Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth.

²His disciples asked him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.

⁴We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.

⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes.

⁷“Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.

⁸His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?”

⁹Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.” He kept saying, “I’m the one.”

¹⁰So they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

¹¹He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.”

¹²“Where is he?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he said.

¹³They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees.

¹⁴The day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath.

¹⁵Then the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.”

¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.

¹⁷Again they asked the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?” “He’s a prophet,” he said.

¹⁸The Jews did not believe this about him — that he was blind and received sight — until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight.

¹⁹They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

²⁰“We know this is our son and that he was born blind,” his parents answered.

²¹“But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he’s of age. He will speak for himself.”

²²His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him as the Messiah, he would be banned from the synagogue.

²³This is why his parents said, “He’s of age; ask him.”

²⁴So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”

²⁵He answered, “Whether or not he’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”

²⁶Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷“I already told you,” he said, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”

²⁸They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’s disciples.

²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man — we don’t know where he’s from.”

³⁰“This is an amazing thing!” the man told them. “You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes.

³¹We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he listens to him.

³²Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind.

³³If this man were not from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

³⁴“You were born entirely in sin,” they replied, “and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶“Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?” he asked.

³⁷Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸“I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him.

³⁹Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.”

⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?”

⁴¹“If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

¹“Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

²You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the LORD your God I am giving you.

³Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Peor.

⁴But you who have remained faithful to the LORD your God are all alive today.

⁵Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess.

⁶Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’

⁷For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call to him?

⁸And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

⁹“Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don’t forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don’t slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

¹⁰The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Assemble the people before me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children.’

¹¹You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire into the heavens and enveloped in a totally black cloud.

¹²Then the LORD spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice.

¹³He declared his covenant to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two stone tablets.

¹⁴At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.

¹⁵“Diligently watch yourselves — because you did not see any form on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb —

¹⁶so you don’t act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form,

¹⁷or the form of any animal on the earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky,

¹⁸any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters under the earth.

¹⁹When you look to the heavens and see the sun, moon, and stars — all the stars in the sky — do not be led astray to bow in worship to them and serve them. The LORD your God has provided them for all people everywhere under heaven.

²⁰But the LORD selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace to be a people for his inheritance, as you are today.

²¹“The LORD was angry with me on your account. He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

²²I won’t be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land. But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land.

²³Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything he has forbidden you.

²⁴For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

²⁵“When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, angering him,

²⁶I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed.

²⁷The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where the LORD your God will drive you.

²⁸There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.

²⁹But from there, you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.

³⁰When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, in the future you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.

³¹He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them by oath, because the LORD your God is a compassionate God.

³²“Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created mankind on the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other: Has anything like this great event ever happened, or has anything like it been heard of?

³³Has a people heard God’s voice speaking from the fire as you have, and lived?

³⁴Or has a god attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

³⁵You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.

³⁶He let you hear his voice from heaven to instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard his words from the fire.

³⁷Because he loved your fathers, he chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and great power,

³⁸to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is now taking place.

³⁹Today, recognize and keep in mind that the LORD is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other.

⁴⁰Keep his statutes and commands, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

⁴¹Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east.

⁴²Someone could flee there who committed manslaughter, killing his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him. He could flee to one of these cities and stay alive:

⁴³Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau land, belonging to the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; or Golan in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites.

⁴⁴This is the law Moses gave the Israelites.

⁴⁵These are the decrees, statutes, and ordinances Moses proclaimed to them after they came out of Egypt,

⁴⁶across the Jordan in the valley facing Beth-peor in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites. He lived in Heshbon, and Moses and the Israelites defeated him after they came out of Egypt.

⁴⁷They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings who were across the Jordan to the east,

⁴⁸from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon)

⁴⁹and all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Dead Sea below the slopes of Pisgah.

¹Now about the collection for the saints: Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches.

²On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering, so that no collections will need to be made when I come.

³When I arrive, I will send with letters those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

⁴If it is suitable for me to go as well, they will travel with me.

⁵I will come to you after I pass through Macedonia  — for I will be traveling through Macedonia —

⁶and perhaps I will remain with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go.

⁷I don’t want to see you now just in passing, since I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows.

⁸But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,

⁹because a wide door for effective ministry has opened for me  — yet many oppose me.

¹⁰If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear while with you, because he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.

