Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Again he began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.

²He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:

³“Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow.

⁴As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn’t deep.

⁶When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit.

⁸Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.”

⁹Then he said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”

¹⁰When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve, asked him about the parables.

¹¹He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables

¹²so that they may indeed look, and yet not perceive; they may indeed listen, and yet not understand; otherwise, they might turn back and be forgiven.”

¹³Then he said to them: “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables?

¹⁴The sower sows the word.

¹⁵Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.

¹⁶And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.

¹⁷But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.

¹⁸Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word,

¹⁹but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²⁰And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”

²¹He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand?

²²For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.

²³If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.”

²⁴And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you — and more will be added to you.

²⁵For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

²⁶“The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground.

²⁷He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.

²⁸The soil produces a crop by itself — first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head.

²⁹As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

³⁰And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it?

³¹It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground.

³²And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”

³³He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand.

³⁴He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.

³⁵On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.”

³⁶So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him.

³⁷A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.

³⁸He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”

³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

⁴⁰Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

¹Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him.

²When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he called that place Mahanaim.

³Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the territory of Edom.

⁴He commanded them, “You are to say to my lord Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now.

⁵I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female slaves. I have sent this message to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.’”

⁶When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you — and he has four hundred men with him.”

⁷Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people with him into two camps, along with the flocks, herds, and camels.

⁸He thought, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape.”

⁹Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,’

¹⁰I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. Indeed, I crossed over the Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps.

¹¹Please rescue me from my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children.

¹²You have said, ‘I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to be counted.’”

¹³He spent the night there and took part of what he had brought with him as a gift for his brother Esau:

¹⁴two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams,

¹⁵thirty milk camels with their young, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten male donkeys.

¹⁶He entrusted them to his slaves as separate herds and said to them, “Go on ahead of me, and leave some distance between the herds.”

¹⁷And he told the first one: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose animals are these ahead of you?’

¹⁸then tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is behind us.’”

¹⁹He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him.

²⁰You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I want to appease Esau with the gift that is going ahead of me. After that, I can face him, and perhaps he will forgive me.”

²¹So the gift was sent on ahead of him while he remained in the camp that night.

²²During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two slave women, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok.

²³He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.

²⁴Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

²⁵When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip.

²⁶Then he said to Jacob, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷“What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied.

²⁸“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” he said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.”

²⁹Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he answered, “Why do you ask my name?” And he blessed him there.

³⁰Jacob then named the place Peniel, “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared.”

³¹The sun shone on him as he passed by Penuel  — limping because of his hip.

³²That is why, still today, the Israelites don’t eat the thigh muscle that is at the hip socket: because he struck Jacob’s hip socket at the thigh muscle.

¹Now about the collection for the saints: Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches.

²On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering, so that no collections will need to be made when I come.

³When I arrive, I will send with letters those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

⁴If it is suitable for me to go as well, they will travel with me.

⁵I will come to you after I pass through Macedonia  — for I will be traveling through Macedonia —

⁶and perhaps I will remain with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go.

⁷I don’t want to see you now just in passing, since I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows.

⁸But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,

⁹because a wide door for effective ministry has opened for me  — yet many oppose me.

¹⁰If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear while with you, because he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.

¹¹So let no one look down on him. Send him on his way in peace so that he can come to me, because I am expecting him with the brothers.

¹²Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. However, he will come when he has an opportunity.

¹³Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong.

¹⁴Do everything in love.

¹⁵Brothers and sisters, you know the household of Stephanas: They are the firstfruits of Achaia and have devoted themselves to serving the saints. I urge you

¹⁶also to submit to such people, and to everyone who works and labors with them.

¹⁷I am delighted to have Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus present, because these men have made up for your absence.

¹⁸For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore recognize such people.

¹⁹The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla send you greetings warmly in the Lord, along with the church that meets in their home.

²⁰All the brothers and sisters send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

²¹This greeting is in my own hand  — Paul.

²²If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse be on him. Our Lord, come!

²³The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

²⁴My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.

¹I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed:

²Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly;

³not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

⁴And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

⁵In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time,

⁷casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.

⁸Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

⁹Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

¹⁰The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.

¹¹To him be dominion forever. Amen.

¹²Through Silvanus, a faithful brother (as I consider him), I have written to you briefly in order to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!

¹³She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son.

¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

¹So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

²Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite from the family of Ram became angry. He was angry at Job because he had justified himself rather than God.

