Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,

²just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

³With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

⁴so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

⁵In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.

⁶Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.

⁷But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

⁸Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,

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

¹⁰And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

¹¹Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

¹²When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.

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

¹⁴He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,

¹⁵for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.

¹⁶He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.

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

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

¹⁹The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.

²⁰And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

²¹Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple.

²²When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

²³When his time of service was completed, he returned home.

²⁴After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.

²⁵“The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

²⁶In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,

²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

²⁸The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

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

³¹You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.

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

³³and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

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

³⁵The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.

³⁷For no word from God will ever fail.”

³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

³⁹At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,

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

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

⁴²In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!

⁴³But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

⁴⁵Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

⁴⁶And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord

⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,

⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.

⁵⁰His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.

⁵¹He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

⁵²He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.

⁵³He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful

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

⁵⁶Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

⁵⁷When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.

⁵⁸Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

⁵⁹On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah,

⁶⁰but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

⁶¹They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

⁶²Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.

⁶³He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”

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

⁶⁵All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.

⁶⁶Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

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

⁶⁸“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.

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

⁷⁰(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),

⁷¹salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—

⁷²to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant,

⁷³the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

⁷⁴to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear

⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

⁷⁶And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

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

⁷⁸because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

⁷⁹to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

⁸⁰And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

¹The LORD said to Moses,

²“Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you set up the lamps, see that all seven light up the area in front of the lampstand.’ ”

³Aaron did so; he set up the lamps so that they faced forward on the lampstand, just as the LORD commanded Moses.

⁴This is how the lampstand was made: It was made of hammered gold—from its base to its blossoms. The lampstand was made exactly like the pattern the LORD had shown Moses.

⁵The LORD said to Moses:

⁶“Take the Levites from among all the Israelites and make them ceremonially clean.

⁷To purify them, do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing on them; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes. And so they will purify themselves.

⁸Have them take a young bull with its grain offering of the finest flour mixed with olive oil; then you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering.

⁹Bring the Levites to the front of the tent of meeting and assemble the whole Israelite community.

¹⁰You are to bring the Levites before the LORD, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on them.

¹¹Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the Israelites, so that they may be ready to do the work of the LORD.

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

¹³Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and then present them as a wave offering to the LORD.

¹⁴In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.

¹⁵“After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering, they are to come to do their work at the tent of meeting.

¹⁶They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman.

¹⁷Every firstborn male in Israel, whether human or animal, is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set them apart for myself.

¹⁸And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel.

¹⁹From among all the Israelites, I have given the Levites as gifts to Aaron and his sons to do the work at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites and to make atonement for them so that no plague will strike the Israelites when they go near the sanctuary.”

²⁰Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community did with the Levites just as the LORD commanded Moses.

²¹The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes. Then Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD and made atonement for them to purify them.

²²After that, the Levites came to do their work at the tent of meeting under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. They did with the Levites just as the LORD commanded Moses.

²³The LORD said to Moses,

²⁴“This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the tent of meeting,

²⁵but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer.

²⁶They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the tent of meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites.”

¹Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.

²Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

³Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

⁴Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

⁶So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

⁷Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. 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 carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so.

¹⁰We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

¹¹The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.

¹²And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.

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

¹⁴For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.

¹⁶And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

¹⁷Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.

¹⁸Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

¹⁹I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.

²⁰Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,

²¹equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

²²Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly.

²³I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.

²⁴Greet all your leaders and all the Lord’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.

²⁵Grace be with you all.

¹The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.

²When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.

³And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.

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

⁵They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes.

⁶During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

⁷The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces.

⁸Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.

⁹They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.

¹⁰They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.

¹¹They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

¹²The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

¹³The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God.

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

¹⁵And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.

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

¹⁷The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur.

¹⁸A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths.

¹⁹The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

²⁰The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.

²¹Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

¹On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him.

²And the LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

³Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

⁴“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life.

