Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

²Now in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five porticoes.

³In these porticoes lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, limping, or paralyzed.

⁴

⁵Now a man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.

⁶Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, *said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

⁸Jesus *said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.”

⁹Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was a Sabbath on that day.

¹⁰So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is a Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”

¹¹But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’”

¹²They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?”

¹³But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.

¹⁴Afterward, Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”

¹⁵The man went away, and informed the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

¹⁶For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on a Sabbath.

¹⁷But He answered them, “My Fatheris working until now, and I Myself am working.”

¹⁸For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

¹⁹Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whateverthe Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way.

²⁰For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

²¹For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.

²²For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,

²³so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

²⁴“Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

²⁵Truly, truly, I say to you, a time is coming and even now has arrived, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

²⁶For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;

²⁷and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He isthe Son of Man.

²⁸Do not be amazed at this; fora time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,

²⁹and will come out: those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the bad deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

³⁰“I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.

³¹“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.

³²There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.

³³You have sent messengers to John, and he has testified to the truth.

³⁴But the testimony I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.

³⁵He was the lamp that was burning and shining, and you were willing to rejoice fora while in his light.

³⁶But the testimony I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

³⁷And the Father who sent Me, He has testified about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.

³⁸Also you do not have His word remaining in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent.

³⁹You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me;

⁴⁰and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

⁴¹I do not receive glory from people;

⁴²but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.

⁴³I have come in My Father’s name, and you do notreceive Me; if another comes in his own name, you willreceive him.

⁴⁴How can you believe, when youacceptglory from one another and you do not seek theglory that is from the one and only God?

⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have put your hope.

⁴⁶For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.

⁴⁷But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

¹Now the heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came forward and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel,

²and they said, “The LORD commanded my lord to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.

³But if they marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance.

⁴And when the jubilee of the sons of Israel takes place, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

⁵Then Moses commanded the sons of Israel in accordance with the word of the LORD, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph is right in its statements.

⁶This is what the LORD has commanded regarding the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whomever they wish; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.’

⁷So no inheritance of the sons of Israel will be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each retain possession of the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

⁸And every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall marry one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers.

⁹So no inheritance will be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall each retain possession of its own inheritance.”

¹⁰Just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did:

¹¹Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad married their uncles’ sons.

¹²They married those from the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained with the tribe of the family of their father.

¹³These are the commandments and the ordinances which the LORD commanded to the sons of Israel through Moses in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho.

¹Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be unaware.

²You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led.

³Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.

⁵And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.

⁶There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.

⁷But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

⁸For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;

⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

¹⁰and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

¹¹But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

¹²For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

¹³For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴For the body is not one part, but many.

¹⁵If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.

¹⁶And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.

¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?

¹⁸But now God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, just as He desired.

¹⁹If they were all one part, where would the body be?

²⁰But now there are many parts, but one body.

²¹And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again, the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

²²On the contrary, it is much truer that the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;

²³and those parts of the body which we consider less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor, and our less presentable parts become much more presentable,

²⁴whereas our more presentable parts have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that part which lacked,

²⁵so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same care for one another.

²⁶And if one part of the body suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if a part is honored, all the parts rejoice with it.

²⁷Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.

²⁸And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, and various kinds of tongues.

²⁹All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they?

³⁰All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?

³¹But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And yet, I am going to show you a far better way.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,

²To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day,

⁴longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.

⁵For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelled in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.

⁶For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

⁷For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

⁸Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,

⁹who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

¹⁰but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

¹¹for which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher.

¹²For this reason I also suffer these things; but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to protect what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

¹³Hold on to the example of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴Protect, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

¹⁵You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

¹⁶The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains;

¹⁷but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me—

¹⁸the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.

¹“But now those who are younger than I mock me, Whose fathers I refused to put with the dogs of my flock.

²Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them.

³From poverty and famine they are gaunt, They who gnaw at the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,

⁴Who pluck saltweed by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

⁵They are driven from the community; They shout against them as against a thief,

⁶So that they live on the slopes of ravines, In holes in the ground and among the rocks.

