Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a shriveled hand.

²In order to accuse him, they were watching him closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath.

³He told the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand before us.”

⁴Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

⁵After looking around at them with anger, he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

⁶Immediately the Pharisees went out and started plotting with the Herodians against him, how they might kill him.

⁷Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee, and a large crowd followed from Judea,

⁸Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing.

⁹Then he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, so that the crowd wouldn’t crush him.

¹⁰Since he had healed many, all who had diseases were pressing toward him to touch him.

¹¹Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!”

¹²And he would strongly warn them not to make him known.

¹³Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him.

¹⁴He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach,

¹⁵and to have authority to drive out demons.

¹⁶He appointed the Twelve: To Simon, he gave the name Peter;

¹⁷and to James the son of Zebedee, and to his brother John, he gave the name “Boanerges” (that is, “Sons of Thunder” );

¹⁸Andrew; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot,

¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

²⁰Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat.

²¹When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said, “He’s out of his mind.”

²²The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,”  and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

²³So he summoned them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?

²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

²⁵If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

²⁶And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished.

²⁷But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.

²⁸“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.

²⁹But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”  —

³⁰because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

³¹His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to him and called him.

³²A crowd was sitting around him and told him, “Look, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside asking for you.”

³³He replied to them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

³⁴Looking at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

³⁵Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

¹Now Jacob heard what Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s and has built this wealth from what belonged to our father.”

²And Jacob saw from Laban’s face that his attitude toward him was not the same as before.

³The LORD said to him, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”

⁴Jacob had Rachel and Leah called to the field where his flocks were.

⁵He said to them, “I can see from your father’s face that his attitude toward me is not the same as before, but the God of my father has been with me.

⁶You know that with all my strength I have served your father

⁷and that he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not let him harm me.

⁸If he said, ‘The spotted sheep will be your wages,’ then all the sheep were born spotted. If he said, ‘The streaked sheep will be your wages,’ then all the sheep were born streaked.

⁹God has taken away your father’s herds and given them to me.

¹⁰“When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females.

¹¹In that dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’

¹²And he said, ‘Look up and see: all the males that are mating with the flocks are streaked, spotted, and speckled, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.

¹³I am the God of Bethel, where you poured oil on the stone marker and made a solemn vow to me. Get up, leave this land, and return to your native land.’”

¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Do we have any portion or inheritance in our father’s family?

¹⁵Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? For he has sold us and has certainly spent our purchase price.

¹⁶In fact, all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has said to you.”

¹⁷So Jacob got up and put his children and wives on the camels.

¹⁸He took all the livestock and possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, and he drove his herds to go to the land of Canaan, to his father Isaac.

¹⁹When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.

²⁰And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean, not telling him that he was fleeing.

²¹He fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.

²²On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled.

²³So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.

²⁴But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night. “Watch yourself!” God warned him. “Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

²⁵When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his relatives also pitched their tents in the hill country of Gilead.

²⁶Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war!

²⁷Why did you secretly flee from me, deceive me, and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and lyres,

²⁸but you didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters. You have acted foolishly.

²⁹I could do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me: ‘Watch yourself! Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’

³⁰Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s family — but why have you stolen my gods?”

³¹Jacob answered, “I was afraid, for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force.

³²If you find your gods with anyone here, he will not live! Before our relatives, point out anything that is yours and take it.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

³³So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, Leah’s tent, and the tents of the two concubines, but he found nothing. When he left Leah’s tent, he went into Rachel’s tent.

³⁴Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of the camel, and sat on them. Laban searched the whole tent but found nothing.

³⁵She said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.

³⁶Then Jacob became incensed and brought charges against Laban. “What is my crime?” he said to Laban. “What is my sin, that you have pursued me?

³⁷You’ve searched all my possessions! Have you found anything of yours? Put it here before my relatives and yours, and let them decide between the two of us.

³⁸I’ve been with you these twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams from your flock.

³⁹I did not bring you any of the flock torn by wild beasts; I myself bore the loss. You demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or by night.

⁴⁰There I was — the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

⁴¹For twenty years in your household I served you — fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks  — and you have changed my wages ten times!

⁴²If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work, and he issued his verdict last night.”

⁴³Then Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters; the sons, my sons; and the flocks, my flocks! Everything you see is mine! But what can I do today for these daughters of mine or for the children they have borne?

⁴⁴Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I. Let it be a witness between the two of us.”

⁴⁵So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a marker.

