Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.

²Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.

³Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

⁴Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

⁵He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

⁶Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

⁷Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.

⁸When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.

⁹Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him.

¹⁰For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him.

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

¹²But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.

¹³Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.

¹⁴He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach

¹⁵and to have authority to drive out demons.

¹⁶These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter),

¹⁷James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”),

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

¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

²⁰Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.

²¹When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

²²And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

²³So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak 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; his end has come.

²⁷In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.

²⁸Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter,

²⁹but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

³⁰He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

³¹Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.

³²A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

³³“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

³⁴Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

³⁵Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

¹Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”

²And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.

³Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

⁴So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were.

⁵He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me.

⁶You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,

⁷yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me.

⁸If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young.

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

¹⁰“In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted.

¹¹The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’

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

¹³I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’ ”

¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate?

¹⁵Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us.

¹⁶Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”

¹⁷Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels,

¹⁸and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

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

²⁰Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away.

²¹So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.

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

²³Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.

²⁴Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

²⁵Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too.

²⁶Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.

²⁷Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps?

²⁸You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing.

²⁹I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’

³⁰Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?”

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

³²But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.

³³So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.

³⁴Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.

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

³⁶Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “How have I wronged you that you hunt me down?

³⁷Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.

³⁸“I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.

³⁹I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night.

⁴⁰This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

⁴¹It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times.

⁴²If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”

⁴³Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?

⁴⁴Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”

⁴⁵So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.

⁴⁶He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap.

⁴⁷Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.

⁴⁸Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed.

⁴⁹It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.

⁵⁰If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”

⁵¹Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me.

⁵²This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me.

⁵³May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.

⁵⁴He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.

⁵⁵Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.

¹Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.

²By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

³For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: 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, and then to the Twelve.

⁶After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

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

⁸and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve 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 to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

¹¹Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

¹²But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that 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, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

¹⁵More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.

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

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

¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.

¹⁹If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰But Christ has indeed 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 comes also through a man.

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

²³But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

²⁴Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

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

²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

²⁷For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.

²⁸When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

²⁹Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?

³⁰And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?

³¹I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord.

³²If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

³³Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

³⁴Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.

³⁵But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”

³⁶How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

³⁷When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

³⁸But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.

³⁹Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another.

⁴⁰There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.

⁴¹The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

⁴²So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;

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

⁴⁴it is sown a natural body, it is 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, a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.

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

⁴⁸As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.

⁴⁹And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.

⁵⁰I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

⁵¹Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—

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

⁵³For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

⁵⁴When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

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

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

⁵⁸Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

¹Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.

²As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

³For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.

⁴They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.

⁵But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

⁶For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

⁷The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.

⁸Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

⁹Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

¹⁰Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

¹¹If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

¹²Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

¹³But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

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

¹⁵If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.

¹⁶However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

¹⁷For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

¹⁸And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

¹⁹So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

¹“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.

²For what is our lot from God above, our heritage from the Almighty on high?

³Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?

⁴Does he not see my ways and count my every step?

⁵“If I have walked with falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit—

⁶let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless—

⁷if my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled,

⁸then may others eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.

⁹“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

¹⁰then may my wife grind another man’s grain, and may other men sleep with her.

¹¹For that would have been wicked, a sin to be judged.

¹²It is a fire that burns to Destruction; it would have uprooted my harvest.

¹³“If I have denied justice to any of my servants, whether male or female, when they had a grievance against me,

¹⁴what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account?

¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?

¹⁶“If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,

¹⁷if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless—

¹⁸but from my youth I reared them as a father would, and from my birth I guided the widow—

¹⁹if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or the needy without garments,

²⁰and their hearts did not bless me for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,

²¹if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court,

²²then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint.

²³For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

²⁴“If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’

²⁵if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained,

²⁶if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,

²⁷so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,

²⁸then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.

²⁹“If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune or gloated over the trouble that came to him—

³⁰I have not allowed my mouth to sin by invoking a curse against their life—

³¹if those of my household have never said, ‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’—

³²but no stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler—

³³if I have concealed my sin as people do, by hiding my guilt in my heart

³⁴because I so feared the crowd and so dreaded the contempt of the clans that I kept silent and would not go outside—

³⁵(“Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

³⁶Surely I would wear it on my shoulder, I would put it on like a crown.

³⁷I would give him an account of my every step; I would present it to him as to a ruler.)—

³⁸“if my land cries out against me and all its furrows are wet with tears,

³⁹if I have devoured its yield without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,

⁴⁰then let briers come up instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

¹For the director of music. A psalm of David. In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.

²Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

³Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

⁴Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.

⁵Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.

⁶I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the LORD.

⁷I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.

⁸You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

⁹Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief.

¹⁰My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.

¹¹Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors and an object of dread to my closest friends— those who see me on the street flee from me.

¹²I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.

¹³For I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side!” They conspire against me and plot to take my life.

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

¹⁵My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.

¹⁶Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.

¹⁷Let me not be put to shame, LORD, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and be silent in the realm of the dead.

¹⁸Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

¹⁹How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you.

²⁰In the shelter of your presence you hide them from all human intrigues; you keep them safe in your dwelling from accusing tongues.

²¹Praise be to the LORD, for he showed me the wonders of his love when I was in a city under siege.

²²In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight!” Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.

²³Love the LORD, all his faithful people! The LORD preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full.

²⁴Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

¹The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him.

²Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb! Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers!

³Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings.

⁴It is not for kings, Lemuel— it is not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer,

⁵lest they drink and forget what has been decreed, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.

⁶Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish!

⁷Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.

⁸Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.

⁹Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

¹⁰A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.

¹¹Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.

¹²She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

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

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

¹⁵She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants.

¹⁶She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.

¹⁸She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.

¹⁹In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

²⁰She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

²¹When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

²²She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

²³Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.

²⁵She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.

²⁶She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

²⁷She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

²⁸Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

²⁹“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”

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

³¹Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

¹Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.

²The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’

³Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

⁴But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

⁵So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.”

⁶Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

⁷The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”

⁸So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.

⁹During that night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.

¹⁰If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah

¹¹and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp.

¹²The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.

¹³Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

¹⁴His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

¹⁵When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”

¹⁶Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.

¹⁷“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do.

¹⁸When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.’ ”

¹⁹Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands.

²⁰The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”

²¹While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

²²When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

²³Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites.

²⁴Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah.

²⁵They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.

¹Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.

²Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words. He will rise up against that wicked nation, against those who help evildoers.

³But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out his hand, those who help will stumble, those who are helped will fall; all will perish together.

⁴This is what the LORD says to me: “As a lion growls, a great lion over its prey— and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against it, it is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor— so the LORD Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.

⁵Like birds hovering overhead, the LORD Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.”

⁶Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against.

⁷For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made.

⁸“Assyria will fall by no human sword; a sword, not of mortals, will devour them. They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor.

⁹Their stronghold will fall because of terror; at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

¹One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.

²Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.

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

⁴Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!”

⁵So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

⁶Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

⁷Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.

⁸He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.

⁹When all the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹²When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

¹⁴You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

¹⁵You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.

¹⁶By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

¹⁷“Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.

¹⁸But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.

¹⁹Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

²⁰and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

²¹Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

²²For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.

²³Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’

²⁴“Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days.

²⁵And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’

²⁶When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”