Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹So then, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that He was making and baptizing more disciples than John

²(although Jesus Himself was not baptizing; rather, His disciples were),

³He left Judea and went away again to Galilee.

⁴And He had to pass through Samaria.

⁵So He *came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph;

⁶and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, tired from His journey, was just sitting by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

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

⁸For His disciples had gone away to the city to buy food.

⁹So the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, though You are a Jew, are asking me for a drink, though I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

¹⁰Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

¹¹She *said to Him, “Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this living water?

¹²You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?”

¹³Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again;

¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

¹⁵The woman *said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw water.”

¹⁶He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.”

¹⁷The woman answered and said to Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’;

¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this which you have said is true.”

¹⁹The woman *said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.

²⁰Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and yet you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.”

²¹Jesus *said to her, “Believe Me, woman, thata time 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.

²³Buta time is coming, andeven now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to beHis worshipers.

²⁴God isspirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

²⁵The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”

²⁶Jesus *said to her, “I am He, the One speaking to you.”

²⁷And at this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What are You seeking?” or, “Why are You speaking with her?”

²⁸So the woman left her waterpot and went into the city, and *said to the people,

²⁹“Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is He?”

³⁰They left the city and were coming to Him.

³¹Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat something.”

³²But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”

³³So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?”

³⁴Jesus *said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.

³⁵Do you not say, ‘There are still four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields, that they are white for harvest.

³⁶Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps may rejoice together.

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

³⁸I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you havecome into their labor.”

³⁹Now from that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.”

⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.

⁴¹Many more believed because of His word;

⁴²and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One truly is the Savior of the world.”

⁴³And after the two days, He departed from there for Galilee.

⁴⁴For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

⁴⁵So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, only because they had seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.

⁴⁶Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee, where He had made the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum.

⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and began asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.

⁴⁸Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people seesigns and wonders, you simply will not believe.”

⁴⁹The royal official *said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

⁵⁰Jesus *said to him, “Go; your sonis alive.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went home.

⁵¹And as he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was alive.

⁵²So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”

⁵³So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son is alive”; and he himself believed, and his entire household.

⁵⁴This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come from Judea into Galilee.

¹Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying,

²“Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities.

³The cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their equipment and for all their other animals.

⁴“The pasture lands of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits around.

⁵You shall also measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center. This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.

⁶The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall provide for the one who commits manslaughter to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.

⁷The total number of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, together with their pasture lands.

⁸As for the cities which you shall give them from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take fewer from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his inheritance which he possesses.”

⁹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁰“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

¹¹then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, so that the one who commits manslaughter by killing a person unintentionally may flee there.

¹²The cities shall serve you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who commits manslaughter does not die until he stands before the congregation for trial.

¹³So the cities which you are to provide shall be six cities of refuge for you.

¹⁴You shall provide three cities across the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge.

¹⁵These six cities shall be a refuge for the sons of Israel, for the stranger, and for the foreign resident among them; so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

¹⁶‘But if he struck him with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.

¹⁷And if he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he did die, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.

¹⁸Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he did die, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.

¹⁹The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he himself shall put him to death when he meets him.

²⁰Now if he pushed him in hatred, or he threw something at him with malicious intent, and as a result he died,

²¹or if he struck him with his hand with hostility, and as a result he died, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²²‘But if he pushed him suddenly, without hostility, or threw any object at him without malicious intent,

²³or had any deadly stone, and without looking he dropped it on him so that he died, while he was not his enemy nor was he seeking to harm him,

²⁴then the congregation shall judge between the one who fatally struck the victim and the blood avenger in accordance with these ordinances.

²⁵And the congregation shall save the one who committed manslaughter from the hand of the blood avenger, and the congregation shall return him to his city of refuge to which he fled; and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶But if at any time he goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he flees,

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

²⁸because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the one who committed manslaughter may return to the land of his property.