⁴⁶Then Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound.

⁴⁷Laban named the mound Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed.

⁴⁸Then Laban said, “This mound is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore the place was called Galeed

⁴⁹and also Mizpah, for he said, “May the LORD watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight.

⁵⁰If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, though no one is with us, understand that God will be a witness between you and me.”

⁵¹Laban also said to Jacob, “Look at this mound and the marker I have set up between you and me.

⁵²This mound is a witness and the marker is a witness that I will not pass beyond this mound to you, and you will not pass beyond this mound and this marker to do me harm.

⁵³The God of Abraham, and the gods of Nahor — the gods of their father  — will judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

⁵⁴Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. So they ate a meal and spent the night on the mountain.

⁵⁵Laban got up early in the morning, kissed his grandchildren and daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban left to return home.

¹Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand

²and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.

³For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

⁶Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.

⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

⁸Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

¹¹Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

¹²Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?

¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;

¹⁴and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.

¹⁵Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ — whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised.

¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

¹⁸Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished.

¹⁹If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

²⁰But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

²¹For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.

²²For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

²³But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

²⁴Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.

²⁵For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet.

²⁶The last enemy to be abolished is death.

²⁷For God has put everything under his feet. Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception.

²⁸When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

²⁹Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?

³⁰Why are we in danger every hour?

³¹I face death every day, as surely as I may boast about you, brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

³²If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus as a mere man, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

³⁴Come to your senses and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.

³⁵But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?”

³⁶You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

³⁷And as for what you sow — you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain.

³⁸But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body.

³⁹Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

⁴⁰There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones.

⁴¹There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor.

⁴²So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption;

⁴³sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power;

⁴⁴sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

⁴⁵So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

⁴⁷The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

⁴⁸Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.

⁴⁹And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

⁵⁰What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption.

⁵¹Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,

⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

⁵³For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.

⁵⁴When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory.

⁵⁵Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

⁵⁸Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

¹Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding  — because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin  —

²in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.

³For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry.

⁴They are surprised that you don’t join them in the same flood of wild living — and they slander you.

⁵They will give an account to the one who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.

⁶For this reason the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead, so that, although they might be judged in the flesh according to human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God’s standards.

⁷The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer.

⁸Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.

⁹Be hospitable to one another without complaining.

¹⁰Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

¹¹If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

¹²Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you.

¹³Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.

¹⁴If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

¹⁵Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler.

¹⁶But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.

¹⁷For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?

¹⁸And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

¹⁹So then, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good.

¹I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I look at a young woman?

²For what portion would I have from God above, or what inheritance from the Almighty on high?

³Doesn’t disaster come to the unjust and misfortune to evildoers?

⁴Does he not see my ways and number all my steps?

⁵If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit,

⁶let God weigh me on accurate scales, and he will recognize my integrity.

⁷If my step has turned from the way, my heart has followed my eyes, or impurity has stained my hands,

⁸let someone else eat what I have sown, and let my crops be uprooted.

⁹If my heart has gone astray over a woman or I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

¹⁰let my own wife grind grain for another man, and let other men sleep with her.

¹¹For that would be a disgrace; it would be an iniquity deserving punishment.

¹²For it is a fire that consumes down to Abaddon; it would destroy my entire harvest.

¹³If I have dismissed the case of my male or female servants when they made a complaint against me,

¹⁴what could I do when God stands up to judge? How should I answer him when he calls me to account?

¹⁵Did not the one who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same God form us both in the womb?

¹⁶If I have refused the wishes of the poor or let the widow’s eyes go blind,

¹⁷if I have eaten my few crumbs alone without letting the fatherless eat any of it —

¹⁸for from my youth, I raised him as his father, and since the day I was born I guided the widow —

¹⁹if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing or a needy person without a cloak,

²⁰if he did not bless me while warming himself with the fleece from my sheep,

²¹if I ever cast my vote against a fatherless child when I saw that I had support in the city gate,

²²then let my shoulder blade fall from my back, and my arm be pulled from its socket.

²³For disaster from God terrifies me, and because of his majesty I could not do these things.

²⁴If I placed my confidence in gold or called fine gold my trust,

²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth is great or because my own hand has acquired so much,

²⁶if I have gazed at the sun when it was shining or at the moon moving in splendor,

²⁷so that my heart was secretly enticed and I threw them a kiss,

²⁸this would also be an iniquity deserving punishment, for I would have denied God above.

