Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us.

²They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples.

³Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus,

⁴so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.

⁵When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron.

⁶Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations.

⁷They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.

⁸One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week.

⁹As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.

¹⁰While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.

¹¹While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.

¹²Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him.

¹³But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.

¹⁴You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,

¹⁵for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.

¹⁶And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God.

¹⁷He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”

¹⁸Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”

¹⁹Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news!

²⁰But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”

²¹Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the sanctuary, wondering why he was taking so long.

²²When he finally did come out, he couldn’t speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures and his silence that he must have seen a vision in the sanctuary.

²³When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home.

²⁴Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months.

²⁵“How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”

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

²⁷to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.

²⁸Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! ”

²⁹Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.

³⁰“Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God!

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

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

³³And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

³⁴Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

³⁵The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

³⁶What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.

³⁷For the word of God will never fail. ”

³⁸Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

³⁹A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town

⁴⁰where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

⁴²Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed.

⁴³Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me?

⁴⁴When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy.

⁴⁵You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

⁴⁶Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.

⁴⁷How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

⁴⁸For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed.

⁴⁹For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me.

⁵⁰He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.

⁵¹His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.

⁵²He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble.

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

⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful.

⁵⁵For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.”

⁵⁶Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.

⁵⁷When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son.

⁵⁸And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father.

⁶⁰But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”

⁶¹“What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.”

⁶²So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him.

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

⁶⁴Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.

⁶⁵Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills.

⁶⁶Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.

⁶⁷Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:

⁶⁸“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people.

⁶⁹He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David,

⁷⁰just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago.

⁷¹Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us.

⁷²He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant —

⁷³the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham.

⁷⁴We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear,

⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.

⁷⁶“And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord.

⁷⁷You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins.

⁷⁸Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,

⁷⁹to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

⁸⁰John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.

¹The LORD said to Moses,

²“Give Aaron the following instructions: When you set up the seven lamps in the lampstand, place them so their light shines forward in front of the lampstand.”

³So Aaron did this. He set up the seven lamps so they reflected their light forward, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁴The entire lampstand, from its base to its decorative blossoms, was made of beaten gold. It was built according to the exact design the LORD had shown Moses.

⁵Then the LORD said to Moses,

⁶“Now set the Levites apart from the rest of the people of Israel and make them ceremonially clean.

⁷Do this by sprinkling them with the water of purification, and have them shave their entire body and wash their clothing. Then they will be ceremonially clean.

⁸Have them bring a young bull and a grain offering of choice flour moistened with olive oil, along with a second young bull for a sin offering.

⁹Then assemble the whole community of Israel, and present the Levites at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

¹⁰When you present the Levites before the LORD, the people of Israel must lay their hands on them.

¹¹Raising his hands, Aaron must then present the Levites to the LORD as a special offering from the people of Israel, thus dedicating them to the LORD’s service.

¹²“Next the Levites will lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls. Present one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the LORD, to purify the Levites and make them right with the LORD.

¹³Then have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons, and raise your hands and present them as a special offering to the LORD.

¹⁴In this way, you will set the Levites apart from the rest of the people of Israel, and the Levites will belong to me.

¹⁵After this, they may go into the Tabernacle to do their work, because you have purified them and presented them as a special offering.

¹⁶“Of all the people of Israel, the Levites are reserved for me. I have claimed them for myself in place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites; I have taken the Levites as their substitutes.

¹⁷For all the firstborn males among the people of Israel are mine, both of people and of animals. I set them apart for myself on the day I struck down all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians.

¹⁸Yes, I have claimed the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons of Israel.

¹⁹And of all the Israelites, I have assigned the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They will serve in the Tabernacle on behalf of the Israelites and make sacrifices to purify the people so no plague will strike them when they approach the sanctuary.”

²⁰So Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel dedicated the Levites, carefully following all the LORD’s instructions to Moses.

²¹The Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and Aaron lifted them up and presented them to the LORD as a special offering. He then offered a sacrifice to purify them and make them right with the LORD.