¹¹So let no one look down on him. Send him on his way in peace so that he can come to me, because I am expecting him with the brothers.

¹²Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. However, he will come when he has an opportunity.

¹³Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong.

¹⁴Do everything in love.

¹⁵Brothers and sisters, you know the household of Stephanas: They are the firstfruits of Achaia and have devoted themselves to serving the saints. I urge you

¹⁶also to submit to such people, and to everyone who works and labors with them.

¹⁷I am delighted to have Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus present, because these men have made up for your absence.

¹⁸For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore recognize such people.

¹⁹The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla send you greetings warmly in the Lord, along with the church that meets in their home.

²⁰All the brothers and sisters send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

²¹This greeting is in my own hand  — Paul.

²²If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse be on him. Our Lord, come!

²³The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

²⁴My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.

¹Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,

²in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

³In his own time he has revealed his word in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Savior:

⁴To Titus, my true son in our common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

⁵The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town.

⁶An elder must be blameless: the husband of one wife, with faithful children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion.

⁷As an overseer of God’s household, he must be blameless: not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money,

⁸but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled,

⁹holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.

¹⁰For there are many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from the circumcision party.

¹¹It is necessary to silence them; they are ruining entire households by teaching what they shouldn’t in order to get money dishonestly.

¹²One of their very own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

¹³This testimony is true. For this reason, rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith

¹⁴and may not pay attention to Jewish myths and the commands of people who reject the truth.

¹⁵To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience are defiled.

¹⁶They claim to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.

¹Then Elihu continued, saying:

²Hear my words, you wise ones, and listen to me, you knowledgeable ones.

³Doesn’t the ear test words as the palate tastes food?

⁴Let us judge for ourselves what is right; let us decide together what is good.

⁵For Job has declared, “I am righteous, yet God has deprived me of justice.

⁶Would I lie about my case? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.”

⁷What man is like Job? He drinks derision like water.

⁸He keeps company with evildoers and walks with wicked men.

⁹For he has said, “A man gains nothing when he becomes God’s friend.”

¹⁰Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding. It is impossible for God to do wrong, and for the Almighty to act unjustly.

¹¹For he repays a person according to his deeds, and he gives him what his conduct deserves.

¹²Indeed, it is true that God does not act wickedly and the Almighty does not pervert justice.

¹³Who gave him authority over the earth? Who put him in charge of the entire world?

¹⁴If he put his mind to it and withdrew the spirit and breath he gave,

¹⁵every living thing would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

¹⁶If you have understanding, hear this; listen to what I have to say.

¹⁷Could one who hates justice govern the world? Will you condemn the mighty Righteous One,

¹⁸who says to a king, “Worthless man!” and to nobles, “Wicked men!”?

¹⁹God is not partial to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.

²⁰They die suddenly in the middle of the night; people shudder, then pass away. Even the mighty are removed without effort.

²¹For his eyes watch over a man’s ways, and he observes all his steps.

²²There is no darkness, no deep darkness, where evildoers can hide.

²³God does not need to examine a person further, that one should approach him in court.

²⁴He shatters the mighty without an investigation and sets others in their place.

²⁵Therefore, he recognizes their deeds and overthrows them by night, and they are crushed.

²⁶In full view of the public, he strikes them for their wickedness,

²⁷because they turned aside from following him and did not understand any of his ways

²⁸but caused the poor to cry out to him, and he heard the outcry of the needy.

²⁹But when God is silent, who can declare him guilty? When he hides his face, who can see him? Yet he watches over both individuals and nations,

³⁰so that godless men should not rule or ensnare the people.

³¹Suppose someone says to God, “I have endured my punishment; I will no longer act wickedly.

³²Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I won’t do it again.”

³³Should God repay you on your terms when you have rejected his? You must choose, not I! So declare what you know.

³⁴Reasonable men will say to me, along with the wise men who hear me,

³⁵“Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without insight.”

³⁶If only Job were tested to the limit, because his answers are like those of wicked men.

³⁷For he adds rebellion to his sin; he scornfully claps in our presence, while multiplying his words against God.

¹For the choir director. A of the sons of Korah. [1] God, we have heard with our ears — our ancestors have told us — the work you accomplished in their days, in days long ago:

²In order to plant them, you displaced the nations by your hand; in order to settle them, you brought disaster on the peoples.

