Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us,

²just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us.

³It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus,

⁴so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.

⁵In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest of Abijah’s division named Zechariah. His wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

⁶Both were righteous in God’s sight, living without blame according to all the commands and requirements of the Lord.

⁷But they had no children because Elizabeth could not conceive, and both of them were well along in years.

⁸When his division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,

⁹it happened that he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.

¹⁰At the hour of incense the whole assembly of the people was praying outside.

¹¹An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

¹²When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified and overcome with fear.

¹³But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.

¹⁴There will be joy and delight for you, and many will rejoice at his birth.

¹⁵For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.

¹⁶He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

¹⁷And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.”

¹⁸“How can I know this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

¹⁹The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and tell you this good news.

²⁰Now listen. You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

²¹Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary.

²²When he did come out, he could not speak to them. Then they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was making signs to them and remained speechless.

²³When the days of his ministry were completed, he went back home.

²⁴After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and kept herself in seclusion for five months. She said,

²⁵“The Lord has done this for me. He has looked with favor in these days to take away my disgrace among the people.”

²⁶In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

²⁷to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

²⁸And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.

³⁰Then the angel told her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

³¹Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.

³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

³³He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”

³⁴Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?”

³⁵The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

³⁶And consider your relative Elizabeth — even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless.

³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.”

³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

³⁹In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah

⁴⁰where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

⁴²Then she exclaimed with a loud cry: “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed!

⁴³How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me.

⁴⁵Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!”

⁴⁶And Mary said: My soul praises the greatness of the Lord,

⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed,

⁴⁹because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy.

⁵⁰His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him.

⁵¹He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts;

⁵²he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

⁵³He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.

⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy

⁵⁵to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he spoke to our ancestors.

⁵⁶And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home.

⁵⁷Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she had a son.

⁵⁸Then her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her his great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹When they came to circumcise the child on the eighth day, they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father.

⁶⁰But his mother responded, “No. He will be called John.”

⁶¹Then they said to her, “None of your relatives has that name.”

⁶²So they motioned to his father to find out what he wanted him to be called.

⁶³He asked for a writing tablet and wrote: “His name is John.” And they were all amazed.

⁶⁴Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.

⁶⁵Fear came on all those who lived around them, and all these things were being talked about throughout the hill country of Judea.

⁶⁶All who heard about him took it to heart, saying, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the Lord’s hand was with him.

⁶⁷Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

⁶⁸Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and provided redemption for his people.

⁶⁹He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,

⁷⁰just as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets in ancient times;

⁷¹salvation from our enemies and from the hand of those who hate us.

⁷²He has dealt mercifully with our fathers and remembered his holy covenant  —

⁷³the oath that he swore to our father Abraham. He has given us the privilege,

⁷⁴since we have been rescued from the hand of our enemies, to serve him without fear

⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness in his presence all our days.

⁷⁶And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

⁷⁷to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.

⁷⁸Because of our God’s merciful compassion, the dawn from on high will visit us

⁷⁹to shine on those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

⁸⁰The child grew up and became spiritually strong, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“Speak to Aaron and tell him: When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps are to give light in front of the lampstand.”

³So Aaron did this; he set up its lamps to give light in front of the lampstand just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁴This is the way the lampstand was made: it was a hammered work of gold, hammered from its base to its flower petals. The lampstand was made according to the pattern the LORD had shown Moses.

⁵The LORD spoke to Moses:

⁶“Take the Levites from among the Israelites and ceremonially cleanse them.

⁷Do this to them for their purification: Sprinkle them with the purification water. Have them shave their entire bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves.

⁸“They are to take a young bull and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering.

⁹Bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the entire Israelite community.

¹⁰Then present the Levites before the LORD, and have the Israelites lay their hands on them.

¹¹Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD as a presentation offering from the Israelites, so that they may perform the LORD’s work.

¹²Next the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls. Sacrifice one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites.

¹³“You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, and you are to present them before the LORD as a presentation offering.

¹⁴In this way you are to separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites so that the Levites will belong to me.

¹⁵After that the Levites may come to serve at the tent of meeting, once you have ceremonially cleansed them and presented them as a presentation offering.

¹⁶For they have been exclusively assigned to me from the Israelites. I have taken them for myself in place of all who come first from the womb, every Israelite firstborn.

¹⁷For every firstborn among the Israelites is mine, both man and animal. I consecrated them to myself on the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt.

¹⁸But I have taken the Levites in place of every firstborn among the Israelites.

