Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.

²“Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

³As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.

⁵For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.

⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

⁷Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.

¹⁰At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,

¹¹and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

¹²Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

¹³but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—

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

¹⁷Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house.

¹⁸Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.

¹⁹How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!

²⁰Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.

²¹For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

²²“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.

²³At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.

²⁴For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

²⁵See, I have told you ahead of time.

²⁶“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

²⁷For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

²⁸Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹“Immediately after the distress of those days “ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

³⁰“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.

³¹And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³²“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.

³³Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.

³⁴Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³⁶“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;

³⁹and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

⁴⁰Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.

⁴¹Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

⁴²“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

⁴³But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

⁴⁴So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

⁴⁵“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?

⁴⁶It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.

⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁸But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’

⁴⁹and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.

⁵⁰The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.

⁵¹He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

¹The LORD said to Moses,

²“These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they are brought to the priest:

³The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease,

⁴the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed.

⁵Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot.

⁶He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water.

⁷Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields.

⁸“The person to be cleansed must wash their clothes, shave off all their hair and bathe with water; then they will be ceremonially clean. After this they may come into the camp, but they must stay outside their tent for seven days.

⁹On the seventh day they must shave off all their hair; they must shave their head, their beard, their eyebrows and the rest of their hair. They must wash their clothes and bathe themselves with water, and they will be clean.

¹⁰“On the eighth day they must bring two male lambs and one ewe lamb a year old, each without defect, along with three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, and one log of oil.

¹¹The priest who pronounces them clean shall present both the one to be cleansed and their offerings before the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

¹²“Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering, along with the log of oil; he shall wave them before the LORD as a wave offering.

¹³He is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy.

¹⁴The 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, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot.

¹⁵The priest shall then take some of the log of oil, pour it in the palm of his own left hand,

¹⁶dip his right forefinger into the oil in his palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of it before the LORD seven times.

¹⁷The priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.

¹⁸The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed and make atonement for them before the LORD.

¹⁹“Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from their uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering

²⁰and offer it on the altar, together with the grain offering, and make atonement for them, and they will be clean.

²¹“If, however, they are poor and cannot afford these, they must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for them, together with a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of oil,

²²and two doves or two young pigeons, such as they can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.

²³“On the eighth day they must bring them for their cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the LORD.

²⁴The priest is to take the lamb for the guilt offering, together with the log of oil, and wave them before the LORD as a wave offering.

²⁵He shall slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot.

²⁶The priest is to pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand,

²⁷and with his right forefinger sprinkle some of the oil from his palm seven times before the LORD.

²⁸Some of the oil in his palm he is to put on the same places he put the blood of the guilt offering—on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot.

²⁹The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for them before the LORD.

³⁰Then he shall sacrifice the doves or the young pigeons, such as the person can afford,

³¹one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the one to be cleansed.”

³²These are the regulations for anyone who has a defiling skin disease and who cannot afford the regular offerings for their cleansing.

³³The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

³⁴“When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mold in a house in that land,

³⁵the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a defiling mold in my house.’

³⁶The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mold, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house.

³⁷He is to examine the mold on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall,

³⁸the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days.

³⁹On the seventh day the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mold has spread on the walls,

⁴⁰he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town.

⁴¹He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town.

⁴²Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.

⁴³“If the defiling mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered,

⁴⁴the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mold; the house is unclean.

⁴⁵It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.

⁴⁶“Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening.

⁴⁷Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash their clothes.

⁴⁸“But if the priest comes to examine it and the mold has not spread after the house has been plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the defiling mold is gone.

⁴⁹To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop.

⁵⁰He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot.

⁵¹Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times.

⁵²He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn.

⁵³Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”

⁵⁴These are the regulations for any defiling skin disease, for a sore,

⁵⁵for defiling molds in fabric or in a house,

⁵⁶and for a swelling, a rash or a shiny spot,

⁵⁷to determine when something is clean or unclean. These are the regulations for defiling skin diseases and defiling molds.

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

²“Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—

³“so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

⁴Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

⁵Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

⁶Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

⁷Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,

⁸because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

⁹And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

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

¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

¹⁹Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,

²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

²¹Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing.

