Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John

²(though Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were),

³he left Judea and went again to Galilee.

⁴He had to travel through Samaria;

⁵so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph.

⁶Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon.

⁷A woman of Samaria came to draw water. “Give me a drink,” Jesus said to her,

⁸because his disciples had gone into town to buy food.

⁹“How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

¹⁰Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”

¹¹“Sir,” said the woman, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’?

¹²You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”

¹³Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.

¹⁴But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”

¹⁵“Sir,” the woman said to him, “give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”

¹⁶“Go call your husband,” he told her, “and come back here.”

¹⁷“I don’t have a husband,” she answered. “You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus said.

¹⁸“For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

¹⁹“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet.

²⁰Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

²¹Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

²²You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.

²³But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him.

²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”

²⁷Just then his disciples arrived, and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

²⁸Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people,

²⁹“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

³⁰They left the town and made their way to him.

³¹In the meantime the disciples kept urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

³²But he said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”

³³The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?”

³⁴“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them.

³⁵“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest.

³⁶The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.

³⁷For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’

³⁸I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”

³⁹Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.”

⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.

⁴¹Many more believed because of what he said.

⁴²And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”

⁴³After two days he left there for Galilee.

⁴⁴(Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. )

⁴⁵When they entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen everything he did in Jerusalem during the festival. For they also had gone to the festival.

⁴⁶He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum.

⁴⁷When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.

⁴⁸Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

⁴⁹“Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”

⁵⁰“Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed.

⁵¹While he was still going down, his servants met him saying that his boy was alive.

⁵²He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him,” they answered.

⁵³The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household.

⁵⁴Now this was also the second sign Jesus performed after he came from Judea to Galilee.

¹The LORD again spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:

²“Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.

³The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other animals.

⁴The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites will extend from the city wall five hundred yards on every side.

⁵Measure a thousand yards outside the city for the east side, a thousand yards for the south side, a thousand yards for the west side, and a thousand yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities.

⁶“The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge, which you will provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give forty-two other cities.

⁷The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, along with their pasturelands.

⁸Of the cities that you give from the Israelites’ territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one. Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives.”

⁹The LORD said to Moses,

¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

¹¹designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.

¹²You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who kills someone will not die until he stands trial before the assembly.

¹³The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge.

¹⁴Select three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities of refuge.

¹⁵These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the alien or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

¹⁶“If anyone strikes a person with an iron object and death results, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.

¹⁷If anyone has in his hand a stone capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must be put to death.

¹⁸If anyone has in his hand a wooden object capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must be put to death.

¹⁹The avenger of blood himself is to kill the murderer; when he finds him, he is to kill him.

²⁰Likewise, if anyone in hatred pushes a person or throws an object at him with malicious intent and he dies,

²¹or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood is to kill the murderer when he finds him.

²²“But if anyone suddenly pushes a person without hostility or throws any object at him without malicious intent

²³or without looking drops a stone that could kill a person and he dies, but he was not his enemy and didn’t intend to harm him,

²⁴the assembly is to judge between the person who kills someone and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.

²⁵The assembly is to protect the one who kills someone from the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge he fled to, and he must live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶“If the one who kills someone ever goes outside the border of the city of refuge he fled to,

²⁷and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills him, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed,

²⁸for the one who killed a person was supposed to live in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may the one who has killed a person return to the land he possesses.

²⁹These instructions will be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations wherever you live.

³⁰“If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death based on the word of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of one witness.

³¹You are not to accept a ransom for the life of someone who is guilty of murder; he must be put to death.

³²Neither should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to his city of refuge, allowing him to return and live in the land before the death of the high priest.

³³“Do not defile the land where you live, for bloodshed defiles the land, and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it.

³⁴Do not make the land unclean where you live and where I dwell; for I, the LORD, reside among the Israelites.”

¹Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.

²Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

³But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.

⁴Every man who prays or prophesies with something on his head dishonors his head.

⁵Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved.

⁶For if a woman doesn’t cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her head be covered.

⁷A man should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God. So too, woman is the glory of man.

⁸For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man.

⁹Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man.

¹⁰This is why a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

¹¹In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman.

¹²For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things come from God.

¹³Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?

¹⁴Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace to him,

¹⁵but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her as a covering.

¹⁶If anyone wants to argue about this, we have no other custom, nor do the churches of God.

¹⁷Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.

¹⁸For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

¹⁹Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

²⁰When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.

²¹For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk!

²²Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!

²³For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread,

²⁴and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁵In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

²⁷So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord.

²⁸Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup.

²⁹For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

³⁰This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep.

³¹If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged,

³²but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world.

³³Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another.

³⁴If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.

¹All who are under the yoke as slaves should regard their own masters as worthy of all respect, so that God’s name and his teaching will not be blasphemed.

²Let those who have believing masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers, but serve them even better, since those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved. Teach and encourage these things.

³If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness,

⁴he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions,

⁵and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain.

⁶But godliness with contentment is great gain.

⁷For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out.