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

⁶The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

⁷So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

⁸Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

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

¹⁰He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

¹¹When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.

¹²When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.

¹³Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

¹For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David. Help, LORD, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.

²Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.

³May the LORD silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue—

⁴those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”

⁵“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”

⁶And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.

⁷You, LORD, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked,

⁸who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race.

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

²turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—

³indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,

⁴and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,

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 holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

⁸for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

⁹Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

¹¹Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.

¹²Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,

¹³who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways,

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

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

¹⁶Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words,

¹⁷who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.

¹⁸Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

¹⁹None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.

²⁰Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it;

²²but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

¹One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

²Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men,

³among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.

⁴On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh.

⁵One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba.

⁶Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”

⁷“Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”

⁸Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us.

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

¹⁰But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands.”

¹¹So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.”

¹²The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.” So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”

¹³Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him.

¹⁴In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.

¹⁵Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.

¹⁶Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions.

¹⁷Then Saul said to the men who were with him, “Muster the forces and see who has left us.” When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there.

¹⁸Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (At that time it was with the Israelites.)

¹⁹While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”

²⁰Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords.

²¹Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

²²When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit.

²³So on that day the LORD saved Israel, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven.

²⁴Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food.

²⁵The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground.

²⁶When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out; yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath.

²⁷But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.

²⁸Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food today!’ That is why the men are faint.”

²⁹Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey.

³⁰How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”

³¹That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Mikmash to Aijalon, they were exhausted.

³²They pounced on the plunder and, taking sheep, cattle and calves, they butchered them on the ground and ate them, together with the blood.

³³Then someone said to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the LORD by eating meat that has blood in it.” “You have broken faith,” he said. “Roll a large stone over here at once.”

³⁴Then he said, “Go out among the men and tell them, ‘Each of you bring me your cattle and sheep, and slaughter them here and eat them. Do not sin against the LORD by eating meat with blood still in it.’ ” So everyone brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there.

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

³⁶Saul said, “Let us go down and pursue the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive.” “Do whatever seems best to you,” they replied. But the priest said, “Let us inquire of God here.”

³⁷So Saul asked God, “Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” But God did not answer him that day.

³⁸Saul therefore said, “Come here, all you who are leaders of the army, and let us find out what sin has been committed today.

³⁹As surely as the LORD who rescues Israel lives, even if the guilt lies with my son Jonathan, he must die.” But not one of them said a word.

⁴⁰Saul then said to all the Israelites, “You stand over there; I and Jonathan my son will stand over here.” “Do what seems best to you,” they replied.

⁴¹Then Saul prayed to the LORD, the God of Israel, “Why have you not answered your servant today? If the fault is in me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim, but if the men of Israel are at fault, respond with Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the men were cleared.

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

⁴³Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” So Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now I must die!”

⁴⁴Saul said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan.”

⁴⁵But the men said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die—he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.” So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.

⁴⁶Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and they withdrew to their own land.

⁴⁷After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.

⁴⁸He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.

⁴⁹Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi and Malki-Shua. The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal.

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

⁵¹Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel.

⁵²All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.

¹For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.

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

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

⁴No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married.

⁵As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

⁶I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest,

⁷and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.

⁸The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: “Never again will I give your grain as food for your enemies, and never again will foreigners drink the new wine for which you have toiled;

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

¹⁰Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.

¹¹The LORD has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’ ”

¹²They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.

¹The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.

²They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

³They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.

⁴But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.

⁵The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem.

⁶Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family.

⁷They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

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

⁹If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed,

¹⁰then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.

¹¹Jesus is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’

¹²Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

¹³When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

¹⁴But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.

¹⁵So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.

¹⁶“What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”

¹⁸Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges!

²⁰As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.

²²For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

²³On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.

²⁵You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “ ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

²⁶The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’

²⁷Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.

²⁸They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

²⁹Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

³⁰Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

³²All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

³³With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all

³⁴that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales

³⁵and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

³⁶Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”),

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