Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now Jesus, full of [and in perfect communication with] the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

²for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they ended, He was hungry.

³Then the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to turn into bread."

⁴Jesus replied to him, "It is written and forever remains written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'"

⁵Then he led Jesus up [to a high mountain] and displayed before Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth [and their magnificence] in the twinkling of an eye.

⁶And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this realm and its glory [its power, its renown]; because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

⁷Therefore if You worship before me, it will all be Yours."

⁸Jesus replied to him, "It is written and forever remains written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.'"

⁹Then he led Jesus to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple, and said [mockingly] to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here;

¹⁰for it is written and forever remains written, 'He will command His angels concerning You to guard and protect You,'

¹¹and, 'they will lift You up on their hands, So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.'"

¹²Jesus replied to him, "It is said [in Scripture], 'you shall not tempt the Lord your God [to prove Himself to you].'"

¹³When the devil had finished every temptation, he [temporarily] left Him until a more opportune time.

¹⁴Then Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread through the entire region.

¹⁵And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised and glorified and honored by all.

¹⁶So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

¹⁷The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah), Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy),

¹⁹to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the favor of God abound greatly]."

²⁰Then He rolled up the scroll [having stopped in the middle of the verse], gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]; and the eyes of all those in the synagogue were [attentively] fixed on Him.

²¹He began speaking to them: "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence."

²²And [as He continued on] they all were speaking well of Him, and were in awe and were wondering about the words of grace which were coming from His lips; and they were saying, "Is this not Joseph's son?"

²³So He said to them, "You will no doubt quote this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal Yourself! Whatever [miracles] that we heard were done [by You] in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.'"

²⁴Then He said, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

²⁵But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

²⁶and yet Elijah was not sent [by the Lord] to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

²⁷And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and not one of them was cleansed [by being healed] except Naaman the Syrian."

²⁸As they heard these things [about God's grace to these two Gentiles], the people in the synagogue were filled with a great rage;

²⁹and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to hurl Him down the cliff.

³⁰But passing [miraculously] through the crowd, He went on His way.

³¹Then He came down [from the hills of Nazareth] to Capernaum, a city of Galilee [on the shore of the sea], and He was teaching them on the Sabbath;

³²and they were surprised [almost overwhelmed] at His teaching, because His message was [given] with authority and power and great ability.

³³There was a man in the synagogue who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud and terrible voice,

³⁴"Let us alone! What business do we have [in common] with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!"

³⁵But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent (muzzled, gagged) and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown the man down among them, he came out of him without injuring him in any way.

³⁶They were all astonished and in awe, and began saying to one another, "What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out!"

³⁷And the news about Him spread into every place in the surrounding district (Galilee).

³⁸Then Jesus got up and left the synagogue and went to Simon's (Peter's) house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her.

³⁹Standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and immediately she got up and began serving them [as her guests].

⁴⁰While the sun was setting [marking the end of the Sabbath day], all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them [exhibiting His authority as Messiah].

⁴¹Demons also were coming out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that He was the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).

⁴²When daybreak came, Jesus left [Simon Peter's house] and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and [they] came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them.

⁴³But He said, "I must preach [the good news of] the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because I was sent for this purpose."

⁴⁴So He continued preaching in the synagogues of Judea [the country of the Jews, including Galilee].

¹Now the people became like those who complain and whine about their hardships, and the LORD heard it; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp.

²So the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire died out.

³He named that place Taberah (the place of burning), because the fire of the LORD burned among them.

⁴The rabble among them [who followed Israel from Egypt] had greedy desires [for familiar and delicious food], and the Israelites wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat?

⁵We remember the fish we ate freely and without cost in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.

⁶But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing at all [in the way of food] to be seen but this manna."

⁷The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium.

⁸The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes with it; and it tasted like cakes baked with fresh [olive] oil.

⁹When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna fell with it.

¹⁰Now Moses heard the people weeping [in self-pity] throughout their families, every man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses regarded their behavior as evil.