⁷Among the bushes they cry out; Under the weeds they are gathered together.

⁸Worthless fellows, even those without a name, They were cast out from the land.

⁹“And now I have become their taunt, And I have become a byword to them.

¹⁰They loathe me and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting in my face.

¹¹Because He has undone my bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before me.

¹²On the right hand their mob arises; They push aside my feet and pile up their ways of destruction against me.

¹³They break up my path, They promote my destruction; No one restrains them.

¹⁴As through a wide gap they come, Amid the storm they roll on.

¹⁵Sudden terrors are turned upon me; They chase away my dignity like the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

¹⁶“And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of misery have seized me.

¹⁷At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains do not rest.

¹⁸By a great force my garment is distorted; It ties me up like the collar of my coat.

¹⁹He has thrown me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.

²⁰I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.

²¹You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You persecute me.

²²You lift me up to the wind and make me ride it; And You dissolve me in a storm.

²³For I know that You will bring me to death, And to the house of meeting for all living.

²⁴“Yet does one in a heap of ruins not reach out with his hand, Or in his disaster does he not cry out for help?

²⁵Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was my soul not grieved for the needy?

²⁶When I expected good, evil came; When I waited for light, darkness came.

²⁷I am seething within and cannot rest; Days of misery confront me.

²⁸I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

²⁹I have become a brother to jackals, And a companion of ostriches.

³⁰My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever.

³¹Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep.

¹I waited patiently for the LORD; And He reached down to me and heard my cry.

²He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud; And He set my feet on a rock, making my footsteps firm.

³He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD.

⁴How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who become involved in falsehood.

⁵Many, LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is no one to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.

⁶You have not desired sacrifice and meal offering; You have opened my ears; You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.

⁷Then I said, “Behold, I have come; It is written of me in the scroll of the book.

⁸I delight to do Your will, my God; Your Law is within my heart.”

⁹I have proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not restrain my lips, LORD, You know.

¹⁰I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your mercy and Your truth from the great congregation.

¹¹You, LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your mercy and Your truth will continually watch over me.

¹²For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My guilty deeds have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me.

¹³Be pleased, LORD, to rescue me; Hurry, LORD, to help me.

¹⁴May those be ashamed and humiliated together Who seek my life to destroy it; May those be turned back and dishonored Who delight in my hurt.

¹⁵May those be appalled because of their shame Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

¹⁶May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; May those who love Your salvation continually say, “The LORD be exalted!”

¹⁷But I am afflicted and needy; May the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my savior; Do not delay, my God.

¹The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the pronouncement. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

²I am certainly more stupid than any man, And I do not have the understanding of a man;

³Nor have I learned wisdom, Nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His Son’s name? Surely you know!

⁵Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

⁶Do not add to His words Or He will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.

⁷Two things I have asked of You; Do not refuse me before I die:

⁸Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion,

⁹So that I will not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?” And that I will not become impoverished and steal, And profane the name of my God.

¹⁰Do not slander a slave to his master, Or he will curse you and you will be found guilty.

¹¹There is a kind of person who curses his father And does not bless his mother.

¹²There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, Yet is not washed from his filthiness.

¹³There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes! And his eyelids are raised in arrogance.

¹⁴There is a kind of person whose teeth are like swords And his jaw teeth like knives, To devour the poor from the earth And the needy from among mankind.

¹⁵The leech has two daughters: “Give” and “Give.” There are three things that will not be satisfied, Four that will not say, “Enough”:

¹⁶Sheol, the infertile womb, Earth that is never satisfied with water, And fire that never says, “Enough.”

¹⁷The eye that mocks a father And scorns a mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it.

¹⁸There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Four which I do not understand:

¹⁹The way of the eagle in the sky, The way of a snake on a rock, The way of a ship in the middle of the sea, And the way of a man with a virgin.

²⁰This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, “I have done no wrong.”