¹⁹From the Israelites, I have given the Levites exclusively to Aaron and his sons to perform the work for the Israelites at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on their behalf, so that no plague will come against the Israelites when they approach the sanctuary.”

²⁰Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community did this to the Levites. The Israelites did everything to them the LORD commanded Moses regarding the Levites.

²¹The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them before the LORD as a presentation offering. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them ceremonially.

²²After that, the Levites came to do their work at the tent of meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons. So they did to them as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites.

²³The LORD spoke to Moses:

²⁴“In regard to the Levites: From twenty-five years old or more, a man enters the service in the work at the tent of meeting.

²⁵But at fifty years old he is to retire from his service in the work and no longer serve.

²⁶He may assist his brothers to fulfill responsibilities at the tent of meeting, but he must not do the work. This is how you are to deal with the Levites regarding their duties.”

¹Let brotherly love continue.

²Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.

³Remember those in prison, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily.

⁴Marriage is to be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

⁵Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.

⁶Therefore, we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

⁷Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.

⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

⁹Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by food regulations, since those who observe them have not benefited.

¹⁰We have an altar from which those who worship at the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.

¹¹For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priest as a sin offering are burned outside the camp.

¹²Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify the people by his own blood.

¹³Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace.

¹⁴For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come.

¹⁵Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

¹⁶Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

¹⁸Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience, wanting to conduct ourselves honorably in everything.

¹⁹And I urge you all the more to pray that I may be restored to you very soon.

²⁰Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus — the great Shepherd of the sheep  — through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

²¹equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²²Brothers and sisters, I urge you to receive this message of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

²³Be aware that our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon enough, he will be with me when I see you.

²⁴Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who are from Italy send you greetings.

²⁵Grace be with you all.

¹The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key for the shaft to the abyss was given to him.

²He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.

³Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the earth, and power was given to them like the power that scorpions have on the earth.

⁴They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree, but only those people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads.

⁵They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it stings someone.

⁶In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.

⁷The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. Something like golden crowns was on their heads; their faces were like human faces;

⁸they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were like lions’ teeth;

⁹they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots with horses rushing into battle;

¹⁰and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months.

¹¹They had as their king the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.

¹²The first woe has passed. There are still two more woes to come after this.

¹³The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four horns of the golden altar that is before God, I heard a voice

¹⁴say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates.”

¹⁵So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year were released to kill a third of the human race.

¹⁶The number of mounted troops was two hundred million; I heard their number.

¹⁷This is how I saw the horses and their riders in the vision: They had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.

¹⁸A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues — by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths.

¹⁹For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails, which resemble snakes, have heads that inflict injury.

²⁰The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands to stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk.

²¹And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

¹One day the sons of God came again to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the LORD.

²The LORD asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” “From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”

³Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited me against him, to destroy him for no good reason.”

⁴“Skin for skin!” Satan answered the LORD. “A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life.

⁵But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

⁶“Very well,” the LORD told Satan, “he is in your power; only spare his life.”

⁷So Satan left the LORD’s presence and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

⁸Then Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he sat among the ashes.

⁹His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹⁰“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

¹¹Now when Job’s three friends — Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite — heard about all this adversity that had happened to him, each of them came from his home. They met together to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.

¹²When they looked from a distance, they could barely recognize him. They wept aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head.

¹³Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very intense.

¹For the choir director: according to . A psalm of David. [1] Help, LORD, for no faithful one remains; the loyal have disappeared from the human race.

²They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.

³May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks boastfully.

⁴They say, “Through our tongues we have power; our lips are our own — who can be our master?”

⁵“Because of the devastation of the needy and the groaning of the poor, I will now rise up,” says the LORD. “I will provide safety for the one who longs for it.”

⁶The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.

⁷You, LORD, will guard us; you will protect us from this generation forever.

⁸The wicked prowl all around, and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.

¹My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,

²listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding;

³furthermore, if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,

⁴if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure,

⁵then you will understand the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.

⁶For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He stores up success for the upright; He is a shield for those who live with integrity

⁸so that he may guard the paths of justice and protect the way of his faithful followers.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness, justice, and integrity — every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight you.

¹¹Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you.

¹²It will rescue you from the way of evil — from anyone who says perverse things,

¹³from those who abandon the right paths to walk in ways of darkness,

¹⁴from those who enjoy doing evil and celebrate perversion,

¹⁵whose paths are crooked, and whose ways are devious.