²²After that the Levites went into the Tabernacle to perform their duties, assisting Aaron and his sons. So they carried out all the commands that the LORD gave Moses concerning the Levites.

²³The LORD also instructed Moses,

²⁴“This is the rule the Levites must follow: They must begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age of twenty-five,

²⁵and they must retire at the age of fifty.

²⁶After retirement they may assist their fellow Levites by serving as guards at the Tabernacle, but they may not officiate in the service. This is how you must assign duties to the Levites.”

¹Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.

²Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

³Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

⁴Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

⁵Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

⁶So we can say with confidence, “The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”

⁷Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.

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

⁹So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.

¹⁰We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat.

¹¹Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp.

¹²So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood.

¹³So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore.

¹⁴For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

¹⁵Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.

¹⁶And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

¹⁷Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

¹⁸Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do.

¹⁹And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.

²⁰Now may the God of peace — who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood —

²¹may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

²²I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, to pay attention to what I have written in this brief exhortation.

²³I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released from jail. If he comes here soon, I will bring him with me to see you.

²⁴Greet all your leaders and all the believers there. The believers from Italy send you their greetings.

²⁵May God’s grace be with you all.

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

²When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.

³Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions.

⁴They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

⁵They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting.

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

⁷The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces.

⁸They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion.

⁹They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle.

¹⁰They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people.

¹¹Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon — the Destroyer.

¹²The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!

¹³Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God.

¹⁴And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.”

¹⁵Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth.

¹⁶I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops.

¹⁷And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths.

¹⁸One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues — by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses.

¹⁹Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.

²⁰But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood — idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!

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

¹One day the members of the heavenly court came again to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.

²“Where have you come from?” the LORD asked Satan. Satan answered the LORD, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

³Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless — a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.”

⁴Satan replied to the LORD, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life.

⁵But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!”

⁶“All right, do with him as you please,” the LORD said to Satan. “But spare his life.”

⁷So Satan left the LORD’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.

⁸Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes.

⁹His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.”

¹⁰But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.

¹¹When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.

¹²When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief.

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

¹Help, O LORD, for the godly are fast disappearing! The faithful have vanished from the earth!

²Neighbors lie to each other, speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.

³May the LORD cut off their flattering lips and silence their boastful tongues.

⁴They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content. Our lips are our own — who can stop us?”

⁵The LORD replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.”

⁶The LORD’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over.

⁷Therefore, LORD, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation,

⁸even though the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land.

¹My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.

²Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.

³Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.

⁴Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.

⁵Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God.

⁶For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.

⁸He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.

⁹Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.

¹¹Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.

¹²Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.

¹³These men turn from the right way to walk down dark paths.

¹⁴They take pleasure in doing wrong, and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.

¹⁵Their actions are crooked, and their ways are wrong.

¹⁶Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.

¹⁷She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.

¹⁸Entering her house leads to death; it is the road to the grave.

¹⁹The man who visits her is doomed. He will never reach the paths of life.

²⁰So follow the steps of the good, and stay on the paths of the righteous.

²¹For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.

²²But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.

¹One day Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come on, let’s go over to where the Philistines have their outpost.” But Jonathan did not tell his father what he was doing.

²Meanwhile, Saul and his 600 men were camped on the outskirts of Gibeah, around the pomegranate tree at Migron.

³Among Saul’s men was Ahijah the priest, who was wearing the ephod, the priestly vest. Ahijah was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the LORD who had served at Shiloh. No one realized that Jonathan had left the Israelite camp.

⁴To reach the Philistine outpost, Jonathan had to go down between two rocky cliffs that were called Bozez and Seneh.

⁵The cliff on the north was in front of Micmash, and the one on the south was in front of Geba.

⁶“Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the LORD will help us, for nothing can hinder the LORD. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!”

⁷“Do what you think is best,” the armor bearer replied. “I’m with you completely, whatever you decide.”

⁸“All right, then,” Jonathan told him. “We will cross over and let them see us.

