Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Soon afterward, Jesus began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him,

²and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

³and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.

⁴Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:

⁵“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky ate it up.

⁶Other seed fell on rocky soil, and when it came up, it withered away because it had no moisture.

⁷Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.

⁸And yet other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as much.” As He said these things, He would call out, “The one who has ears to hear,let him hear.”

⁹Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable meant.

¹⁰And He said, “To you it has been granted to know themysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest they are told in parables, so thatwhile seeing they may not see, andwhile hearing they may not understand.

¹¹“Now this is the parable: the seed is the word of God.

¹²And those beside the road are the ones who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

¹³Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root;they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation theyfall away.

¹⁴And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

¹⁵But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the wordwith a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit withperseverance.

¹⁶“Now no one lights a lamp and covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in may see the light.

¹⁷For nothing is concealed that will not become evident, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.

¹⁸So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what hethinks he has will be taken away from him.”

¹⁹Now His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd.

²⁰And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.”

²¹But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

²²Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out.

²³But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger.

²⁴They came up to Jesus and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.

²⁵And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” But they were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

²⁶Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

²⁷And when He stepped out onto the land, a man from the city met Him who was possessed with demons; and he had not put on clothing for a long time and was not living in a house, but among the tombs.

²⁸And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and said with a loud voice, “What business do You have with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!”

²⁹For He had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into the desert.

³⁰And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; because many demons had entered him.

³¹And they were begging Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.

³²Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding there on the mountain; and the demons begged Him to permit them to enter the pigs. And He gave them permission.

³³And the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴Now when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported everything in the city, and in the country.

³⁵And the people came out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened.

³⁶Those who had seen everything reported to them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been made well.

³⁷And all the people of the territory of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Him to leave them, because they were overwhelmed by great fear; and He got into a boat and returned.

³⁸But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but Jesus sent him away, saying,

³⁹“Return to your home and describe what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city what great things Jesus had done for him.

⁴⁰And as Jesus was returning, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.

⁴¹And a man named Jairus came, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began urging Him to come to his house;

⁴²for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.

⁴³And a woman who had suffered a chronic flow of blood for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone,

⁴⁴came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

⁴⁵And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.”

⁴⁶But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had left Me.”

⁴⁷Now when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and admitted in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed.

⁴⁸And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith hasmade you well; go in peace.”

⁴⁹While He was still speaking, someone *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.”

⁵⁰But when Jesus heard this, He responded to him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will bemade well.”

⁵¹When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him except Peter, John, and James, and the girl’s father and mother.

⁵²Now they were all weeping and mourning for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.”

⁵³And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died.

⁵⁴He, however, took her by the hand and spoke forcefully, saying, “Child, arise!”

⁵⁵And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He ordered that something be given her to eat.

⁵⁶Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.

¹Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where you are going to live, which I am giving you,

³and you make an offering by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or as a voluntary offering or at your appointed times, to make a soothing aroma to the LORD from the herd or from the flock,

⁴then the one who presents his offering shall present to the LORD a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil,

⁵and you shall prepare wine for the drink offering, a fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.

⁶Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil;

⁷and for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine as a soothing aroma to the LORD.

⁸And when you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a special vow, or for peace offerings to the LORD,

⁹then you shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil;

¹⁰and you shall offer as the drink offering half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD.

¹¹‘This is how it shall be done for each ox, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the goats.

¹²According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do for each one according to their number.

¹³Everyone who is a native shall do these things in this way, in presenting an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁴Now if a stranger resides among you, or one who may be among you throughout your generations, and he wants to make an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD, just as you do so shall he do.

¹⁵As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who resides among you, a permanent statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD.

¹⁶There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the stranger who resides with you.’ ”

¹⁷Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁸“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where I am bringing you,

¹⁹then it shall be, that when you eat from the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the LORD.

²⁰Of the first of your dough you shall lift up a loaf as an offering; as an offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up.

²¹From the first of your dough you shall give to the LORD an offering throughout your generations.

²²‘But when you unintentionally do wrong and fail to comply with all these commandments which the LORD has spoken to Moses,

²³that is, all that the LORD has commanded you through Moses from the day that the LORD gave commandments and onward, throughout your generations,

²⁴then it shall be, if it is done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull as a burnt offering, as a soothing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat as a sin offering.

²⁵Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven; for it was an unintentional wrong, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their unintentional wrong.

²⁶So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, as well as the stranger who resides among them, for guilt was attributed to all the people through an unintentional wrong.

