Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When daybreak came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put him to death.

²After tying him up, they led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

³Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, was full of remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.

⁴“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What’s that to us?” they said. “See to it yourself!”

⁵So he threw the silver into the temple and departed. Then he went and hanged himself.

⁶The chief priests took the silver and said, “It’s not permitted to put it into the temple treasury, since it is blood money.”

⁷They conferred together and bought the potter’s field with it as a burial place for foreigners.

⁸Therefore that field has been called “Blood Field” to this day.

⁹Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him whose price was set by the Israelites,

¹⁰and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.

¹¹Now Jesus stood before the governor. “Are you the King of the Jews?” the governor asked him. Jesus answered, “You say so.”

¹²While he was being accused by the chief priests and elders, he didn’t answer.

¹³Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how much they are testifying against you?”

¹⁴But he didn’t answer him on even one charge, so that the governor was quite amazed.

¹⁵At the festival the governor’s custom was to release to the crowd a prisoner they wanted.

¹⁶At that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

¹⁷So when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Who is it you want me to release for you — Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”

¹⁸For he knew it was because of envy that they had handed him over.

¹⁹While he was sitting on the judge’s bench, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for today I’ve suffered terribly in a dream because of him.”

²⁰The chief priests and the elders, however, persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to execute Jesus.

²¹The governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” “Barabbas!” they answered.

²²Pilate asked them, “What should I do then with Jesus, who is called Christ?” They all answered, “Crucify him!”

²³Then he said, “Why? What has he done wrong?” But they kept shouting all the more, “Crucify him!”

²⁴When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that a riot was starting instead, he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. See to it yourselves!”

²⁵All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

²⁶Then he released Barabbas to them and, after having Jesus flogged, handed him over to be crucified.

²⁷Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s residence and gathered the whole company around him.

²⁸They stripped him and dressed him in a scarlet robe.

²⁹They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and placed a staff in his right hand. And they knelt down before him and mocked him: “Hail, King of the Jews!”

³⁰Then they spat on him, took the staff, and kept hitting him on the head.

³¹After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.

³²As they were going out, they found a Cyrenian man named Simon. They forced him to carry his cross.

³³When they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull),

³⁴they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink. But when he tasted it, he refused to drink it.

³⁵After crucifying him, they divided his clothes by casting lots.

³⁶Then they sat down and were guarding him there.

³⁷Above his head they put up the charge against him in writing: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

³⁸Then two criminals were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.

³⁹Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads

⁴⁰and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

⁴¹In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him and said,

⁴²“He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

⁴³He trusts in God; let God rescue him now — if he takes pleasure in him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

⁴⁴In the same way even the criminals who were crucified with him taunted him.

⁴⁵From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land.

⁴⁶About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

⁴⁷When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling for Elijah.”

⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and offered him a drink.

⁴⁹But the rest said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰But Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit.

⁵¹Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.

⁵²The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

⁵³And they came out of the tombs after his resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.

⁵⁴When the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him were there, watching from a distance.

⁵⁶Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

⁵⁷When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.

⁵⁸He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. Then Pilate ordered that it be released.

⁵⁹So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen,

⁶⁰and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb.

⁶¹Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were seated there, facing the tomb.

⁶²The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate

⁶³and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’

⁶⁴So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵“You have a guard of soldiers,” Pilate told them. “Go and make it as secure as you know how.”

⁶⁶They went and secured the tomb by setting a seal on the stone and placing the guard.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: This is what the LORD has commanded:

³Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, sheep, or goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp,

⁴instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before his tabernacle — that person will be considered guilty. He has shed blood and is to be cut off from his people.

⁵This is so the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they have been offering in the open country. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting and offer them as fellowship sacrifices to the LORD.

⁶The priest will then splatter the blood on the LORD’s altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

⁷They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat-demons that they have prostituted themselves with. This will be a permanent statute for them throughout their generations.

⁸“Say to them: Anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside among them who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice

⁹but does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD, that person is to be cut off from his people.

¹⁰“Anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside among them who eats any blood, I will turn against that person who eats blood and cut him off from his people.

¹¹For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.

¹²Therefore I say to the Israelites: None of you and no alien who resides among you may eat blood.

¹³“Any Israelite or alien residing among them, who hunts down a wild animal or bird that may be eaten must drain its blood and cover it with dirt.

¹⁴Since the life of every creature is its blood, I have told the Israelites: You are not to eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it must be cut off.

¹⁵“Every person, whether the native or the resident alien, who eats an animal that died a natural death or was mauled by wild beasts is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening; then he will be clean.

¹⁶But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, he will bear his iniquity.”

¹In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you.

²Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh.

³For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh —

⁴although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more:

⁵circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee;

⁶regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.

⁷But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.

⁸More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ

⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ  — the righteousness from God based on faith.

¹⁰My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death,

¹¹assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

¹²Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

¹³Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,

¹⁴I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.

¹⁶In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.

¹⁷Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us.

¹⁸For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

¹⁹Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things,

²⁰but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

²¹He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.

