Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹They came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes.

²When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him.

³He lived among the tombs; and no one was able to bind him anymore, not even with a chain,

⁴because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces; and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

⁵Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and cutting himself with stones.

⁶Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him;

⁷and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, “What business do You have with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!”

⁸For He had already been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

⁹And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”

¹⁰And he begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the region.

¹¹Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding nearby on the mountain.

¹²And the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us into the pigs so that we may enter them.”

¹³Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

¹⁴Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. And the people came to see what it was that had happened.

¹⁵And then they *came to Jesus and *saw the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had previously had the “legion”; and they became frightened.

¹⁶Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the pigs.

¹⁷And they began to beg Him to leave their region.

¹⁸And as He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was begging Him that he might accompany Him.

¹⁹And He did not let him, but He *said to him, “Go home to your people and report to themwhat great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”

²⁰And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

²¹When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and He stayed by the seashore.

²²And one of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, *came, and upon seeing Him, *fell at His feet

²³and *pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.”

²⁴And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.

²⁵A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years,

²⁶and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but instead had become worse—

²⁷after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.

²⁸For she had been saying to herself, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.”

²⁹And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

³⁰And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that power from Him had gone out, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?”

³¹And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”

³²And He looked around to see the woman who had done this.

³³But the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.

³⁴And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith hasmade you well; go in peace and be cured of your disease.”

³⁵While He was still speaking, people *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher further?”

³⁶But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid, onlybelieve.”

³⁷And He allowed no one to accompany Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.

³⁸They *came to the house of the synagogue official, and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing.

³⁹And after entering, He *said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child has not died, but is asleep.”

⁴⁰And they began laughing at Him. But putting them all outside, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was in bed.

⁴¹And taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha, kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”).

⁴²And immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astonished.

⁴³And He gave them strict orders that no one was to know about this, and He told them to have something given her to eat.

¹Then Jacob raised his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel, and the two slave women.

²He put the slave women and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.

³But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

⁵He raised his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?” So he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”

⁶Then the slave women came forward with their children, and they bowed down.

⁷And Leah likewise came forward with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came forward with Rachel, and they bowed down.

⁸And he said, “What do you mean by all this company which I have met?” And he said, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”

⁹But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.”

¹⁰Jacob said, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then accept my gift from my hand, for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably.

¹¹Please accept my gift which has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have plenty.” So he urged him, and he accepted it.

¹²Then Esau said, “Let’s journey on and go, and I will go ahead of you.”

¹³But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds that are nursing are a matter of concern to me. And if they are driven hard just one day, all the flocks will die.

¹⁴Please let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will proceed at my leisure, at the pace of the cattle that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

¹⁵Then Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”

¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

¹⁷But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth.

¹⁸Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city.

¹⁹He bought the plot of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money.

²⁰Then he erected there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Timothy, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

⁴who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

⁵For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

⁶But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;

⁷and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are partners in our sufferings, so also you are in our comfort.

⁸For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction which occurred in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.

⁹Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,

¹⁰who rescued us from so great a danger of death, and will rescue us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,

¹¹if you also join in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons in our behalf for the favor granted to us through the prayers of many.

¹²For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.

¹³For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end;

¹⁴just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, on the day of our Lord Jesus.

¹⁵In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might twice receive a blessing;

¹⁶that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea.

¹⁷Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I decide, do I decide according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time?

¹⁸But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no.

¹⁹For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but has been yes in Him.

²⁰For as many as the promises of God are, in Him they are yes; therefore through Him also is our Amen to the glory of God through us.

²¹Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,

²²who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

²³But I call God as witness to my soul, that it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth.

²⁴Not that we domineer over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.

¹Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

²Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,

³for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

⁴Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust.

⁵Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,

⁶and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,

⁷and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

⁸For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they do not make you useless nor unproductive in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹For the one who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

¹⁰Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choice of you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;

¹¹for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

¹²Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and have been established in the truth which is present with you.

¹³I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder,

¹⁴knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

¹⁵And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.