²²I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.

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

²⁴Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

¹Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.

²As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

³For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.

⁴They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.

⁵But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

⁶For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

⁷The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.

⁸Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

⁹Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

¹⁰Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

¹¹If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

¹²Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

¹³But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

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

¹⁵If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.

¹⁶However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

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

¹⁸And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

¹⁹So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

¹The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

²“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

³What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?

⁴Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

⁵The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.

⁶The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.

⁷All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.

⁸All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.

⁹What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.

¹¹No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.

¹²I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!

¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

¹⁸For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

¹A psalm of David. I call to you, LORD, come quickly to me; hear me when I call to you.

²May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

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

⁴Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies.

⁵Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

⁶Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs, and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.

⁷They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”

⁸But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.

⁹Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers, from the snares they have laid for me.

¹⁰Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.

²Good people obtain favor from the LORD, but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.

³No one can be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

⁴A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.

⁵The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm.

⁸A person is praised according to their prudence, and one with a warped mind is despised.

⁹Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.

¹⁰The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.

¹²The wicked desire the stronghold of evildoers, but the root of the righteous endures.

¹³Evildoers are trapped by their sinful talk, and so the innocent escape trouble.

¹⁴From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward.

¹⁵The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.

¹⁶Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.

¹⁷An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tells lies.

¹⁸The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

²⁰Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.

²¹No harm overtakes the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.

²²The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.

²³The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.

²⁴Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.

²⁶The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.

²⁸In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.

¹In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

²So the Danites sent five of their leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.” So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.

³When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

⁴He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.”

⁵Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.”

⁶The priest answered them, “Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD’s approval.”

⁷So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else.

⁸When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?”

⁹They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over.

¹⁰When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.”

¹¹Then six hundred men of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.

¹²On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan to this day.

¹³From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.

¹⁴Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, some household gods and an image overlaid with silver? Now you know what to do.”

¹⁵So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him.

¹⁶The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate.

¹⁷The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance of the gate.

¹⁸When the five men went into Micah’s house and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?”

²⁰The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods and the idol and went along with the people.

²¹Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.

²²When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites.

²³As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”

²⁴He replied, “You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’ ”

²⁵The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”

²⁶So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.

²⁷Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city.

²⁸There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there.

²⁹They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish.

³⁰There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land.

³¹They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.

¹“Be silent before me, you islands! Let the nations renew their strength! Let them come forward and speak; let us meet together at the place of judgment.

²“Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow.

³He pursues them and moves on unscathed, by a path his feet have not traveled before.

⁴Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—with the first of them and with the last—I am he.”

⁵The islands have seen it and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward;

⁶they help each other and say to their companions, “Be strong!”

⁷The metalworker encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer spurs on the one who strikes the anvil. One says of the welding, “It is good.” The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.

⁸“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend,

⁹I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

¹⁰So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

¹¹“All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.

¹²Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.

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

¹⁴Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵“See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.

¹⁶You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷“The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

¹⁸I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.

¹⁹I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together,

²⁰so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹“Present your case,” says the LORD. “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.

²²“Tell us, you idols, what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come,

²³tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.

²⁴But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; whoever chooses you is detestable.

²⁵“I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes— one from the rising sun who calls on my name. He treads on rulers as if they were mortar, as if he were a potter treading the clay.

²⁶Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know, or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’? No one told of this, no one foretold it, no one heard any words from you.

²⁷I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’ I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.

²⁸I look but there is no one— no one among the gods to give counsel, no one to give answer when I ask them.

²⁹See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion.

¹The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him

³and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story:

⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was.

⁶I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds.

⁷Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

⁸“I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹“The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’

¹⁰This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

¹¹“Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying.

¹²The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.

¹³He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter.

¹⁴He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

¹⁵“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.

¹⁶Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

¹⁷So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

¹⁹Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews.

²⁰Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

²¹The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

²²News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

²³When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

²⁴He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

²⁵Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,

²⁶and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

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

²⁸One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)

²⁹The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea.

³⁰This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.