¹¹So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have placed the burden of all these people on me?

¹²Was it I who conceived all these people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your arms as a nurse carries the nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers'?

¹³Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep before me and say, 'Give us meat, so that we may eat.'

¹⁴I am not able to carry all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.

¹⁵So if this is the way You are going to deal with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness."

¹⁶Accordingly, the LORD said to Moses, "Gather for Me seventy men from among the elders of Israel whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers; bring them to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and let them stand there with you.

¹⁷Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take away some of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not have to bear it all alone.

¹⁸Say to the people, 'Consecrate (separate as holy) yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept [in self-pity] in the ears of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For we were well-off in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.

¹⁹You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,

²⁰but a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and is disgusting to you—because you have rejected and despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept [in self-pity] before Him, saying, "Why did we come out of Egypt?"'"

²¹But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 [fighting men] on foot [besides all the women and children]; yet You have said, 'I will give them meat, so that they may eat it for a whole month!'

²²Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be collected for them to be sufficient for them?"

²³The LORD said to Moses, "Is the Lord's hand (ability, power) limited (short, inadequate)? You shall see now whether My word will come to pass for you or not."

²⁴So Moses went out and spoke to the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy men from among the elders of the people and stationed them around the Tent (tabernacle).

²⁵Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took some of the Spirit who was upon Moses and put Him upon the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied [praising God and declaring His will], but they did not do it again.

²⁶But two men had remained in the camp; one named Eldad and the other named Medad. The Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the Tent), and they prophesied in the camp.

²⁷So a young man ran and told Moses and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying [extolling the praises of God and declaring His will] in the camp."

²⁸Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, "My lord Moses, stop them!"

²⁹But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!"

³⁰Then Moses went back into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

³¹Now there went forth a wind from the LORD and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall [so they flew low] beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits (three feet) deep on the surface of the ground.

³²The people spent all that day and all night and all the next day and caught and gathered the quail (the one who gathered least gathered ten homers) and they spread them out for themselves around the camp [to cure them by drying].

³³While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck them with a very severe plague.

³⁴So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah (the graves of greediness), because there they buried the people who had been greedy [for more than the manna that God provided them].

³⁵From Kibroth-hattaavah the people set out for Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth.

¹Then what is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

²Great in every respect. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God [His very words].

³What then? If some did not believe or were unfaithful [to God], their lack of belief will not nullify and make invalid the faithfulness of God and His word, will it?

⁴Certainly not! Let God be found true [as He will be], though every person be found a liar, just as it is written [in Scripture], "That You may be justified in Your words, And prevail when You are judged [by sinful men]."

⁵But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? God is not wrong to inflict His wrath [on us], is He? (I am speaking in purely human terms.)

⁶Certainly not! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?

⁷But [as you might say] if through my lie God's truth was magnified and abounded to His glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner?

⁸And why not say, (as some slanderously report and claim that we teach) "Let us do evil so that good may come of it"? Their condemnation [by God] is just.

⁹Well then, are we [Jews] better off than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) are under the control of sin and subject to its power.

¹⁰As it is written and forever remains written, "There is none righteous [none that meets God's standard], not even one.

¹¹"There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God.

¹²"All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, no, not one."

¹³"Their throat is an open grave; They [habitually] deceive with their tongues." "The venom of asps is beneath their lips."

¹⁴"Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."

¹⁵"Their feet are swift to shed blood,

¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their paths,

¹⁷And they have not known the path of peace."

¹⁸"There is no fear of God [and His awesome power] before their eyes."

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the Law [of Moses] says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that [the excuses of] every mouth may be silenced [from protesting] and that all the world may be held accountable to God [and subject to His judgment].

²⁰For no person will be justified [freed of guilt and declared righteous] in His sight by [trying to do] the works of the Law. For through the Law we become conscious of sin [and the recognition of sin directs us toward repentance, but provides no remedy for sin].

²¹But now the righteousness of God has been clearly revealed [independently and completely] apart from the Law, though it is [actually] confirmed by the Law and the [words and writings of the] Prophets.