¹⁶For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

¹⁷For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such a declaration as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory: “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased”—

¹⁸and we ourselves heard this declaration made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

²⁰But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture becomes a matter of someone’s own interpretation,

²¹for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

¹“However, please hear my speech, Job, And listen to all my words.

²Behold now, I open my mouth, My tongue in my mouth speaks.

³My words are from the integrity of my heart, And my lips speak knowledge sincerely.

⁴The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

⁵Refute me if you can; Line up against me, take your stand.

⁶Behold, I belong to God, like you; I too have been formed out of the clay.

⁷Behold, no fear of me should terrify you, Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.

⁸“You have in fact spoken while I listened, And I heard the sound of your words:

⁹‘I am pure, without wrongdoing; I am innocent and there is no guilt in me.

¹⁰Behold, He invents criticisms against me; He counts me as His enemy.

¹¹He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches all my paths.’

¹²Behold, let me respond to you, you are not right in this, For God is greater than mankind.

¹³“Why do you complain to Him That He does not give an account of all His doings?

¹⁴Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it.

¹⁵In a dream, a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls on people, While they slumber in their beds,

¹⁶Then He opens the ears of people, And horrifies them with warnings,

¹⁷So that He may turn a person away from bad conduct, And keep a man from pride;

¹⁸He keeps his soul back from the pit, And his life from perishing by the spear.

¹⁹“A person is also rebuked by pain in his bed, And with constant complaint in his bones,

²⁰So that his life loathes bread, And his soul, food that he should crave.

²¹His flesh wastes away from sight, And his bones, which were not seen, stick out.

²²Then his soul comes near to the pit, And his life to those who bring death.

²³“If there is an interceding angel for him, One out of a thousand, To remind a person of what is right for him,

²⁴And he is gracious to him, and says, ‘Free him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom’;

²⁵Let his flesh become fresher than in youth, Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor;

²⁶Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, So that he may see His face with joy, And He will restore His righteousness to that person.

²⁷He will sing to people and say, ‘I have sinned and perverted what is right, And it is not proper for me.

²⁸He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, And my life will see the light.’

²⁹“Behold, God does all these things for a man two or three times,

³⁰To bring back his soul from the pit, So that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

³¹Pay attention, Job, listen to me; Keep silent, and let me speak.

³²Then if you have anything to say, answer me; Speak, for I would take pleasure in justifying you.

³³If not, listen to me; Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

¹Sing for joy in the LORD, you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright.

²Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.

³Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

⁴For the word of the LORD is right, And all His work is done in faithfulness.

⁵He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

⁶By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their lights.

⁷He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He puts the depths in storehouses.

⁸Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

⁹For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰The LORD nullifies the plan of nations; He frustrates the plans of peoples.

¹¹The plan of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen for His own inheritance.

¹³The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of mankind;

¹⁴From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth,

¹⁵He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works.

¹⁶The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not rescued by great strength.

¹⁷A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it rescue anyone by its great strength.

¹⁸Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who wait for His faithfulness,

¹⁹To rescue their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine.

²⁰Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.

²¹For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name.

²²Let Your favor, LORD, be upon us, Just as we have waited for You.

¹My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you,

²Make your ear attentive to wisdom; Incline your heart to understanding.

³For if you cry out for insight, And raise your voice for understanding;

⁴If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures;

⁵Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And discover the knowledge of God.

⁶For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

⁸Guarding the paths of justice, And He watches over the way of His godly ones.

⁹Then you will discern righteousness, justice, And integrity, and every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, And knowledge will be delightful to your soul;

¹¹Discretion will watch over you, Understanding will guard you,

¹²To rescue you from the way of evil, From a person who speaks perverse things;

¹³From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil;

¹⁵Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways;

¹⁶To rescue you from the strange woman, From the foreign woman who flatters with her words,

¹⁷Who leaves the companion of her youth And forgets the covenant of her God;

¹⁸For her house sinks down to death, And her tracks lead to the dead;

¹⁹None who go to her return, Nor do they reach the paths of life.

