Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,

²“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,

⁴and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

⁵But they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”

⁶Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,

⁷a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table.

⁸But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste?

⁹For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me.

¹¹For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

¹²By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial.

¹³Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

¹⁴Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests

¹⁵and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver.

¹⁶And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

¹⁷On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

¹⁸He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’”

¹⁹So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.

²⁰When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve;

²¹and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

²²And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?”

²³He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.

²⁴The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”

²⁵Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”

²⁶While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

²⁷Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;

²⁸for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

²⁹I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

³⁰When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

³¹Then Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

³²But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

³³Peter said to him, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.”

³⁴Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.”

³⁵Peter said to him, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples.

³⁶Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

³⁷He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated.

³⁸Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.”

³⁹And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.”

⁴⁰Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour?

⁴¹Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴²Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

⁴³Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

⁴⁴So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words.

⁴⁵Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴⁶Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”

⁴⁷While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

⁴⁸Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.”

⁴⁹At once he came up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

⁵⁰Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.

⁵¹Suddenly, one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

⁵²Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

⁵³Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

⁵⁴But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this way?”

⁵⁵At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me.

⁵⁶But all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

⁵⁷Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, in whose house the scribes and the elders had gathered.

⁵⁸But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end.

⁵⁹Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death,

⁶⁰but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward

⁶¹and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’”

⁶²The high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?”

⁶³But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

⁶⁴Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy.

⁶⁶What is your verdict?” They answered, “He deserves death.”

⁶⁷Then they spat in his face and struck him; and some slapped him,

⁶⁸saying, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who is it that struck you?”

⁶⁹Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant-girl came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”

⁷⁰But he denied it before all of them, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.”

⁷¹When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁷²Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.”

⁷³After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.”

⁷⁴Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment the cock crowed.

⁷⁵Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD and died.

²The LORD said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron not to come just at any time into the sanctuary inside the curtain before the mercy seat that is upon the ark, or he will die; for I appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.

³Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

⁴He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and shall have the linen undergarments next to his body, fasten the linen sash, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy vestments. He shall bathe his body in water, and then put them on.

⁵He shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

⁶Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.

⁷He shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting;

⁸and Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel.

⁹Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD, and offer it as a sin offering;

¹⁰but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

¹¹Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house; he shall slaughter the bull as a sin offering for himself.

¹²He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of crushed sweet incense, and he shall bring it inside the curtain

¹³and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the covenant, or he will die.

¹⁴He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵He shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the curtain, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.

¹⁶Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel, and because of their transgressions, all their sins; and so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which remains with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.

¹⁷No one shall be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.

¹⁸Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement on its behalf, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on each of the horns of the altar.

¹⁹He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and hallow it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.

²⁰When he has finished atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat.

²¹Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task.

²²The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness.

²³Then Aaron shall enter the tent of meeting, and shall take off the linen vestments that he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there.

²⁴He shall bathe his body in water in a holy place, and put on his vestments; then he shall come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, making atonement for himself and for the people.

²⁵The fat of the sin offering he shall turn into smoke on the altar.

²⁶The one who sets the goat free for Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward may come into the camp.

²⁷The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp; their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be consumed in fire.

²⁸The one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward may come into the camp.

²⁹This shall be a statute to you forever: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall deny yourselves, and shall do no work, neither the citizen nor the alien who resides among you.

³⁰For on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the LORD.

³¹It is a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall deny yourselves; it is a statute forever.

³²The priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the linen vestments, the holy vestments.

³³He shall make atonement for the sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

³⁴This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the people of Israel once in the year for all their sins. And Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

¹If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy,

²make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.

⁴Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,

⁷but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,

⁸he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross.

⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,

¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹²Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

¹³for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

¹⁴Do all things without murmuring and arguing,

¹⁵so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.

¹⁶It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

¹⁷But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you —

¹⁸and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.

¹⁹I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you.

²⁰I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.

²¹All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

²²But Timothy’s worth you know, how like a son with a father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

²³I hope therefore to send him as soon as I see how things go with me;

²⁴and I trust in the Lord that I will also come soon.

²⁵Still, I think it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus — my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier, your messenger and minister to my need;

²⁶for he has been longing for all of you, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.

²⁷He was indeed so ill that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another.

²⁸I am the more eager to send him, therefore, in order that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.

²⁹Welcome him then in the Lord with all joy, and honor such people,

³⁰because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me.

¹Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

²May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

³His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

⁴Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature.

⁵For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge,

⁶and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness,

⁷and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.

⁸For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹For anyone who lacks these things is short-sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins.

¹⁰Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.

¹¹For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

¹²Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you.

¹³I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory,

¹⁴since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

¹⁵And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

¹⁶For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.

