Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus came back to Capernaum a few days later, it was heard that He was at home.

²And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer space, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them.

³And some people *came, bringing to Him a man who was paralyzed, carried by four men.

⁴And when they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralyzed man was lying.

⁵And Jesus, seeing their faith, *said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking it over in their hearts,

⁷“Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God alone?”

⁸Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were thinking that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you thinking about these things in your hearts?

⁹Which is easier, to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’?

¹⁰But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralyzed man,

¹¹“I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet, and go home.”

¹²And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

¹³And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

¹⁴As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax office, and He *said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁵And it *happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him.

¹⁶When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

¹⁸John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they *came and *said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁹And Jesus said to them, “While the groom is with them,the attendants of the groom cannot fast, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast.

²⁰But the days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast, on that day.

²¹“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results.

²²And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

²³And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain.

²⁴The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

²⁵And He *said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry;

²⁶how he entered the house of God in thetime of Abiathar the high priest, and ate theconsecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?”

²⁷Jesus said to them, “The Sabbathwas madefor man, and not manfor the Sabbath.

²⁸So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”

¹Now when Rachel saw that she had not borne Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I am going to die.”

²Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

³Then she said, “Here is my female slave Bilhah: have relations with her that she may give birth on my knees, so that by her I too may obtain a child.”

⁴So she gave him her slave Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had relations with her.

⁵Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

⁶Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him Dan.

⁷And Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

⁸So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestling I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali.

⁹When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

¹⁰And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

¹¹Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.

¹²And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.

¹³Then Leah said, “Happy am I! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.

¹⁴Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrake fruits in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must have relations with me, for I have indeed hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

¹⁷God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.

¹⁸Then Leah said, “God has given me my reward, because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.

¹⁹And Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob.

²⁰Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; finally my husband will acknowledge me as his wife, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.

²¹Afterward she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah.

²²Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.

²³So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.”

²⁴And she named him Joseph, saying, “May the LORD give me another son.”

²⁵Now it came about, when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, so that I may go to my own place and to my own country.

²⁶Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.”

²⁷But Laban said to him, “If it pleases you at all, stay with me; I have determined by divination that the LORD has blessed me on your account.”

²⁸He continued, “Name me your wages, and I will give them.”

²⁹But Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have fared with me.

³⁰For you had little before I came, and it has increased to a multitude, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?”

³¹So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock:

³²let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every speckled or spotted sheep and every black sheep among the lambs, and the spotted or speckled among the goats; and those shall be my wages.

³³So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.”

³⁴Laban said, “Good, let it be according to your word.”

³⁵So he removed on that day the striped or spotted male goats, and all the speckled or spotted female goats, every one with white on it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and put them in the care of his sons.

³⁶And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white that was in the rods.

³⁸He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the drinking troughs, that is, in the watering channels where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink.

³⁹So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks delivered striped, speckled, and spotted offspring.

⁴⁰Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

⁴¹Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the drinking troughs, so that they would mate by the rods;

⁴²but when the flock was sickly, he did not put them in; so the sickly were Laban’s, and the stronger were Jacob’s.

⁴³So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

¹Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

²For the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.

³But the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification, exhortation, and consolation.

⁴The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but the one who prophesies edifies the church.

⁵Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but rather that you would prophesy; and greater is the one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edification.

⁶But now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation, or of knowledge, or of prophecy, or of teaching?

⁷Yet even lifeless instruments, whether flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp?

⁸For if the trumpet produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle?

⁹So you too, unless you produce intelligible speech by the tongue, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will just be talking to the air.

¹⁰There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and none is incapable of meaning.

¹¹So if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be unintelligible to the one who speaks, and the one who speaks will be unintelligible to me.

¹²So you too, since you are eager to possess spiritual gifts, strive to excel for the edification of the church.

¹³Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue is to pray that he may interpret.

¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unproductive.

¹⁵What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing with the mind also.

¹⁶For otherwise, if you bless God in the spirit only, how will the one who occupies the place of the outsider know to say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you are saying?

¹⁷For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified.

