Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

²just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “BEHOLD, I AM SENDING MY MESSENGER BEFORE YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY;

³THE VOICE OF ONE CALLING OUT IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!’ ”

⁴John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

⁵And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

⁶John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey.

⁷And he was preaching, saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to bend down and untie the straps of His sandals.

⁸I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

¹⁰And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him;

¹¹and a voice came from the heavens: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

¹²And immediately the Spirit *brought Him out into the wilderness.

¹³And He was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving Him.

¹⁴Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,

¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of Godis at hand; repent andbelieve in the gospel.”

¹⁶As He was going along the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.

¹⁷And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will have you become fishers of people.”

¹⁸Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

¹⁹And going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who were also in the boat mending the nets.

²⁰Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and went away to follow Him.

²¹They *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and began to teach.

²²And they were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

²³Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,

²⁴saying, “What business do you have with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are: the Holy One of God!”

²⁵And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”

²⁶After throwing him into convulsions and crying out with a loud voice, the unclean spirit came out of him.

²⁷And they were all amazed, so they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”

²⁸Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding region of Galilee.

²⁹And immediately after they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

³⁰Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and they immediately *spoke to Jesus about her.

³¹And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she served them.

³²Now when evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed.

³³And the whole city had gathered at the door.

³⁴And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

³⁵And in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and prayed there for a time.

³⁶Simon and his companions eagerly searched for Him;

³⁷and they found Him and *said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.”

³⁸He *said to them, “Let’s go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may alsopreach there; for this is why I came.”

³⁹And He went into their synagogues preaching throughout Galilee, and casting out the demons.

⁴⁰And a man with leprosy *came to Jesus, imploring Him and kneeling down, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

⁴¹Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, and *said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

⁴²And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.

⁴³And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away,

⁴⁴and He *said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

⁴⁵But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.

¹Then Jacob set out on his journey, and went to the land of the people of the east.

²He looked, and saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, because they watered the flocks from that well. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large.

³When all the flocks were gathered there, they would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.

⁴Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.”

⁵So he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.”

⁶And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is his daughter Rachel coming with the sheep.”

⁷Then he said, “Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.”

⁸But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

¹⁰When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother’s brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his mother’s brother Laban.

¹¹Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and raised his voice and wept.

¹²Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.

¹³So when Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things.

¹⁴And Laban said to him, “You certainly are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.

¹⁵Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”

¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

¹⁷And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in figure and appearance.

¹⁸Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”

¹⁹Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.”

²⁰So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him like only a few days because of his love for her.

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may have relations with her.”

²²So Laban gathered all the people of the place and held a feast.

²³Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him; and Jacob had relations with her.

²⁴Laban also gave his female slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a slave.

²⁵So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “What is this that you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?”

²⁶But Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn.

²⁷Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me, for another seven years.”

²⁸Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife.

²⁹Laban also gave his female slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave.

³⁰So Jacob had relations with Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

³¹Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was unable to have children.

³²Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.”

³³Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon.

³⁴And she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi.

³⁵And she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

¹If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

²If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

³And if I give away all my possessions to charity, and if I surrender my body so that I may glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.

⁵It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,

⁶it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

⁷it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with.

⁹For we know in part and prophesy in part;

¹⁰but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with.

¹¹When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.

¹²For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known.

¹³But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

¹Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,

²and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,

³if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

⁴And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is choice and precious in the sight of God,

⁵you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁶For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I AM LAYING IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE, AND THE ONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.”

⁷This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers, “A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE,”

⁸and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed.

⁹But you are A CHOSEN PEOPLE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD’S own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

¹⁰for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

¹¹Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.

¹²Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God on the day of visitation.

¹³Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority,

¹⁴or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.

¹⁵For such is the will of God, that by doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish people.

¹⁶Act as free people, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond-servants of God.

¹⁷Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

¹⁸Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are harsh.

¹⁹For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person endures grief when suffering unjustly.

²⁰For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

²¹For you have been called for this purpose, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you would follow in His steps,

²²HE who committed no sin, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT found IN HIS MOUTH;

²³and while being abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;

²⁴and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.

²⁵For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

¹Job again took up his discourse and said,

²“Oh that I were as in months gone by, As in the days when God watched over me;

³When His lamp shone over my head, And by His light I walked through darkness;

⁴Just as I was in the days of my youth, When the protection of God was over my tent;

⁵When the Almighty was still with me, And my children were around me;

⁶When my steps were bathed in cream, And the rock poured out streams of oil for me!

⁷When I went out to the gate of the city, When I took my seat in the public square,

⁸The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the old men arose and stood.