²⁰So you will walk in the way of good people And keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will live in the land, And the blameless will remain in it;

²²But the wicked will be eliminated from the land, And the treacherous will be torn away from it.

¹Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother’s relatives, and spoke to them and to the entire family of the household of his mother’s father, saying,

²“Speak, now, in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: for seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, to rule over you, or for one man to rule over you?’ Also, remember that I am your bone and your flesh.”

³So his mother’s relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem; and they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our relative.”

⁴And they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men, and they followed him.

⁵Then he went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself.

⁶All the leaders of Shechem and all Beth-millo assembled together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the memorial stone which was in Shechem.

⁷Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and raised his voice and called out. And he said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you.

⁸Once the trees went to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’

⁹But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I give up my fatness with which God and mankind are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’

¹⁰Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You, come, reign over us!’

¹¹But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?’

¹²Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You, come, reign over us!’

¹³But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I give up my new wine, which cheers God and mankind, and go to wave over the trees?’

¹⁴Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You, come, reign over us!’

¹⁵And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out of the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶“Now then, if you have acted with honesty and integrity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have dealt with him as he deserved—

¹⁷for my father fought for you, and risked his life and saved you from the hand of Midian;

¹⁸but in fact you have risen against my father’s house today and have killed his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female slave, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he is your relative—

¹⁹so if you have acted with honesty and integrity toward Jerubbaal and his house this day, be joyful about Abimelech, and may he also be joyful about you.

²⁰But if not, may fire come out of Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out of the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo, and consume Abimelech.”

²¹Then Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer; and he stayed there because of his brother Abimelech.

²²Now Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years.

²³Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,

²⁴so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal would come, and the responsibility for their blood would be placed on their brother Abimelech, who killed them, and on the leaders of Shechem, who encouraged him to kill his brothers.

²⁵The leaders of Shechem set up men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed everyone who would pass by them on the road; and it was reported to Abimelech.

²⁶Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his relatives, and crossed over into Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem trusted him.

²⁷So they went out to the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trampled them, and held a festival; and they went into the house of their god, and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

²⁸Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is Zebul not his governor? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him?

²⁹If only this people were under my authority! Then I would do away with Abimelech.” And he said to Abimelech, “Enlarge your army and come out!”

³⁰When Zebul the leader of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger burned.

³¹So using deception, he successfully sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem; and behold, they are stirring up the city against you.

³²So now, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field.

³³Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and attack the city; and behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you shall do to them whatever you can.”

³⁴So Abimelech and all the people who were with him got up at night, and lay in wait against Shechem, in four units.

³⁵Now Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate; and Abimelech and the people who were with him arose from the ambush.

³⁶When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were people.”

³⁷And Gaal spoke yet again and said, “Look, people are coming down from the highest part of the land, and one unit is coming by way of the diviners’ oak.”

³⁸Then Zebul said to him, “Where then is your boasting with which you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the people whom you rejected? Go out now and fight them!”

³⁹So Gaal went out in the sight of the leaders of Shechem and fought Abimelech.

⁴⁰But Abimelech chased him, and he fled from him; and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate.

⁴¹Then Abimelech stayed in Arumah, but Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives so that they could not stay in Shechem.

⁴²Now it came about the next day, that the people went out to the field, and it was reported to Abimelech.

⁴³So he took his people and divided them into three units, and lay in wait in the field; when he looked and saw the people coming out from the city, he attacked them and killed them.

⁴⁴Then Abimelech and the company who was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the city gate; the other two companies then attacked all who were in the field and killed them.

⁴⁵Abimelech fought against the city that whole day, and he captured the city and killed the people who were in it; then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶When all the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard about it, they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.

⁴⁷And it was reported to Abimelech that all the leaders of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.

⁴⁸So Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, and lifted it and put it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you saw me do, hurry and do likewise.”

⁴⁹So all the people also cut down, each one, his branch and followed Abimelech, and put them on top of the inner chamber and set the inner chamber on fire over those inside, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he camped against Thebez and captured it.