²⁹‘These things shall be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

³⁰‘If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

³¹Moreover, you shall not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is condemned to death, but he must be put to death.

³²And you shall not accept a ransom for one who has fled to his city of refuge, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest.

³³So you shall not defile the land in which you live; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

³⁴So you shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’ ”

¹Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

²Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I handed them down to you.

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

⁴Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head.

⁵But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for it is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved.

⁶For if a woman does not cover her head, have her also cut her hair off; however, if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, have her cover her head.

⁷For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.

⁸For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man;

⁹for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake.

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

¹¹However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.

¹²For as the woman originated from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God.

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

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

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

¹⁶But if anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor have the churches of God.

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

¹⁸For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it.

¹⁹For there also have to be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.

²⁰Therefore when you come together it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper,

²¹for when you eat, each one takes his own supper first; and one goes hungry while another gets drunk.

²²What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What am I to say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you.

²³For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread;

²⁴and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

²⁵In the same way He also took the cup after supper, saying, “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.

²⁷Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

²⁸But a person must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

²⁹For the one who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not properly recognize the body.

³⁰For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number are asleep.

³¹But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.

³²But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

³³So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

³⁴If anyone is hungry, have him eat at home, so that you do not come together for judgment. As to the remaining matters, I will give instructions when I come.

¹All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against.

²Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers or sisters, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.

³If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness,

⁴he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a sick craving for controversial questions and disputes about words, from which come envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions,

⁵and constant friction between people of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

⁶But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.

⁷For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it, either.

⁸If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

⁹But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and 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 sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

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

¹²Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

¹³I direct you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

¹⁴that you keep the commandment without fault or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁵which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

¹⁶who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

¹⁷Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

¹⁸Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

¹⁹storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

²⁰Timothy, protect what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”—

²¹which some have professed and thereby have gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.

¹Job again took up his discourse and said,

²“Oh that I were as in months gone by, As in the days when God watched over me;

³When His lamp shone over my head, And by His light I walked through darkness;

⁴Just as I was in the days of my youth, When the protection of God was over my tent;

⁵When the Almighty was still with me, And my children were around me;

⁶When my steps were bathed in cream, And the rock poured out streams of oil for me!

⁷When I went out to the gate of the city, When I took my seat in the public square,

⁸The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the old men arose and stood.

⁹The leaders stopped talking And put their hands on their mouths;

¹⁰The voices of the prominent people were hushed, And their tongues stuck to their palates.

¹¹For when an ear heard, it called me blessed, And when an eye saw, it testified in support of me,

¹²Because I saved the poor who cried for help, And the orphan who had no helper.

¹³The blessing of the one who was about to perish came upon me, And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a headband.

¹⁵I was eyes to those who were blind, And feet to those who could not walk.

¹⁶I was a father to the poor, And I investigated the case which I did not know.

¹⁷I broke the jaws of the wicked And rescued the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸Then I thought, ‘I will die with my family, And I will multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹My root is spread out to the waters, And dew lies on my branch all night.

²⁰My glory is ever new with me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.’

²¹“To me they listened and waited, And they kept silent for my advice.

²²After my words they did not speak again, And my speech dropped on them.

²³They waited for me as for the rain, And opened their mouths as for the late rain.

²⁴I smiled at them when they did not believe, And they did not look at my kindness ungraciously.

²⁵I chose a way for them and sat as chief, And lived as a king among the troops, As one who comforted the mourners.

¹I said, “I will keep watch over my ways So that I do not sin with my tongue; I will keep watch over my mouth as with a muzzle While the wicked are in my presence.”

²I was mute and silent, I refused to say even something good, And my pain was stirred up.

³My heart was hot within me, While I was musing the fire burned; Then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“LORD, let me know my end, And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am.

⁵Behold, You have made my days like hand widths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Certainly all mankind standing is a mere breath. Selah

⁶Certainly every person walks around as a fleeting shadow; They certainly make an uproar for nothing; He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.

