Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

³When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them;

⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.

⁵As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.

⁶But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’

⁷Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.

⁸The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

⁹But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.

¹¹Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’

¹²But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’

¹³Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

¹⁴“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them;

¹⁵to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

¹⁶The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents.

¹⁷In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents.

¹⁸But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.

²⁰Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’

²¹His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

²²And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’

²³His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

²⁴Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed;

²⁵so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’

²⁶But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter?

²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.

²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents.

²⁹For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

³⁰As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.

³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,

³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?

³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?

³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’

⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;

⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,

⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’

⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’

⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

¹The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

²Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When any man has a discharge from his member, his discharge makes him ceremonially unclean.

³The uncleanness of his discharge is this: whether his member flows with his discharge, or his member is stopped from discharging, it is uncleanness for him.

⁴Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.

⁵Anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁶All who sit on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁷All who touch the body of the one with the discharge shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁸If the one with the discharge spits on persons who are clean, then they shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁹Any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean.

¹⁰All who touch anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening, and all who carry such a thing shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹¹All those whom the one with the discharge touches without his having rinsed his hands in water shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹²Any earthen vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

¹³When the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, he shall count seven days for his cleansing; he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in fresh water, and he shall be clean.

¹⁴On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the LORD to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest.

¹⁵The priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the LORD for his discharge.

¹⁶If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁷Everything made of cloth or of skin on which the semen falls shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁸If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁹When a woman has a discharge of blood that is her regular discharge from her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁰Everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean; everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean.

²¹Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

²²Whoever touches anything upon which she sits shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening;

²³whether it is the bed or anything upon which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁴If any man lies with her, and her impurity falls on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

²⁵If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness; as in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean.

²⁶Every bed on which she lies during all the days of her discharge shall be treated as the bed of her impurity; and everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her impurity.

²⁷Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

²⁸If she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count seven days, and after that she shall be clean.

²⁹On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

³⁰The priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the LORD for her unclean discharge.

³¹Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.

³²This is the ritual for those who have a discharge: for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby,

³³for her who is in the infirmity of her period, for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge, and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean.

¹Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³I thank my God every time I remember you,

⁴constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,

⁵because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.

⁶I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.

⁷It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

⁸For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

⁹And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight

¹⁰to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,

¹¹having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

¹²I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel,

¹³so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ;

¹⁴and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.

¹⁵Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill.

¹⁶These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel;

¹⁷the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment.

¹⁸What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

¹⁹for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.

²⁰It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but that by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death.

²¹For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

²²If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer.

²³I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better;

²⁴but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.

²⁵Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith,

²⁶so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

²⁷Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel,

²⁸and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing.

²⁹For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well —

³⁰since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

¹Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you

²to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it — not for sordid gain but eagerly.

³Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock.

⁴And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away.

⁵In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

⁶Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.

⁷Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.

⁸Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.

⁹Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.

¹⁰And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.

¹¹To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

¹²Through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.

¹³Your sister church in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings; and so does my son Mark.

¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

¹I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But again, this also was vanity.

²I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”

³I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine — my mind still guiding me with wisdom — and how to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was good for mortals to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

⁴I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself;

⁵I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.

⁶I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.

⁷I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.

⁸I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines.

⁹So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me.

¹⁰Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.

¹¹Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

¹²So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the one do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.

¹³Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.

¹⁴The wise have eyes in their head, but fools walk in darkness. Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them.

¹⁵Then I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also; why then have I been so very wise?” And I said to myself that this also is vanity.

¹⁶For there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How can the wise die just like fools?

¹⁷So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

¹⁸I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me

¹⁹— and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

²⁰So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun,

²¹because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

²²What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun?

²³For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

²⁴There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God;

²⁵for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?

²⁶For to the one who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

¹With my voice I cry to the LORD; with my voice I make supplication to the LORD.

²I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.

³When my spirit is faint, you know my way. In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

⁴Look on my right hand and see — there is no one who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for me.

⁵I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

⁶Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low. Save me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.

⁷Bring me out of prison, so that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.

¹A wise child loves discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

²From the fruit of their words good persons eat good things, but the desire of the treacherous is for wrongdoing.

³Those who guard their mouths preserve their lives; those who open wide their lips come to ruin.

⁴The appetite of the lazy craves, and gets nothing, while the appetite of the diligent is richly supplied.

⁵The righteous hate falsehood, but the wicked act shamefully and disgracefully.

⁶Righteousness guards one whose way is upright, but sin overthrows the wicked.

⁷Some pretend to be rich, yet have nothing; others pretend to be poor, yet have great wealth.

⁸Wealth is a ransom for a person’s life, but the poor get no threats.

⁹The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked goes out.

¹⁰By insolence the heedless make strife, but wisdom is with those who take advice.

¹¹Wealth hastily gotten will dwindle, but those who gather little by little will increase it.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³Those who despise the word bring destruction on themselves, but those who respect the commandment will be rewarded.

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, so that one may avoid the snares of death.

¹⁵Good sense wins favor, but the way of the faithless is their ruin.

¹⁶The clever do all things intelligently, but the fool displays folly.

¹⁷A bad messenger brings trouble, but a faithful envoy, healing.

