Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.

²But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near,

³Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do.

⁴No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.”

⁵For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

⁶Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.

⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.

⁸You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”

⁹After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.

¹¹Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

¹²Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.”

¹³But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

¹⁴Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.

¹⁵The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

¹⁶Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.

¹⁷Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

¹⁸Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.

¹⁹Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

²⁰“You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed.

²²Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath.

²³Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?

²⁴Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

²⁵At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?

²⁶Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah?

²⁷But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him,

²⁹but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

³⁰At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

³¹Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

³³Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me.

³⁴You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

³⁵The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

³⁶What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

³⁸Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

³⁹By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

⁴⁰On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”

⁴¹Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee?

⁴²Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”

⁴³Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.

⁴⁴Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

⁴⁵Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

⁴⁶“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

⁴⁷“You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted.

⁴⁸“Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?

⁴⁹No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

⁵⁰Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked,

⁵¹“Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

⁵²They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” [The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53—8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses, wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53.]

⁵³Then they all went home,

¹Then we turned back and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea, as the LORD had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.

²Then the LORD said to me,

³“You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.

⁴Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful.

⁵Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own.

⁶You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’ ”

⁷The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.

⁸So we went on past our relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab.

⁹Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.”

¹⁰(The Emites used to live there—a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.

¹¹Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites.

¹²Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land the LORD gave them as their possession.)

¹³And the LORD said, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.” So we crossed the valley.

¹⁴Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.

¹⁵The LORD’s hand was against them until he had completely eliminated them from the camp.

¹⁶Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died,

¹⁷the LORD said to me,

¹⁸“Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar.

¹⁹When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.”

²⁰(That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

²¹They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place.

²²The LORD had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.

²³And as for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites coming out from Caphtor destroyed them and settled in their place.)

²⁴“Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.

²⁵This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

²⁶From the Desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying,

²⁷“Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left.

²⁸Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot—

²⁹as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us—until we cross the Jordan into the land the LORD our God is giving us.”

³⁰But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.

³¹The LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

³²When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz,

³³the LORD our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army.

³⁴At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed them—men, women and children. We left no survivors.

³⁵But the livestock and the plunder from the towns we had captured we carried off for ourselves.

³⁶From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead, not one town was too strong for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.

³⁷But in accordance with the command of the LORD our God, you did not encroach on any of the land of the Ammonites, neither the land along the course of the Jabbok nor that around the towns in the hills.

¹Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.

²For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.

³But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.

⁴Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.

⁵I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

⁶Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?

⁷Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes?

⁸Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?

⁹So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.

¹⁰Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning.

¹¹If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me.

¹²So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

¹³For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.

¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

¹⁵So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.

¹⁶Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying?

¹⁷You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

¹⁸I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

¹⁹But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.

²¹In the Law it is written: “With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”

²²Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers.

²³So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

²⁴But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all,

²⁵as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

²⁶What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.

²⁷If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.

²⁸If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

²⁹Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.

³⁰And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop.

³¹For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.

³²The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.

³³For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

³⁴Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.

³⁵If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

³⁶Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?

³⁷If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command.

³⁸But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored.

³⁹Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.

⁴⁰But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

¹But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.

²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,

⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—

⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

⁶They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,

⁷always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

⁸Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.

⁹But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

¹⁰You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,

¹¹persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

¹²In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

¹³while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,

¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

¹⁷so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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

²But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God.

³He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.

⁴Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he.

⁵But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.

⁶So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said: “I am young in years, and you are old; that is why I was fearful, not daring to tell you what I know.

⁷I thought, ‘Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.’

⁸But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.

⁹It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.

¹⁰“Therefore I say: Listen to me; I too will tell you what I know.

¹¹I waited while you spoke, I listened to your reasoning; while you were searching for words,

¹²I gave you my full attention. But not one of you has proved Job wrong; none of you has answered his arguments.

¹³Do not say, ‘We have found wisdom; let God, not a man, refute him.’

¹⁴But Job has not marshaled his words against me, and I will not answer him with your arguments.

¹⁵“They are dismayed and have no more to say; words have failed them.

¹⁶Must I wait, now that they are silent, now that they stand there with no reply?

¹⁷I too will have my say; I too will tell what I know.

¹⁸For I am full of words, and the spirit within me compels me;

¹⁹inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst.

²⁰I must speak and find relief; I must open my lips and reply.

²¹I will show no partiality, nor will I flatter anyone;

²²for if I were skilled in flattery, my Maker would soon take me away.

