Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.

²And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

³They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”

⁴When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.

⁵As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

⁶But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.

⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”

⁸So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. THE SHORTER ENDING OF MARK [[And all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter. And afterward Jesus himself sent out through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]]

⁹[[Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.

¹⁰She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping.

¹¹But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

¹²After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.

¹³And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

¹⁴Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.

¹⁵And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.

¹⁶The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁷And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

¹⁸they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

²⁰And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.]]

¹On the day when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed and consecrated it with all its furnishings, and had anointed and consecrated the altar with all its utensils,

²the leaders of Israel, heads of their ancestral houses, the leaders of the tribes, who were over those who were enrolled, made offerings.

³They brought their offerings before the LORD, six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two of the leaders, and for each one an ox; they presented them before the tabernacle.

⁴Then the LORD said to Moses:

⁵Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the service of the tent of meeting, and give them to the Levites, to each according to his service.

⁶So Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites.

⁷Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the Gershonites, according to their service;

⁸and four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the Merarites, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

⁹But to the Kohathites he gave none, because they were charged with the care of the holy things that had to be carried on the shoulders.

¹⁰The leaders also presented offerings for the dedication of the altar at the time when it was anointed; the leaders presented their offering before the altar.

¹¹The LORD said to Moses: They shall present their offerings, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.

¹²The one who presented his offering the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah;

¹³his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

¹⁴one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

¹⁵one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

¹⁶one male goat for a sin offering;

¹⁷and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.

¹⁸On the second day Nethanel son of Zuar, the leader of Issachar, presented an offering;

¹⁹he presented for his offering one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

²⁰one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

²¹one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, as a burnt offering;

²²one male goat as a sin offering;

²³and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nethanel son of Zuar.

²⁴On the third day Eliab son of Helon, the leader of the Zebulunites:

²⁵his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

²⁶one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

²⁷one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

²⁸one male goat for a sin offering;

²⁹and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab son of Helon.

³⁰On the fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur, the leader of the Reubenites:

³¹his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

³²one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

³³one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

³⁴one male goat for a sin offering;

³⁵and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.

³⁶On the fifth day Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, the leader of the Simeonites:

³⁷his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

³⁸one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

³⁹one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁴⁰one male goat for a sin offering;

⁴¹and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

⁴²On the sixth day Eliasaph son of Deuel, the leader of the Gadites:

⁴³his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

⁴⁴one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

⁴⁵one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁴⁶one male goat for a sin offering;

⁴⁷and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph son of Deuel.

⁴⁸On the seventh day Elishama son of Ammihud, the leader of the Ephraimites:

⁴⁹his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

⁵⁰one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

⁵¹one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁵²one male goat for a sin offering;

⁵³and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishama son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, the leader of the Manassites:

⁵⁵his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

⁵⁶one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

⁵⁷one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁵⁸one male goat for a sin offering;

⁵⁹and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰On the ninth day Abidan son of Gideoni, the leader of the Benjaminites:

⁶¹his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

⁶²one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

⁶³one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁶⁴one male goat for a sin offering;

⁶⁵and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶On the tenth day Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, the leader of the Danites:

⁶⁷his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

⁶⁸one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

⁶⁹one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁷⁰one male goat for a sin offering;

⁷¹and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

⁷²On the eleventh day Pagiel son of Ochran, the leader of the Asherites:

⁷³his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

⁷⁴one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

⁷⁵one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁷⁶one male goat for a sin offering;

⁷⁷and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel son of Ochran.

⁷⁸On the twelfth day Ahira son of Enan, the leader of the Naphtalites:

⁷⁹his offering was one silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;

⁸⁰one golden dish weighing ten shekels, full of incense;

⁸¹one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering;

⁸²one male goat for a sin offering;

⁸³and for the sacrifice of well-being, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira son of Enan.

⁸⁴This was the dedication offering for the altar, at the time when it was anointed, from the leaders of Israel: twelve silver plates, twelve silver basins, twelve golden dishes,

⁸⁵each silver plate weighing one hundred thirty shekels and each basin seventy, all the silver of the vessels two thousand four hundred shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary,

⁸⁶the twelve golden dishes, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece according to the shekel of the sanctuary, all the gold of the dishes being one hundred twenty shekels;

⁸⁷all the livestock for the burnt offering twelve bulls, twelve rams, twelve male lambs a year old, with their grain offering; and twelve male goats for a sin offering;

⁸⁸and all the livestock for the sacrifice of well-being twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication offering for the altar, after it was anointed.

⁸⁹When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he would hear the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the covenant from between the two cherubim; thus it spoke to him.

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,

²looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

³Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

⁴In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

⁵And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children — “My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him;

⁶for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.”

⁷Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline?

⁸If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children.

⁹Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live?

¹⁰For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness.

