Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum.

²There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.

³The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.

⁴When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this,

⁵because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”

⁶So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.

⁷That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁸For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

⁹When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”

¹⁰Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

¹¹Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.

¹²As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

¹³When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

¹⁴Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”

¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”

¹⁷This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

¹⁸John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them,

¹⁹he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

²⁰When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’ ”

²¹At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind.

²²So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

²³Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

²⁴After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

²⁵If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces.

²⁶But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

²⁷This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’

²⁸I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

²⁹(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John.

³⁰But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

³¹Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?

³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: “ ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’

³³For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’

³⁴The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

³⁵But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

³⁶When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

³⁷A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.

³⁸As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

³⁹When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said.

⁴¹“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

⁴²Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

⁴³Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

⁴⁴Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

⁴⁵You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.

⁴⁶You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.

⁴⁷Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

⁴⁸Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

¹That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.

²All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!

³Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”

⁴And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

⁵Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.

⁶Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes

⁷and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.

⁸If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.

⁹Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

¹⁰But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites.

¹¹The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?

¹²I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”

¹³Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.

¹⁴And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, LORD, are with these people and that you, LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

¹⁵If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say,

¹⁶‘The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

¹⁷“Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared:

¹⁸‘The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’

¹⁹In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”

²⁰The LORD replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked.

²¹Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth,

²²not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—

²³not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.

²⁴But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

²⁵Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.”

²⁶The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:

²⁷“How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites.

²⁸So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say:

²⁹In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.

³⁰Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

³¹As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.

³²But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness.

³³Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness.

³⁴For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’

³⁵I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.”

³⁶So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it—

³⁷these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD.

³⁸Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.

³⁹When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly.

⁴⁰Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the LORD promised. Surely we have sinned!”

⁴¹But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed!

⁴²Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies,

⁴³for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”

⁴⁴Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp.

⁴⁵Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

¹What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

²By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

³Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—

⁷because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

¹³Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

¹⁴For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

¹⁵What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!

¹⁶Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.

¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

¹⁹I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.

²⁰When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.

²¹What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!

²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.

²And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God

³and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations.

⁴Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

⁵After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened.

⁶Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests.

⁷Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever.

⁸And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²“How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind.

³Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

⁴When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

⁵But if you will seek God earnestly and plead with the Almighty,

⁶if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your prosperous state.

⁷Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.

⁸“Ask the former generation and find out what their ancestors learned,

⁹for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?

¹¹Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water?

¹²While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass.

¹³Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.

¹⁴What they trust in is fragile; what they rely on is a spider’s web.

¹⁵They lean on the web, but it gives way; they cling to it, but it does not hold.

¹⁶They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden;

¹⁷it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones.

¹⁸But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’

¹⁹Surely its life withers away, and from the soil other plants grow.

²⁰“Surely God does not reject one who is blameless or strengthen the hands of evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

²²Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more.”

¹For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD. He sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, LORD, my strength.

²The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.

⁴The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

⁵The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

⁷The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.

⁸Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.

⁹He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet.

¹⁰He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.

¹²Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

¹³The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.

¹⁴He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

¹⁵The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

¹⁶He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.

¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support.

¹⁹He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²⁰The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I am not guilty of turning from my God.

²²All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.

²³I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.

²⁴The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

²⁶to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

²⁷You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

²⁸You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

²⁹With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

³⁰As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.

³¹For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?

³²It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.

³³He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.

³⁴He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.

³⁶You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

³⁸I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet.

³⁹You armed me with strength for battle; you humbled my adversaries before me.

⁴⁰You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the LORD, but he did not answer.

⁴²I beat them as fine as windblown dust; I trampled them like mud in the streets.

⁴³You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; you have made me the head of nations. People I did not know now serve me,

⁴⁴foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

⁴⁵They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds.

⁴⁶The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!

⁴⁷He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me,

⁴⁸who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me.

⁴⁹Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name.

⁵⁰He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing love to his anointed, to David and to his descendants forever.

¹Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?

²At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

³beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud:

⁴“To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind.

⁵You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.

⁶Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.

⁷My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness.

⁸All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse.

⁹To the discerning all of them are right; they are upright to those who have found knowledge.

¹⁰Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold,

¹¹for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

¹²“I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.

¹³To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

¹⁴Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power.

¹⁵By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just;

¹⁶by me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth.