²²This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [Jew or Gentile] who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God's Son]. There is no distinction,

²³since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God,

²⁴and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,

²⁵whom God displayed publicly [before the eyes of the world] as a [life-giving] sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation (propitiation) by His blood [to be received] through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness [which demands punishment for sin], because in His forbearance [His deliberate restraint] He passed over the sins previously committed [before Jesus' crucifixion].

²⁶It was to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus [and rely confidently on Him as Savior].

²⁷Then what becomes of [our] boasting? It is excluded [entirely ruled out, banished]. On what principle? On [the principle of good] works? No, but on the principle of faith.

²⁸For we maintain that an individual is justified by faith distinctly apart from works of the Law [the observance of which has nothing to do with justification, that is, being declared free of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God].

²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not also the God of Gentiles [who were not given the Law]? Yes, of Gentiles also,

³⁰since indeed it is one [and the same] God who will justify the circumcised by faith [which began with Abraham] and the uncircumcised through [their newly acquired] faith.

³¹Do we then nullify the Law by this faith [making the Law of no effect, overthrowing it]? Certainly not! On the contrary, we confirm and establish and uphold the Law [since it convicts us all of sin, pointing to the need for salvation].

¹And a great sign [warning of an ominous and frightening future event] appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

²She was with child (the Messiah) and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.

³Then another sign [of warning] was seen in heaven: behold, a great fiery red dragon (Satan) with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven royal crowns (diadems).

⁴And his tail swept [across the sky] and dragged away a third of the stars of heaven and flung them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

⁵And she gave birth to a Son, a male Child, who is destined to rule (shepherd) all the nations with a rod of iron; and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.

⁶Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that she would be nourished there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days (forty-two months; three and one-half years).

⁷And war broke out in heaven, Michael [the archangel] and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought,

⁸but they were not strong enough and did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.

⁹And the great dragon was thrown down, the age-old serpent who is called the devil and Satan, he who continually deceives and seduces the entire inhabited world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom (dominion, reign) of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come; for the accuser of our [believing] brothers and sisters has been thrown down [at last], he who accuses them and keeps bringing charges [of sinful behavior] against them before our God day and night.

¹¹And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.

¹²Therefore rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them [in the presence of God]. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you in great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time [remaining]!"

¹³And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to the male Child.

¹⁴But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time (three and one-half years), away from the presence of the serpent (Satan).

¹⁵And the serpent hurled water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.

¹⁶But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had hurled out of his mouth.

¹⁷So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went off to wage war on the rest of her children (seed), those who keep and obey the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus [holding firmly to it and bearing witness to Him].

¹"Call now—is there anyone who will answer you? And to which of the holy ones (angels) will you turn?

²"For anger slays the foolish man, And jealousy kills the simple (naive).

³"I have seen the foolish taking root [and outwardly prospering], But I cursed his dwelling immediately [for his destruction was certain].

⁴"His children are far from safety [and included in their father's ruin], They are oppressed and crushed in the [court of justice in the city's] gate, And there is no one to rescue them.

⁵"The hungry devour his harvest And take it even [when it grows] among the thorns; The trap opens for [his] wealth.

⁶"For affliction does not come forth from the dust, Nor does trouble spring forth from the ground.

⁷"For man is born for trouble, [As naturally] as sparks fly upward.

⁸"As for me, I would seek God and inquire of Him, And I would commit my cause to God;

⁹Who does great and unsearchable things, Marvelous things without number.

¹⁰"He gives rain upon the earth And sends waters upon the fields,

¹¹So that He sets on high those who are lowly, And He lifts to safety those who mourn.

¹²"He frustrates the devices and schemes of the crafty, So that their hands cannot attain success or achieve anything of [lasting] worth.

¹³"He catches the [so-called] wise in their own shrewdness, And the advice of the devious is quickly thwarted.

¹⁴"In the daytime they meet in darkness, And at noon they grope as in the night.