⁸If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

⁹But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction.

¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

¹¹But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

¹³In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you

¹⁴to keep this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵God will bring this about in his own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords,

¹⁶who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

¹⁷Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.

¹⁸Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share,

¹⁹storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.

²⁰Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding irreverent and empty speech and contradictions from what is falsely called knowledge.

²¹By professing it, some people have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.

¹Job continued his discourse, saying:

²If only I could be as in months gone by, in the days when God watched over me,

³when his lamp shone above my head, and I walked through darkness by his light!

⁴I would be as I was in the days of my youth when God’s friendship rested on my tent,

⁵when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,

⁶when my feet were bathed in curds and the rock poured out streams of oil for me!

⁷When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the town square,

⁸the young men saw me and withdrew, while older men stood to their feet.

⁹City officials stopped talking and covered their mouths with their hands.

¹⁰The noblemen’s voices were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

¹¹When they heard me, they blessed me, and when they saw me, they spoke well of me.

¹²For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, and the fatherless child who had no one to support him.

¹³The dying blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart rejoice.

¹⁴I clothed myself in righteousness, and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban.

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger.

¹⁷I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸So I thought, “I will die in my own nest and multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹My roots will have access to water, and the dew will rest on my branches all night.

²⁰My whole being will be refreshed within me, and my bow will be renewed in my hand.”

²¹Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my advice.

²²After a word from me they did not speak again; my speech settled on them like dew.

²³They waited for me as for the rain and opened their mouths as for spring showers.

²⁴If I smiled at them, they couldn’t believe it; they were thrilled at the light of my countenance.

²⁵I directed their course and presided as chief. I lived as a king among his troops, like one who comforts those who mourn.

¹For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A psalm of David. [1] I said, “I will guard my ways so that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are in my presence.”

²I was speechless and quiet; I kept silent, even from speaking good, and my pain intensified.

³My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, a fire burned. I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“LORD, make me aware of my end and the number of my days so that I will know how short-lived I am.

⁵In fact, you have made my days just inches long, and my life span is as nothing to you. Yes, every human being stands as only a vapor. Selah

⁶Yes, a person goes about like a mere shadow. Indeed, they rush around in vain, gathering possessions without knowing who will get them.

⁷“Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.

⁸Rescue me from all my transgressions; do not make me the taunt of fools.

⁹I am speechless; I do not open my mouth because of what you have done.

¹⁰Remove your torment from me. Because of the force of your hand I am finished.

¹¹You discipline a person with punishment for iniquity, consuming like a moth what is precious to him; yes, every human being is only a vapor. Selah

¹²“Hear my prayer, LORD, and listen to my cry for help; do not be silent at my tears. For I am here with you as an alien, a temporary resident like all my ancestors.

¹³Turn your angry gaze from me so that I may be cheered up before I die and am gone.”

¹One who becomes stiff-necked, after many reprimands will be shattered instantly — beyond recovery.

²When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, people groan.

³A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but one who consorts with prostitutes destroys his wealth.

⁴By justice a king brings stability to a land, but a person who demands “contributions” demolishes it.

⁵A person who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

⁶An evil person is caught by sin, but the righteous one sings and rejoices.

⁷The righteous person knows the rights of the poor, but the wicked one does not understand these concerns.

⁸Mockers inflame a city, but the wise turn away anger.

⁹If a wise person goes to court with a fool, there will be ranting and raving but no resolution.

¹⁰Bloodthirsty men hate an honest person, but the upright care about him.

¹¹A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise person holds it in check.

¹²If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked.

¹³The poor and the oppressor have this in common: the LORD gives light to the eyes of both.

¹⁴A king who judges the poor with fairness — his throne will be established forever.

¹⁵A rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a youth left to himself is a disgrace to his mother.

¹⁶When the wicked increase, rebellion increases, but the righteous will see their downfall.

¹⁷Discipline your child, and it will bring you peace of mind and give you delight.

¹⁸Without revelation people run wild, but one who follows divine instruction will be happy.

¹⁹A servant cannot be disciplined by words; though he understands, he doesn’t respond.

²⁰Do you see someone who speaks too soon? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

²¹A servant pampered from his youth will become arrogant later on.

²²An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered one increases rebellion.

²³A person’s pride will humble him, but a humble spirit will gain honor.

²⁴To be a thief’s partner is to hate oneself; he hears the curse but will not testify.

²⁵The fear of mankind is a snare, but the one who trusts in the LORD is protected.

²⁶Many desire a ruler’s favor, but a person receives justice from the LORD.

²⁷An unjust person is detestable to the righteous, and one whose way is upright is detestable to the wicked.

¹Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.

²Then David said, “I’ll show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent his emissaries to console Hanun concerning his father. However, when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites,

³the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun their lord, “Just because David has sent men with condolences for you, do you really believe he’s showing respect for your father? Instead, hasn’t David sent his emissaries in order to scout out the city, spy on it, and demolish it?”

⁴So Hanun took David’s emissaries, shaved off half their beards, cut their clothes in half at the hips, and sent them away.

