and the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

²⁶The priest shall also pour some of the oil into his left palm;

²⁷and with his right-hand finger the priest shall sprinkle some of the oil that is in his left palm seven times before the LORD.

²⁸The priest shall then put some of the oil that is in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the guilt offering.

²⁹Moreover, the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s palm, he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement on his behalf before the LORD.

³⁰He shall then offer one of the turtledoves or young doves, which are within his means.

³¹He shall offer what he can afford, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the one to be cleansed.

³²This is the law for him in whom there is an infection of leprosy, whose means are limited for his cleansing.”

³³The LORD further spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying:

³⁴“When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as a possession, and I put a spot of leprosy on a house in the land of your possession,

³⁵then the one who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, ‘Something like a spot of leprosy has become visible to me in the house.’

³⁶The priest shall then command that they empty the house before the priest goes in to look at the spot, so that everything in the house need not become unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to look at the house.

³⁷So he shall look at the spot, and if the spot on the walls of the house has greenish or reddish depressions and appears deeper than the surface,

³⁸the priest shall come out of the house, to the doorway, and quarantine the house for seven days.

³⁹Then the priest shall return on the seventh day and make an inspection. If the spot has indeed spread on the walls of the house,

⁴⁰the priest shall order them to pull out the stones with the spot on them and throw them away at an unclean place outside the city.

⁴¹And he shall have the house scraped all around inside, and they shall dump the plaster that they scrape off at an unclean place outside the city.

⁴²Then they shall take other stones and replace the discarded stones, and he shall take other plaster and replaster the house.

⁴³“If, however, the spot breaks out again in the house after he has pulled out the stones and scraped the house, and after it has been replastered,

⁴⁴then the priest shall come in and make an inspection. If he sees that the spot has indeed spread in the house, it is a malignant spot in the house; it is unclean.

⁴⁵The owner shall therefore tear down the house, its stones, its timbers, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall take them outside the city to an unclean place.

⁴⁶Moreover, whoever goes into the house during the time that he has quarantined it, becomes unclean until evening.

⁴⁷Likewise, whoever lies down in the house shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes.

⁴⁸“If, on the other hand, the priest comes in and makes an inspection and the spot has not indeed spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean because the spot has not reappeared.

⁴⁹To cleanse the house then, he shall take two birds, cedar wood, a scarlet string, and hyssop,

⁵⁰and he shall slaughter the one bird in an earthenware vessel over running water.

⁵¹Then he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet string, with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird as well as in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.

⁵²So he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the running water, along with the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet string.

⁵³However, he shall let the live bird go free outside the city into the open field. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”

⁵⁴This is the law for any spot of leprosy—even for a scale,

⁵⁵and for the leprous garment or house,

⁵⁶and for a swelling, for a scab, and for a bright spot—

⁵⁷to teach when they are unclean and when they are clean. This is the law of leprosy.

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

²HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise),

³SO THAT IT MAY TURN OUT WELL FOR YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.

⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

⁵Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;

⁶not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

⁷With goodwill render service, as to the Lord, and not to people,

⁸knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive this back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

⁹And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

¹³Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

¹⁴Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

¹⁵and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,

¹⁹and pray in my behalf, that speech may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,

²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

²¹Now, so that you also may know about my circumstances as to what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you.

²²I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts.

²³Peace be to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.

¹Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,

²so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human lusts, but for the will of God.

³For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of indecent behavior, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries.

⁴In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them in the same excesses of debauchery, and they slander you;

⁵but they will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

⁶For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as people, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.

⁷The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

⁸Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

⁹Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

¹⁰As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the multifaceted grace of God.

¹¹Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking actual words of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

¹²Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though something strange were happening to you;

¹³but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that at the revelation of His glory you may also rejoice and be overjoyed.

¹⁴If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, and of God, rests upon you.

¹⁵Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;

¹⁶but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.

¹⁷For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

¹⁸AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?

¹⁹Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God are to entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.

¹The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

²“Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher, “Futility of futilities! All is futility.”