¹⁵"But God saves [the innocent] from the sword of the mouth of the devious, And the poor from the hand of the mighty.

¹⁶"So the helpless have hope, And injustice shuts its mouth.

¹⁷"Behold, how happy and fortunate is the man whom God reproves, So do not despise or reject the discipline of the Almighty [subjecting you to trial and suffering].

¹⁸"For He inflicts pain, but He binds up and gives relief; He wounds, but His hands also heal.

¹⁹"He will rescue you from six troubles; Even in seven, evil will not touch you.

²⁰"In famine He will redeem you from death, And in war from the power of the sword.

²¹"You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, And you will not be afraid of destruction when it comes.

²²"You will laugh at violence and famine, And you will not be afraid of the wild beasts of the earth.

²³"For you will be in harmony with the stones of the field, And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

²⁴"You will know also that your tent is secure and at peace, And you will visit your dwelling and fear no loss [nor find anything amiss].

²⁵"You will know also that your descendants will be many, And your offspring as the grass of the earth.

²⁶"You will come to your grave in old age, Like the stacking of grain [on the threshing floor] in its season.

²⁷"Behold this; we have investigated it, and it is true. Hear and heed it, and know for yourself [for your own good]."

¹A Psalm of David. O LORD, who may lodge [as a guest] in Your tent? Who may dwell [continually] on Your holy hill?

²He who walks with integrity and strength of character, and works righteousness, And speaks and holds truth in his heart.

³He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

⁴In his eyes an evil person is despised, But he honors those who fear the LORD [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder]. He keeps his word even to his own disadvantage and does not change it [for his own benefit];

⁵He does not put out his money at interest [to a fellow Israelite], And does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

¹My son, be attentive to my wisdom [godly wisdom learned by costly experience], Incline your ear to my understanding;

²That you may exercise discrimination and discretion (good judgment), And your lips may reserve knowledge and answer wisely [to temptation].

³For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey [like a honeycomb] And her speech is smoother than oil;

⁴But in the end she is bitter like [the extract of] wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),

⁶So that she does not think [seriously] about the path of life; Her ways are aimless and unstable; you cannot know where her path leads.

⁷Now then, my sons, listen to me And do not depart from (forget) the words of my mouth.

⁸Let your way [in life] be far from her, And do not go near the door of her house [avoid even being near the places of temptation],

⁹Or you will give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one,

¹⁰And strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner [who does not know God];

¹¹And you will groan when your life is ending, When your flesh and your body are consumed;

¹²And you say, "How I hated instruction and discipline, And my heart despised correction and reproof!

¹³"I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor have I inclined my ear to those who instructed me.

¹⁴"I was almost in total ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation."

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship] And fresh running water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs (children) be dispersed, As streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷[Confine yourself to your own wife.] Let your children be yours alone, And not the children of strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your fountain (wife) be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], And rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹Let her be as a loving hind and graceful doe, Let her breasts refresh and satisfy you at all times; Always be exhilarated and delight in her love.

²⁰Why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an immoral woman And embrace the bosom of an outsider (pagan)?

²¹For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the LORD, And He carefully watches all of his paths [all of his comings and goings].

²²The iniquities done by a wicked man will trap him, And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

²³He will die for lack of instruction (discipline), And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray and be lost.

¹Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle and were assembled at Socoh, which belongs to Judah; and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.

²Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and they camped in the Valley of Elah, and assembled in battle formation to meet the Philistines.

³The Philistines were standing on the mountain on one side and Israel was standing on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.

⁴Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

⁵He had a bronze helmet on his head, and wore a coat of scale-armor (overlapping metal plates) which weighed5,000 shekels of bronze.

⁶He had bronze shin protectors on his legs and a bronze javelin hung between his shoulders.

⁷The [wooden] shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam; the blade-head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And a shield-bearer walked in front of him.

⁸Goliath stood and shouted to the battle lines of Israel, saying to them, "Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not the Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and have him come down to me.

⁹If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us."

