Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now after this the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

²And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

³Go; behold, I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves.

⁴Carry no money belt, nobag, no sandals, and greet no one along the way.

⁵And whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’

⁶And if aman of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you.

⁷Stay inthat house, eating and drinkingwhat they provide; for the laborer is deserving of his wages. Do not move from house to house.

⁸Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is served to you;

⁹and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

¹⁰But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say,

¹¹‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yetbe sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’

¹²I say to you, it will be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that city.

¹³“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

¹⁴But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.

¹⁵And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!

¹⁶“The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; but the one who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”

¹⁷Now the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!”

¹⁸And He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to walk on snakes and scorpions, and authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

²⁰Nevertheless, do notrejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

²¹At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “Ipraise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for doing so was well pleasing in Your sight.

²²All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son determines to reveal Him.”

²³Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see;

²⁴for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things that you hear, and did not hear them.”

²⁵And behold, a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶And He said to him, “What is written in the Law?How does it read to you?”

²⁷And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

²⁸And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

²⁹But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him andbeat him, and went away leaving him half dead.

³¹And by coincidence a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

³²Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

³³But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,

³⁴and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

³⁵On the next day he took out twodenarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’

³⁶Which of these three do you thinkproved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”

³⁷And he said, “The one who showed compassion to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and dothe same.”

³⁸Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord’s feet, and was listening to His word.

⁴⁰But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do the serving by myself? Then tell her to help me.”

⁴¹But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;

⁴²but only one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the sons of Israel, and obtain from them a staff for each father’s household: twelve staffs, from all their leaders for their fathers’ households. You shall write each man’s name on his staff,

³and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for there is to be one staff for the head of each of their fathers’ households.

⁴You shall then leave them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you.

⁵And it will come about that the staff of the man whom I choose will sprout. So I will relieve Myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.”

⁶So Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, for their fathers’ households, twelve staffs in all, with the staff of Aaron among their staffs.

⁷Then Moses left the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the testimony.

⁸Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, Aaron’s staff for the house of Levi had sprouted and produced buds and bloomed with blossoms, and it yielded ripe almonds.

⁹Moses then brought out all the staffs from the presence of the LORD to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his staff.

¹⁰But the LORD said to Moses, “Put the staff of Aaron back in front of the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, so that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me and they do not die.”

¹¹Moses did so; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did.

¹²Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we are passing away, we are perishing, we are all perishing!

¹³Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, must die. Are we to perish completely?”

¹I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit,

²that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.

³For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my countrymen, my kinsmen according to the flesh,

⁴who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and daughters, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the temple service, and the promises;

⁵whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

⁶But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;

⁷nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE NAMED.”

⁸That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

⁹For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH WILL HAVE A SON.”

¹⁰And not only that, but there was also Rebekah, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;

¹¹for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,

¹²it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”

¹³Just as it is written: “JACOB I HAVE LOVED, BUT ESAU I HAVE HATED.”

¹⁴What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? Far from it!

¹⁵For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL SHOW COMPASSION TO WHOMEVER I SHOW COMPASSION.”

¹⁶So then, it does not depend on the person who wants it nor the one who runs, but on God who has mercy.

¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY REASON I RAISED YOU UP, IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE EARTH.”

¹⁸So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

¹⁹You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”

²⁰On the contrary, who are you, you foolish person, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?

²¹Or does the potter not have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one object for honorable use, and another for common use?

²²What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction?

²³And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon objects of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,

²⁴namely us, whom He also called, not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles,

²⁵as He also says in Hosea: “I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’ ”

²⁶“AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.”

²⁷Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL MAY BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, ONLY the remnant will be saved;

²⁸FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY.”

²⁹And just as Isaiah foretold: “IF THE LORD OF ARMIES HAD NOT LEFT US DESCENDANTS, WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE GOMORRAH.”

³⁰What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, but the righteousness that is by faith;

³¹however, Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.

³²Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though they could by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

³³just as it is written: “BEHOLD, I AM LAYING IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND THE ONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.”

¹After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated from his glory.

²And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.

³For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich from the excessive wealth of her luxury.”

⁴I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive any of her plagues;

⁵for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her offenses.

⁶Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.

⁷To the extent that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, to the same extent give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’

⁸For this reason in one day her plagues will come, plague and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.

⁹“And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of sexual immorality and lived luxuriously with her, will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her burning,

¹⁰standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’

¹¹“And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more—

¹²cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; every kind of citron wood, every article of ivory, and every article made from very valuable wood, bronze, iron, and marble;

¹³cinnamon, spice, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, and cargo of horses, carriages, slaves, and human lives.

¹⁴The fruit you long for has left you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and people will no longer find them.

