Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

²Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.

³Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

⁴they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.

⁵Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

⁶This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

⁷So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

⁸And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

¹⁰When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

¹²Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

¹³The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”

¹⁴Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.

¹⁵You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.

¹⁶And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.

¹⁷It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.

¹⁸I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

¹⁹Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

²⁰These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

²¹Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”

²²So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”

²³And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

²⁴Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

²⁵Then they said to Him, “Who are You?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.

²⁶I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”

²⁷They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.

²⁸Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.

²⁹And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”

³⁰As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

³¹Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.

³²And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

³³They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

³⁵And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.

³⁶Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

³⁷“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.

³⁸I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”

³⁹They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.

⁴⁰But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.

⁴¹You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

⁴³Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.

⁴⁴You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

⁴⁶Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?

⁴⁷He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

⁴⁸Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.

⁵⁰And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.

⁵¹Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”

⁵²Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’

⁵³Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”

⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.

⁵⁵Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.

⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

⁵⁹Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

¹“Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan; and Og king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

²And the LORD said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand; you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.’

³“So the LORD our God also delivered into our hands Og king of Bashan, with all his people, and we attacked him until he had no survivors remaining.

⁴And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

⁵All these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many rural towns.

⁶And we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city.

⁷But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as booty for ourselves.

⁸“And at that time we took the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were on this side of the Jordan, from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon

⁹(the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir),

¹⁰all the cities of the plain, all Gilead, and all Bashan, as far as Salcah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

¹¹“For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants. Indeed his bedstead was an iron bedstead. (Is it not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon?) Nine cubits is its length and four cubits its width, according to the standard cubit.

¹²“And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the River Arnon, and half the mountains of Gilead and its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites.

¹³The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. (All the region of Argob, with all Bashan, was called the land of the giants.

¹⁴Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and called Bashan after his own name, Havoth Jair, to this day.)

¹⁵“Also I gave Gilead to Machir.

¹⁶And to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave from Gilead as far as the River Arnon, the middle of the river as the border, as far as the River Jabbok, the border of the people of Ammon;

¹⁷the plain also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the east side of the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.

¹⁸“Then I commanded you at that time, saying: ‘The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All you men of valor shall cross over armed before your brethren, the children of Israel.

¹⁹But your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall stay in your cities which I have given you,

²⁰until the LORD has given rest to your brethren as to you, and they also possess the land which the LORD your God is giving them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’

²¹“And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings; so will the LORD do to all the kingdoms through which you pass.

²²You must not fear them, for the LORD your God Himself fights for you.’

²³“Then I pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying:

²⁴‘O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds?

²⁵I pray, let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon.’

²⁶“But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the LORD said to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter.

²⁷Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.

²⁸But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.’

²⁹“So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth Peor.

¹Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,

²by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

³For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

⁴and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

⁵and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

⁶After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

⁷After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

⁸Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

¹¹Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

¹²Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

¹⁴And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

¹⁵Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.

¹⁶For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

¹⁷And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

¹⁸Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

¹⁹If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

²⁰But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

²¹For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

²³But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

²⁴Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

²⁵For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.

²⁶The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

²⁷For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.

²⁸Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

²⁹Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?

³⁰And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?

³¹I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

³²If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

³³Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

³⁴Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

³⁵But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?”

³⁶Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

³⁷And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain.

³⁸But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

³⁹All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

⁴⁰There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

⁴²So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.

⁴³It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

⁴⁴It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

⁴⁵And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.

⁴⁷The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.

⁴⁸As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.

⁴⁹And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

⁵⁰Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

⁵¹Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—

⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

⁵⁴So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

¹I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:

²Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

³For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;

⁴and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

⁵But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

⁶For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

⁸Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

⁹Be diligent to come to me quickly;

¹⁰for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia.

¹¹Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.

¹²And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.

¹³Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments.

¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works.

¹⁵You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.

¹⁶At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.

¹⁷But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

¹⁸And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

¹⁹Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

²⁰Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick.

²¹Do your utmost to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as well as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren.

²²The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

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

²Now, I open my mouth; My tongue speaks in my mouth.

³My words come from my upright heart; My lips utter pure knowledge.

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

⁵If you can answer me, Set your words in order before me; Take your stand.

⁶Truly I am as your spokesman before God; I also have been formed out of clay.

⁷Surely no fear of me will terrify you, Nor will my hand be heavy on you.

⁸“Surely you have spoken in my hearing, And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,

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

¹⁰Yet He finds occasions against me, He counts me as His enemy;

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

¹²“Look, in this you are not righteous. I will answer you, For God is greater than man.

¹³Why do you contend with Him? For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.

¹⁴For God may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it.

¹⁵In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds,

¹⁶Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction.

¹⁷In order to turn man from his deed, And conceal pride from man,

¹⁸He keeps back his soul from the Pit, And his life from perishing by the sword.

¹⁹“Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, And with strong pain in many of his bones,

²⁰So that his life abhors bread, And his soul succulent food.

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

²²Yes, his soul draws near the Pit, And his life to the executioners.

²³“If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness,

²⁴Then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’;

²⁵His flesh shall be young like a child’s, He shall return to the days of his youth.

²⁶He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, He shall see His face with joy, For He restores to man His righteousness.

²⁷Then he looks at men and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted what was right, And it did not profit me.’

²⁸He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit, And his life shall see the light.

²⁹“Behold, God works all these things, Twice, in fact, three times with a man,

³⁰To bring back his soul from the Pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of life.

³¹“Give ear, Job, listen to me; Hold your peace, and I will speak.

³²If you have anything to say, answer me; Speak, for I desire to justify you.