⁹The leaders stopped talking And put their hands on their mouths;

¹⁰The voices of the prominent people were hushed, And their tongues stuck to their palates.

¹¹For when an ear heard, it called me blessed, And when an eye saw, it testified in support of me,

¹²Because I saved the poor who cried for help, And the orphan who had no helper.

¹³The blessing of the one who was about to perish came upon me, And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a headband.

¹⁵I was eyes to those who were blind, And feet to those who could not walk.

¹⁶I was a father to the poor, And I investigated the case which I did not know.

¹⁷I broke the jaws of the wicked And rescued the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸Then I thought, ‘I will die with my family, And I will multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹My root is spread out to the waters, And dew lies on my branch all night.

²⁰My glory is ever new with me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.’

²¹“To me they listened and waited, And they kept silent for my advice.

²²After my words they did not speak again, And my speech dropped on them.

²³They waited for me as for the rain, And opened their mouths as for the late rain.

²⁴I smiled at them when they did not believe, And they did not look at my kindness ungraciously.

²⁵I chose a way for them and sat as chief, And lived as a king among the troops, As one who comforted the mourners.

¹Ascribe to the LORD, sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

²Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; Worship the LORD in holy attire.

³The voice of the LORD is on the waters; The God of glory thunders, The LORD is over many waters.

⁴The voice of the LORD is powerful, The voice of the LORD is majestic.

⁵The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; Yes, the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon in pieces.

⁶He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, And Sirion like a young wild ox.

⁷The voice of the LORD divides flames of fire.

⁸The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

⁹The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”

¹⁰The LORD sat as King at the flood; Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.

¹¹The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.

¹A person often rebuked who becomes obstinate Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.

²When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked person rules, people groan.

³A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad, But he who involves himself with prostitutes wastes his wealth.

⁴The king gives stability to the land by justice, But a person who takes bribes ruins it.

⁵A man who flatters his neighbor Is spreading a net for his steps.

⁶By wrongdoing an evil person is ensnared, But the righteous sings and rejoices.

⁷The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor; The wicked does not understand such concern.

⁸Arrogant people inflame a city, But wise people turn away anger.

⁹When a wise person has a controversy with a foolish person, The foolish person either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.

¹⁰People of bloodshed hate the blameless person, But the upright are concerned for his life.

¹¹A fool always loses his temper, But a wise person holds it back.

¹²If a ruler pays attention to falsehood, All his ministers become wicked.

¹³The poor person and the oppressor have this in common: The LORD gives light to the eyes of both.

¹⁴If a king judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever.

¹⁵The rod and a rebuke give wisdom, But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.

¹⁶When the wicked increase, wrongdoing increases; But the righteous will see their downfall.

¹⁷Correct your son, and he will give you comfort; He will also delight your soul.

¹⁸Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is one who keeps the Law.

¹⁹A slave will not be instructed by words alone; For though he understands, there will be no response.

²⁰Do you see a person who is hasty with his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

²¹One who pampers his slave from childhood Will in the end find him to be rebellious.

²²An angry person stirs up strife, And a hot-tempered person abounds in wrongdoing.

²³A person’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.

²⁴One who is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He hears the oath but tells nothing.

²⁵The fear of man brings a snare, But one who trusts in the LORD will be protected.

²⁶Many seek the ruler’s favor, But justice for mankind comes from the LORD.

²⁷An unjust person is an abomination to the righteous, And one who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.

¹Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,

²“For the leaders leading in Israel, For the people volunteering, Bless the LORD!

³Hear, you kings; listen, you dignitaries! I myself—to the LORD, I myself will sing, I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel!

⁴LORD, when You went out from Seir, When You marched from the field of Edom, The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, The clouds also dripped water.

⁵The mountains flowed with water at the presence of the LORD, This Sinai, at the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁶“In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the roads were deserted, And travelers went by roundabout ways.

⁷The peasantry came to an end, they came to an end in Israel, Until I, Deborah, arose, Until I arose, a mother in Israel.

⁸New gods were chosen; Then war was in the gates. Not a shield or a spear was seen Among forty thousand in Israel.

⁹My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel, The volunteers among the people; Bless the LORD!

¹⁰You who ride on white donkeys, You who sit on rich carpets, And you who travel on the road—shout in praise!

¹¹At the sound of those who distribute water among the watering places, There they will recount the righteous deeds of the LORD, The righteous deeds for His peasantry in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates.

¹²“Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, son of Abinoam.

¹³Then survivors came down to the nobles; The people of the LORD came down to me as warriors.

¹⁴From Ephraim those whose root is in Amalek came down, Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples; From Machir commanders came down, And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of office.