¹⁰Again the Philistine said, "I defy the battle lines of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may fight together."

¹¹When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

¹²Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.

¹³His three older sons had followed Saul into battle. The names of his three sons who went to battle were Eliab, the firstborn; next, Abinadab; and third, Shammah.

¹⁴David was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul,

¹⁵but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's flock at Bethlehem.

¹⁶The Philistine [Goliath] came out morning and evening, and took his stand for forty days.

¹⁷Then Jesse said to David his son, "Take for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread and run quickly to the camp to your brothers.

¹⁸Also take these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of the unit. See how your brothers are doing and bring back news of them.

¹⁹Now they are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines."

²⁰So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, picked up the provisions and went just as Jesse had directed him. And he came to the encampment as the army was going out in battle formation shouting the battle cry.

²¹Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle formation, army against army.

²²Then David left his provisions in the care of the supply keeper, and ran to the ranks and came and greeted his brothers.

²³As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words again; and David heard him.

²⁴When the men of Israel all saw the man, they fled from him, and were very frightened.

²⁵The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. The king will reward the man who kills him with great riches, and will give him his daughter [in marriage] and make his father's house (family) free [from taxes and service] in Israel."

²⁶Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes the disgrace [of his taunting] from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God?"

²⁷The men told him, "That is what will be done for the man who kills him."

²⁸Now Eliab his oldest brother heard what he said to the men; and Eliab's anger burned against David and he said, "Why have you come down here? With whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption (overconfidence) and the evil of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle."

²⁹But David said, "What have I done now? Was it not just a [harmless] question?"

³⁰Then David turned away from Eliab to someone else and asked the same question; and the people gave him the same answer as the first time.

³¹When the words that David spoke were heard, the men reported them to Saul, and he sent for him.

³²David said to Saul, "Let no man's courage fail because of him (Goliath). Your servant will go out and fight with this Philistine."

³³Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him. For you are [only] a young man and he has been a warrior since his youth."

³⁴But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,

³⁵I went out after it and attacked it and rescued the lamb from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I seized it by its whiskers and struck and killed it.

³⁶Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God."

³⁷David said, "The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you."

³⁸Then Saul dressed David in his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and put a coat of mail (armor) on him.

³⁹Then David fastened his sword over his armor and tried to walk, [but he could not,] because he was not used to them. And David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, because I am not used to them." So David took them off.

⁴⁰Then he took his [shepherd's] staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the stream bed, and put them in his shepherd's bag which he had, that is, in his shepherd's pouch. With his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹The Philistine came and approached David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.

⁴²When the Philistine looked around and saw David, he derided and disparaged him because he was [just] a young man, with a ruddy complexion, and a handsome appearance.

⁴³The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with [shepherd's] staffs?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴The Philistine also said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field."

⁴⁵Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.

⁴⁶This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

⁴⁷and that this entire assembly may know that the LORD does not save with the sword or with the spear; for the battle is the Lord's and He will hand you over to us."

⁴⁸When the Philistine rose and came forward to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.

⁴⁹David put his hand into his bag and took out a stone and slung it, and it struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

⁵⁰So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck down the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David's hand.

⁵¹So he ran and stood over the Philistine, grasped his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their [mighty] champion was dead, they fled.

⁵²The men of Israel and Judah stood with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance to the valley and the gates of Ekron. And the [fatally] wounded Philistines fell along the way to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron.

⁵³The sons of Israel returned from their pursuit of the Philistines and plundered their camp.

⁵⁴Then David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

⁵⁵When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the captain of the army, "Abner, whose son is this young man?" And Abner answered, "By your life, O king, I do not know."

⁵⁶The king said, "Ask whose son the young man is."

⁵⁷When David returned from killing [Goliath] the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

⁵⁸Saul asked him, "Whose son are you, young man?" And David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."

¹"I let Myself be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I let Myself be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, 'Here am I, here am I,' To the nation [Israel] which did not call on My Name.