⁷“And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.

⁸Save me from all my wrongdoings; Do not make me an object of reproach for the foolish.

⁹I have become mute, I do not open my mouth, Because it is You who have done it.

¹⁰Remove Your plague from me; Because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.

¹¹With rebukes You punish a person for wrongdoing; You consume like a moth what is precious to him; Certainly all mankind is mere breath! Selah

¹²“Hear my prayer, LORD, and listen to my cry for help; Do not be silent to my tears; For I am a stranger with You, One who lives abroad, like all my fathers.

¹³Turn Your eyes away from me, that I may become cheerful again Before I depart and am no more.”

¹A person often rebuked who becomes obstinate Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.

²When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked person rules, people groan.

³A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad, But he who involves himself with prostitutes wastes his wealth.

⁴The king gives stability to the land by justice, But a person who takes bribes ruins it.

⁵A man who flatters his neighbor Is spreading a net for his steps.

⁶By wrongdoing an evil person is ensnared, But the righteous sings and rejoices.

⁷The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor; The wicked does not understand such concern.

⁸Arrogant people inflame a city, But wise people turn away anger.

⁹When a wise person has a controversy with a foolish person, The foolish person either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.

¹⁰People of bloodshed hate the blameless person, But the upright are concerned for his life.

¹¹A fool always loses his temper, But a wise person holds it back.

¹²If a ruler pays attention to falsehood, All his ministers become wicked.

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

¹⁴If a king judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever.

¹⁵The rod and a rebuke give wisdom, But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.

¹⁶When the wicked increase, wrongdoing increases; But the righteous will see their downfall.

¹⁷Correct your son, and he will give you comfort; He will also delight your soul.

¹⁸Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is one who keeps the Law.

¹⁹A slave will not be instructed by words alone; For though he understands, there will be no response.

²⁰Do you see a person who is hasty with his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

²¹One who pampers his slave from childhood Will in the end find him to be rebellious.

²²An angry person stirs up strife, And a hot-tempered person abounds in wrongdoing.

²³A person’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.

²⁴One who is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He hears the oath but tells nothing.

²⁵The fear of man brings a snare, But one who trusts in the LORD will be protected.

²⁶Many seek the ruler’s favor, But justice for mankind comes from the LORD.

²⁷An unjust person is an abomination to the righteous, And one who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.

¹Now it happened afterward that the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.

²Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console him about his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites,

³the commanders of the Ammonites said to their lord Hanun, “Do you think that David is simply honoring your father since he has sent you servants to console you? Has David not sent his servants to you in order to explore the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?”

⁴So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half of their beards, and cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away.

⁵When messengers informed David, he sent servants to meet them, because the men were extremely humiliated. And the king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back, and then you shall return.”

⁶Now when the sons of Ammon saw that they had become repulsive to David, the sons of Ammon sent messengers and hired the Arameans of Beth-rehob and the Arameans of Zobah, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob with twelve thousand men.

⁷When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all the army, the warriors.

⁸And the sons of Ammon came out and lined up for battle at the entrance of the city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were stationed by themselves in the field.

⁹Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel, and lined them up against the Arameans.

¹⁰But the remainder of the people he placed under the command of his brother Abishai, and he lined them up against the sons of Ammon.

¹¹And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to help you.

¹²Be strong, and let’s show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what is good in His sight.”

¹³So Joab and the people who were with him advanced to the battle against the Arameans, and they fled from him.

¹⁴When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

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

¹⁶And Hadadezer sent word and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam; and Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer led them.

¹⁷Now when it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans lined up against David and fought him.

¹⁸But the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed seven hundred charioteers of the Arameans and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there.

¹⁹When all the kings, servants of Hadadezer, saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the sons of Ammon anymore.

¹“Woe to the shepherds who are causing the sheep of My pasture to perish and are scattering them!” declares the LORD.

²Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel says concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not been concerned about them; behold, I am going to call you to account for the evil of your deeds,” declares the LORD.

³“Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply.

⁴I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD.

⁵“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.

⁶In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will live securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD Our Righteousness.’

⁷“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought the sons of Israel up from the land of Egypt,’

⁸but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up and led the descendants of the household of Israel back from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”

⁹As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, All my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, And like a man overcome by wine, Because of the LORD And because of His holy words.

¹⁰For the land is full of adulterers; For the land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course is evil And their might is not right.

¹¹“For both prophet and priest are defiled; Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the LORD.

¹²“Therefore their way will be like slippery paths to them, They will be driven away into the gloom and fall down in it; For I will bring disaster upon them, The year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.

¹³“Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.

¹⁴Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in deceit; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.

¹⁵Therefore this is what the LORD of armies says concerning the prophets: ‘Behold, I am going to feed them wormwood And make them drink poisonous water, For from the prophets of Jerusalem Ungodliness has spread into all the land.’ ”

¹⁶This is what the LORD of armies says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They tell a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the LORD.

¹⁷They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD has said, “You will have peace” ’; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, They say, ‘Disaster will not come on you.’

¹⁸But who has stood in the council of the LORD, That he should see and hear His word? Who has paid attention to His word and listened?

¹⁹Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone forth in wrath, Even a whirling tempest; It will swirl down on the head of the wicked.

²⁰The anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; In the last days you will clearly understand it.

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

²²But if they had stood in My council, Then they would have announced My words to My people, And would have turned them back from their evil way And from the evil of their deeds.

²³“Am I a God who is near,” declares the LORD, “And not a God far off?

²⁴Can a person hide himself in hiding places So that I do not see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

²⁵“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’

²⁶How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the deceitfulness of their own heart,

²⁷who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they report to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal?

²⁸The prophet who has a dream may report his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word truthfully. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the LORD.

²⁹“Is My word not like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?

³⁰Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who steal My words from each other.

³¹Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares!’

³²Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the LORD, “and reported them and led My people astray by their lies and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them nor command them, nor do they provide this people the slightest benefit,” declares the LORD.

³³“Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you, saying, ‘What is the pronouncement of the LORD?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What pronouncement?’ The LORD declares, ‘I will abandon you.’

³⁴Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The pronouncement of the LORD,’ I will bring punishment upon that person and his household.

³⁵This is what each one of you will say to his neighbor and to his brother: ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

³⁶For you will no longer remember the pronouncement of the LORD, because every person’s own word will become the pronouncement, and you have perverted the words of the living God, the LORD of armies, our God.

³⁷This is what you will say to that prophet: ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

³⁸And if you say, ‘The pronouncement of the LORD!’ for that reason the LORD says this: ‘Because you said this word, “The pronouncement of the LORD!” I have also sent word to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The pronouncement of the LORD!’ ” ’

³⁹Therefore behold, I will certainly forget you and thrust you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers.

⁴⁰I will put an everlasting disgrace on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.”

¹Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.

²And a man who had been unable to walk from birth was being carried, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order for him to beg for charitable gifts from those entering the temple grounds.

³When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple grounds, he began asking to receive a charitable gift.

⁴But Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, “Look at us!”

⁵And he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!”

⁷And grasping him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

⁸And leaping up, he stood and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

⁹And all the people saw him walking and praising God;

¹⁰and they recognized him as being the very one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg for charitable gifts, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the portico named Solomon’s, completely astonished.

¹²But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you handed over and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.

¹⁴But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

¹⁵but put to death the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.

¹⁶And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

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

¹⁸But the things which God previously announced by the mouths of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled in this way.

¹⁹Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

²⁰and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,

²¹whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times.

²²Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN; TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN regarding everything He says to you.

²³And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

²⁴And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and his successors onward, have also announced these days.

²⁵It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’

²⁶God raised up His Servant for you first, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”