⁹If they say to us, ‘Stay where you are or we’ll kill you,’ then we will stop and not go up to them.

¹⁰But if they say, ‘Come on up and fight,’ then we will go up. That will be the LORD’s sign that he will help us defeat them.”

¹¹When the Philistines saw them coming, they shouted, “Look! The Hebrews are crawling out of their holes!”

¹²Then the men from the outpost shouted to Jonathan, “Come on up here, and we’ll teach you a lesson!” “Come on, climb right behind me,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “for the LORD will help us defeat them!”

¹³So they climbed up using both hands and feet, and the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer killed those who came behind them.

¹⁴They killed some twenty men in all, and their bodies were scattered over about half an acre.

¹⁵Suddenly, panic broke out in the Philistine army, both in the camp and in the field, including even the outposts and raiding parties. And just then an earthquake struck, and everyone was terrified.

¹⁶Saul’s lookouts in Gibeah of Benjamin saw a strange sight — the vast army of Philistines began to melt away in every direction.

¹⁷“Call the roll and find out who’s missing,” Saul ordered. And when they checked, they found that Jonathan and his armor bearer were gone.

¹⁸Then Saul shouted to Ahijah, “Bring the ephod here!” For at that time Ahijah was wearing the ephod in front of the Israelites.

¹⁹But while Saul was talking to the priest, the confusion in the Philistine camp grew louder and louder. So Saul said to the priest, “Never mind; let’s get going!”

²⁰Then Saul and all his men rushed out to the battle and found the Philistines killing each other. There was terrible confusion everywhere.

²¹Even the Hebrews who had previously gone over to the Philistine army revolted and joined in with Saul, Jonathan, and the rest of the Israelites.

²²Likewise, the men of Israel who were hiding in the hill country of Ephraim joined the chase when they saw the Philistines running away.

²³So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle continued to rage even beyond Beth-aven.

²⁴Now the men of Israel were pressed to exhaustion that day, because Saul had placed them under an oath, saying, “Let a curse fall on anyone who eats before evening — before I have full revenge on my enemies.” So no one ate anything all day,

²⁵even though they had all found honeycomb on the ground in the forest.

²⁶They didn’t dare touch the honey because they all feared the oath they had taken.

²⁷But Jonathan had not heard his father’s command, and he dipped the end of his stick into a piece of honeycomb and ate the honey. After he had eaten it, he felt refreshed.

²⁸But one of the men saw him and said, “Your father made the army take a strict oath that anyone who eats food today will be cursed. That is why everyone is weary and faint.”

²⁹“My father has made trouble for us all!” Jonathan exclaimed. “A command like that only hurts us. See how refreshed I am now that I have eaten this little bit of honey.

³⁰If the men had been allowed to eat freely from the food they found among our enemies, think how many more Philistines we could have killed!”

³¹They chased and killed the Philistines all day from Micmash to Aijalon, growing more and more faint.

³²That evening they rushed for the battle plunder and butchered the sheep, goats, cattle, and calves, but they ate them without draining the blood.

³³Someone reported to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the LORD by eating meat that still has blood in it.” “That is very wrong,” Saul said. “Find a large stone and roll it over here.

³⁴Then go out among the troops and tell them, ‘Bring the cattle, sheep, and goats here to me. Kill them here, and drain the blood before you eat them. Do not sin against the LORD by eating meat with the blood still in it.’” So that night all the troops brought their animals and slaughtered them there.

³⁵Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first of the altars he built to the LORD.

³⁶Then Saul said, “Let’s chase the Philistines all night and plunder them until sunrise. Let’s destroy every last one of them.” His men replied, “We’ll do whatever you think is best.” But the priest said, “Let’s ask God first.”

³⁷So Saul asked God, “Should we go after the Philistines? Will you help us defeat them?” But God made no reply that day.

³⁸Then Saul said to the leaders, “Something’s wrong! I want all my army commanders to come here. We must find out what sin was committed today.