¹⁷For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

¹⁸We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

²⁰First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,

²¹because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

¹For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

²a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

³a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

⁵a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

⁷a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

⁸a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

⁹What gain have the workers from their toil?

¹⁰I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.

¹¹He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live;

¹³moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.

¹⁴I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.

¹⁵That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.

¹⁶Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well.

¹⁷I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work.

¹⁸I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals.

¹⁹For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity.

²⁰All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.

²¹Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?

²²So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?

¹Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness.

²Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.

³For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead.

⁴Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.

⁵I remember the days of old, I think about all your deeds, I meditate on the works of your hands.

⁶I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah

⁷Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.

⁸Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

⁹Save me, O LORD, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge.

¹⁰Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.

¹¹For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.

¹²In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant.

¹The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands.

²Those who walk uprightly fear the LORD, but one who is devious in conduct despises him.

³The talk of fools is a rod for their backs, but the lips of the wise preserve them.

⁴Where there are no oxen, there is no grain; abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

⁵A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies.

⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for one who understands.

⁷Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not find words of knowledge.

⁸It is the wisdom of the clever to understand where they go, but the folly of fools misleads.

⁹Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy God’s favor.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked is destroyed, but the tent of the upright flourishes.

¹²There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart is sad, and the end of joy is grief.

¹⁴The perverse get what their ways deserve, and the good, what their deeds deserve.

¹⁵The simple believe everything, but the clever consider their steps.

¹⁶The wise are cautious and turn away from evil, but the fool throws off restraint and is careless.

¹⁷One who is quick-tempered acts foolishly, and the schemer is hated.

¹⁸The simple are adorned with folly, but the clever are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The evil bow down before the good, the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰The poor are disliked even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.

²¹Those who despise their neighbors are sinners, but happy are those who are kind to the poor.

²²Do they not err that plan evil? Those who plan good find loyalty and faithfulness.

²³In all toil there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their wisdom, but folly is the garland of fools.

²⁵A truthful witness saves lives, but one who utters lies is a betrayer.

²⁶In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and one’s children will have a refuge.

²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, so that one may avoid the snares of death.

²⁸The glory of a king is a multitude of people; without people a prince is ruined.

²⁹Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but one who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

³⁰A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh, but passion makes the bones rot.

³¹Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him.

³²The wicked are overthrown by their evildoing, but the righteous find a refuge in their integrity.

³³Wisdom is at home in the mind of one who has understanding, but it is not known in the heart of fools.

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

³⁵A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.

¹Then all the Israelites came out, from Dan to Beer-sheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled in one body before the LORD at Mizpah.

²The chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot-soldiers bearing arms.

³(Now the Benjaminites heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites said, “Tell us, how did this criminal act come about?”

⁴The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, “I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.

⁵The lords of Gibeah rose up against me, and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she died.

⁶Then I took my concubine and cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the whole extent of Israel’s territory; for they have committed a vile outrage in Israel.

⁷So now, you Israelites, all of you, give your advice and counsel here.”

⁸All the people got up as one, saying, “We will not any of us go to our tents, nor will any of us return to our houses.

⁹But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot.

¹⁰We will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the troops, who are going to repay Gibeah of Benjamin for all the disgrace that they have done in Israel.”

¹¹So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one.

¹²The tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What crime is this that has been committed among you?

¹³Now then, hand over those scoundrels in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death, and purge the evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to their kinsfolk, the Israelites.

¹⁴The Benjaminites came together out of the towns to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the Israelites.

¹⁵On that day the Benjaminites mustered twenty-six thousand armed men from their towns, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah.

¹⁶Of all this force, there were seven hundred picked men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair, and not miss.

¹⁷And the Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand armed men, all of them warriors.

¹⁸The Israelites proceeded to go up to Bethel, where they inquired of God, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the Benjaminites?” And the LORD answered, “Judah shall go up first.”

¹⁹Then the Israelites got up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.

²⁰The Israelites went out to battle against Benjamin; and the Israelites drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah.

²¹The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah, and struck down on that day twenty-two thousand of the Israelites.

²²The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until the evening; and they inquired of the LORD, “Shall we again draw near to battle against our kinsfolk the Benjaminites?” And the LORD said, “Go up against them.” The Israelites took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day.

²³

²⁴So the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites the second day.

²⁵Benjamin moved out against them from Gibeah the second day, and struck down eighteen thousand of the Israelites, all of them armed men.

²⁶Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went back to Bethel and wept, sitting there before the LORD; they fasted that day until evening. Then they offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being before the LORD.

²⁷And the Israelites inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

²⁸and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our kinsfolk the Benjaminites, or shall we desist?” The LORD answered, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”

²⁹So Israel stationed men in ambush around Gibeah.