⁵¹But there was a strong tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women with all the leaders of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up on the roof of the tower.

⁵²So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it down with fire.

⁵³But a woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.

⁵⁴Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ ” So the young man pierced him through, and he died.

⁵⁵Now when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each left for his home.

⁵⁶So God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers.

⁵⁷God also returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.

¹Woe to you, destroyer, While you were not destroyed; And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed; As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

²LORD, be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be their strength every morning, Our salvation also in the time of distress.

³At the sound of a roar, peoples flee; At the lifting up of Yourself, nations disperse.

⁴Your plunder is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; Like an infestation of locusts, people storm it.

⁵The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

⁶And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; The fear of the LORD is his treasure.

⁷Behold, their brave men cry out in the streets, The ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

⁸The highways are desolate, the traveler has ceased, He has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities, He has no regard for mankind.

⁹The land mourns and wastes away, Lebanon is shamed and withers; Sharon is like a desert plain, And Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage.

¹⁰“Now I will arise,” says the LORD, “Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up.

¹¹You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble; My breath will consume you like a fire.

¹²The peoples will be burned to lime, Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.

¹³“You who are far away, hear what I have done; And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

¹⁴Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?”

¹⁵One who walks righteously and speaks with integrity, One who rejects unjust gain And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; One who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed And shuts his eyes from looking at evil;

¹⁶He will dwell on the heights, His refuge will be the impregnable rock; His bread will be given him, His water will be sure.

¹⁷Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see a distant land.

¹⁸Your heart will meditate on terror: “Where is one who counts? Where is one who weighs? Where is one who counts the towers?”

¹⁹You will no longer see a fierce people, A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends, Of a stammering tongue which no one understands.

²⁰Look at Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed settlement, A tent which will not be folded; Its stakes will never be pulled up, Nor any of its ropes be torn apart.

²¹But there the majestic One, the LORD, will be for us A place of rivers and wide canals On which no boat with oars will go, And on which no mighty ship will pass—

²²For the LORD is our judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us—

²³Your ship’s tackle hangs slack; It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly, Nor spread out the sail. Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided; Those who limp will take the plunder.

²⁴And no resident will say, “I am sick”; The people who live there will be forgiven their wrongdoing.

¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

²and kept back some of the proceeds for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.

³But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the proceeds of the land?

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.”

⁵And as he heard these words, Ananias collapsed and died; and great fear came over all who heard about it.

⁶The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.

⁷Now an interval of about three hours elapsed, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for this price?” And she said, “Yes, for that price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

¹⁰And immediately she collapsed at his feet and died; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard about these things.

¹²At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all together in Solomon’s portico.

¹³But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem.

¹⁴And increasingly believers in the Lord, large numbers of men and women, were being added to their number,

¹⁵to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any of them.

¹⁶The people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together as well, bringing people who were sick or tormented with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

¹⁷But the high priest stood up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

¹⁸They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public prison.

¹⁹But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and leading them out, he said,

²⁰“Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple area the whole message of this Life.”

²¹Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple area about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest and his associates came, they called the Council together, that is, all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison for them to be brought.

²²But the officers who came did not find them in the prison; and they returned and reported,

²³saying, “We found the prison locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

²⁴Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this.

²⁵But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple area and teaching the people!”

²⁶Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).

²⁷When they had brought them, they had them stand before the Council. The high priest interrogated them,

²⁸saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this Man’s blood upon us.”

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

³⁰The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging Him on a cross.

³¹He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

³²And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

³³But when they heard this, they became infuriated and nearly decided to execute them.

³⁴But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.

³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful as to what you are about to do with these men.

³⁶For, some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

³⁷After this man, Judas of Galilee appeared in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he also perished, and all those who followed him were scattered.

³⁸And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, for if the source of this plan or movement is men, it will be overthrown;

³⁹but if the source is God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”

⁴⁰They followed his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.

⁴¹So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.

⁴²And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and preaching the good news of Jesus as the Christ.