¹⁵And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed at his heels; Among the divisions of Reuben There were great determinations of heart.

¹⁶Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, To hear the piping for the flocks? Among the divisions of Reuben There were great searchings of heart.

¹⁷Gilead remained across the Jordan; And why did Dan stay on ships? Asher sat at the seashore, And remained by its landings.

¹⁸Zebulun was a people who risked their lives, And Naphtali too, on the high places of the field.

¹⁹“The kings came and fought; Then the kings of Canaan fought At Taanach near the waters of Megiddo; They took no plunder in silver.

²⁰The stars fought from heaven, From their paths they fought against Sisera.

²¹The torrent of Kishon swept them away, The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. My soul, march on with strength!

²²Then the horses’ hoofs beat From the galloping, the galloping of his mighty stallions.

²³‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the LORD, ‘Utterly curse its inhabitants, Because they did not come to the help of the LORD, To the help of the LORD against the warriors.’

²⁴“Most blessed of women is Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Most blessed is she of women in the tent.

²⁵He asked for water, she gave him milk; In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.

²⁶She reached out her hand for the tent peg, And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer. Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head; And she shattered and pierced his temple.

²⁷Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; Between her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell dead.

²⁸“Out of the window she looked and wailed, The mother of Sisera through the lattice, ‘Why does his chariot delay in coming? Why do the hoofbeats of his chariots delay?’

²⁹Her wise princesses would answer her, Indeed she repeats her words to herself,

³⁰‘Are they not finding, are they not dividing the spoils? A concubine, two concubines for every warrior; To Sisera a spoil of dyed cloth, A spoil of dyed cloth embroidered, Dyed cloth of double embroidery on the neck of the plunderer?’

³¹May all Your enemies perish in this way, LORD; But may those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.” And the land was at rest for forty years.

¹Woe, Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped! Add year to year, keep your feasts on schedule.

²I will bring distress to Ariel, And she will be a city of grieving and mourning; And she will be like an Ariel to me.

³I will camp against you encircling you, And I will set up siegeworks against you, And I will raise up battle towers against you.

⁴Then you will be brought low; From the earth you will speak, And from the dust where you are prostrate Your words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground, And your speech will whisper from the dust.

⁵But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust, And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; And it will happen instantly, suddenly.

⁶From the LORD of armies you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

⁷And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel, Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

⁸It will be as when a hungry person dreams— And behold, he is eating; But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied, Or as when a thirsty person dreams— And behold, he is drinking, But when he awakens, behold, he is faint And his thirst is not quenched. So will the multitude of all the nations be Who wage war against Mount Zion.

⁹Be delayed and horrified, Blind yourselves and be blind; They become drunk, but not with wine, They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.

¹⁰For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes—the prophets; And He has covered your heads—the seers.

¹¹The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which, when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.”

¹²Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”

¹³Then the Lord said, “Because this people approaches Me with their words And honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of the commandment of men that is taught;

¹⁴Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the understanding of their men who have understanding will be concealed.”

¹⁵Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”

¹⁶You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

¹⁷Is it not yet just a little while Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field, And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?

¹⁸On that day those who are deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of those who are blind will see.

¹⁹The afflicted also will increase their joy in the LORD, And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

²⁰For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished, Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be eliminated,

²¹Who cause a person to be indicted by a word, And set a trap for the arbitrator at the gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

²²Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob will not be ashamed now, nor will his face turn pale now;

²³But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My name; Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

²⁴Those who err in mind will know the truth, And those who criticize will accept instruction.

¹The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,

²until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had given orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen.

³To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of things regarding the kingdom of God.

⁴Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;

⁵for John baptizedwith water, but you will be baptizedwith the Holy Spiritnot many days from now.”

⁶So, when they had come together, they began asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷But He said to them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which the Father has set by His own authority;

⁸but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”

⁹And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were watching, and a cloud took Him up, out of their sight.

¹⁰And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, then behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them,

¹¹and they said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

¹³When they had entered the city, they went up to the upstairs room where they were staying, that is, Peter, John, James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

¹⁴All these were continually devoting themselves with one mind to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

¹⁵At this time Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (a group of about 120 people was there together), and said,

¹⁶“Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

¹⁷For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.”

¹⁸(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.

¹⁹And it became known to all the residents of Jerusalem; as a result that field was called Hakeldama in their own language, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰“For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘MAY HIS RESIDENCE BE MADE DESOLATE, AND MAY THERE BE NONE LIVING IN IT’; and, ‘MAY ANOTHER TAKE HIS OFFICE.’

²¹Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—

²²beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

²³So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias.

²⁴And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all people, show which one of these two You have chosen

²⁵to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”

²⁶And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.