³⁰Then the Israelites went up against the Benjaminites on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as before.

³¹When the Benjaminites went out against the army, they were drawn away from the city. As before they began to inflict casualties on the troops, along the main roads, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, as well as in the open country, killing about thirty men of Israel.

³²The Benjaminites thought, “They are being routed before us, as previously.” But the Israelites said, “Let us retreat and draw them away from the city toward the roads.”

³³The main body of the Israelites drew back its battle line to Baal-tamar, while those Israelites who were in ambush rushed out of their place west of Geba.

³⁴There came against Gibeah ten thousand picked men out of all Israel, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjaminites did not realize that disaster was close upon them.

³⁵The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel; and the Israelites destroyed twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin that day, all of them armed.

³⁶Then the Benjaminites saw that they were defeated. The Israelites gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted to the troops in ambush that they had stationed against Gibeah.

³⁷The troops in ambush rushed quickly upon Gibeah. Then they put the whole city to the sword.

³⁸Now the agreement between the main body of Israel and the men in ambush was that when they sent up a cloud of smoke out of the city

³⁹the main body of Israel should turn in battle. But Benjamin had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites, killing about thirty of them; so they thought, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.”

⁴⁰But when the cloud, a column of smoke, began to rise out of the city, the Benjaminites looked behind them — and there was the whole city going up in smoke toward the sky!

⁴¹Then the main body of Israel turned, and the Benjaminites were dismayed, for they saw that disaster was close upon them.

⁴²Therefore they turned away from the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the city were slaughtering them in between.

⁴³Cutting down the Benjaminites, they pursued them from Nohah and trod them down as far as a place east of Gibeah.

⁴⁴Eighteen thousand Benjaminites fell, all of them courageous fighters.

⁴⁵When they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, five thousand of them were cut down on the main roads, and they were pursued as far as Gidom, and two thousand of them were slain.

⁴⁶So all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty-five thousand arms-bearing men, all of them courageous fighters.

⁴⁷But six hundred turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and remained at the rock of Rimmon for four months.

⁴⁸Meanwhile, the Israelites turned back against the Benjaminites, and put them to the sword — the city, the people, the animals, and all that remained. Also the remaining towns they set on fire.

¹But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

³For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.

⁴Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.

⁵Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;

⁶I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth —

⁷everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

⁸Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears!

⁹Let all the nations gather together, and let the peoples assemble. Who among them declared this, and foretold to us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to justify them, and let them hear and say, “It is true.”

¹⁰You are my witnesses, says the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.

¹¹I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.

¹²I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses, says the LORD.

¹³I am God, and also henceforth I am He; there is no one who can deliver from my hand; I work and who can hinder it?

¹⁴Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I will send to Babylon and break down all the bars, and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation.

¹⁵I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.

¹⁶Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,

¹⁷who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:

¹⁸Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.

¹⁹I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

²⁰The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,

²¹the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.

²²Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel!

²³You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense.

²⁴You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.

²⁵I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

²⁶Accuse me, let us go to trial; set forth your case, so that you may be proved right.

²⁷Your first ancestor sinned, and your interpreters transgressed against me.

²⁸Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary, I delivered Jacob to utter destruction, and Israel to reviling.

¹Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul.

²While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

⁵When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also to assist them.

⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus.

⁷He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.

⁸But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

¹⁰and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

¹¹And now listen — the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand.

¹²When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

¹³Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem;

¹⁴but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the law and the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it.”

¹⁶So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak: “You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen.

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.

¹⁸For about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

¹⁹After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance

²⁰for about four hundred fifty years. After that he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel.

²¹Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years.

²²When he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’

²³Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised;

²⁴before his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And as John was finishing his work, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals on his feet.’

²⁶“My brothers, you descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him.

²⁸Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed.

²⁹When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised him from the dead;

³¹and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people.

³²And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors

³³he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’

³⁴As to his raising him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, ‘I will give you the holy promises made to David.’

³⁵Therefore he has also said in another psalm, ‘You will not let your Holy One experience corruption.’

³⁶For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died, was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption;

³⁷but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption.

³⁸Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you;

³⁹by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

⁴⁰Beware, therefore, that what the prophets said does not happen to you:

⁴¹‘Look, you scoffers! Be amazed and perish, for in your days I am doing a work, a work that you will never believe, even if someone tells you.’”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people urged them to speak about these things again the next sabbath.

⁴³When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The next sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; and blaspheming, they contradicted what was spoken by Paul.

⁴⁶Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers.

⁴⁹Thus the word of the Lord spread throughout the region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.

⁵¹So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them, and went to Iconium.

⁵²And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.