²¹Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot endure:

²²Under a slave when he becomes king, And a fool when he is satisfied with food,

²³Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband, And a female servant when she dispossesses her mistress.

²⁴Four things are small on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise:

²⁵The ants are not a strong people, But they prepare their food in the summer;

²⁶The rock hyraxes are not a mighty people, Yet they make their houses in the rocks;

²⁷The locusts have no king, Yet all of them go out in ranks;

²⁸The lizard you may grasp with the hands, Yet it is in kings’ palaces.

²⁹There are three things which are stately in their march, Even four which are stately when they walk:

³⁰The lion, which is mighty among animals And does not retreat from anything,

³¹The strutting rooster or the male goat, And a king when his army is with him.

³²If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth.

³³For the churning of milk produces butter, And pressing the nose produces blood; So the churning of anger produces strife.

¹Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they brought destruction on the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem.

²Now at evening time David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.

³So David sent servants and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

⁴Then David sent messengers and had her brought, and when she came to him, he slept with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house.

⁵But the woman conceived; so she sent word and informed David, and said, “I am pregnant.”

⁶Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David.

⁷When Uriah came to him, David asked about Joab’s well-being and that of the people, and the condition of the war.

⁸Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the king’s house, and a gift from the king was sent after him.

⁹But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.

¹⁰Now when they informed David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”

¹¹And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Should I then go to my house to eat and drink and to sleep with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.”

¹²Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the day after.

¹³Now David summoned Uriah, and he ate and drank in his presence, and he made Uriah drunk; and in the evening Uriah went out to lie on his bed with his lord’s servants, and he still did not go down to his house.

¹⁴So in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

¹⁵He had written in the letter the following: “Station Uriah on the front line of the fiercest battle and pull back from him, so that he may be struck and killed.”

¹⁶So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he stationed Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men.

¹⁷And the men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and Uriah the Hittite also died.

¹⁸Then Joab sent a messenger and reported to David all the events of the war.

¹⁹He ordered the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king,

²⁰then it shall be that if the king’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you move against the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?

²¹Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did a woman not throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you move against the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’ ”

²²So the messenger departed and came and reported to David everything that Joab had sent him to tell.

²³The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate.

²⁴Also, the archers shot at your servants from the wall; so some of the king’s servants died, and your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.”

²⁵Then David said to the messenger, “This is what you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; fight with determination against the city and overthrow it’; and thereby encourage him.”

²⁶Now when Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband.

²⁷When the time of mourning was over, David sent servants and had her brought to his house and she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD.

²One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness.

³Then the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad ones, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”

⁴Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁵“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

⁶For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not uproot them.

⁷I will also give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me wholeheartedly.

⁸‘But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness,’ indeed, this is what the LORD says, ‘so will I give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and the ones who live in the land of Egypt.

⁹I will make them an object of terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all the places where I will scatter them.

¹⁰And I will send the sword, the famine, and the plague upon them until they are eliminated from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.’ ”

¹As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,

²being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

³And they laid hands on them and put them in prison until the next day, for it was already evening.

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

⁵On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem;

⁶and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent.

⁷When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

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

⁹if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well,

¹⁰let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.

¹¹He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE.

¹²And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.”

¹³Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

¹⁴And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.

¹⁵But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another,

¹⁶saying, “What are we to do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let’s warn them not to speak any longer to any person in this name.”

¹⁸And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, make your own judgment;

²⁰for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened;

²²for the man on whom this miracle of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.

²³When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported everything that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

²⁴And when they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind and said, “Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THEM,

²⁵who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘WHY WERE THE NATIONS INSOLENT, AND THE PEOPLES PLOTTING IN VAIN?

²⁶THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.’

²⁷For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

²⁸to do whatever Your hand and purpose predestined to occur.

²⁹And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant it to Your bond-servants to speak Your word with all confidence,

³⁰while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

³²And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.

³³And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

³⁴For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales

³⁵and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each to the extent that any had need.

³⁶Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement),

³⁷owned a tract of land. So he sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.