Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.

²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

³All went to their own towns to be registered.

⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.

⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.

⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.

⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

⁸In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:

¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”

¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.

¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child;

¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

²¹After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

²²When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord

²³(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”),

²⁴and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

²⁵Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.

²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

²⁷Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law,

²⁸Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

²⁹“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word;

³⁰for my eyes have seen your salvation,

³¹which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

³²a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

³³And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.

³⁴Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed

³⁵so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed — and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

³⁶There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,

³⁷then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.

³⁸At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

³⁹When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

⁴⁰The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

⁴¹Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.

⁴²And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival.

⁴³When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.

⁴⁴Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends.

⁴⁵When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.

⁴⁶After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

⁴⁷And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

⁴⁸When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.”

⁴⁹He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

⁵⁰But they did not understand what he said to them.

⁵¹Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying:

²Let the Israelites keep the passover at its appointed time.

³On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its regulations you shall keep it.

⁴So Moses told the Israelites that they should keep the passover.

⁵They kept the passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai. Just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.

⁶Now there were certain people who were unclean through touching a corpse, so that they could not keep the passover on that day. They came before Moses and Aaron on that day,

⁷and said to him, “Although we are unclean through touching a corpse, why must we be kept from presenting the LORD’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?”

⁸Moses spoke to them, “Wait, so that I may hear what the LORD will command concerning you.”

⁹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

¹⁰Speak to the Israelites, saying: Anyone of you or your descendants who is unclean through touching a corpse, or is away on a journey, shall still keep the passover to the LORD.

¹¹In the second month on the fourteenth day, at twilight, they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

¹²They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute for the passover they shall keep it.

¹³But anyone who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet refrains from keeping the passover, shall be cut off from the people for not presenting the LORD’s offering at its appointed time; such a one shall bear the consequences for the sin.

¹⁴Any alien residing among you who wishes to keep the passover to the LORD shall do so according to the statute of the passover and according to its regulation; you shall have one statute for both the resident alien and the native.

¹⁵On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant; and from evening until morning it was over the tabernacle, having the appearance of fire.

¹⁶It was always so: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night.

¹⁷Whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, then the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the Israelites would camp.

¹⁸At the command of the LORD the Israelites would set out, and at the command of the LORD they would camp. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they would remain in camp.

¹⁹Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the Israelites would keep the charge of the LORD, and would not set out.

²⁰Sometimes the cloud would remain a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the LORD they would remain in camp; then according to the command of the LORD they would set out.

²¹Sometimes the cloud would remain from evening until morning; and when the cloud lifted in the morning, they would set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they would set out.

²²Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, resting upon it, the Israelites would remain in camp and would not set out; but when it lifted they would set out.

²³At the command of the LORD they would camp, and at the command of the LORD they would set out. They kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses.

¹Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

²which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

³the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh

⁴and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

⁵through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name,

⁶including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

⁷To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world.

⁹For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers,

¹⁰asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you.

¹¹For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you —

¹²or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

¹³I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles.

¹⁴I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish

¹⁵— hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

¹⁷For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”

¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth.

¹⁹For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

²⁰Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse;

²¹for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.

²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools;

²³and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

²⁴Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves,

²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

²⁶For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural,

²⁷and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.

²⁸And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done.

²⁹They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips,

³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents,

³¹foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

³²They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die — yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.

¹And I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.

²He held a little scroll open in his hand. Setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,

³he gave a great shout, like a lion roaring. And when he shouted, the seven thunders sounded.

⁴And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”

⁵Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and the land raised his right hand to heaven

⁶and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: “There will be no more delay,

⁷but in the days when the seventh angel is to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

⁸Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll; and he said to me, “Take it, and eat; it will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth.”

¹⁰So I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

¹¹Then they said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

¹After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

²Job said:

³“Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’

⁴Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, or light shine on it.

⁵Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds settle upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

⁶That night — let thick darkness seize it! let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

⁷Yes, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry be heard in it.

⁸Let those curse it who curse the Sea, those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan.

⁹Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none; may it not see the eyelids of the morning —

¹⁰because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, and hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹“Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?

¹²Why were there knees to receive me, or breasts for me to suck?

¹³Now I would be lying down and quiet; I would be asleep; then I would be at rest

¹⁴with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuild ruins for themselves,

¹⁵or with princes who have gold, who fill their houses with silver.

¹⁶Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like an infant that never sees the light?

¹⁷There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸There the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

¹⁹The small and the great are there, and the slaves are free from their masters.

²⁰“Why is light given to one in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,

²¹who long for death, but it does not come, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

²²who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they find the grave?

²³Why is light given to one who cannot see the way, whom God has fenced in?

²⁴For my sighing comes like my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water.

²⁵Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.

²⁶I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest; but trouble comes.”

¹How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

²How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

³Consider and answer me, O LORD my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,

⁴and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

⁵But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

⁶I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

¹My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;

²for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you.

³Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and of people.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.