¹⁸I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all;

¹⁹nevertheless, in church I prefer to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

²¹In the Law it is written: “BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME,” says the Lord.

²²So then, tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is not for unbelievers, but for those who believe.

²³Therefore if the whole church gathers together and all the people speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are insane?

²⁴But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all;

²⁵the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.

²⁶What is the outcome then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. All things are to be done for edification.

²⁷If anyone speaks in a tongue, it must be by two or at the most three, and each one in turn, and one is to interpret;

²⁸but if there is no interpreter, he is to keep silent in church; and have him speak to himself and to God.

²⁹Have two or three prophets speak, and have the others pass judgment.

³⁰But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, then the first one is to keep silent.

³¹For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted;

³²and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets;

³³for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

³⁴the women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says.

³⁵If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.

³⁶Or was it from you that the word of God first went out? Or has it come to you only?

³⁷If anyone thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment.

³⁸But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

³⁹Therefore, my brothers and sisters, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.

⁴⁰But all things must be done properly and in an orderly way.

¹In the same way, you wives, be subject to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won over without a word by the behavior of their wives,

²as they observe your pure and respectful behavior.

³Your adornment must not be merely the external—braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or putting on apparel;

⁴but it should be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

⁵For in this way the holy women of former times, who hoped in God, also used to adorn themselves, being subject to their own husbands,

⁶just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord; and you have proved to be her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.

⁷You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

⁸To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble;

⁹not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you would inherit a blessing.

¹⁰For, “THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS, MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT.

¹¹HE MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT.

¹²FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST EVILDOERS.”

¹³And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE IN DREAD,

¹⁵but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect;

¹⁶and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who disparage your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.

¹⁷For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.

¹⁸For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

¹⁹in which He also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison,

²⁰who once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.

²¹Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

²²who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

¹“But now those who are younger than I mock me, Whose fathers I refused to put with the dogs of my flock.

²Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them.

³From poverty and famine they are gaunt, They who gnaw at the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,

⁴Who pluck saltweed by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

⁵They are driven from the community; They shout against them as against a thief,

⁶So that they live on the slopes of ravines, In holes in the ground and among the rocks.

⁷Among the bushes they cry out; Under the weeds they are gathered together.

⁸Worthless fellows, even those without a name, They were cast out from the land.

⁹“And now I have become their taunt, And I have become a byword to them.

¹⁰They loathe me and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting in my face.

¹¹Because He has undone my bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before me.

¹²On the right hand their mob arises; They push aside my feet and pile up their ways of destruction against me.

¹³They break up my path, They promote my destruction; No one restrains them.

¹⁴As through a wide gap they come, Amid the storm they roll on.

¹⁵Sudden terrors are turned upon me; They chase away my dignity like the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

¹⁶“And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of misery have seized me.

¹⁷At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains do not rest.

¹⁸By a great force my garment is distorted; It ties me up like the collar of my coat.

¹⁹He has thrown me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.

²⁰I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.

²¹You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You persecute me.

²²You lift me up to the wind and make me ride it; And You dissolve me in a storm.

²³For I know that You will bring me to death, And to the house of meeting for all living.

²⁴“Yet does one in a heap of ruins not reach out with his hand, Or in his disaster does he not cry out for help?

²⁵Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was my soul not grieved for the needy?

²⁶When I expected good, evil came; When I waited for light, darkness came.

²⁷I am seething within and cannot rest; Days of misery confront me.

²⁸I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

²⁹I have become a brother to jackals, And a companion of ostriches.

³⁰My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever.

³¹Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep.

¹I will exalt You, LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

²LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.

³LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.

⁴Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And praise the mention of His holiness.

⁵For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

⁶Now as for me, I said in my prosperity, “I will never be moved.”

⁷LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong; You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

⁸To You, LORD, I called, And to the Lord I pleaded for compassion:

⁹“What gain is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?

¹⁰“Hear, LORD, and be gracious to me; LORD, be my helper.”

¹¹You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have untied my sackcloth and encircled me with joy,

¹²That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

¹The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the pronouncement. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

²I am certainly more stupid than any man, And I do not have the understanding of a man;

³Nor have I learned wisdom, Nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His Son’s name? Surely you know!