¹⁵The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,

¹⁶saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls;

¹⁷for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’ And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and all who make their living by the sea, stood at a distance,

¹⁸and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’

¹⁹And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich from her prosperity, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’

²⁰Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”

²¹Then a strong angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will never be found again.

²²And the sound of harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; and no craftsman of any craft will ever be found in you again; and the sound of a mill will never be heard in you again;

²³and the light of a lamp will never shine in you again; and the voice of the groom and bride will never be heard in you again; for your merchants were the powerful people of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your witchcraft.

²⁴And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

²“Shall a multitude of words go unanswered, And a talkative man be acquitted?

³Shall your boasts silence people? And will you scoff, and no one rebuke?

⁴For you have said, ‘My teaching is pure, And I am innocent in your eyes.’

⁵But if only God would speak, And open His lips against you,

⁶And show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know then that God forgets part of your guilt.

⁷“Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?

⁸They are as high as the heavens; what can you do? Deeper than Sheol; what can you know?

⁹Its measurement is longer than the earth And broader than the sea.

¹⁰If He passes by or apprehends people, Or calls an assembly, who can restrain Him?

¹¹For He knows false people, And He sees injustice without investigating.

¹²An idiot will become intelligent When a wild donkey is born a human.

¹³“If you would direct your heart rightly And spread out your hands to Him,

¹⁴If wrongdoing is in your hand, put it far away, And do not let malice dwell in your tents;

¹⁵Then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral blemish, And you would be firmly established and not fear.

¹⁶For you would forget your trouble; Like waters that have passed by, you would remember it.

¹⁷Your life would be brighter than noonday; Darkness would be like the morning.

¹⁸Then you would trust, because there is hope; And you would look around and rest securely.

¹⁹You would lie down and none would disturb you, And many would flatter you.

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last.”

¹LORD, in Your strength the king will be glad, And in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice!

²You have given him his heart’s desire, And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

³For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of pure gold on his head.

⁴He asked for life from You, You gave it to him, Length of days forever and ever.

⁵His glory is great through Your salvation, Splendor and majesty You place upon him.

⁶For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with the joy of Your presence.

⁷For the king trusts in the LORD, And through the faithfulness of the Most High he will not be shaken.

⁸Your hand will find all your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate you.

⁹You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger; The LORD will swallow them up in His wrath, And fire will devour them.

¹⁰You will eliminate their descendants from the earth, And their children from among the sons of mankind.

¹¹Though they intended evil against You And devised a plot, They will not succeed.

¹²For You will make them turn their back; You will take aim at their faces with Your bowstrings.

¹³Be exalted, LORD, in Your strength; We will sing and praise Your power.

¹A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.

²When pride comes, then comes dishonor; But with the humble there is wisdom.

³The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the treacherous will destroy them.

⁴Riches do not benefit on the day of wrath, But righteousness rescues from death.

⁵The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

⁶The righteousness of the upright will rescue them, But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.

⁷When a wicked person dies, his expectation will perish, And the hope of strong people perishes.

⁸The righteous is rescued from trouble, But the wicked takes his place.

⁹With his mouth the godless person destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be rescued.

¹⁰When things go well for the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

¹¹By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, But by the mouth of the wicked, it is torn down.

¹²One who despises his neighbor lacks sense, But a person of understanding keeps silent.

¹³One who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, But one who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

¹⁴Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in an abundance of counselors there is victory.

¹⁵One who is a guarantor for a stranger will certainly suffer for it, But one who hates being a guarantor is secure.

¹⁶A gracious woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches.

¹⁷A merciful person does himself good, But the cruel person does himself harm.

¹⁸A wicked person earns deceptive wages, But one who sows righteousness gets a true reward.

¹⁹One who is steadfast in righteousness attains life, But one who pursues evil attains his own death.

²⁰The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, But the blameless in their walk are His delight.

²¹Be assured, the evil person will not go unpunished, But the descendants of the righteous will be rescued.

²²As a ring of gold in a pig’s snout So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

²³The desire of the righteous is only good, But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

²⁴There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in poverty.

²⁵A generous person will be prosperous, And one who gives others plenty of water will himself be given plenty.

²⁶One who withholds grain, the people will curse him, But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

²⁷One who diligently seeks good seeks favor, But one who seeks evil, evil will come to him.

²⁸One who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.

²⁹One who troubles his own house will inherit wind, And the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.

³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And one who is wise gains souls.

³¹If the righteous will be repaid on the earth, How much more the wicked and the sinner!

¹Then they informed David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are plundering the threshing floors.”

²So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”

³But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are fearful here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines?”

⁴So David inquired of the LORD once more. And the LORD answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I am going to hand the Philistines over to you.”