¹There were indeed false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.

²Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them.

³They will exploit you in their greed with made-up stories. Their condemnation, pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.

⁴For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment;

⁵and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly;

⁶and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly;

⁷and if he rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral

⁸(for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard ) —

⁹then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

¹⁰especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones;

¹¹however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord.

¹²But these people, like irrational animals — creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed — slander what they do not understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed.

¹³They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions while they feast with you.

¹⁴They have eyes full of adultery that never stop looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse!

¹⁵They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness

¹⁶but received a rebuke for his lawlessness: A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

¹⁷These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.

¹⁸For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those who live in error.

¹⁹They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them.

²⁰For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first.

²¹For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command delivered to them.

²²It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, “a washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”

¹Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them.

²So I commended the dead, who have already died, more than the living, who are still alive.

³But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

⁴I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to one person’s jealousy of another. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

⁵The fool folds his arms and consumes his own flesh.

⁶Better one handful with rest than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind.

⁷Again, I saw futility under the sun:

⁸There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. “Who am I struggling for,” he asks, “and depriving myself of good things?” This too is futile and a miserable task.

⁹Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts.

¹⁰For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.

¹¹Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm?

¹²And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

¹³Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer pays attention to warnings.

¹⁴For he came from prison to be king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom.

¹⁵I saw all the living, who move about under the sun, follow a second youth who succeeds him.

¹⁶There is no limit to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹Of David. [1] Blessed be the LORD, my rock who trains my hands for battle and my fingers for warfare.

²He is my faithful love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him; he subdues my people under me.

³LORD, what is a human that you care for him, a son of man that you think of him?

⁴A human is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

⁵LORD, part your heavens and come down. Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.

⁶Flash your lightning and scatter the foe; shoot your arrows and rout them.

⁷Reach down from on high; rescue me from deep water, and set me free from the grasp of foreigners

⁸whose mouths speak lies, whose right hands are deceptive.

⁹God, I will sing a new song to you; I will play on a ten-stringed harp for you  —

¹⁰the one who gives victory to kings, who frees his servant David from the deadly sword.

¹¹Set me free and rescue me from foreigners whose mouths speak lies, whose right hands are deceptive.

¹²Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth, our daughters, like corner pillars that are carved in the palace style.

¹³Our storehouses will be full, supplying all kinds of produce; our flocks will increase by thousands and tens of thousands in our open fields.

¹⁴Our cattle will be well fed. There will be no breach in the walls, no going into captivity, and no cry of lament in our public squares.

¹⁵Happy are the people with such blessings. Happy are the people whose God is the LORD.

¹A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.

²The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts out foolishness.

³The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, observing the wicked and the good.

⁴The tongue that heals is a tree of life, but a devious tongue breaks the spirit.

⁵A fool despises his father’s discipline, but a person who accepts correction is sensible.

⁶The house of the righteous has great wealth, but trouble accompanies the income of the wicked.

⁷The lips of the wise broadcast knowledge, but not so the heart of fools.

⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

⁹The LORD detests the way of the wicked, but he loves the one who pursues righteousness.

¹⁰Discipline is harsh for the one who leaves the path; the one who hates correction will die.

¹¹Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD  —  how much more, human hearts.

¹²A mocker doesn’t love one who corrects him; he will not consult the wise.

¹³A joyful heart makes a face cheerful, but a sad heart produces a broken spirit.

¹⁴A discerning mind seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.

¹⁵All the days of the oppressed are miserable, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

¹⁶Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.

¹⁷Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.

¹⁸A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but one slow to anger calms strife.

¹⁹A slacker’s way is like a thorny hedge, but the path of the upright is a highway.

²⁰A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.

²¹Foolishness brings joy to one without sense, but a person with understanding walks a straight path.

²²Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

²³A person takes joy in giving an answer; and a timely word — how good that is!

²⁴For the prudent the path of life leads upward, so that he may avoid going down to Sheol.

²⁵The LORD tears apart the house of the proud, but he protects the widow’s territory.

²⁶The LORD detests the plans of the one who is evil, but pleasant words are pure.

²⁷The one who profits dishonestly troubles his household, but the one who hates bribes will live.

²⁸The mind of the righteous person thinks before answering, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil things.

²⁹The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

³⁰Bright eyes cheer the heart; good news strengthens the bones.

³¹One who listens to life-giving rebukes will be at home among the wise.

³²Anyone who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever listens to correction acquires good sense.

³³The fear of the LORD is what wisdom teaches, and humility comes before honor.

¹The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: “None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage.”

²So the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. They wept loudly and bitterly,

³and cried out, “Why, LORD God of Israel, has it occurred that one tribe is missing in Israel today?”

⁴The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

⁵The Israelites asked, “Who of all the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the LORD with the assembly?” For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the LORD at Mizpah would certainly be put to death.

⁶But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, “Today a tribe has been cut off from Israel.

⁷What should we do about wives for the survivors? We’ve sworn to the LORD not to give them any of our daughters as wives.”