⁵Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

⁶Do not add to His words Or He will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.

⁷Two things I have asked of You; Do not refuse me before I die:

⁸Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion,

⁹So that I will not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?” And that I will not become impoverished and steal, And profane the name of my God.

¹⁰Do not slander a slave to his master, Or he will curse you and you will be found guilty.

¹¹There is a kind of person who curses his father And does not bless his mother.

¹²There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, Yet is not washed from his filthiness.

¹³There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes! And his eyelids are raised in arrogance.

¹⁴There is a kind of person whose teeth are like swords And his jaw teeth like knives, To devour the poor from the earth And the needy from among mankind.

¹⁵The leech has two daughters: “Give” and “Give.” There are three things that will not be satisfied, Four that will not say, “Enough”:

¹⁶Sheol, the infertile womb, Earth that is never satisfied with water, And fire that never says, “Enough.”

¹⁷The eye that mocks a father And scorns a mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it.

¹⁸There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Four which I do not understand:

¹⁹The way of the eagle in the sky, The way of a snake on a rock, The way of a ship in the middle of the sea, And the way of a man with a virgin.

²⁰This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, “I have done no wrong.”

²¹Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot endure:

²²Under a slave when he becomes king, And a fool when he is satisfied with food,

²³Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband, And a female servant when she dispossesses her mistress.

²⁴Four things are small on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise:

²⁵The ants are not a strong people, But they prepare their food in the summer;

²⁶The rock hyraxes are not a mighty people, Yet they make their houses in the rocks;

²⁷The locusts have no king, Yet all of them go out in ranks;

²⁸The lizard you may grasp with the hands, Yet it is in kings’ palaces.

²⁹There are three things which are stately in their march, Even four which are stately when they walk:

³⁰The lion, which is mighty among animals And does not retreat from anything,

³¹The strutting rooster or the male goat, And a king when his army is with him.

³²If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth.

³³For the churning of milk produces butter, And pressing the nose produces blood; So the churning of anger produces strife.

¹Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD handed them over to Midian for seven years.

²The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

³For whenever Israel had sown, the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the people of the east and march against them.

⁴So they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, nor a sheep, ox, or donkey.

⁵For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in like locusts in number, and both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to ruin it.

⁶So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.

⁷Now it came about, when the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of Midian,

⁸that the LORD sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of slavery.

⁹And I rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians, and from the hands of all your oppressors, and I drove them out from you and gave you their land,

¹⁰and I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live.” But you have not obeyed Me.’ ”

¹¹Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites.

¹²And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, valiant warrior.”

¹³Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did the LORD not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

¹⁴And the LORD looked at him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”

¹⁵But he said to Him, “O Lord, how am I to save Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

¹⁶Yet the LORD said to him, “I will certainly be with you, and you will defeat Midian as one man.”

¹⁷So Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then perform for me a sign that it is You speaking with me.

¹⁸Please do not depart from here until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”

¹⁹Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them.

²⁰And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.

²¹Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

²²When Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh, Lord GOD! For I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

²³But the LORD said to him, “Peace to you, do not be afraid; you shall not die.”

²⁴Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵Now on the same night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;

²⁶and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly way, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.”

²⁷Then Gideon took ten men from his servants and did as the LORD had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.

²⁸When the people of the city got up early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal had been torn down, and the Asherah which had been beside it had been cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the altar which had been built.

²⁹So they said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.”

³⁰Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.”

³¹But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you save him? Whoever will contend for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, since someone has torn down his altar!”

³²Therefore on that day he named Gideon Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.

³³Then all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the east assembled together; and they crossed over and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

³⁴So the Spirit of the LORD covered Gideon like clothing; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.

³⁵And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.

³⁶Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel through me, as You have spoken,

³⁷behold, I am putting a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will save Israel through me, as You have spoken.”

³⁸And it was so. When he got up early the next morning and wrung out the fleece, he wrung the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.

³⁹Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me, so that I may speak only one more time; please let me put You to the test only one more time with the fleece: let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.”

⁴⁰And God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.