³⁹I vow by the name of the LORD who rescued Israel that the sinner will surely die, even if it is my own son Jonathan!” But no one would tell him what the trouble was.

⁴⁰Then Saul said, “Jonathan and I will stand over here, and all of you stand over there.” And the people responded to Saul, “Whatever you think is best.”

⁴¹Then Saul prayed, “O LORD, God of Israel, please show us who is guilty and who is innocent. ” Then they cast sacred lots, and Jonathan and Saul were chosen as the guilty ones, and the people were declared innocent.

⁴²Then Saul said, “Now cast lots again and choose between me and Jonathan.” And Jonathan was shown to be the guilty one.

⁴³“Tell me what you have done,” Saul demanded of Jonathan. “I tasted a little honey,” Jonathan admitted. “It was only a little bit on the end of my stick. Does that deserve death?”

⁴⁴“Yes, Jonathan,” Saul said, “you must die! May God strike me and even kill me if you do not die for this.”

⁴⁵But the people broke in and said to Saul, “Jonathan has won this great victory for Israel. Should he die? Far from it! As surely as the LORD lives, not one hair on his head will be touched, for God helped him do a great deed today.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.

⁴⁶Then Saul called back the army from chasing the Philistines, and the Philistines returned home.

⁴⁷Now when Saul had secured his grasp on Israel’s throne, he fought against his enemies in every direction — against Moab, Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. And wherever he turned, he was victorious.

⁴⁸He performed great deeds and conquered the Amalekites, saving Israel from all those who had plundered them.

⁴⁹Saul’s sons included Jonathan, Ishbosheth, and Malkishua. He also had two daughters: Merab, who was older, and Michal.

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

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

⁵²The Israelites fought constantly with the Philistines throughout Saul’s lifetime. So whenever Saul observed a young man who was brave and strong, he drafted him into his army.

¹Because I love Zion, I will not keep still. Because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her until her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning torch.

²The nations will see your righteousness. World leaders will be blinded by your glory. And you will be given a new name by the LORD’s own mouth.

³The LORD will hold you in his hand for all to see — a splendid crown in the hand of God.

⁴Never again will you be called “The Forsaken City” or “The Desolate Land.” Your new name will be “The City of God’s Delight” and “The Bride of God,” for the LORD delights in you and will claim you as his bride.

⁵Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem, just as a young man commits himself to his bride. Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.

⁶O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray day and night, continually. Take no rest, all you who pray to the LORD.

⁷Give the LORD no rest until he completes his work, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.

⁸The LORD has sworn to Jerusalem by his own strength: “I will never again hand you over to your enemies. Never again will foreign warriors come and take away your grain and new wine.

⁹You raised the grain, and you will eat it, praising the LORD. Within the courtyards of the Temple, you yourselves will drink the wine you have pressed.”

¹⁰Go out through the gates! Prepare the highway for my people to return! Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders; raise a flag for all the nations to see.

¹¹The LORD has sent this message to every land: “Tell the people of Israel, ‘Look, your Savior is coming. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.’”

¹²They will be called “The Holy People” and “The People Redeemed by the LORD.” And Jerusalem will be known as “The Desirable Place” and “The City No Longer Forsaken.”

¹While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees.

²These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.

³They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning.

⁴But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000.

⁵The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem.

⁶Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest.

⁷They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”

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

⁹are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed?

¹⁰Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.

¹¹For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’

¹²There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

¹³The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.

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

¹⁵So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves.

¹⁶“What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it.

¹⁷But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.”

¹⁸So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?

²⁰We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

²¹The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God

²²for this miraculous sign — the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.

²³As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said.

²⁴When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them —

²⁵you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, ‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans?

²⁶The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the LORD and against his Messiah.’

²⁷“In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed.

²⁸But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will.

²⁹And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.

³⁰Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

³²All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.

³³The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.

³⁴There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them

³⁵and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.

³⁶For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus.

³⁷He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.