³He was also angry at Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute him and yet had condemned him.

⁴Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were all older than he.

⁵But when he saw that the three men could not answer Job, he became angry.

⁶So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite replied: I am young in years, while you are old; therefore I was timid and afraid to tell you what I know.

⁷I thought that age should speak and maturity should teach wisdom.

⁸But it is the spirit in a person— the breath from the Almighty— that gives anyone understanding.

⁹It is not only the old who are wise or the elderly who understand how to judge.

¹⁰Therefore I say, “Listen to me. I too will declare what I know.”

¹¹Look, I waited for your conclusions; I listened to your insights as you sought for words.

¹²I paid close attention to you. Yet no one proved Job wrong; not one of you refuted his arguments.

¹³So do not claim, “We have found wisdom; let God deal with him, not man.”

¹⁴But Job has not directed his argument to me, and I will not respond to him with your arguments.

¹⁵Job’s friends are dismayed and can no longer answer; words have left them.

¹⁶Should I continue to wait now that they are silent, now that they stand there and no longer answer?

¹⁷I too will answer; yes, I will tell what I know.

¹⁸For I am full of words, and my spirit compels me to speak.

¹⁹My heart is like unvented wine; it is about to burst like new wineskins.

²⁰I must speak so that I can find relief; I must open my lips and respond.

²¹I will be partial to no one, and I will not give anyone an undeserved title.

²²For I do not know how to give such titles; otherwise, my Maker would remove me in an instant.

¹Of David. A . [1] How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!

²How joyful is a person whom the LORD does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit!

³When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.

⁴For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat. Selah

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

⁶Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to you immediately. When great floodwaters come, they will not reach him.

⁷You are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance. Selah

⁸I will instruct you and show you the way to go; with my eye on you, I will give counsel.

⁹Do not be like a horse or mule, without understanding, that must be controlled with bit and bridle or else it will not come near you.

¹⁰Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the LORD will have faithful love surrounding him.

¹¹Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

¹The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

²For learning wisdom and discipline; for understanding insightful sayings;

³for receiving prudent instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity;

⁴for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man —

⁵let a wise person listen and increase learning, and let a discerning person obtain guidance —

⁶for understanding a proverb or a parable, the words of the wise, and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching,

⁹for they will be a garland of favor on your head and pendants around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, don’t be persuaded.

¹¹If they say — “Come with us! Let’s set an ambush and kill someone. Let’s attack some innocent person just for fun!

¹²Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol, whole, like those who go down to the Pit.

¹³We’ll find all kinds of valuable property and fill our houses with plunder.

¹⁴Throw in your lot with us, and we’ll all share the loot”  —

¹⁵my son, don’t travel that road with them or set foot on their path,

¹⁶because their feet run toward evil and they hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷It is useless to spread a net where any bird can see it,

¹⁸but they set an ambush to kill themselves; they attack their own lives.

¹⁹Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly; it takes the lives of those who receive it.

²⁰Wisdom calls out in the street; she makes her voice heard in the public squares.

²¹She cries out above the commotion; she speaks at the entrance of the city gates:

²²“How long, inexperienced ones, will you love ignorance? How long will you mockers enjoy mocking and you fools hate knowledge?

²³If you respond to my warning, then I will pour out my spirit on you and teach you my words.

²⁴Since I called out and you refused, extended my hand and no one paid attention,

²⁵since you neglected all my counsel and did not accept my correction,

²⁶I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you,

²⁷when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and stress overcome you.

²⁸Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will search for me, but won’t find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge, didn’t choose to fear the LORD,

³⁰were not interested in my counsel, and rejected all my correction,

³¹they will eat the fruit of their way and be glutted with their own schemes.

³²For the apostasy of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will live securely and be undisturbed by the dread of danger.”

¹The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?” And they argued with him violently.

²So he said to them, “What have I done now compared to you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?

³God handed over to you Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he said this, their anger against him subsided.

⁴Gideon and the three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it. They were exhausted but still in pursuit.

⁵He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give some loaves of bread to the troops under my command, because they are exhausted, for I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶But the princes of Succoth asked, “Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands that we should give bread to your army?”

⁷Gideon replied, “Very well, when the LORD has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will tear your flesh with thorns and briers from the wilderness!”

⁸He went from there to Penuel and asked the same thing from them. The men of Penuel answered just as the men of Succoth had answered.