¹“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin;

²Who proceed down to Egypt Without consulting Me, To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh, And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

³Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame, And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.

⁴For their officials are at Zoan And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.

⁵Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who do not benefit them, Who are not a help or benefit, but a source of shame and also disgrace.”

⁶The pronouncement concerning the animals of the Negev: Through a land of distress and anguish, From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent, They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys, And their treasures on camels’ humps, To a people who will not benefit them;

⁷Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty. Therefore, I have called her “Rahab who has been exterminated.”

⁸Now go, write it on a tablet in their presence And inscribe it on a scroll, That it may serve in the time to come As a witness forever.

⁹For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD;

¹⁰Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy the truth to us. Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions.

¹¹Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Stop speaking before us about the Holy One of Israel!”

¹²Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Since you have rejected this word And have put your trust in oppression and crookedness, and have relied on them,

¹³Therefore this wrongdoing will be to you Like a breach about to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,

¹⁴Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar, So ruthlessly shattered That a shard will not be found among its pieces To take fire from a hearth Or to scoop water from a cistern.”

¹⁵For this is what the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing,

¹⁶And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses!” Therefore you shall flee! “And we will ride on swift horses!” Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.

¹⁷One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left like a signal post on a mountain top, And like a flag on a hill.

¹⁸Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.

¹⁹For, you people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will certainly be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.

²⁰Although the Lord has given you bread of deprivation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher, will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will see your Teacher.

²¹Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

²²And you will desecrate your carved images plated with silver, and your cast metal images plated with gold. You will scatter them as a filthy thing, and say to them, “Be gone!”

²³Then He will give you rain for your seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plentiful; on that day your livestock will graze in a wide pasture.

²⁴Also the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned feed, which has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

²⁵And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

²⁶And the light of the full moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the wound He has inflicted.

²⁷Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place; His anger is burning and dense with smoke; His lips are filled with indignation, And His tongue is like a consuming fire;

²⁸His breath is like an overflowing river, Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads astray.

²⁹You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival, And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute, To go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.

³⁰And the LORD will cause His voice of authority to be heard, And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger, And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones.

³¹For at the voice of the LORD Assyria will be terrified, When He strikes with the rod.

³²And every blow of the rod of punishment, Which the LORD will lay on him, Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres; And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.

³³For Topheth has long been ready, Indeed, it has been prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large, A pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.

¹When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

²And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

³And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them.

⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.

⁵Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.

⁶And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.

⁷They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?

⁸And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?

⁹Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

¹¹Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty deeds of God.”

¹²And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

¹³But others were jeering and saying, “They are full of sweet wine!”

¹⁴But Peter, taking his stand with the other eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this, and pay attention to my words.

¹⁵For these people are not drunk, as you assume, since it is only the third hour of the day;

¹⁶but this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS WILL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN WILL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN WILL HAVE DREAMS;

¹⁸AND EVEN ON MY MALE AND FEMALE SERVANTS I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT IN THOSE DAYS, And they will prophesy.

¹⁹AND I WILL DISPLAY WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.

²⁰THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD COMES.

²¹AND IT SHALL BE that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD WILL BE SAVED.’

²²“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a Man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—

²³this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

²⁴But God raised Him from the dead, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

²⁵For David says of Him, ‘I SAW THE LORD CONTINUALLY BEFORE ME, BECAUSE HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN.

²⁶THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE WAS OVERJOYED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE;

²⁷FOR YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR WILL YOU ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.

²⁸YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’

²⁹“Brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

³⁰So because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne,

³¹he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay.

³²It is this Jesus whom God raised up, a fact to which we are all witnesses.

³³Therefore, since He has been exalted at the right hand of God, and has received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this which you both see and hear.

³⁴For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,

³⁵UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.” ’

³⁶Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

³⁷Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what are we to do?”

³⁸Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

⁴⁰And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on urging them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”

⁴¹So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

⁴²They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

⁴³Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

⁴⁴And all the believers were together and had all things in common;

⁴⁵and they would sell their property and possessions and share them with all, to the extent that anyone had need.

⁴⁶Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,

⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.