¹⁶It will rescue you from a forbidden woman, from a wayward woman with her flattering talk,

¹⁷who abandons the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;

¹⁸for her house sinks down to death and her ways to the land of the departed spirits.

¹⁹None return who go to her; none reach the paths of life.

²⁰So follow the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will inhabit the land, and those of integrity will remain in it;

²²but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous ripped out of it.

¹That same day Saul’s son Jonathan said to the attendant who carried his weapons, “Come on, let’s cross over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” However, he did not tell his father.

²Saul was staying under the pomegranate tree in Migron on the outskirts of Gibeah. The troops with him numbered about six hundred.

³Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod, was also there. He was the son of Ahitub, the brother of Ichabod son of Phinehas, son of Eli the LORD’s priest at Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.

⁴There were sharp columns of rock on both sides of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine garrison. One was named Bozez and the other Seneh;

⁵one stood to the north in front of Michmash and the other to the south in front of Geba.

⁶Jonathan said to the attendant who carried his weapons, “Come on, let’s cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will help us. Nothing can keep the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”

⁷His armor-bearer responded, “Do what is in your heart. You choose. I’m right here with you whatever you decide.”

⁸“All right,” Jonathan replied, “we’ll cross over to the men and then let them see us.

⁹If they say, ‘Wait until we reach you,’ then we will stay where we are and not go up to them.

¹⁰But if they say, ‘Come on up,’ then we’ll go up, because the LORD has handed them over to us — that will be our sign.”

¹¹They let themselves be seen by the Philistine garrison, and the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they’ve been hiding!”

¹²The men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armor-bearer. “Come on up, and we’ll teach you a lesson!” they said. “Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the LORD has handed them over to Israel.”

¹³Jonathan climbed up using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. Jonathan cut them down, and his armor-bearer followed and finished them off.

¹⁴In that first assault Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men in a half-acre field.

¹⁵Terror spread through the Philistine camp and the open fields to all the troops. Even the garrison and the raiding parties were terrified. The earth shook, and terror spread from God.

¹⁶When Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, they saw the panicking troops scattering in every direction.

¹⁷So Saul said to the troops with him, “Call the roll and determine who has left us.” They called the roll and saw that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were gone.

¹⁸Saul told Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God,” for it was with the Israelites at that time.

¹⁹While Saul spoke to the priest, the panic in the Philistine camp increased in intensity. So Saul said to the priest, “Stop what you’re doing.”

²⁰Saul and all the troops with him assembled and marched to the battle, and there the Philistines were, fighting against each other in great confusion!

²¹There were Hebrews from the area who had gone earlier into the camp to join the Philistines, but even they joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

²²When all the Israelite men who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined Saul and Jonathan in the battle.

²³So the LORD saved Israel that day. The battle extended beyond Beth-aven,

²⁴and the men of Israel were worn out that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath: “The man who eats food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies is cursed.” So none of the troops tasted any food.

²⁵Everyone went into the forest, and there was honey on the ground.

²⁶When the troops entered the forest, they saw the flow of honey, but none of them ate any of it because they feared the oath.

²⁷However, Jonathan had not heard his father make the troops swear the oath. He reached out with the end of the staff he was carrying and dipped it into the honeycomb. When he ate the honey, he had renewed energy.

²⁸Then one of the troops said, “Your father made the troops solemnly swear, ‘The man who eats food today is cursed,’ and the troops are exhausted.”

²⁹Jonathan replied, “My father has brought trouble to the land. Just look at how I have renewed energy because I tasted a little of this honey.

³⁰How much better if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Then the slaughter of the Philistines would have been much greater.”

³¹The Israelites struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash all the way to Aijalon. Since the Israelites were completely exhausted,

³²they rushed to the plunder, took sheep, goats, cattle, and calves, slaughtered them on the ground, and ate meat with the blood still in it.

³³Some reported to Saul: “Look, the troops are sinning against the LORD by eating meat with the blood still in it.” Saul said, “You have been unfaithful. Roll a large stone over here at once.”

³⁴He then said, “Go among the troops and say to them, ‘Let each man bring me his ox or his sheep. Do the slaughtering here and then you can eat. Don’t sin against the LORD by eating meat with the blood in it.’” So every one of the troops brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there.

³⁵Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first time he had built an altar to the LORD.

³⁶Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines tonight and plunder them until morning. Don’t let even one remain!” “Do whatever you want,” the troops replied. But the priest said, “Let’s approach God here.”