²⁹Have I rejoiced over my enemy’s distress, or become excited when trouble came his way?

³⁰I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse.

³¹Haven’t the members of my household said, “Who is there who has not had enough to eat at Job’s table?”

³²No stranger had to spend the night on the street, for I opened my door to the traveler.

³³Have I covered my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my heart

³⁴because I greatly feared the crowds and because the contempt of the clans terrified me, so I grew silent and would not go outside?

³⁵If only I had someone to hear my case! Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me. Let my Opponent compose his indictment.

³⁶I would surely carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown.

³⁷I would give him an account of all my steps; I would approach him like a prince.

³⁸If my land cries out against me and its furrows join in weeping,

³⁹if I have consumed its produce without payment or shown contempt for its tenants,

⁴⁰then let thorns grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley. The words of Job are concluded.

¹For the choir director. A psalm of David. [1] LORD, I seek refuge in you; let me never be disgraced. Save me by your righteousness.

²Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly. Be a rock of refuge for me, a mountain fortress to save me.

³For you are my rock and my fortress; you lead and guide me for your name’s sake.

⁴You will free me from the net that is secretly set for me, for you are my refuge.

⁵Into your hand I entrust my spirit; you have redeemed me, LORD, God of truth.

⁶I hate those who are devoted to worthless idols, but I trust in the LORD.

⁷I will rejoice and be glad in your faithful love because you have seen my affliction. You know the troubles of my soul

⁸and have not handed me over to the enemy. You have set my feet in a spacious place.

⁹Be gracious to me, LORD, because I am in distress; my eyes are worn out from frustration — my whole being as well.

¹⁰Indeed, my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my strength has failed because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.

¹¹I am ridiculed by all my adversaries and even by my neighbors. I am dreaded by my acquaintances; those who see me in the street run from me.

¹²I am forgotten: gone from memory like a dead person — like broken pottery.

¹³I have heard the gossip of many; terror is on every side. When they conspired against me, they plotted to take my life.

¹⁴But I trust in you, LORD; I say, “You are my God.”

¹⁵The course of my life is in your power; rescue me from the power of my enemies and from my persecutors.

¹⁶Make your face shine on your servant; save me by your faithful love.

¹⁷LORD, do not let me be disgraced when I call on you. Let the wicked be disgraced; let them be quiet in Sheol.

¹⁸Let lying lips that arrogantly speak against the righteous in proud contempt be silenced.

¹⁹How great is your goodness that you have stored up for those who fear you and accomplished in the sight of everyone for those who take refuge in you.

²⁰You hide them in the protection of your presence; you conceal them in a shelter from human schemes, from quarrelsome tongues.

²¹Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his faithful love to me in a city under siege.

²²In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight.” But you heard the sound of my pleading when I cried to you for help.

²³Love the LORD, all his faithful ones. The LORD protects the loyal, but fully repays the arrogant.

²⁴Be strong, and let your heart be courageous, all you who put your hope in the LORD.

¹The words of King Lemuel, a pronouncement that his mother taught him:

²What should I say, my son? What, son of my womb? What, son of my vows?

³Don’t spend your energy on women or your efforts on those who destroy kings.

⁴It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire beer.

⁵Otherwise, he will drink, forget what is decreed, and pervert justice for all the oppressed.

⁶Give beer to one who is dying and wine to one whose life is bitter.

⁷Let him drink so that he can forget his poverty and remember his trouble no more.

⁸Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed.

⁹Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the oppressed and needy.

¹⁰Who can find a wife of noble character? She is far more precious than jewels.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will not lack anything good.

¹²She rewards him with good, not evil, all the days of her life.

¹³She selects wool and flax and works with willing hands.

¹⁴She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from far away.

¹⁵She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and portions for her female servants.

¹⁶She evaluates a field and buys it; she plants a vineyard with her earnings.

¹⁷She draws on her strength and reveals that her arms are strong.

¹⁸She sees that her profits are good, and her lamp never goes out at night.

¹⁹She extends her hands to the spinning staff, and her hands hold the spindle.

²⁰Her hands reach out to the poor, and she extends her hands to the needy.

²¹She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all in her household are doubly clothed.

²²She makes her own bed coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple.

²³Her husband is known at the city gates, where he sits among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes and sells linen garments; she delivers belts to the merchants.

²⁵Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come.

²⁶Her mouth speaks wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue.

²⁷She watches over the activities of her household and is never idle.