³³If not, listen to me; Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.”

¹Vindicate me, O God, And plead my cause against an ungodly nation; Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!

²For You are the God of my strength; Why do You cast me off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

³Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle.

⁴Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God.

⁵Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

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

²So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;

³Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up 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 find 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 uprightly;

⁸He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.

¹⁰When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,

¹¹Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you,

¹²To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,

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

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

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

¹⁶To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words,

¹⁷Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.

¹⁸For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead;

¹⁹None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life—

²⁰So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness.

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

²²But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

¹So Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart was concerned about Absalom.

²And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman, and said to her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel; do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has been mourning a long time for the dead.

³Go to the king and speak to him in this manner.” So Joab put the words in her mouth.

⁴And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and prostrated herself, and said, “Help, O king!”

⁵Then the king said to her, “What troubles you?” And she answered, “Indeed I am a widow, my husband is dead.

⁶Now your maidservant had two sons; and the two fought with each other in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one struck the other and killed him.

⁷And now the whole family has risen up against your maidservant, and they said, ‘Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may execute him for the life of his brother whom he killed; and we will destroy the heir also.’ So they would extinguish my ember that is left, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the earth.”

⁸Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.”

⁹And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, O king, let the iniquity be on me and on my father’s house, and the king and his throne be guiltless.”

¹⁰So the king said, “Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you anymore.”

¹¹Then she said, “Please let the king remember the LORD your God, and do not permit the avenger of blood to destroy anymore, lest they destroy my son.” And he said, “As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”

¹²Therefore the woman said, “Please, let your maidservant speak another word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Say on.”

¹³So the woman said: “Why then have you schemed such a thing against the people of God? For the king speaks this thing as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring his banished one home again.

¹⁴For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.

¹⁵Now therefore, I have come to speak of this thing to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. And your maidservant said, ‘I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his maidservant.

¹⁶For the king will hear and deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.’

¹⁷Your maidservant said, ‘The word of my lord the king will now be comforting; for as the angel of God, so is my lord the king in discerning good and evil. And may the LORD your God be with you.’ ”

¹⁸Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Please do not hide from me anything that I ask you.” And the woman said, “Please, let my lord the king speak.”

¹⁹So the king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman answered and said, “As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken. For your servant Joab commanded me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant.

²⁰To bring about this change of affairs your servant Joab has done this thing; but my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that is in the earth.”

²¹And the king said to Joab, “All right, I have granted this thing. Go therefore, bring back the young man Absalom.”

²²Then Joab fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself, and thanked the king. And Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant.”

²³So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

²⁴And the king said, “Let him return to his own house, but do not let him see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, but did not see the king’s face.

²⁵Now in all Israel there was no one who was praised as much as Absalom for his good looks. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

²⁶And when he cut the hair of his head—at the end of every year he cut it because it was heavy on him—when he cut it, he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels according to the king’s standard.

²⁷To Absalom were born three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a woman of beautiful appearance.

²⁸And Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, but did not see the king’s face.

²⁹Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but he would not come to him. And when he sent again the second time, he would not come.

³⁰So he said to his servants, “See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

³¹Then Joab arose and came to Absalom’s house, and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?”

³²And Absalom answered Joab, “Look, I sent to you, saying, ‘Come here, so that I may send you to the king, to say, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still.” ’ Now therefore, let me see the king’s face; but if there is iniquity in me, let him execute me.”

³³So Joab went to the king and told him. And when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king. Then the king kissed Absalom.

¹In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

²“Thus says the LORD to me: ‘Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, and put them on your neck,

³and send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

⁴And command them to say to their masters, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel—thus you shall say to your masters:

⁵‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me.

⁶And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him.

⁷So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, until the time of his land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them.

⁸And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,’ says the LORD, ‘with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

⁹Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon.”

¹⁰For they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish.

¹¹But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land,’ says the LORD, ‘and they shall till it and dwell in it.’ ” ’ ”

¹²I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live!

¹³Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

¹⁴Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you;

¹⁵for I have not sent them,” says the LORD, “yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

¹⁶Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Behold, the vessels of the LORD’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they prophesy a lie to you.

¹⁷Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste?

¹⁸But if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.’

¹⁹“For thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, concerning the Sea, concerning the carts, and concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in this city,

²⁰which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—

²¹yes, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem:

²²‘They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them,’ says the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.’ ”

¹Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

²And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,

³and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’

⁴Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.

⁵And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him.

⁶But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years.

⁷‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’

⁸Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

⁹“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him

¹⁰and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

¹¹Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance.

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

¹³And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people.

¹⁵So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers.

¹⁶And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.

¹⁷“But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt

¹⁸till another king arose who did not know Joseph.

¹⁹This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.

²⁰At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months.

²¹But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son.

²²And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.

²³“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.

²⁴And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian.

²⁵For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.

²⁶And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’

²⁷But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

²⁸Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’

²⁹Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

³⁰“And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.

³¹When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him,

³²saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look.

³³‘Then the LORD said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

³⁴I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.” ’

³⁵“This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush.

³⁶He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

³⁷“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’

³⁸“This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us,

³⁹whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,

⁴⁰saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’

⁴¹And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

⁴²Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: ‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

⁴³You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’

⁴⁴“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,

⁴⁵which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David,

⁴⁶who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷But Solomon built Him a house.

⁴⁸“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:

⁴⁹‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest?

⁵⁰Has My hand not made all these things?’

⁵¹“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

⁵²Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,

⁵³who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

⁵⁴When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,

⁵⁶and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

⁵⁷Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;

⁵⁸and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

⁶⁰Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.