⁸They asked, “Which city among the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the LORD at Mizpah?” It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp and the assembly.

⁹For when the roll was called, no men were there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.

¹⁰The congregation sent twelve thousand brave warriors there and commanded them: “Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including women and dependents.

¹¹This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every woman who has gone to bed with a man.”

¹²They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not gone to bed with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.

¹³The whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock.

¹⁴Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them.

¹⁵The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the LORD had made this gap in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶The elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”

¹⁷They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.

¹⁸But we can’t give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed.”

¹⁹They also said, “Look, there’s an annual festival to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”

²⁰Then they commanded the Benjaminites: “Go and hide in the vineyards.

²¹Watch, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to perform the dances, each of you leave the vineyards and catch a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

²²When their fathers or brothers come to us and protest, we will tell them, ‘Show favor to them, since we did not get enough wives for each of them in the battle. You didn’t actually give the women to them, so you are not guilty of breaking your oath.’”

²³The Benjaminites did this and took the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and lived in them.

²⁴At that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and family. Each returned from there to his own inheritance.

²⁵In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

¹“And now listen, Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen.

²This is the word of the LORD your Maker, the one who formed you from the womb: He will help you. Do not fear, Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

³For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring.

⁴They will sprout among the grass like poplars by flowing streams.

⁵This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’s’; another will use the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and take on the name of Israel.”

⁶This is what the LORD, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the LORD of Armies, says: I am the first and I am the last. There is no God but me.

⁷Who, like me, can announce the future? Let him say so and make a case before me, since I have established an ancient people. Let these gods declare the coming things, and what will take place.

⁸Do not be startled or afraid. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me? There is no other Rock; I do not know any.

⁹All who make idols are nothing, and what they treasure benefits no one. Their witnesses do not see or know anything, so they will be put to shame.

¹⁰Who makes a god or casts a metal image that benefits no one?

¹¹Look, all its worshipers will be put to shame, and the craftsmen are humans. They all will assemble and stand; they all will be startled and put to shame.

¹²The ironworker labors over the coals, shapes the idol with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. Also he grows hungry and his strength fails; he doesn’t drink water and is faint.

¹³The woodworker stretches out a measuring line, he outlines it with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He makes it according to a human form, like a beautiful person, to dwell in a temple.

¹⁴He cuts down cedars for his use, or he takes a cypress or an oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.

¹⁵A person can use it for fuel. He takes some of it and warms himself; also he kindles a fire and bakes bread; he even makes it into a god and worships it; he makes an idol from it and bows down to it.

¹⁶He burns half of it in a fire, and he roasts meat on that half. He eats the roast and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm, I see the blaze.”

¹⁷He makes a god or his idol with the rest of it. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it, “Save me, for you are my god.”

¹⁸Such people do not comprehend and cannot understand, for he has shut their eyes so they cannot see, and their minds so they cannot understand.

¹⁹No one comes to his senses; no one has the perception or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, I also baked bread on its coals, I roasted meat and ate. Should I make something detestable with the rest of it? Should I bow down to a block of wood?”

²⁰He feeds on ashes. His deceived mind has led him astray, and he cannot rescue himself, or say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?”

²¹Remember these things, Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you, you are my servant; Israel, you will never be forgotten by me.

²²I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

²³Rejoice, heavens, for the LORD has acted; shout, depths of the earth. Break out into singing, mountains, forest, and every tree in it. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and glorifies himself through Israel.

²⁴This is what the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb, says: I am the LORD, who made everything; who stretched out the heavens by myself; who alone spread out the earth;

²⁵who destroys the omens of the false prophets and makes fools of diviners; who confounds the wise and makes their knowledge foolishness;

²⁶who confirms the message of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers; who says to Jerusalem, “She will be inhabited,” and to the cities of Judah, “They will be rebuilt,” and I will restore her ruins;

²⁷who says to the depths of the sea, “Be dry,” and I will dry up your rivers;

²⁸who says to Cyrus, “My shepherd, he will fulfill all my pleasure” and says to Jerusalem, “She will be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Its foundation will be laid.”

¹In Iconium they entered the Jewish synagogue, as usual, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

²But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

³So they stayed there a long time and spoke boldly for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace by enabling them to do signs and wonders.

⁴But the people of the city were divided, some siding with the Jews and others with the apostles.

⁵When an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat and stone them,

⁶they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside.

⁷There they continued preaching the gospel.

⁸In Lystra a man was sitting who was without strength in his feet, had never walked, and had been lame from birth.

⁹He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

¹⁰Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” And he jumped up and began to walk around.

¹¹When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice.

¹⁴The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting:

¹⁵“People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

¹⁶In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own way,

¹⁷although he did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.”

¹⁸Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹Some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.

²⁰After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

²¹After they had preached the gospel in that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch,

²²strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

²³When they had appointed elders for them in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

²⁴They passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.

²⁵After they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

²⁶From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

²⁷After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

²⁸And they spent a considerable time with the disciples.