⁵Then David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines; and he drove away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶Now it came about, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.

⁷When it was reported to Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has handed him over to me, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars.”

⁸So Saul summoned all the people for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

⁹But David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”

¹⁰Then David said, “LORD God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account.

¹¹Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? LORD God of Israel, please, tell Your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.”

¹²Then David said, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will hand you over.”

¹³Then David and his men, about six hundred, rose up and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit.

¹⁴David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand him over to him.

¹⁵Now David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph, at Horesh.

¹⁶And Jonathan, Saul’s son, set out and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God.

¹⁷He said to him, “Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel, and I will be second in command to you; and Saul my father knows that as well.”

¹⁸So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD; and David stayed at Horesh, while Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹Then Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not keeping himself hidden with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon?

²⁰Now then, O king, come down, since you fully desire to do so; and our part shall be to hand him over to the king.”

²¹Saul said, “May you be blessed of the LORD, since you have had compassion on me.

²²Go now, be more persistent, and investigate and see his place where he is hiding, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning.

²³So look, and learn about all the hiding places where he keeps himself hidden, and return to me with certainty, and I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”

²⁴So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon.

²⁵When Saul and his men went to seek him, they informed David, and he came down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.

²⁶Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to apprehend them.

²⁷But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have launched an attack against the land!”

²⁸So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Division.

²⁹And David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi.

¹“Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem, And look and take notice. And seek in her public squares, If you can find a person, If there is one who does justice, who seeks honesty, Then I will forgive her.

²And although they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ Certainly they swear falsely.”

³LORD, do Your eyes not look for honesty? You have struck them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.

⁴Then I said, “They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the judgment of their God.

⁵I will go to the great And speak to them, For they know the way of the LORD And the judgment of their God.” But together they too have broken the yoke And burst the restraints.

⁶Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them, A wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, Because their wrongdoings are many, Their apostasies are numerous.

⁷“Why should I forgive you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And stayed at the prostitute’s house.

⁸They were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing at his neighbor’s wife.

⁹Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD, “And shall I not avenge Myself On a nation such as this?

¹⁰“Go up through her vine rows and destroy, But do not execute a complete destruction; Strip away her branches, For they are not the LORD’S.

¹¹For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the LORD.

¹²They have lied about the LORD And said, “Not He; Misfortune will not come upon us, Nor will we see sword or famine.

¹³The prophets are as wind, And the word is not in them. So it will be done to them!”

¹⁴Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of armies says: “Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words fire in your mouth, And this people wood, and it will consume them.

¹⁵Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from far away, you house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an enduring nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.

¹⁶Their quiver is like an open grave, All of them are warriors.

¹⁷They will devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your vines and your fig trees; They will demolish your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.

¹⁸“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a complete destruction of you.

¹⁹And it shall come about when they say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Just as you have abandoned Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

²⁰“Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying,

²¹‘Now hear this, you foolish and senseless people, Who have eyes but do not see, Who have ears but do not hear.

²²Do you not fear Me?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal limit, and it will not cross over it. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; Though they roar, they will not cross over it.

²³But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed.

²⁴They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest.”

²⁵Your wrongdoings have turned these away, And your sins have kept good away from you.

²⁶For wicked people are found among My people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch people.

²⁷Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich.

²⁸They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, so that they may be successful; And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

²⁹Shall I not punish them for these things?’ declares the LORD, ‘Or shall I not avenge Myself On a nation such as this?’

³⁰“An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land:

³¹The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it this way! But what will you do when the end comes?

¹Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

²While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then, when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

⁵When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.

⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

⁷who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him,

¹⁰and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

¹¹Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

¹²Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁴But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue officials sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

¹⁶Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it.

¹⁸For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.

¹⁹When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about 450 years.

²⁰After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

²¹Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

²²After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

²³From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

²⁴after John had proclaimed, before His coming, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the declarations of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him.

²⁸And though they found no grounds for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed.

²⁹When they had carried out everything that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised Him from the dead;

³¹and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people.

³²And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,

³³that God has fulfilled this promise to those of us who are the descendants by raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE FATHERED YOU.’

³⁴As for the fact that He raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and faithful mercies of DAVID.’

³⁵Therefore, He also says in another Psalm: ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’

³⁶For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, and was buried among his fathers and underwent decay;

³⁷but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.

³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

³⁹and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

⁴⁰Therefore, see that the thing spoken of in the Prophets does not come upon you:

⁴¹‘LOOK, YOU SCOFFERS, AND BE ASTONISHED, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’ ”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people repeatedly begged to have these things spoken to them the next Sabbath.

⁴³Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The next Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.

⁴⁶Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE APPOINTED YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’ ”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.

⁵¹But they shook off the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

⁵²And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.