¹For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

²My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

³My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

⁴These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.

⁵Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

⁶My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

⁷Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

⁸By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”

¹⁰My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

¹¹Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

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

²for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight;

³for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair;

⁴for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—

⁵let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—

⁶for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

⁹They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.

¹¹If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul;

¹²let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

¹³we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;

¹⁴cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—

¹⁵my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths;

¹⁶for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.

¹⁷How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it!

¹⁸These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves!

¹⁹Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it.

²⁰Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square;

²¹on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech:

²²“How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

²³Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.

²⁴But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,

²⁵since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke,

²⁶I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you—

²⁷when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

²⁸“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me,

²⁹since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD.

³⁰Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,

³¹they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

³²For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;

³³but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

¹In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David.

²Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.

³Now Amnon had an adviser named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man.

⁴He asked Amnon, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

⁵“Go to bed and pretend to be ill,” Jonadab said. “When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.’ ”

⁶So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand.”

⁷David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.”

⁸So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it.

⁹Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat. “Send everyone out of here,” Amnon said. So everyone left him.

¹⁰Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom.

¹¹But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”

¹²“No, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked thing.

¹³What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.”

¹⁴But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.

¹⁵Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”

¹⁶“No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.” But he refused to listen to her.

¹⁷He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of my sight and bolt the door after her.”

¹⁸So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing an ornate robe, for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore.

¹⁹Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornate robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went.

²⁰Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has that Amnon, your brother, been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister; he is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.

²¹When King David heard all this, he was furious.

²²And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.

²³Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons to come there.

²⁴Absalom went to the king and said, “Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his attendants please join me?”

²⁵“No, my son,” the king replied. “All of us should not go; we would only be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he still refused to go but gave him his blessing.

²⁶Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon come with us.” The king asked him, “Why should he go with you?”

²⁷But Absalom urged him, so he sent with him Amnon and the rest of the king’s sons.

²⁸Absalom ordered his men, “Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I given you this order? Be strong and brave.”

²⁹So Absalom’s men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons got up, mounted their mules and fled.

³⁰While they were on their way, the report came to David: “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons; not one of them is left.”

³¹The king stood up, tore his clothes and lay down on the ground; and all his attendants stood by with their clothes torn.

³²But Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “My lord should not think that they killed all the princes; only Amnon is dead. This has been Absalom’s express intention ever since the day Amnon raped his sister Tamar.

³³My lord the king should not be concerned about the report that all the king’s sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”

³⁴Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. Now the man standing watch looked up and saw many people on the road west of him, coming down the side of the hill. The watchman went and told the king, “I see men in the direction of Horonaim, on the side of the hill.”

³⁵Jonadab said to the king, “See, the king’s sons have come; it has happened just as your servant said.”

³⁶As he finished speaking, the king’s sons came in, wailing loudly. The king, too, and all his attendants wept very bitterly.

³⁷Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But King David mourned many days for his son.

³⁸After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there three years.

³⁹And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon’s death.

¹Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the LORD:

²“This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the LORD’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the LORD. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word.

³Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.

⁴Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you,

⁵and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened),

⁶then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse among all the nations of the earth.’ ”

⁷The priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD.

⁸But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die!

⁹Why do you prophesy in the LORD’s name that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted?” And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

¹⁰When the officials of Judah heard about these things, they went up from the royal palace to the house of the LORD and took their places at the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD’s house.

¹¹Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!”

¹²Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people: “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the things you have heard.

¹³Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the LORD your God. Then the LORD will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you.

¹⁴As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right.

¹⁵Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

¹⁶Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man should not be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.”

¹⁷Some of the elders of the land stepped forward and said to the entire assembly of people,

¹⁸“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: “ ‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.’

¹⁹“Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did not Hezekiah fear the LORD and seek his favor? And did not the LORD relent, so that he did not bring the disaster he pronounced against them? We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!”

²⁰(Now Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim was another man who prophesied in the name of the LORD; he prophesied the same things against this city and this land as Jeremiah did.

²¹When King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard his words, the king was determined to put him to death. But Uriah heard of it and fled in fear to Egypt.

²²King Jehoiakim, however, sent Elnathan son of Akbor to Egypt, along with some other men.

²³They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him struck down with a sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.)

²⁴Furthermore, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

¹In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

²So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.

³Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them

⁴and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

⁵This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.

⁶They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

⁷So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

⁸Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.

⁹Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen.

¹⁰But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

¹¹Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

¹²So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.

¹³They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.

¹⁴For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.