⁶In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

⁸It will be a healing for your flesh and a refreshment for your body.

⁹Honor the LORD with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce;

¹⁰then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

¹¹My child, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof,

¹²for the LORD reproves the one he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

¹³Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding,

¹⁴for her income is better than silver, and her revenue better than gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.

¹⁹The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;

²⁰by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹My child, do not let these escape from your sight: keep sound wisdom and prudence,

²²and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.

²³Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble.

²⁴If you sit down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵Do not be afraid of sudden panic, or of the storm that strikes the wicked;

²⁶for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

²⁷Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

²⁸Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it” — when you have it with you.

²⁹Do not plan harm against your neighbor who lives trustingly beside you.

³⁰Do not quarrel with anyone without cause, when no harm has been done to you.

³¹Do not envy the violent and do not choose any of their ways;

³²for the perverse are an abomination to the LORD, but the upright are in his confidence.

³³The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the abode of the righteous.

³⁴Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he shows favor.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor, but stubborn fools, disgrace.

¹Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD.

²Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did in opposing the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.

³Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

⁴So Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand soldiers of Judah.

⁵Saul came to the city of the Amalekites and lay in wait in the valley.

⁶Saul said to the Kenites, “Go! Leave! Withdraw from among the Amalekites, or I will destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from the Amalekites.

⁷Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt.

⁸He took King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

⁹Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and of the cattle and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was valuable, and would not utterly destroy them; all that was despised and worthless they utterly destroyed.

¹⁰The word of the LORD came to Samuel:

¹¹“I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me, and has not carried out my commands.” Samuel was angry; and he cried out to the LORD all night.

¹²Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, and Samuel was told, “Saul went to Carmel, where he set up a monument for himself, and on returning he passed on down to Gilgal.”

¹³When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, “May you be blessed by the LORD; I have carried out the command of the LORD.”

¹⁴But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears, and the lowing of cattle that I hear?”

¹⁵Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the cattle, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

¹⁶Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” He replied, “Speak.”

¹⁷Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.

¹⁸And the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’

¹⁹Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?”

²⁰Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

²¹But from the spoil the people took sheep and cattle, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”

²²And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to the voice of the LORD? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.

²³For rebellion is no less a sin than divination, and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.”

²⁴Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

²⁵Now therefore, I pray, pardon my sin, and return with me, so that I may worship the LORD.”

²⁶Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

²⁷As Samuel turned to go away, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore.

²⁸And Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this very day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

²⁹Moreover the Glory of Israel will not recant or change his mind; for he is not a mortal, that he should change his mind.”

³⁰Then Saul said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”

³¹So Samuel turned back after Saul; and Saul worshiped the LORD.

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” And Agag came to him haltingly. Agag said, “Surely this is the bitterness of death.”

³³But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother shall be childless among women.” And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

³⁴Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.

³⁵Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.

¹“Who is this that comes from Edom, from Bozrah in garments stained crimson? Who is this so splendidly robed, marching in his great might?” “It is I, announcing vindication, mighty to save.”

²“Why are your robes red, and your garments like theirs who tread the wine press?”

³“I have trodden the wine press alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their juice spattered on my garments, and stained all my robes.

⁴For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year for my redeeming work had come.

⁵I looked, but there was no helper; I stared, but there was no one to sustain me; so my own arm brought me victory, and my wrath sustained me.

⁶I trampled down peoples in my anger, I crushed them in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

⁷I will recount the gracious deeds of the LORD, the praiseworthy acts of the LORD, because of all that the LORD has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

⁸For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely”; and he became their savior

⁹in all their distress. It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

¹⁰But they rebelled and grieved his holy spirit; therefore he became their enemy; he himself fought against them.

¹¹Then they remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who put within them his holy spirit,

¹²who caused his glorious arm to march at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name,

¹³who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble.

¹⁴Like cattle that go down into the valley, the spirit of the LORD gave them rest. Thus you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.

¹⁵Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and glorious habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The yearning of your heart and your compassion? They are withheld from me.

¹⁶For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our father; our Redeemer from of old is your name.

¹⁷Why, O LORD, do you make us stray from your ways and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you? Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.

¹⁸Your holy people took possession for a little while; but now our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.

¹⁹We have long been like those whom you do not rule, like those not called by your name.

¹But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property;

²with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

³“Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!”

⁵Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it.

⁶The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him.

⁷After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

¹⁰Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.

¹²Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.

¹³None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

¹⁴Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women,

¹⁵so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by.

¹⁶A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.

¹⁷Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy,

¹⁸arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

¹⁹But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said,

²⁰“Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.”

²¹When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

²²But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported,

²³“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

²⁴Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on.

²⁵Then someone arrived and announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”

²⁶Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them,

²⁸saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.”

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.

³⁰The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.

³¹God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

³²And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.

³⁴But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time.

³⁵Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men.

³⁶For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared.

³⁷After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

³⁸So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail;

³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them — in that case you may even be found fighting against God!” They were convinced by him,

⁴⁰and when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

⁴²And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.