¹¹Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

¹²Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,

¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

¹⁴Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

¹⁵See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled.

¹⁶See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

¹⁷You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing with tears.

¹⁸You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest,

¹⁹and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them.

²⁰(For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.”

²¹Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”)

²²But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,

²³and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

²⁴and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!

²⁶At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.”

²⁷This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken — that is, created things — so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe;

²⁹for indeed our God is a consuming fire.

¹When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

²And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

³Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne.

⁴And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.

⁵Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth; and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

⁶Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets made ready to blow them.

⁷The first angel blew his trumpet, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

⁸The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea.

⁹A third of the sea became blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

¹¹The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water, because it was made bitter.

¹²The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light was darkened; a third of the day was kept from shining, and likewise the night.

¹³Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew in midheaven, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

¹There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

²There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

³He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.

⁴His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

⁵And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” This is what Job always did.

⁶One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

⁷The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

⁸The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.”

⁹Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

¹⁰Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

¹¹But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

¹²The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

¹³One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house,

¹⁴a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them,

¹⁵and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁶While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁷While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁸While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house,

¹⁹and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”

²⁰Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped.

²¹He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

²²In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

¹In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to the mountains;

²for look, the wicked bend the bow, they have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.

³If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

⁴The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind.

⁵The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and his soul hates the lover of violence.

⁶On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and sulfur; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

⁷For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

¹The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

²For learning about wisdom and instruction, for understanding words of insight,

³for gaining instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to teach shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and prudence to the young —

⁵let the wise also hear and gain in learning, and the discerning acquire skill,

⁶to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸Hear, my child, your father’s instruction, and do not reject your mother’s teaching;

⁹for they are a fair garland for your head, and pendants for your neck.

¹⁰My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

¹¹If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us wantonly ambush the innocent;

¹²like Sheol let us swallow them alive and whole, like those who go down to the Pit.

¹³We shall find all kinds of costly things; we shall fill our houses with booty.

¹⁴Throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse” —

¹⁵my child, do not walk in their way, keep your foot from their paths;

¹⁶for their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is the net baited while the bird is looking on;

¹⁸yet they lie in wait — to kill themselves! and set an ambush — for their own lives!

¹⁹Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.

²⁰Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice.

²¹At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

²²“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?

²³Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you.

²⁴Because I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,

²⁵and because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,

²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you,

²⁷when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

³⁰would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof,

³¹therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices.

³²For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them;

³³but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.”

¹Saul was . . . years old when he began to reign; and he reigned . . . and two years over Israel.

²Saul chose three thousand out of Israel; two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; the rest of the people he sent home to their tents.

³Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba; and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”

⁴When all Israel heard that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become odious to the Philistines, the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵The Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude; they came up and encamped at Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven.

⁶When the Israelites saw that they were in distress (for the troops were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns.

⁷Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

⁸He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people began to slip away from Saul.

⁹So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the offerings of well-being.” And he offered the burnt offering.

¹⁰As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived; and Saul went out to meet him and salute him.

¹¹Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the people were slipping away from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines were mustering at Michmash,

¹²I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down upon me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of the LORD’; so I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”

¹³Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which he commanded you. The LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever,

¹⁴but now your kingdom will not continue; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart; and the LORD has appointed him to be ruler over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

¹⁵And Samuel left and went on his way from Gilgal. The rest of the people followed Saul to join the army; they went up from Gilgal toward Gibeah of Benjamin. Preparations for Battle Saul counted the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.

¹⁶Saul, his son Jonathan, and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin; but the Philistines encamped at Michmash.

¹⁷And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies; one company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual,

¹⁸another company turned toward Beth-horon, and another company turned toward the mountain that looks down upon the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹Now there was no smith to be found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, “The Hebrews must not make swords or spears for themselves”;

²⁰so all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, or sickles;

²¹The charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and one-third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads.

²²So on the day of the battle neither sword nor spear was to be found in the possession of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan; but Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

²³Now a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass of Michmash.

¹The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;

²to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

³to provide for those who mourn in Zion — to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory.

⁴They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

⁵Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines;

⁶but you shall be called priests of the LORD, you shall be named ministers of our God; you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory.

⁷Because their shame was double, and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot, therefore they shall possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs.

⁸For I the LORD love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

⁹Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the LORD has blessed.

¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹¹For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

¹One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon.

²And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple.

³When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms.

⁴Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.”

⁵And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”

⁷And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

⁸Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

⁹All the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished.

¹²When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him.

¹⁴But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you,

¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.

¹⁶And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

¹⁷“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

¹⁸In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.

¹⁹Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

²⁰so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus,

²¹who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.

²²Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you.

²³And it will be that everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted out of the people.’

²⁴And all the prophets, as many as have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these days.

²⁵You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

²⁶When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”