³For they did not take the land by their sword — their arm did not bring them victory — but by your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, because you were favorable toward them.

⁴You are my King, my God, who ordains victories for Jacob.

⁵Through you we drive back our foes; through your name we trample our enemies.

⁶For I do not trust in my bow, and my sword does not bring me victory.

⁷But you give us victory over our foes and let those who hate us be disgraced.

⁸We boast in God all day long; we will praise your name forever. Selah

⁹But you have rejected and humiliated us; you do not march out with our armies.

¹⁰You make us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have taken plunder for themselves.

¹¹You hand us over to be eaten like sheep and scatter us among the nations.

¹²You sell your people for nothing; you make no profit from selling them.

¹³You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors, a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us.

¹⁴You make us a joke among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

¹⁵My disgrace is before me all day long, and shame has covered my face,

¹⁶because of the taunts of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy and avenger.

¹⁷All this has happened to us, but we have not forgotten you or betrayed your covenant.

¹⁸Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from your path.

¹⁹But you have crushed us in a haunt of jackals and have covered us with deepest darkness.

²⁰If we had forgotten the name of our God and spread out our hands to a foreign god,

²¹wouldn’t God have found this out, since he knows the secrets of the heart?

²²Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³Wake up, LORD! Why are you sleeping? Get up! Don’t reject us forever!

²⁴Why do you hide and forget our affliction and oppression?

²⁵For we have sunk down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.

²⁶Rise up! Help us! Redeem us because of your faithful love.

¹My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;

²for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.

³Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Tie them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Then you will find favor and high regard with God and people.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;

⁶in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.

⁷Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

⁸This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones.

⁹Honor the LORD with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest;

¹⁰then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

¹¹Do not despise the LORD’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe his discipline;

¹²for the LORD disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

¹³Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding,

¹⁴for she is more profitable than silver, and her revenue is better than gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than jewels; nothing you desire can equal her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand; in her left, riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are pleasant, and all her paths, peaceful.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who hold on to her are happy.

¹⁹The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.

²⁰By his knowledge the watery depths broke open, and the clouds dripped with dew.

²¹Maintain sound wisdom and discretion. My son, don’t lose sight of them.

²²They will be life for you and adornment for your neck.

²³Then you will go safely on your way; your foot will not stumble.

²⁴When you lie down, you will not be afraid; you will lie down, and your sleep will be pleasant.

²⁵Don’t fear sudden danger or the ruin of the wicked when it comes,

²⁶for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from a snare.

²⁷When it is in your power, don’t withhold good from the one to whom it belongs.

²⁸Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later. I’ll give it tomorrow” — when it is there with you.

²⁹Don’t plan any harm against your neighbor, for he trusts you and lives near you.

³⁰Don’t accuse anyone without cause, when he has done you no harm.

³¹Don’t envy a violent man or choose any of his ways;

³²for the devious are detestable to the LORD, but he is a friend to the upright.

³³The LORD’s curse is on the household of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous;

³⁴He mocks those who mock, but gives grace to the humble.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor, but he holds up fools to dishonor.

¹After this, Absalom got himself a chariot, horses, and fifty men to run before him.

²He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for settlement, Absalom called out to him and asked, “What city are you from?” If he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”

³Absalom said to him, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king does not have anyone to listen to you.”

⁴He added, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land. Then anyone who had a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would make sure he received justice.”

⁵When a person approached to pay homage to him, Absalom reached out his hand, took hold of him, and kissed him.

⁶Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for a settlement. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷When four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I made to the LORD.

⁸For your servant made a vow when I lived in Geshur of Aram, saying: If the LORD really brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.”

⁹“Go in peace,” the king said to him. So he went to Hebron.

¹⁰Then Absalom sent agents throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the ram’s horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom has become king in Hebron!’”

¹¹Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom. They had been invited and were going innocently, for they did not know the whole situation.

¹²While he was offering the sacrifices, Absalom sent for David’s adviser Ahithophel the Gilonite, from his city of Giloh. So the conspiracy grew strong, and the people supporting Absalom continued to increase.

¹³Then an informer came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

¹⁴David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Get up. We have to flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! Leave quickly, or he will overtake us quickly, heap disaster on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

¹⁵The king’s servants said to the king, “Whatever my lord the king decides, we are your servants.”