³⁷So Saul inquired of God, “Should I go after the Philistines? Will you hand them over to Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.

³⁸Saul said, “All you leaders of the troops, come here. Let us investigate how this sin has occurred today.

³⁹As surely as the LORD lives who saves Israel, even if it is because of my son Jonathan, he must die!” Not one of the troops answered him.

⁴⁰So he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” And the troops replied, “Do whatever you want.”

⁴¹So Saul said to the LORD, “God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant today? If the unrighteousness is in me or in my son Jonathan, LORD God of Israel, give Urim; but if the fault is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were selected, and the troops were cleared of the charge.

⁴²Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan,” and Jonathan was selected.

⁴³Saul commanded him, “Tell me what you did.” Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the end of the staff I was carrying. I am ready to die!”

⁴⁴Saul declared to him, “May God punish me and do so severely if you do not die, Jonathan!”

⁴⁵But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die, who accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel? No, as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he worked with God’s help today.” So the people redeemed Jonathan, and he did not die.

⁴⁶Then Saul gave up the pursuit of the Philistines, and the Philistines returned to their own territory.

⁴⁷When Saul assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies in every direction: against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he caused havoc.

⁴⁸He fought bravely, defeated the Amalekites, and rescued Israel from those who plundered them.

⁴⁹Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua. The names of his two daughters were Merab, his firstborn, and Michal, the younger.

⁵⁰The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of his army was Abner son of Saul’s uncle Ner.

⁵¹Saul’s father was Kish. Abner’s father was Ner son of Abiel.

⁵²The conflict with the Philistines was fierce all of Saul’s days, so whenever Saul noticed any strong or valiant man, he enlisted him.

¹I will not keep silent because of Zion, and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem, until her righteousness shines like a bright light and her salvation, like a flaming torch.

²Nations will see your righteousness and all kings, your glory. You will be given a new name that the LORD’s mouth will announce.

³You will be a glorious crown in the LORD’s hand, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God’s hand.

⁴You will no longer be called Deserted, and your land will not be called Desolate; instead, you will be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land will be married.

⁵For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you; and as a groom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

⁶Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen on your walls; they will never be silent, day or night. There is no rest for you, who remind the LORD.

⁷Do not give him rest until he establishes and makes Jerusalem the praise of the earth.

⁸The LORD has sworn with his right hand and his strong arm: I will no longer give your grain to your enemies for food, and foreigners will not drink the new wine for which you have labored.

⁹For those who gather grain will eat it and praise the LORD, and those who harvest the grapes will drink the wine in my holy courts.

¹⁰Go out, go out through the city gates; prepare a way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones! Raise a banner for the peoples.

¹¹Look, the LORD has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, “Say to Daughter Zion: Look, your salvation is coming, his wages are with him, and his reward accompanies him.”

¹²And they will be called the Holy People, the LORD’s Redeemed; and you will be called Cared For, A City Not Deserted.

¹While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them,

²because they were annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

³So they seized them and took them into custody until the next day since it was already evening.

⁴But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

⁵The next day, their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem

⁶with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all the members of the high-priestly family.

⁷After they had Peter and John stand before them, they began to question them: “By what power or in what name have you done this?”

⁸Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders:

⁹If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he was healed,

¹⁰let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing here before you healthy.

¹¹This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.

¹²There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

¹³When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.

¹⁴And since they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

¹⁵After they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves,

¹⁶saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign has been done through them, clear to everyone living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But so that this does not spread any further among the people, let’s threaten them against speaking to anyone in this name again.”

¹⁸So they called for them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide;

²⁰for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹After threatening them further, they released them. They found no way to punish them because the people were all giving glory to God over what had been done.

²²For this sign of healing had been performed on a man over forty years old.

²³After they were released, they went to their own people and reported everything the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴When they heard this, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Master, you are the one who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them.

²⁵You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David your servant: Why do the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot futile things?

²⁶The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers assemble together against the Lord and against his Messiah.

²⁷“For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,

²⁸to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place.

²⁹And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness,

³⁰while you stretch out your hand for healing, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly.

³²Now the entire group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common.

³³With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on all of them.

³⁴For there was not a needy person among them because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of what was sold,

³⁵and laid them at the apostles’ feet. This was then distributed to each person as any had need.

³⁶Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus by birth, the one the apostles called Barnabas (which is translated Son of Encouragement),

³⁷sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.