²"I have spread out My hands all the day long to a rebellious and stubborn people, Who walk in the way that is not good, [following] after their own thoughts and intentions,

³The people who continually provoke Me to My face, Sacrificing [to idols] in gardens and making offerings with incense on bricks [instead of at the designated altar];

⁴Who sit among the graves [trying to conjure up evil spirits] and spend the night in the secret places [where spirits are thought to dwell]; Who eat swine's flesh, And their pots hold the broth of unclean meat;

⁵Who say, 'Keep to yourself, do not come near me, For I am too holy for you [and you might defile me]!' These [people] are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day.

⁶"Indeed, it is written before Me, I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will even repay it [directly] into their arms,

⁷Both your own wickedness and the wickedness of your fathers," says the LORD. "Since they too have made offerings with incense on the mountains And scorned and taunted Me on the hills, I therefore will measure [punishment for] their former work [directly] into their arms."

⁸This is what the LORD says, "As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, 'Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing and benefit in it,' So I will do for the sake of My servants In order not to destroy all of them.

⁹"I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, And an heir of My mountains from Judah; Even My chosen ones shall inherit it, And My servants will live there.

¹⁰"And [the plain of] Sharon will be a place for flocks to graze, And the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, For My people who seek Me [who long for Me and require My presence in their lives].

¹¹"But you who abandon (turn away from) the LORD, Who forget and ignore My holy mountain (Zion), Who set a table for Gad [the Babylonian god of fortune], And who fill a jug of mixed wine for Meni [the god of fate],

¹²I will destine you for the sword, [says the LORD], And all of you will bow down to the slaughter, Because when I called, you did not answer; When I spoke, you did not listen or obey. But you did [what was] evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight."

¹³Therefore, the Lord GOD says this, "Listen carefully, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry; Indeed, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty; Indeed, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.

¹⁴"Indeed, My servants will shout for joy from a happy heart, But you will cry out with a heavy heart, And you shall wail and howl from a broken spirit.

¹⁵"And you will leave your name behind to My chosen ones [who will use it] as a curse, And the Lord GOD will put you to death, But He will call His servants by another name [a much greater name, just as the name Israel was greater than the name Jacob].

¹⁶"Because he who blesses himself on the earth Will bless himself by the God of truth and faithfulness; And he who swears [an oath] on the earth Will swear by the God of truth and faithfulness; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My sight.

¹⁷"Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; And the former things [of life] will not be remembered or come to mind.

¹⁸"But be glad and rejoice forever over what I create; Behold, I am creating Jerusalem to be a source of rejoicing And her people a joy.

¹⁹"I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.

²⁰"No longer shall there be in it an infant who lives only a few days, Or an old man who does not finish his days; For the youth who dies at the age of a hundred, And the one who does not reach the age of a hundred Will be thought of as accursed.

²¹"They will build houses and live in them; They will plant vineyards and eat the fruit.

²²"They will not build and another occupy; They will not plant and another eat [the fruit]. For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen [people] will fully enjoy [and long make use of] the work of their hands.

²³"They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for disaster; For they are the descendants of those blessed by the LORD, And their offspring with them.

²⁴"It shall also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox [there will no longer be predator and prey]; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain (Zion)," says the LORD.

¹Now the high priest asked [Stephen], "Are these charges true?"

²And he answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory [the Shekinah, the radiance of God] appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

³and He said to him, 'Leave your country and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.'

⁴Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God sent him to this country in which you now live.

⁵But He did not give him inheritable property, not even enough ground to take a step on, yet He promised that He would give it to Him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.

⁶And this is, in effect, what God spoke [to him]: That his descendants would be aliens (strangers) in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

⁷'And I will judge any nation to whom they will be in bondage,' said God, 'and after that they will come out and serve Me [in worship] in this place.'

⁸And God gave Abraham a covenant [a formal agreement to be strictly observed] of [which] circumcision [was the sign]; and so [under these circumstances] Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [became the father] of Jacob, and Jacob [became the father] of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹"The [ten elder] patriarchs, overwhelmed with jealousy, sold [their younger brother] Joseph into [slavery in] Egypt; but God was with him,

¹⁰and He rescued him from all his suffering, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made Joseph governor over Egypt and over his entire household.