⁹He also told the men of Penuel, “When I return safely, I will tear down this tower!”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and with them was their army of about fifteen thousand men, who were all those left of the entire army of the Qedemites. Those who had been killed were one hundred twenty thousand armed men.

¹¹Gideon traveled on the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked their army while the army felt secure.

¹²Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them. He captured these two kings of Midian and routed the entire army.

¹³Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Heres.

¹⁴He captured a youth from the men of Succoth and interrogated him. The youth wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.

¹⁵Then he went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You taunted me about them, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your power that we should give bread to your exhausted men? ’”

¹⁶So he took the elders of the city, and he took some thorns and briers from the wilderness, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them.

¹⁷He also tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “They were like you,” they said. “Each resembled the son of a king.”

¹⁹So he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

²⁰Then he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” The youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he was still a youth.

²¹Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and strike us down yourself, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

²²Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.”

²³But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.”

²⁴Then he said to them, “Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder.” Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.

²⁵They said, “We agree to give them.” So they spread out a cloak, and everyone threw an earring from his plunder on it.

²⁶The weight of the gold earrings he requested was forty-three pounds of gold, in addition to the crescent ornaments and ear pendants, the purple garments on the kings of Midian, and the chains on the necks of their camels.

²⁷Gideon made an ephod from all this and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. Then all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

²⁸So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they were no longer a threat. The land had peace for forty years during the days of Gideon.

²⁹Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) son of Joash went back to live at his house.

³⁰Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, since he had many wives.

³¹His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

³²Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³When Gideon died, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves by worshiping the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.

³⁴The Israelites did not remember the LORD their God who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies around them.

³⁵They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.

¹Indeed, a king will reign righteously, and rulers will rule justly.

²Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the rain, like flowing streams in a dry land and the shade of a massive rock in an arid land.

³Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.

⁴The reckless mind will gain knowledge, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.

⁵A fool will no longer be called a noble, nor a scoundrel said to be important.

⁶For a fool speaks foolishness and his mind plots iniquity. He lives in a godless way and speaks falsely about the LORD. He leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink.

⁷The scoundrel’s weapons are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the needy with lies, even when the poor person says what is right.

⁸But a noble person plans noble things; he stands up for noble causes.

⁹Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Pay attention to what I say, you overconfident daughters.

¹⁰In a little more than a year you overconfident ones will shudder, for the grapes will fail and the harvest will not come.

¹¹Shudder, you complacent ones; tremble, you overconfident ones! Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists.

¹²Beat your breasts in mourning for the delightful fields and the fruitful vines,

¹³for the ground of my people growing thorns and briers, indeed, for every joyous house in the jubilant city.

¹⁴For the palace will be deserted, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become barren places forever, the joy of wild donkeys, and a pasture for flocks,

¹⁵until the Spirit from on high is poured out on us. Then the desert will become an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.

¹⁶Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the orchard.

¹⁷The result of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.

¹⁸Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure dwellings.

¹⁹But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink into the depths.

²⁰You will be happy as you sow seed beside abundant water, and as you let oxen and donkeys range freely.

¹While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them,

²because they were annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

³So they seized them and took them into custody until the next day since it was already evening.

⁴But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

⁵The next day, their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem

⁶with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all the members of the high-priestly family.

⁷After they had Peter and John stand before them, they began to question them: “By what power or in what name have you done this?”

⁸Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders:

⁹If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he was healed,

¹⁰let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing here before you healthy.

¹¹This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.

¹²There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

¹³When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.

¹⁴And since they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

¹⁵After they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves,

¹⁶saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign has been done through them, clear to everyone living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But so that this does not spread any further among the people, let’s threaten them against speaking to anyone in this name again.”

¹⁸So they called for them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide;

²⁰for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹After threatening them further, they released them. They found no way to punish them because the people were all giving glory to God over what had been done.

²²For this sign of healing had been performed on a man over forty years old.

²³After they were released, they went to their own people and reported everything the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴When they heard this, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Master, you are the one who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them.

²⁵You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David your servant: Why do the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot futile things?

²⁶The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers assemble together against the Lord and against his Messiah.

²⁷“For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,

²⁸to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place.

²⁹And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness,

³⁰while you stretch out your hand for healing, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly.

³²Now the entire group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common.

³³With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on all of them.

³⁴For there was not a needy person among them because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of what was sold,

³⁵and laid them at the apostles’ feet. This was then distributed to each person as any had need.

³⁶Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus by birth, the one the apostles called Barnabas (which is translated Son of Encouragement),

³⁷sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.