Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.

²Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.

³Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.

⁴And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

⁵When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

⁶And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,

⁷“Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?

⁹Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?

¹⁰But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,

¹¹“I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

¹²Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

¹³Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.

¹⁴As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

¹⁵Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.

¹⁶And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

¹⁸The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁹And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.

²⁰But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.

²¹No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.

²²And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

²³Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain.

²⁴And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

²⁵But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:

²⁶how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”

²⁷And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

²⁸Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

¹Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!”

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

³So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.”

⁴Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her.

⁵And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

⁶Then Rachel said, “God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.

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

⁸Then Rachel said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.

⁹When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife.

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

¹¹Then Leah said, “A troop comes!” So she called his name Gad.

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

¹³Then Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.” So she called his name Asher.

¹⁴Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes 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 that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night.

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

¹⁸Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.

¹⁹Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.

²⁰And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.

²¹Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

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

²³And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.”

²⁴So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The LORD shall add to me another son.”

²⁵And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country.

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

²⁷And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake.”

²⁸Then he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.”

²⁹So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me.

³⁰For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the LORD has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?”

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

³²Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages.

³³So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.”

³⁴And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!”

³⁵So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

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

³⁷Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods.

³⁸And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink.

³⁹So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.

⁴⁰Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

⁴¹And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.

⁴²But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.

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

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

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

³But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

⁴He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.

⁵I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.

⁶But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching?

⁷Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played?

⁸For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?

⁹So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.

¹⁰There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance.

¹¹Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.

¹²Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.

¹³Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.

¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.

¹⁵What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.

¹⁶Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say?

¹⁷For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.

¹⁸I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all;

¹⁹yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.

²¹In the law it is written: “With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,” says the Lord.

²²Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.

²³Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

²⁴But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all.

²⁵And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.

²⁶How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.

²⁷If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.

²⁸But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.

²⁹Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.

³⁰But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent.

³¹For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

³²And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

³³For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

³⁴Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.

³⁵And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

³⁶Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached?

³⁷If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.

³⁸But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

³⁹Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.

⁴⁰Let all things be done decently and in order.

¹Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,

²when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

³Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—

⁴rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

⁵For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands,

⁶as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

⁷Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

⁸Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;

⁹not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

¹⁰For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit.

¹¹Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.

¹²For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”

¹³And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”

¹⁵But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

¹⁶having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

¹⁷For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

¹⁸For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

¹⁹by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,

²⁰who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

²¹There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

¹“But now they mock at me, men younger than I, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

²Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished.

³They are gaunt from want and famine, Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,

⁴Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And broom tree roots for their food.

⁵They were driven out from among men, They shouted at them as at a thief.

⁶They had to live in the clefts of the valleys, In caves of the earth and the rocks.

⁷Among the bushes they brayed, Under the nettles they nestled.

⁸They were sons of fools, Yes, sons of vile men; They were scourged from the land.

⁹“And now I am their taunting song; Yes, I am their byword.

¹⁰They abhor me, they keep far from me; They do not hesitate to spit in my face.

¹¹Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off restraint before me.

¹²At my right hand the rabble arises; They push away my feet, And they raise against me their ways of destruction.

¹³They break up my path, They promote my calamity; They have no helper.

¹⁴They come as broad breakers; Under the ruinous storm they roll along.

¹⁵Terrors are turned upon me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.

¹⁶“And now my soul is poured out because of my plight; The days of affliction take hold of me.

¹⁷My bones are pierced in me at night, And my gnawing pains take no rest.

¹⁸By great force my garment is disfigured; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

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

²⁰“I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me.

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

²²You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it; You spoil my success.

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

²⁴“Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins, If they cry out when He destroys it.

²⁵Have I not wept for him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

²⁶But when I looked for good, evil came to me; And when I waited for light, then came darkness.

²⁷My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest; Days of affliction confront me.

²⁸I go about mourning, but not in the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

²⁹I am a brother of jackals, And a companion of ostriches.

³⁰My skin grows black and falls from me; My bones burn with fever.

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

¹A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the house of David. [1] I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me.

²O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me.

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

⁴Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

⁵For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

⁶Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.”

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

⁸I cried out to You, O LORD; And to the LORD I made supplication:

⁹“What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?

¹⁰Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper!”

¹¹You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

¹²To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

¹The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, his utterance. This man declared to Ithiel—to Ithiel and Ucal:

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

³I neither learned wisdom Nor have knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, If you know?

⁵Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

⁶Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

⁷Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die):

⁸Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches— Feed me with the food allotted to me;

⁹Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the LORD?” Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.

¹⁰Do not malign a servant to his master, Lest he curse you, and you be found guilty.

¹¹There is a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother.

¹²There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness.

¹³There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up.

¹⁴There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, And whose fangs are like knives, To devour the poor from off the earth, And the needy from among men.

¹⁵The leech has two daughters— Give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, “Enough!”:

¹⁶The grave, The barren womb, The earth that is not satisfied with water— And the fire never says, “Enough!”

