Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.

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

³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed 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.”

⁶When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,

⁷saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

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

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

¹⁰But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

¹¹He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then 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.

¹⁵Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”

¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided.

¹⁷So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” 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 we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”

²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would 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 they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”

²⁵He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. 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?”

²⁸Then 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, “Here is an astonishing 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 he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.

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

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

³⁴They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

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

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

³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”

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

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

⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”

⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

¹So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

²You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the LORD your God with which I am charging you.

³You have seen for yourselves what the LORD did with regard to the Baal of Peor — how the LORD your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor,

⁴while those of you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today.

⁵See, just as the LORD my God has charged me, I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to enter and occupy.

⁶You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!”

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

⁸And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?

⁹But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children —

¹⁰how you once stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, “Assemble the people for me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me as long as they live on the earth, and may teach their children so”;

¹¹you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain while the mountain was blazing up to the very heavens, shrouded in dark clouds.

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

¹³He declared to you his covenant, which he charged you to observe, that is, the ten commandments; and he wrote them on two stone tablets.

¹⁴And the LORD charged me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy.

¹⁵Since you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire, take care and watch yourselves closely,

¹⁶so that you do not act corruptly by making an idol 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 when you look up to the heavens and see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, do not be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples everywhere under heaven.

²⁰But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron-smelter, out of Egypt, to become a people of his very own possession, as you are now.

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

²²For I am going to die in this land without crossing over the Jordan, but you are going to cross over to take possession of that good land.

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

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

²⁵When you have had children and children’s children, and become complacent in the land, if you act corruptly by making an idol in the form of anything, thus doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, and provoking 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 crossing the Jordan to occupy; you will not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.

²⁷The LORD will scatter you among the peoples; only a few of you will be left among the nations where the LORD will lead you.

²⁸There you will serve other gods made by human hands, objects of wood and stone that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

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

³⁰In your distress, when all these things have happened to you in time to come, you will return to the LORD your God and heed him.

³¹Because the LORD your God is a merciful God, he will neither abandon you nor destroy you; he will not forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them.

³²For ask now about former ages, long before your own, ever since the day that God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of heaven to the other: has anything so great as this ever happened or has its like ever been heard of?

³³Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and lived?

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

³⁵To you it was shown so that you would acknowledge that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.

³⁶From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, while you heard his words coming out of the fire.

³⁷And because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them. He brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,

³⁸driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, giving you their land for a possession, as it is still today.

³⁹So acknowledge today and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

⁴⁰Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.

⁴¹Then Moses set apart on the east side of the Jordan three cities

⁴²to which a homicide could flee, someone who unintentionally kills another person, the two not having been at enmity before; the homicide could flee to one of these cities and live:

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

⁴⁴This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites.

⁴⁵These are the decrees and the statutes and ordinances that Moses spoke to the Israelites when they had come out of Egypt,

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

⁴⁷They occupied his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites on the eastern side of the Jordan:

⁴⁸from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi 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: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia.

²On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come.

³And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take 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 send me on my way, wherever I go.

⁷I do not want to see you now just in passing, for 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.

¹⁰If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord just as I am;

¹¹therefore let no one despise him. Send him on his way in peace, so that he may come 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 he was not at all willing to come now. He will come when he has the opportunity.

¹³Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.

¹⁴Let all that you do be done in love.

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

¹⁶I urge you to put yourselves at the service of such people, and of everyone who works and toils with them.

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. So give recognition to such persons.

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

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

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

²²Let anyone be accursed who has no love for the Lord. 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 sake of the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that is in accordance with godliness,

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

³in due time he revealed his word through the proclamation with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior,

⁴To Titus, my loyal child in the faith we share: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

⁵I left you behind in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you:

⁶someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious.

⁷For a bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain;

⁸but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled.

⁹He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.

¹⁰There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision;

¹¹they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach.

¹²It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said, “Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons.”

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

¹⁴not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth.

¹⁵To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted.

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

¹Then Elihu continued 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 determine among ourselves what is good.

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

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

⁷Who is there like Job, who drinks up scoffing like water,

⁸who goes in company with evildoers and walks with the wicked?

⁹For he has said, ‘It profits one nothing to take delight in God.’

¹⁰“Therefore, hear me, you who have sense, far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.

¹¹For according to their deeds he will repay them, and according to their ways he will make it befall them.

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 take back his spirit to himself, and gather to himself his breath,

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

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

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

¹⁸who says to a king, ‘You scoundrel!’ and to princes, ‘You wicked men!’;

¹⁹who shows no partiality to nobles, 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 upon the ways of mortals, and he sees all their steps.

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

²³For he has not appointed a time for anyone to 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 while others look on,

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 an individual? —

³⁰so that the godless should not reign, or those who ensnare the people.