¹⁷I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

¹⁸With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.

¹⁹My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver.

²⁰I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,

²¹bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full.

²²“The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old;

²³I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be.

²⁴When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water;

²⁵before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth,

²⁶before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth.

²⁷I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,

²⁸when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,

²⁹when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

³⁰Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence,

³¹rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.

³²“Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.

³³Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it.

³⁴Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.

³⁵For those who find me find life and receive favor from the LORD.

³⁶But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.”

¹Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?”

²“Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!”

³But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”

⁴Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”

⁵So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow.

⁶If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’

⁷If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me.

⁸As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the LORD. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”

⁹“Never!” Jonathan said. “If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?”

¹⁰David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”

¹¹“Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together.

¹²Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the LORD, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know?

¹³But if my father intends to harm you, may the LORD deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the LORD be with you as he has been with my father.

¹⁴But show me unfailing kindness like the LORD’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed,

¹⁵and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

¹⁶So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD call David’s enemies to account.”

¹⁷And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.

¹⁸Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty.

¹⁹The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel.

²⁰I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target.

²¹Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,’ then come, because, as surely as the LORD lives, you are safe; there is no danger.

²²But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, because the LORD has sent you away.

²³And about the matter you and I discussed—remember, the LORD is witness between you and me forever.”

²⁴So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat.

²⁵He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan, and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty.

²⁶Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.”

²⁷But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”

²⁸Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem.

²⁹He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”

³⁰Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you?

³¹As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!”

³²“Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father.

³³But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.

³⁴Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David.

³⁵In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him,

³⁶and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.

³⁷When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”

³⁸Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.

³⁹(The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.)

⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.”

⁴¹After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.

⁴²Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’ ” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

¹The word of the LORD came to me:

²“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: “This is what the LORD says: “ ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown.

³Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,’ ” declares the LORD.

⁴Hear the word of the LORD, you descendants of Jacob, all you clans of Israel.

⁵This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.

⁶They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’

⁷I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.

⁸The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.

⁹“Therefore I bring charges against you again,” declares the LORD. “And I will bring charges against your children’s children.

¹⁰Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and observe closely; see if there has ever been anything like this:

¹¹Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols.

¹²Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the LORD.

¹³“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

¹⁴Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth? Why then has he become plunder?

¹⁵Lions have roared; they have growled at him. They have laid waste his land; his towns are burned and deserted.

¹⁶Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have cracked your skull.

¹⁷Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the LORD your God when he led you in the way?

¹⁸Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Nile? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates?

¹⁹Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

²⁰“Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, ‘I will not serve you!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute.

²¹I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine?

²²Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign LORD.

²³“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there,

²⁴a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving— in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her.

²⁵Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry. But you said, ‘It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’

²⁶“As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the people of Israel are disgraced— they, their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets.

²⁷They say to wood, ‘You are my father,’ and to stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

²⁸Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble! For you, Judah, have as many gods as you have towns.

²⁹“Why do you bring charges against me? You have all rebelled against me,” declares the LORD.

³⁰“In vain I punished your people; they did not respond to correction. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a ravenous lion.

³¹“You of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a desert to Israel or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to you no more’?

³²Does a young woman forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.

³³How skilled you are at pursuing love! Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.

³⁴On your clothes is found the lifeblood of the innocent poor, though you did not catch them breaking in. Yet in spite of all this

³⁵you say, ‘I am innocent; he is not angry with me.’ But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

³⁶Why do you go about so much, changing your ways? You will be disappointed by Egypt as you were by Assyria.

³⁷You will also leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not be helped by them.

¹At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.

²He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

³One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

⁴Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.

⁵Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.

⁶He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants.

⁸He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

⁹About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.

¹⁰He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.

¹¹He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.

¹²It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds.

¹³Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

¹⁴“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

¹⁵The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

¹⁷While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.

¹⁸They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

¹⁹While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you.

²⁰So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

²¹Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

²²The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.”

²³Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along.

²⁴The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence.

²⁶But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

²⁷While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people.

²⁸He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.

²⁹So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

³⁰Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me

³¹and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.

³²Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’

³³So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism

³⁵but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

³⁶You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

³⁷You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—

³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

³⁹“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross,

⁴⁰but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.

⁴¹He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.

⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.

⁴⁵The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.

⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,

⁴⁷“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

⁴⁸So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.