Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

²just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us,

³it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

⁴that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

⁵In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

⁷But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

⁸Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,

⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.

¹¹And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

¹²And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

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

¹⁴And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,

¹⁵for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

¹⁶And he 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 the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

¹⁹And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

²⁰And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

²¹And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.

²²And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute.

²³And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,

²⁵“Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

²⁶In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

²⁷to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

²⁹But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

³⁰And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

³¹And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

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

³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

³⁵And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy — the Son of God.

³⁶And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.”

³⁸And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

³⁹In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah,

⁴⁰and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

⁴²and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

⁴³And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

⁴⁵And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

⁴⁶And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

⁴⁹for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

⁵⁰And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

⁵¹He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

⁵²he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;

⁵³he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

⁵⁵as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

⁵⁶And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

⁵⁷Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.

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

⁵⁹And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,

⁶⁰but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.”

⁶¹And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”

⁶²And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.

⁶³And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.

⁶⁴And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.

⁶⁵And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,

⁶⁶and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people

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

⁷⁰as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

⁷¹that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;

⁷²to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,

⁷³the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

⁷⁴that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,

⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

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

⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,

⁷⁸because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

⁷⁹to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

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

¹Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

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

³And Aaron did so: he set up its lamps in front of the lampstand, as the LORD commanded Moses.

⁴And this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

⁵And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁶“Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them.

⁷Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification upon them, and let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.

⁸Then let them take a bull from the herd and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another bull from the herd for a sin offering.

⁹And you shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the whole congregation of the people of Israel.

¹⁰When you bring the Levites before the LORD, the people of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites,

¹¹and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that they may do the service of the LORD.

¹²Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD to make atonement for the Levites.

¹³And you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as a wave offering to the LORD.

¹⁴“Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.

¹⁵And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering.

¹⁶For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel. Instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself.

¹⁷For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself,

¹⁸and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel.

¹⁹And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

²⁰Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them.

²¹And the Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

²²And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

²³And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁴“This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting.

²⁵And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more.

²⁶They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.”

¹Let brotherly love continue.

²Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

³Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

⁴Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

⁵Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

⁶So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

⁷Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

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

⁹Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.

¹⁰We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.

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

¹²So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.

¹³Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.

¹⁴For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

¹⁵Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

¹⁶Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

¹⁸Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.

¹⁹I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

²⁰Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,

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

²²I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

²³You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon.

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

²⁵Grace be with all of you.

¹And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

²He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.

³Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of 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 the seal of God on their foreheads.

⁵They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.

⁶And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

⁷In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces,

⁸their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth;

⁹they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.

¹⁰They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails.

¹¹They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

¹²The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

¹³Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God,

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

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

¹⁶The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number.

¹⁷And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.

¹⁸By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths.

¹⁹For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

²⁰The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk,

²¹nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

¹Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD.

²And the LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

³And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.”

⁴Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.

⁵But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”

⁶And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”

⁷So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

⁸And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.

⁹Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.”

¹⁰But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

¹¹Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.

¹²And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.

¹³And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

¹Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

²Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

³May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,

⁴those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

⁵“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

⁶The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

⁷You, O LORD, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever.

⁸On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

¹My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,

²making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;

³yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,

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

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

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

⁷he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

⁸guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;

¹⁰for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

¹¹discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you,

¹²delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech,

¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,

¹⁴who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil,

¹⁵men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.

¹⁶So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words,

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

¹⁸for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed;

¹⁹none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life.

²⁰So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.

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

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

¹One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

²Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave at Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men,

³including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.

⁴Within the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.

⁵The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

⁶Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”

⁷And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.”

⁸Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them.

⁹If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them.

¹⁰But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.”

¹¹So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.”

¹²And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”

¹³Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him.

¹⁴And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land.

¹⁵And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.

¹⁶And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude was dispersing here and there.

¹⁷Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Count and see who has gone from us.” And when they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.

¹⁸So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here.” For the ark of God went at that time with the people of Israel.

¹⁹Now while Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”

²⁰Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle. And behold, every Philistine's sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion.

²¹Now the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before that time and who had gone up with them into the camp, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

²²Likewise, when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle.

²³So the LORD saved Israel that day. And the battle passed beyond Beth-aven.

²⁴And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food.

²⁵Now when all the people came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground.

²⁶And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.

²⁷But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright.

²⁸Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food this day.’” And the people were faint.

²⁹Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey.

³⁰How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”

³¹They struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very faint.

³²The people pounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them with the blood.

³³Then they told Saul, “Behold, the people are sinning against the LORD by eating with the blood.” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a great stone to me here.”

³⁴And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, ‘Let every man bring his ox or his sheep and slaughter them here and eat, and do not sin against the LORD by eating with the blood.’” So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night and they slaughtered them there.

³⁵And Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first altar that he built to the LORD.

³⁶Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.”

³⁷And Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day.

³⁸And Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today.

³⁹For as the LORD lives who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.

⁴⁰Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.”

⁴¹Therefore Saul said, “O LORD God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O LORD, God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped.

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

⁴³Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.”

⁴⁴And Saul said, “God do so to me and more also; you shall surely die, Jonathan.”

⁴⁵Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people ransomed Jonathan, so that he did not die.

⁴⁶Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

⁴⁷When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them.

⁴⁸And he did valiantly and struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them.

⁴⁹Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was Merab, and the name of the younger Michal.

⁵⁰And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.

⁵¹Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

⁵²There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he attached him to himself.

¹For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.

²The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.

³You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

⁴You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married.

⁵For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

⁶On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest,

⁷and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.

⁸The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: “I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored;

⁹but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.”

¹⁰Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples.

¹¹Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.”

¹²And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.

¹And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,

²greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

³And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

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

⁵On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem,

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

⁷And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

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

⁹if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been 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, whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing before you well.

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

¹²And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

¹³Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

¹⁴But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

¹⁵But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another,

¹⁶saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.”

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

¹⁹But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,

²⁰for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

²¹And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.

²²For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

²³When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,

²⁵who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?

²⁶The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’ —

²⁷for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

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

²⁹And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,

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

³¹And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

³²Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

³³And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

³⁴There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold

³⁵and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

³⁶Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus,

³⁷sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.