³What advantage does a person have in all his work Which he does under the sun?

⁴A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever.

⁵Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hurrying to its place it rises there again.

⁶Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns.

⁷All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again.

⁸All things are wearisome; No one can tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

⁹What has been, it is what will be, And what has been done, it is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? It has already existed for ages Which were before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of the earlier things, And of the later things as well, which will occur, There will be no remembrance of them Among those who will come later still.

¹²I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled.

¹⁴I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is futility and striving after wind.

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know insanity and foolishness; I realized that this also is striving after wind.

¹⁸Because in much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

¹LORD, I call upon You; hurry to me! Listen to my voice when I call to You!

²May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The raising of my hands as the evening offering.

³Set a guard, LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

⁴Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, To practice deeds of wickedness With people who do wrong; And may I not taste their delicacies.

⁵May the righteous strike me with mercy and discipline me; It is oil for the head; My head shall not refuse it, For my prayer is still against their evil deeds.

⁶Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock, And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.

⁷As when one plows and breaks open the earth, Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

⁸For my eyes are toward You, GOD, the Lord; In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless.

⁹Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me, And from the snares of those who do wrong.

¹⁰May the wicked fall into their own nets, While I pass by safely.

¹One who loves discipline loves knowledge, But one who hates rebuke is stupid.

²A good person will obtain favor from the LORD, But He will condemn a person who devises evil.

³A person will not be established by wickedness, But the root of the righteous will not be moved.

⁴An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, But she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, But the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked wait in ambush for blood, But the mouth of the upright will rescue them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown and are no more, But the house of the righteous will stand.

⁸A person will be praised according to his insight, But one of perverse mind will be despised.

⁹Better is one who is lightly esteemed and has a servant, Than one who honors himself and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous person has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.

¹¹One who works his land will have plenty of bread, But one who pursues worthless things lacks sense.

¹²The wicked person desires the plunder of evil people, But the root of the righteous yields fruit.

¹³An evil person is ensnared by the offense of his lips, But the righteous will escape from trouble.

¹⁴A person will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, And the deeds of a person’s hands will return to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a person who listens to advice is wise.

¹⁶A fool’s anger is known at once, But a prudent person conceals dishonor.

¹⁷One who declares truth tells what is right, But a false witness, deceit.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips will endure forever, But a lying tongue is only for a moment.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy.

²¹No harm happens to the righteous, But the wicked are filled with trouble.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal faithfully are His delight.

²³A prudent person conceals knowledge, But the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.

²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy hand will be put to forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.

²⁶The righteous person is a guide to his neighbor, But the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷A lazy person does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a person is diligence.

²⁸In the way of righteousness there is life, And in its pathway there is no death.

¹In those days there was no king of Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.

²So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, valiant men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it; and they said to them, “Go, explore the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and stayed overnight there.

³When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?”

⁴He said to them, “Micah has done this and that for me, and he has hired me and I have become his priest.”

⁵Then they said to him, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be successful.”

⁶And the priest said to them, “Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the LORD’S approval.”

⁷So the five men departed and came to Laish, and saw the people who were in it living in security, in the way of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting; for there was no oppressive ruler humiliating them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.

⁸When they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you say?”

⁹And they said, “Arise, and let’s go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you sit still? Do not hesitate to go, to enter, to take possession of the land.

¹⁰When you enter, you will come to an unsuspecting people with a spacious land; for God has handed it over to you, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”

¹¹Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war set out.

¹²They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim.

¹³And they passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.

¹⁴Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish said to their kinsmen, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod and household idols, and a carved image and a cast metal image? Now then, consider what you should do.”

¹⁵So they turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him how he was doing.

¹⁶Meanwhile, the six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, were positioned at the entrance of the gate.

¹⁷Now the five men who went to spy out the land went up and entered there; they took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the cast metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.

¹⁸When these men entered Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, household idols, and the cast metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹And they said to him, “Be silent, put your hand over your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?”

²⁰The priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and went among the people.

²¹Then they turned and left, and put the children, the livestock, and the valuables in front of them.