²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also praises her:

²⁹“Many women have done noble deeds, but you surpass them all!”

³⁰Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD will be praised.

³¹Give her the reward of her labor, and let her works praise her at the city gates.

¹Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him, got up early and camped beside the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them, below the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

²The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, ‘My own strength saved me.’

³Now announce to the troops: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of the troops turned back, but ten thousand remained.

⁴Then the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many troops. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one can go with you,’ he can go. But if I say about anyone, ‘This one cannot go with you,’ he cannot go.”

⁵So he brought the troops down to the water, and the LORD said to Gideon, “Separate everyone who laps water with his tongue like a dog. Do the same with everyone who kneels to drink.”

⁶The number of those who lapped with their hands to their mouths was three hundred men, and all the rest of the troops knelt to drink water.

⁷The LORD said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the three hundred men who lapped and hand the Midianites over to you. But everyone else is to go home.”

⁸So Gideon sent all the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred troops, who took the provisions and their trumpets. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

⁹That night the LORD said to him, “Get up and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you.

¹⁰But if you are afraid to attack the camp, go down with Purah your servant.

¹¹Listen to what they say, and then you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the troops who were in the camp.

¹²Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the Qedemites had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.

¹³When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling his friend about a dream. He said, “Listen, I had a dream: a loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent, and it fell. The loaf turned the tent upside down so that it collapsed.”

¹⁴His friend answered: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed the entire Midianite camp over to him.”

¹⁵When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to Israel’s camp and said, “Get up, for the LORD has handed the Midianite camp over to you.”

¹⁶Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each of the men a trumpet in one hand and an empty pitcher with a torch inside it in the other hand.

¹⁷“Watch me,” he said to them, “and do what I do. When I come to the outpost of the camp, do as I do.

¹⁸When I and everyone with me blow our trumpets, you are also to blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then you will say, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon! ’”

¹⁹Gideon and the hundred men who were with him went to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch after the sentries had been stationed. They blew their trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.

²⁰The three companies blew their trumpets and shattered their pitchers. They held their torches in their left hands, their trumpets in their right hands, and shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”

²¹Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army began to run, and they cried out as they fled.

²²When Gideon’s men blew their three hundred trumpets, the LORD caused the men in the whole army to turn on each other with their swords. They fled to Acacia House in the direction of Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.

²³Then the men of Israel were called from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites.

²⁴Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim with this message: “Come down to intercept the Midianites and take control of the watercourses ahead of them as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they took control of the watercourses as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.

²⁵They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb, while they were pursuing the Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.

¹Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who depend on horses! They trust in the abundance of chariots and in the large number of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel and they do not seek the LORD.

²But he also is wise and brings disaster. He does not go back on what he says; he will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers.

³Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD raises his hand to strike, the helper will stumble and the one who is helped will fall; both will perish together.

⁴For this is what the LORD said to me: As a lion or young lion growls over its prey when a band of shepherds is called out against it, and is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their noise, so the LORD of Armies will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.

⁵Like hovering birds, so the LORD of Armies will protect Jerusalem  — by protecting it, he will rescue it, by sparing it, he will deliver it.

⁶Return to the one the Israelites have greatly rebelled against.

⁷For on that day, every one of you will reject the silver and gold idols that your own hands have sinfully made.

⁸Then Assyria will fall, but not by human sword; a sword will devour him, but not one made by man. He will flee from the sword; his young men will be put to forced labor.

⁹His rock will pass away because of fear, and his officers will be afraid because of the signal flag. This is the LORD’s declaration — whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

¹Now Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.

²A man who was lame from birth was being carried there. He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple.

³When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked for money.

⁴Peter, along with John, looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.”

⁵So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

⁷Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong.

⁸So he jumped up and started to walk, and he entered the temple with them — walking, leaping, and praising God.

⁹All the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.

¹¹While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astonished, ran toward them in what is called Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹²When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate, though he had decided to release him.

¹⁴You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you.

¹⁵You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this.

¹⁶By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.

¹⁷“And now, brothers and sisters, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your leaders also did.

¹⁸In this way God fulfilled what he had predicted through all the prophets — that his Messiah would suffer.

¹⁹Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out,

²⁰that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah.

²¹Heaven must receive him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning.

²²Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers and sisters. You must listen to everything he tells you.

²³And everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from the people.

²⁴“In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days.

²⁵You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.

²⁶God raised up his servant and sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”