¹¹"Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great distress and our fathers could not find food [for their households and livestock].

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.

¹³And on the second visit Joseph identified himself to his brothers, and Joseph's family and background were revealed to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all.

¹⁵And Jacob (Israel) went down into Egypt, and there he died, as did our fathers;

¹⁶and [from Egypt] their bodies were taken back to Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷"But as the time [for the fulfillment] of the promise which God had made to Abraham was approaching, the [Hebrew] people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

¹⁸until [the time when] there arose another king over egypt who did not know joseph [nor his history and the merit of his service to Egypt].

¹⁹He shrewdly exploited our race and mistreated our fathers, forcing them to expose their [male] babies so that they would die.

²⁰It was at this [critical] time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and for three months he was nourished in his father's house.

²¹Then when he was set outside [to die], Pharaoh's daughter rescued him and claimed him for herself, and cared for him as her own son.

²²So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.

²³But when he reached the age of forty, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel.

²⁴And when he saw one [of them] being treated unfairly, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking and killing the Egyptian.

²⁵He expected his countrymen to understand that God was granting them freedom through him [assuming that they would accept him], but they did not understand.

²⁶Then on the next day he suddenly appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong one another?'

²⁷But the man who was injuring his neighbor pushed Moses away, saying, 'Who appointed you ruler and judge over us?

²⁸Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'

²⁹At this remark Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons.

³⁰"After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.

³¹When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; but as he went near to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came [to him, saying]:

³²'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

³³Then the Lord said to him, 'Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground [worthy of reverence and respect].

³⁴I have most certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, and I will send you to Egypt [as My messenger].'

³⁵"This Moses whom they rejected, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' is the very one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer, with the [protecting and helping] hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.

³⁶This man led them out [of Egypt] after performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

³⁷This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel, 'God will raise up for you a Prophetlike me from your countrymen.'

³⁸This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles [divine words that still live] to be handed down to you.

³⁹Our fathers were unwilling to be subject to him [and refused to listen to him]. They rejected him, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

⁴⁰They said to Aaron, 'Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.'

⁴¹In those days they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced and celebrated over the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned away [from them] and handed them over to serve the host of heaven. As it is written and forever remains written in the book of the prophets, 'It was not [really] to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?

⁴³You also took along the tabernacle (portable temple) of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship; and I will remove you beyond Babylon [carrying you away into exile].'

⁴⁴"Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as God directed Moses to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.

⁴⁵Our fathers also brought it in [with them into the land] with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, [and so it remained here] until the time of David,

⁴⁶who found favor (grace, spiritual blessing) in the sight of God and asked that he might [be allowed to] find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.

⁴⁸However, the Most High [the One infinitely exalted above humanity] does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet [Isaiah] says,

⁴⁹'Heaven is My throne, And the earth is the footstool for My feet; What kind of house will you build for Me?' says the Lord, 'Or what place is there for My rest?

⁵⁰'Was it not My hand that made all these things?'

⁵¹"You stiff-necked and stubborn people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. You are doing just as your fathers did.

⁵²Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become;

⁵³you who received the law as ordained and delivered to you by angels, and yet you did not obey it!"

⁵⁴Now when they heard this [accusation and understood its implication], they were cut to the heart, and they began grinding their teeth [in rage] at him.

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit and led by Him, gazed into heaven and saw the glory [the great splendor and majesty] of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;

⁵⁶and he said, "Look! I see the heavens opened up [in welcome] and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

⁵⁷But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and together rushed at him [considering him guilty of blasphemy].

⁵⁸Then they drove him out of the city and began stoning him; and the witnesses placed their outer robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹They continued stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive and accept and welcome my spirit!"

⁶⁰Then falling on his knees [in worship], he cried out loudly, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them [do not charge them]!" When he had said this, he fell asleep [in death].