²⁷‘Also, if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one-year-old female goat as a sin offering.

²⁸And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who goes astray by an unintentional sin, making atonement for him so that he may be forgiven.

²⁹You shall have one law for the native among the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them, for one who does anything wrong unintentionally.

³⁰But the person who does wrong defiantly, whether he is a native or a stranger, that one is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his people.

³¹Since he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on him.’ ”

³²Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.

³³And those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation;

³⁴and they placed him in custody, because it had not been decided what should be done to him.

³⁵Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”

³⁶So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³⁷The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying,

³⁸“Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a violet thread.

³⁹It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so that you will do them and not follow your own heart and your own eyes, which led you to prostitute yourselves,

⁴⁰so that you will remember and do all My commandments and be holy to your God.

⁴¹I am the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the LORD your God.”

¹Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?

²For the married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.

³So then, if while her husband is alive she gives herself to another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she gives herself to another man.

⁴Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in regard to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

⁵For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were brought to light by the Law, were at work in the parts of our body to bear fruit for death.

⁶But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

⁷What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Far from it! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.”

⁸But sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.

⁹I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life, and I died;

¹⁰and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;

¹¹for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it, killed me.

¹²So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? Far from it! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by bringing about my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

¹⁴For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold into bondage to sin.

¹⁵For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate.

¹⁶However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good.

¹⁷But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.

¹⁸For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

¹⁹For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.

²⁰But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.

²¹I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.

²²For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person,

²³but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts.

²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

¹Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

²So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and a harmful and painful sore afflicted the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

³The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died.

⁴Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood.

⁵And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, the One who is and who was, O Holy One, because You judged these things;

⁶for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.”

⁷And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

⁸And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given power to scorch people with fire.

⁹And the people were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.

¹⁰And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain,

¹¹and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.

¹²The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.

¹³And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs;

¹⁴for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the entire world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.

¹⁵(“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and people will not see his shame.”)

¹⁶And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.

¹⁷Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.”

¹⁸And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since mankind came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.

¹⁹The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

²⁰And every island fled, and no mountains were found.

²¹And huge hailstones, weighing about a talent each, *came down from heaven upon people; and people blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because the hailstone plague *was extremely severe.

¹Then Job responded,

²“In truth I know that this is so; But how can a person be in the right with God?

³If one wished to dispute with Him, He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

⁴Wise in heart and mighty in strength, Who has defied Him without harm?

⁵It is God who removes the mountains, and they do not know how, When He overturns them in His anger.

⁶It is He who shakes the earth from its place, And its pillars tremble;

⁷Who commands the sun not to shine, And puts a seal on the stars;

⁸Who alone stretches out the heavens, And tramples down the waves of the sea;

⁹Who makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the constellations of the south.

¹⁰It is He who does great things, the unfathomable, And wondrous works without number.

¹¹If He were to pass by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.

¹²If He were to snatch away, who could restrain Him? Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

¹³“God will not turn back His anger; Beneath Him the helpers of Rahab cower.

¹⁴How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him?

¹⁵For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my Judge.

¹⁶If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

¹⁷For He bruises me with a storm And multiplies my wounds without cause.

¹⁸He will not allow me to get my breath, But He saturates me with bitterness.

¹⁹If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?

²⁰Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.

²¹I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I reject my life.

²²It is all one; therefore I say, ‘He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’

²³If the whip kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent.

²⁴The earth is handed over to the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?

²⁵“Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good.

²⁶They slip by like reed boats, Like an eagle that swoops on its prey.

²⁷Though I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put my face in order and be cheerful,’

²⁸I am afraid of all my pains, I know that You will not acquit me.

²⁹I am guilty, Why then should I struggle in vain?

³⁰If I washed myself with snow, And cleansed my hands with lye,

³¹Then You would plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes would loathe me.

³²For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him— That we may go to court together!

³³There is no arbitrator between us, Who can place his hand upon us both.

³⁴Let Him remove His rod from me, And let not the dread of Him terrify me.

³⁵Then I would speak and not fear Him; But I am not like that in myself.

¹The heavens tell of the glory of God; And their expanse declares the work of His hands.

²Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.

³There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard.

⁴Their line has gone out into all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun,

⁵Which is like a groom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices like a strong person to run his course.

⁶Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷The Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

⁸The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

⁹The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.

¹⁰They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold; Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

¹¹Moreover, Your servant is warned by them; In keeping them there is great reward.

¹²Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.

¹³Also keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be innocent, And I will be blameless of great wrongdoing.