²²When they had distanced themselves from Micah’s house, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house assembled by command and overtook the sons of Dan.

²³Then they called out to the sons of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you have assembled together?”

²⁴And he said, “You have taken my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away; what more do I have? So how can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’ ”

²⁵Then the sons of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, or else fierce men will attack you, and you will lose your life and the lives of your household.”

²⁶So the sons of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

²⁷Then they took what Micah had made and the priest who had belonged to him, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burned the city with fire.

²⁸And there was no one to save them, because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the valley which is near Beth-rehob. So they rebuilt the city and lived in it.

²⁹And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born to Israel; however, the name of the city was previously Laish.

³⁰The sons of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

³¹So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image which he had made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

¹“Listen to Me in silence, you coastlands, And let the peoples gain new strength; Let them come forward, then let them speak; Let’s come together for judgment.

²Who has stirred one from the east Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet? He turns nations over to him And subdues kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, Like the wind-driven chaff with his bow.

³He pursues them, passing on in safety, By a way he had not been traversing with his feet.

⁴Who has performed and accomplished it, Summoning the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’ ”

⁵The coastlands have seen and are afraid; The ends of the earth tremble; They have approached and have come.

⁶Each one helps his neighbor And says to his brother, “Be strong!”

⁷So the craftsman encourages the smelter, And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, Saying of the soldering, “It is good”; And he fastens it with nails, So that it will not totter.

⁸“But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend,

⁹You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth And called from its remotest parts, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

¹⁰Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will also help you, I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

¹¹Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

¹²You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

¹³For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

¹⁴Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you people of Israel; I will help you,” declares the LORD, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵Behold, I turned you into a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them, And make the hills like chaff.

¹⁶You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, And the storm will scatter them; But you will rejoice in the LORD, You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷“The poor and needy are seeking water, but there is none, And their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them Myself; As the God of Israel I will not abandon them.

¹⁸I will open rivers on the bare heights, And springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land fountains of water.

¹⁹I will put the cedar in the wilderness, The acacia, the myrtle, and the olive tree; I will place the juniper in the desert, Together with the elm tree and the cypress,

²⁰So that they may see and recognize, And consider and gain insight as well, That the hand of the LORD has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹“Present your case,” the LORD says. “Bring forward your evidence,” The King of Jacob says.

²²Let them bring them forward and declare to us what is going to take place; As for the former events, declare what they were, So that we may consider them and know their outcome. Or announce to us what is coming;

²³Declare the things that are going to come afterward, So that we may know that you are gods; Indeed, do good or evil, that we may be afraid and fear together.

²⁴Behold, you are less than nothing, And your work is less than nothing! He who chooses you is an abomination.

²⁵“I have put one from the north into motion, and he has come; From the rising of the sun he will call on My name; And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar, As the potter treads on clay.”

²⁶Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know? Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”? There was no one at all who declared, There was no one at all who proclaimed, There was no one at all who heard your words.

²⁷“Previously I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’ And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’

²⁸But when I look, there is no one, And there is no counselor among them Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

²⁹Behold, all of them are false; Their works are nothing, Their cast metal images are wind and emptiness.

¹Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

²And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, the Jewish believers took issue with him,

³saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴But Peter began and explained at length to them in an orderly sequence, saying,

⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was,

⁶and I stared at it and was thinking about it, and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky.

⁷I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’

⁸But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’

¹⁰This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky.

¹¹And behold, at that moment three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea came up to the house where we were staying.

¹²And the Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.

¹³And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send some men to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;

¹⁴and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’

¹⁵And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning.

¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptizedwith the Holy Spirit.’

¹⁷Therefore, if God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

¹⁹So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

²⁰But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus.

²¹And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

²²The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.

²³Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord;

²⁴for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And considerable numbers were added to the Lord.

²⁵And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul;

²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

²⁷Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸One of them, named Agabus, stood up and indicated by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.

²⁹And to the extent that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brothers and sisters living in Judea.

³⁰And they did this, sending it with Barnabas and Saul to the elders.