¹⁸Poverty and disgrace are for the one who ignores instruction, but one who heeds reproof is honored.

¹⁹A desire realized is sweet to the soul, but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.

²⁰Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm.

²¹Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous.

²²The good leave an inheritance to their children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.

²³The field of the poor may yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice.

²⁴Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them.

²⁵The righteous have enough to satisfy their appetite, but the belly of the wicked is empty.

¹In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite, residing in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

²But his concubine became angry with him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months.

³Then her husband set out after her, to speak tenderly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. When he reached her father’s house, the girl’s father saw him and came with joy to meet him.

⁴His father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days; so they ate and drank, and he stayed there.

⁵On the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he prepared to go; but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Fortify yourself with a bit of food, and after that you may go.”

⁶So the two men sat and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not spend the night and enjoy yourself?”

⁷When the man got up to go, his father-in-law kept urging him until he spent the night there again.

⁸On the fifth day he got up early in the morning to leave; and the girl’s father said, “Fortify yourself.” So they lingered until the day declined, and the two of them ate and drank.

⁹When the man with his concubine and his servant got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day has worn on until it is almost evening. Spend the night. See, the day has drawn to a close. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get up early in the morning for your journey, and go home.”

¹⁰But the man would not spend the night; he got up and departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him.

¹¹When they were near Jebus, the day was far spent, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night in it.”

¹²But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel; but we will continue on to Gibeah.”

¹³Then he said to his servant, “Come, let us try to reach one of these places, and spend the night at Gibeah or at Ramah.”

¹⁴So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

¹⁵They turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. He went in and sat down in the open square of the city, but no one took them in to spend the night.

¹⁶Then at evening there was an old man coming from his work in the field. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was residing in Gibeah. (The people of the place were Benjaminites.)

¹⁷When the old man looked up and saw the wayfarer in the open square of the city, he said, “Where are you going and where do you come from?”

¹⁸He answered him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; and I am going to my home. Nobody has offered to take me in.

¹⁹We your servants have straw and fodder for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and the woman and the young man along with us. We need nothing more.”

²⁰The old man said, “Peace be to you. I will care for all your wants; only do not spend the night in the square.”

²¹So he brought him into his house, and fed the donkeys; they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

²²While they were enjoying themselves, the men of the city, a perverse lot, surrounded the house, and started pounding on the door. They said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, so that we may have intercourse with him.”

²³And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Since this man is my guest, do not do this vile thing.

²⁴Here are my virgin daughter and his concubine; let me bring them out now. Ravish them and do whatever you want to them; but against this man do not do such a vile thing.”

²⁵But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine, and put her out to them. They wantonly raped her, and abused her all through the night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.

²⁶As morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light.

²⁷In the morning her master got up, opened the doors of the house, and when he went out to go on his way, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.

²⁸“Get up,” he said to her, “we are going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey; and the man set out for his home.

²⁹When he had entered his house, he took a knife, and grasping his concubine he cut her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

³⁰Then he commanded the men whom he sent, saying, “Thus shall you say to all the Israelites, ‘Has such a thing ever happened since the day that the Israelites came up from the land of Egypt until this day? Consider it, take counsel, and speak out.’”

¹Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

²He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;

³a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

⁴He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

⁵Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:

⁶I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations,

⁷to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

⁸I am the LORD, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols.

⁹See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

¹⁰Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of the earth! Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants.

¹¹Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the tops of the mountains.

¹²Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare his praise in the coastlands.

¹³The LORD goes forth like a soldier, like a warrior he stirs up his fury; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.

¹⁴For a long time I have held my peace, I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor, I will gasp and pant.

¹⁵I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbage; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools.

¹⁶I will lead the blind by a road they do not know, by paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.

¹⁷They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame — those who trust in carved images, who say to cast images, “You are our gods.”

¹⁸Listen, you that are deaf; and you that are blind, look up and see!

¹⁹Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like my messenger whom I send? Who is blind like my dedicated one, or blind like the servant of the LORD?

²⁰He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.

²¹The LORD was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness, to magnify his teaching and make it glorious.

²²But this is a people robbed and plundered, all of them are trapped in holes and hidden in prisons; they have become a prey with no one to rescue, a spoil with no one to say, “Restore!”

²³Who among you will give heed to this, who will attend and listen for the time to come?

²⁴Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey?

²⁵So he poured upon him the heat of his anger and the fury of war; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.

¹About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church.

²He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword.

³After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.)

⁴When he had seized him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

⁵While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him.

⁶The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison.

⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists.

⁸The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

⁹Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel’s help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹²As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many had gathered and were praying.

¹³When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer.

¹⁴On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate.

¹⁵They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.”

¹⁶Meanwhile Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed.

¹⁷He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, “Tell this to James and to the believers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸When morning came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.

¹⁹When Herod had searched for him and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

²⁰Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him in a body; and after winning over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for a reconciliation, because their country depended on the king’s country for food.

²¹On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat on the platform, and delivered a public address to them.

²²The people kept shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a mortal!”

²³And immediately, because he had not given the glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴But the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents.

²⁵Then after completing their mission Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem and brought with them John, whose other name was Mark.