³¹“For has anyone said to God, ‘I have endured 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 pay back to suit you, because you reject it? For you must choose, and not I; therefore declare what you know.

³⁴Those who have sense will say to me, and the wise who hear me will say,

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

³⁶Would that Job were tried to the limit, because his answers are those of the wicked.

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

¹We have heard with our ears, O God, our ancestors 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 give them victory; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, for you delighted in them.

⁴You are my King and my God; you command victories for Jacob.

⁵Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down our assailants.

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 confusion those who hate us.

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

⁹Yet you have rejected us and abased us, and have not gone out with our armies.

¹⁰You made us turn back from the foe, and our enemies 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 words of the taunters and revilers, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten you, or 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 haunt of jackals, and covered us with deep darkness.

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

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

²²Because of you we are being killed all day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

²³Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not cast us off forever!

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

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

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

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

²for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you.

³Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and of people.

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

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

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

⁸It will be a healing for your flesh and a refreshment for your body.

⁹Honor the LORD with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce;

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

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

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

¹³Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding,

¹⁴for her income is better than silver, and her revenue 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 happy.

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 child, do not let these escape from your sight: keep sound wisdom and prudence,

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

²⁵Do not be afraid of sudden panic, or of the storm that strikes the wicked;

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 harm against your neighbor who lives trustingly beside you.

³⁰Do not quarrel with anyone without cause, when no harm has been done to you.

³¹Do not envy the violent and do not choose any of their ways;

³²for the perverse are 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 abode of the righteous.

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

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

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

²Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the road into the gate; and when anyone brought a suit before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out and say, “From what city are you?” When the person said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,”

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

⁴Absalom said moreover, “If only I were judge in the land! Then all who had a suit or cause might come to me, and I would give them justice.”

⁵Whenever people came near to do obeisance to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of them, and kiss them.

⁶Thus Absalom did to every Israelite who came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel.

⁷At the end of four years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron and pay the vow that I have made to the LORD.

⁸For your servant made a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram: If the LORD will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will worship the LORD in Hebron.”

⁹The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he got up, 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 shout: Absalom has become king at Hebron!”

¹¹Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom; they were invited guests, and they went in their innocence, knowing nothing of the matter.

¹²While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city Giloh. The conspiracy grew in strength, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.

¹³A messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the Israelites have gone after Absalom.”

¹⁴Then David said to all his officials who were with him at Jerusalem, “Get up! Let us flee, or there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Hurry, or he will soon overtake us, and bring disaster down upon us, and attack the city with the edge of the sword.”

¹⁵The king’s officials said to the king, “Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king decides.”

¹⁶So the king left, followed by all his household, except ten concubines whom he left behind to look after the house.

¹⁷The king left, followed by all the people; and they stopped at the last house.

¹⁸All his officials 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 are you also coming 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, while I go wherever I can? Go back, and take your kinsfolk 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 may be, whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be.”

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

²³The whole country wept aloud as all the people passed by; the king crossed the Wadi Kidron, and all the people moved on toward the wilderness.

²⁴Abiathar came up, and Zadok also, with all the Levites, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. 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 the place where it stays.

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

²⁷The king also said to the priest Zadok, “Look, go back to the city in peace, you and Abiathar, with your two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan 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, with his head covered and walking barefoot; and all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

³¹David was told that Ahithophel was among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, “O LORD, I pray you, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

³²When David came to the summit, where God was worshiped, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn and earth 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.

³⁵The priests Zadok and Abiathar will be with you there. So whatever you hear from the king’s house, tell it to the priests Zadok and Abiathar.

³⁶Their two sons are with them there, Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan; and by them you shall report 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 King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, 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 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon.

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

⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah 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 fulfill the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles.

⁷But listen now to 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 true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet.”

¹⁰Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, and broke it.

¹¹And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: This is how I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.” At this, the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

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

¹³Go, tell Hananiah, Thus says the LORD: You have broken wooden bars only to forge iron bars in place of them!

¹⁴For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations so that they may serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they shall indeed serve him; I have even given him the wild animals.

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

¹⁶Therefore thus says the LORD: I am going to send you off the face of the earth. Within this year you will be dead, because you have spoken rebellion against the LORD.”

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

¹And Saul approved of their killing him. Saul Persecutes the Church That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.

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

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

⁴Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word.

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

⁶The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did,

⁷for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured.

⁸So there was great joy in that city.

⁹Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great.

¹⁰All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.”

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

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

¹³Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.

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

¹⁵The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit

¹⁶(for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; 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.

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

¹⁹saying, “Give me also this power 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 God’s gift with money!

²¹You have no part or share in this, 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 the chains of wickedness.”

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

²⁵Now after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.)

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

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

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

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

³¹He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside 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 silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.

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

³⁴The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

³⁵Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.

³⁶As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

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

⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.