Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

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

³Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

⁴We must work 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.”

⁶Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud

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

⁸The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”

⁹Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”

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

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

¹²They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.

¹⁴Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

¹⁵So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

¹⁷So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight

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

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

²¹But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”

²²(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)

²³Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

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

²⁵He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

²⁶They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”

²⁸And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”

³⁰The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.

³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.

³²Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.

³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

³⁴They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”

³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.”

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

³⁹Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”

⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

¹“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

²You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.

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

⁴But you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today.

⁵See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

⁶Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

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

⁸And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

⁹“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children —

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

¹¹And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.

¹²Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.

¹³And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.

¹⁴And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

¹⁵“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,

¹⁶beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

¹⁷the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,

¹⁸the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.

¹⁹And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.

²⁰But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.

²¹Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.

²²For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land.

²³Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you.

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

²⁵“When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger,

²⁶I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.

²⁷And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.

²⁸And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

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

³⁰When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.

³¹For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

³²“For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.

³³Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?

³⁴Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

³⁵To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.

³⁶Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.

³⁷And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,

³⁸driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,

³⁹know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

⁴⁰Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

⁴¹Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan,

⁴²that the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life:

⁴³Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

⁴⁴This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel.

⁴⁵These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt,

⁴⁶beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt.

⁴⁷And they took possession of his land and the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan;

⁴⁸from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon),

⁴⁹together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

¹Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.

²On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

³And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

⁴If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

⁵I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia,

⁶and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go.

⁷For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.

⁸But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,

⁹for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

¹⁰When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am.

¹¹So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

¹²Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.

¹³Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

¹⁴Let all that you do be done in love.

¹⁵Now I urge you, brothers — you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints —

¹⁶be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.

¹⁷I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence,

¹⁸for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.

¹⁹The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.

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

²¹I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.

²²If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!

²³The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

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

¹Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,

²in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began

³and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

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

⁵This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you —

⁶if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.

⁷For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,

⁸but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

⁹He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

¹⁰For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.

¹¹They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

¹²One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

¹³This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,

¹⁴not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.

¹⁵To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

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

¹Then Elihu answered and said:

²“Hear my words, you wise men, and give ear to me, you who know;

³for the ear tests words as the palate tastes food.

⁴Let us choose what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good.

⁵For Job has said, ‘I am in the right, and God has taken away my right;

⁶in spite of my right I am counted a liar; my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

⁷What man is like Job, who drinks up scoffing like water,

⁸who travels in company with evildoers and walks with wicked men?

⁹For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should take delight in God.’

¹⁰“Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.

¹¹For according to the work of a man he will repay him, and according to his ways he will make it befall him.

¹²Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.

¹³Who gave him charge over the earth, and who laid on him the whole world?

¹⁴If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,

¹⁵all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.

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

¹⁷Shall one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty,

¹⁸who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’ and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’

¹⁹who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?

²⁰In a moment they die; at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.

²¹“For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps.

²²There is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves.

²³For God has no need to consider a man further, that he should go before God in judgment.

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

²⁵Thus, knowing their works, he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed.

²⁶He strikes them for their wickedness in a place for all to see,

²⁷because they turned aside from following him and had no regard for any of his ways,

²⁸so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him, and he heard the cry of the afflicted —

²⁹When he is quiet, who can condemn? When he hides his face, who can behold him, whether it be a nation or a man? —

³⁰that a godless man should not reign, that he should not ensnare the people.

³¹“For has anyone said to God, ‘I have borne punishment; I will not offend any more;

³²teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?

³³Will he then make repayment to suit you, because you reject it? For you must choose, and not I; therefore declare what you know.

³⁴Men of understanding will say to me, and the wise man who hears me will say:

³⁵‘Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without insight.’

³⁶Would that Job were tried to the end, because he answers like wicked men.

³⁷For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.”

¹O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:

²you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free;

³for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.

⁴You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob!

⁵Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.

⁶For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.

⁷But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us.

⁸In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

⁹But you have rejected us and disgraced us and have not gone out with our armies.

¹⁰You have made us turn back from the foe, and those who hate us have gotten spoil.

¹¹You have made us like sheep for slaughter and have scattered us among the nations.

¹²You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them.

¹³You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those around us.

¹⁴You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

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

¹⁶at the sound of the taunter and reviler, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant.

¹⁸Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way;

¹⁹yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death.

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

²¹would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.

²²Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!

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

²⁵For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground.

²⁶Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!

¹My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,

²for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.

³Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

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

⁶In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

⁷Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

⁸It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

⁹Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

¹⁰then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

¹¹My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof,

¹²for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

¹³Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,

¹⁴for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

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

¹⁷Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.

¹⁹The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;

²⁰by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

²¹My son, do not lose sight of these — keep sound wisdom and discretion,

²²and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.

²³Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble.

²⁴If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,

²⁶for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

²⁷Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

²⁸Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it” — when you have it with you.

²⁹Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.

³⁰Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,

³²for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD, but the upright are in his confidence.

³³The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

³⁴Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace.

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

²And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,”

³Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.”

⁴Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.”

⁵And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him.

⁶Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷And at the end of four years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron.

⁸For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the LORD will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the LORD.’”

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

¹⁰But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’”

¹¹With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing.

¹²And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.

¹³And a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.”

¹⁴Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

¹⁵And the king's servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.”

¹⁶So the king went out, and all his household after him. And the king left ten concubines to keep the house.

¹⁷And the king went out, and all the people after him. And they halted at the last house.

¹⁸And all his servants passed by him, and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath, passed on before the king.

¹⁹Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home.

²⁰You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you.”

²¹But Ittai answered the king, “As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.”

²²And David said to Ittai, “Go then, pass on.” So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.

²³And all the land wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed the brook Kidron, and all the people passed on toward the wilderness.

²⁴And Abiathar came up, and behold, Zadok came also with all the Levites, bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city.

²⁵Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place.

²⁶But if he says, ‘I have no pleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him.”

²⁷The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Go back to the city in peace, with your two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

²⁸See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”

²⁹So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

³⁰But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went.

³¹And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

³²While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn and dirt on his head.

³³David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.

³⁴But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.

³⁵Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king's house, tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

³⁶Behold, their two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son, and by them you shall send to me everything you hear.”

³⁷So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city, just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

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

²“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

³Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD's house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon.

⁴I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the LORD, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD,

⁶and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles.

⁷Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people.

⁸The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms.

⁹As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet.”

¹⁰Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke them.

¹¹And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.” But Jeremiah the prophet went his way.

¹²Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

¹³“Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the LORD: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron.

¹⁴For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.’”

¹⁵And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.

¹⁶Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the LORD.’”

¹⁷In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

¹And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

²Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.

³But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

⁴Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

⁵Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.

⁶And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did.

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

⁸So there was much joy in that city.

⁹But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.

¹⁰They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.”

¹¹And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

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

¹³Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

¹⁴Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,

¹⁵who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,

¹⁶for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

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

¹⁸Now when 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 on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

²¹You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

²²Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”

²⁴And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

²⁵Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.

²⁷And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship

²⁸and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

²⁹And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

³⁰So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

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

³²Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.

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

³⁴And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.

³⁶And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

³⁹And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.