¹⁶Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace.

¹⁷So the king set out, and all the people followed him. They stopped at the last house

¹⁸while all his servants marched past him. Then all the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and the people of Gath— six hundred men who came with him from there  — marched past the king.

¹⁹The king said to Ittai of Gath, “Why are you also going with us? Go back and stay with the new king since you’re both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland.

²⁰Besides, you only arrived yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I go wherever I can? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the LORD show you kindness and faithfulness.”

²¹But in response, Ittai vowed to the king, “As the LORD lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king is, whether it means life or death, your servant will be there!”

²²“March on,” David replied to Ittai. So Ittai of Gath marched past with all his men and the dependents who were with him.

²³Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly while all the people were marching out of the city. As the king was crossing the Kidron Valley, all the people were marching past on the road that leads to the wilderness.

²⁴Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set the ark of God down, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until the people had finished marching past.

²⁵Then the king instructed Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor with the LORD, he will bring me back and allow me to see both it and its dwelling place.

²⁶However, if he should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am — he can do with me whatever pleases him.”

²⁷The king also said to the priest Zadok, “Look, return to the city in peace and your two sons with you: your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan.

²⁸Remember, I’ll wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”

²⁹So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.

³⁰David was climbing the slope of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he ascended. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. All of the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they ascended.

³¹Then someone reported to David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” “LORD,” David pleaded, “please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

³²When David came to the summit where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head.

³³David said to him, “If you go away with me, you’ll be a burden to me,

³⁴but if you return to the city and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, Your Majesty! Previously, I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant,’ then you can counteract Ahithophel’s counsel for me.

³⁵Won’t the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Report everything you hear from the palace to the priests Zadok and Abiathar.

³⁶Take note: their two sons are there with them—Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. Send them to tell me everything you hear.”

³⁷So Hushai, David’s personal adviser, entered Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.

¹In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon said to me in the temple of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people,

²“This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

³Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the LORD’s temple that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from here and transported to Babylon.

⁴And I will restore to this place Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon’ — this is the LORD’s declaration — ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

⁵The prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the temple of the LORD.

⁶The prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do that. May the LORD make the words you have prophesied come true and may he restore the articles of the LORD’s temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place!

⁷Only listen to this message I am speaking in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people.

⁸The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, disaster, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms.

⁹As for the prophet who prophesies peace — only when the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the LORD has truly sent.”

¹⁰The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it.

¹¹In the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, “This is what the LORD says: ‘In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” The prophet Jeremiah then went on his way.

¹²After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

¹³“Go say to Hananiah, ‘This is what the LORD says: You broke a wooden yoke bar, but in its place you will make an iron yoke bar.

¹⁴For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations that they might serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have even put the wild animals under him.’”

¹⁵The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have led these people to trust in a lie.

¹⁶Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to send you off the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’”

¹⁷And the prophet Hananiah died that year in the seventh month.

¹Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.

²Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.

³Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.

⁴So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the word.

⁵Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them.

⁶The crowds were all paying attention to what Philip said, as they listened and saw the signs he was performing.

⁷For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.

⁸So there was great joy in that city.

⁹A man named Simon had previously practiced sorcery in that city and amazed the Samaritan people, while claiming to be somebody great.

¹⁰They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they said, “This man is called the Great Power of God.”

¹¹They were attentive to him because he had amazed them with his sorceries for a long time.

¹²But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

¹³Even Simon himself believed. And after he was baptized, he followed Philip everywhere and was amazed as he observed the signs and great miracles that were being performed.

¹⁴When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

¹⁵After they went down there, they prayed for them so the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit because he had not yet come down on any of them.

¹⁶(They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. )

¹⁷Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

¹⁹saying, “Give me this power also so that anyone I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰But Peter told him, “May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

²¹You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God.

²²Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart’s intent may be forgiven.

²³For I see you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by wickedness.”

²⁴“Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon replied, “so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

²⁵So, after they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they traveled back to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road. )

²⁷So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem

²⁸and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud.

²⁹The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.”

³⁰When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

³¹“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³²Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.

³³In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who will describe his generation? For his life is taken from the earth.

³⁴The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about — himself or someone else?”

³⁵Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning with that Scripture.

³⁶As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water. What would keep me from being baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer but went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰Philip appeared in Azotus, and he was traveling and preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.