¹⁷The eye that mocks his father, And scorns obedience to his 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, Yes, four which I do not understand:

¹⁹The way of an eagle in the air, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the midst 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 wickedness.”

²¹For three things the earth is perturbed, Yes, for four it cannot bear up:

²²For a servant when he reigns, A fool when he is filled with food,

²³A hateful woman when she is married, And a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.

²⁴There are four things which are little on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise:

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

²⁶The rock badgers are a feeble folk, Yet they make their homes in the crags;

²⁷The locusts have no king, Yet they all advance in ranks;

²⁸The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, And it is in kings’ palaces.

²⁹There are three things which are majestic in pace, Yes, four which are stately in walk:

³⁰A lion, which is mighty among beasts And does not turn away from any;

³¹A greyhound, A male goat also, And a king whose troops are with him.

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

³³For as the churning of milk produces butter, And wringing the nose produces blood, So the forcing of wrath produces strife.

¹Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,

²and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains.

³So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.

⁴Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.

⁵For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.

⁶So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.

⁷And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD because of the Midianites,

⁸that the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage;

⁹and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.

¹⁰Also I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed My voice.’ ”

¹¹Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.

¹²And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

¹³Gideon 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 not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

¹⁴Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

¹⁵So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

¹⁶And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

¹⁷Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.

¹⁸Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”

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

²⁰The 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 rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.

²²Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face.”

²³Then the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.”

²⁴So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it;

²⁶and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.”

²⁷So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.

²⁸And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built.

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

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

³¹But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!”

³²Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.”

³³Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.

³⁴But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him.

³⁵And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

³⁶So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—

³⁷look, I shall put 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 shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”

³⁸And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

³⁹Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.”

⁴⁰And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

¹“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin;

²Who walk to go down to Egypt, And have not asked My advice, To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!

³Therefore the strength of Pharaoh Shall be your shame, And trust in the shadow of Egypt Shall be your humiliation.

⁴For his princes were at Zoan, And his ambassadors came to Hanes.

⁵They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them, Or be help or benefit, But a shame and also a reproach.”

⁶The burden against the beasts of the South. Through a land of trouble and anguish, From which came the lioness and lion, The viper and fiery flying serpent, They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys, And their treasures on the humps of camels, To a people who shall not profit;

⁷For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore I have called her Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.

⁸Now go, write it before them on a tablet, And note it on a scroll, That it may be for time to come, Forever and ever:

⁹That this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the LORD;

¹⁰Who say to the seers, “Do not see,” And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.

¹¹Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us.”

¹²Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise this word, And trust in oppression and perversity, And rely on them,

¹³Therefore this iniquity shall be to you Like a breach ready to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.

¹⁴And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, Which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments A shard to take fire from the hearth, Or to take water from the cistern.”

¹⁵For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not,

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 shall flee at the threat of one, At the threat of five you shall flee, Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain And as a banner on a hill.

¹⁸Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

¹⁹For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you.

²⁰And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.

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

²²You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, And the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; You will say to them, “Get away!”

²³Then He will give the rain for your seed With which you sow the ground, And bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed In large pastures.

²⁴Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground Will eat cured fodder, Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.

²⁵There will be on every high mountain And on every high hill Rivers and streams of waters, In the day of the great slaughter, When the towers fall.

²⁶Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, And the light of the sun will be sevenfold, As the light of seven days, In the day that the LORD binds up the bruise of His people And heals the stroke of their wound.

²⁷Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, Burning with His anger, And His burden is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, And His tongue like a devouring fire.

²⁸His breath is like an overflowing stream, Which reaches up to the neck, To sift the nations with the sieve of futility; And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, Causing them to err.

²⁹You shall have a song As in the night when a holy festival is kept, And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute, To come into the mountain of the LORD, To the Mighty One of Israel.

³⁰The LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard, And show the descent of His arm, With the indignation of His anger And the flame of a devouring fire, With scattering, tempest, and hailstones.

³¹For through the voice of the LORD Assyria will be beaten down, As He strikes with the rod.

³²And in every place where the staff of punishment passes, Which the LORD lays on him, It will be with tambourines and harps; And in battles of brandishing He will fight with it.

³³For Tophet was established of old, Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made it deep and large; Its pyre is fire with much wood; The breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, Kindles it.

¹When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

³Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.

⁶And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

⁷Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?

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

⁹Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

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

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

¹²So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

¹³Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

¹⁴But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.

¹⁵For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.

¹⁶But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

¹⁷‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.

¹⁸And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.

¹⁹I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

²⁰The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.

²¹And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.’

²²“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—

²³Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;

²⁴whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

²⁵For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.

²⁶Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.

²⁷For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

²⁸You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’

²⁹“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

³⁰Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,

³¹he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.

³²This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.

³³Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

³⁴“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand,

³⁵Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’

³⁶“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

³⁷Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

³⁸Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

⁴⁰And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”

⁴¹Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

⁴²And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

⁴³Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

⁴⁴Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,

⁴⁵and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

⁴⁶So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,

⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.