⁵When this was reported to David, he sent someone to meet them, since they were deeply humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back; then return.”

⁶When the Ammonites realized they had become repulsive to David, they hired twenty thousand foot soldiers from the Arameans of Beth-rehob and Zobah, one thousand men from the king of Maacah, and twelve thousand men from Tob.

⁷David heard about it and sent Joab and all the elite troops.

⁸The Ammonites marched out and lined up in battle formation at the entrance to the city gate while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were in the field by themselves.

⁹When Joab saw that there was a battle line in front of him and another behind him, he chose some of Israel’s finest young men and lined up in formation to engage the Arameans.

¹⁰He placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai. They lined up in formation to engage the Ammonites.

¹¹“If the Arameans are too strong for me,” Joab said, “then you will be my help. However, if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I’ll come to help you.

¹²Be strong! Let’s prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD’s will be done.”

¹³Joab and his troops advanced to fight against the Arameans, and they fled before him.

¹⁴When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai and entered the city. So Joab withdrew from the attack against the Ammonites and went to Jerusalem.

¹⁵When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they regrouped.

¹⁶Hadadezer sent messengers to bring the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam with Shobach, commander of Hadadezer’s army, leading them.

¹⁷When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and went to Helam. Then the Arameans lined up to engage David in battle and fought against him.

¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach commander of their army, who died there.

¹⁹When all the kings who were Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became their subjects. After this, the Arameans were afraid to ever help the Ammonites again.

¹“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” This is the LORD’s declaration.

²“Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend my people: You have scattered my flock, banished them, and have not attended to them. I am about to attend to you because of your evil acts” — this is the LORD’s declaration.

³“I will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.

⁴I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them. They will no longer be afraid or discouraged, nor will any be missing.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

⁵“Look, the days are coming”  — this is the LORD’s declaration — “when I will raise up a Righteous Branch for David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land.

⁶In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is the name he will be called: The LORD Is Our Righteousness.

⁷“Look, the days are coming”  — the LORD’s declaration — “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’

⁸but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other countries where I had banished them.’ They will dwell once more in their own land.”

⁹Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of his holy words.

¹⁰For the land is full of adulterers; the land mourns because of the curse, and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up. Their way of life has become evil, and their power is not rightly used

¹¹because both prophet and priest are ungodly, even in my house I have found their evil. This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹²Therefore, their way will seem like slippery paths in the gloom. They will be driven away and fall down there, for I will bring disaster on them, the year of their punishment. This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹³Among the prophets of Samaria I saw something disgusting: They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.

¹⁴Among the prophets of Jerusalem also I saw a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, and none turns his back on evil. They are all like Sodom to me; Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.

¹⁵Therefore, this is what the LORD of Armies says concerning the prophets: I am about to feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.

¹⁶This is what the LORD of Armies says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the LORD’s mouth.

¹⁷They keep on saying to those who despise me, ‘The LORD has spoken: You will have peace.’ They have said to everyone who follows the stubbornness of his heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’”

¹⁸For who has stood in the council of the LORD to see and hear his word? Who has paid attention to his word and obeyed?

¹⁹Look, a storm from the LORD! Wrath has gone out, a whirling storm. It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.

²⁰The LORD’s anger will not turn away until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart. In time to come you will understand it clearly.

²¹I did not send out these prophets, yet they ran. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

²²If they had really stood in my council, they would have enabled my people to hear my words and would have turned them from their evil ways and their evil deeds.

²³“Am I a God who is only near”  — this is the LORD’s declaration — “and not a God who is far away?

²⁴Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him?”  — the LORD’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?”  — the LORD’s declaration.

²⁵“I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in my name have said: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream! ’

²⁶How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds?

²⁷Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause my people to forget my name as their fathers forgot my name through Baal worship.

²⁸The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has my word should speak my word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?” — this is the LORD’s declaration.

²⁹“Is not my word like fire” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “and like a hammer that pulverizes rock?

³⁰Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets”  — the LORD’s declaration — “who steal my words from each other.

³¹I am against the prophets” — the LORD’s declaration — “who use their own tongues to make a declaration.

³²I am against those who prophesy false dreams”  — the LORD’s declaration — “telling them and leading my people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people” — this is the LORD’s declaration.

³³“Now when these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD? ’ you will respond to them, ‘What is the burden? I will throw you away! This is the LORD’s declaration.’

³⁴As for the prophet, priest, or people who say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household.

³⁵This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: ‘What has the LORD answered? ’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

³⁶But no longer refer to the burden of the LORD, for each man’s word becomes his burden and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of Armies, our God.

³⁷Say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you? ’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

³⁸But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ then this is what the LORD says: Because you have said, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ and I specifically told you not to say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’

³⁹I will surely forget you. I will throw you away from my presence — both you and the city that I gave you and your fathers.

⁴⁰I will bring on you everlasting disgrace and humiliation that will never be forgotten.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⁹All the people saw him walking and praising God,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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