¹⁴May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

¹Wisdom has built her house, She has carved out her seven pillars;

²She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; She has also set her table;

³She has sent out her attendants, she calls out From the tops of the heights of the city:

⁴“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks understanding she says,

⁵“Come, eat of my food And drink of the wine I have mixed.

⁶Abandon your foolishness and live, And proceed in the way of understanding.”

⁷One who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And one who rebukes a wicked person gets insults for himself.

⁸Do not rebuke a scoffer, or he will hate you; Rebuke a wise person and he will love you.

⁹Give instruction to a wise person and he will become still wiser; Teach a righteous person and he will increase his insight.

¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will suffer from it.

¹³A woman of foolishness is boisterous, She has a lack of understanding and knows nothing.

¹⁴She sits at the doorway of her house, On a seat by the high places of the city,

¹⁵Calling to those who pass by, Who are going straight on their paths:

¹⁶“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,” And to him who lacks understanding she says,

¹⁷“Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

¹⁸But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

¹Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?”

²David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.’

³Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”

⁴The priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread, if only the young men have kept themselves from women.”

⁵David answered the priest and said to him, “Be assured, women have been denied to us as previously when I left and the bodies of the young men were consecrated, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then will their bodies be consecrated today?”

⁶So the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence which was removed from its place before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day it was taken away.

⁷Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.

⁸David said to Ahimelech, “Now is there no spear or sword on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s matter was urgent.”

⁹Then the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it. For there is no other except it here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

¹⁰Then David set out and fled that day from Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath.

¹¹But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands’?”

¹²David took these words to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath.

¹³So he disguised his sanity while in their sight and acted insanely in their custody, and he scribbled on the doors of the gate, and drooled on his beard.

¹⁴Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is behaving like an insane person. Why do you bring him to me?

¹⁵Do I lack insane people, that you have brought this one to behave like an insane person in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”

¹God says, “If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man’s wife, Will he return to her again? Would that land not be completely defiled? But you are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares the LORD.

²“Raise your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? You have sat for them by the roads Like an Arab in the desert, And you have defiled a land With your prostitution and your wickedness.

³Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a prostitute’s forehead; You refused to be ashamed.

⁴Have you not just now called to Me, ‘My Father, You are the friend of my youth?

⁵Will He be angry forever, Or keep His anger to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken And have done evil things, And you have had your own way.”

⁶Then the LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there.

⁷Yet I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

⁸And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also.

⁹And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.

¹⁰Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the LORD.

¹¹And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah.

¹²Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not look at you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not be angry forever.

¹³Only acknowledge your wrongdoing, That you have revolted against the LORD your God, And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every leafy tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the LORD.

¹⁴‘Return, you faithless sons,’ declares the LORD; ‘For I am a master to you, And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, And bring you to Zion.’

¹⁵“Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you knowledge and understanding.

¹⁶And it shall be in those days when you become numerous and are fruitful in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor miss it, nor will it be made again.

¹⁷At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the LORD,’ and all the nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; and they will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil heart.

¹⁸In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

¹⁹“Then I said, ‘How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.’

²⁰However, as a woman treacherously leaves her lover, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, House of Israel,” declares the LORD.

²¹A voice is heard on the bare heights, The weeping, the pleading of the sons of Israel. Because they have perverted their way, They have forgotten the LORD their God.

²²“Return, you faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to You; For You are the LORD our God.

²³Certainly the hills are a deception, Commotion on the mountains. Certainly in the LORD our God Is the salvation of Israel.

²⁴“But the shame has consumed the product of our fathers’ labor since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

²⁵Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”

¹Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

²And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, the Jewish believers took issue with him,

³saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴But Peter began and explained at length to them in an orderly sequence, saying,

⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was,

⁶and I stared at it and was thinking about it, and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky.

⁷I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’

⁸But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’

¹⁰This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky.

¹¹And behold, at that moment three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea came up to the house where we were staying.

¹²And the Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.

¹³And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send some men to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;

¹⁴and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’

¹⁵And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning.

¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptizedwith the Holy Spirit.’

¹⁷Therefore, if God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

¹⁹So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

²⁰But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus.

²¹And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

²²The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.

²³Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord;

²⁴for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And considerable numbers were added to the Lord.

²⁵And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul;

²⁶and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

²⁷Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸One of them, named Agabus, stood up and indicated by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.

²⁹And to the extent that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brothers and sisters living in Judea.

³⁰And they did this, sending it with Barnabas and Saul to the elders.