Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.

²There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.

³Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

⁴But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,

⁵“Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

⁶This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

⁷But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.

⁸For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

⁹Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.

¹⁰But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also,

¹¹because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

¹²The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

¹³took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ The King of Israel!”

¹⁴Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

¹⁵“Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”

¹⁶His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

¹⁷Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.

¹⁸For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.

¹⁹The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

²⁰Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.

²¹Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

²²Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

²³But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

²⁴Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.

²⁵He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

²⁶If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

²⁷“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

²⁸Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

²⁹Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

³⁰Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.

³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

³²And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

³³This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

³⁴The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

³⁵Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.

³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

³⁷But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him,

³⁸that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”

³⁹Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”

⁴¹These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

⁴²Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;

⁴³for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

⁴⁴Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.

⁴⁵And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.

⁴⁶I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

⁴⁷And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

⁴⁸He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him— the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

⁴⁹For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.

⁵⁰And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

¹“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,

²and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.

³Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.

⁴For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.

⁵But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.

⁶“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

⁷The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;

⁸but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

⁹“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

¹⁰and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.

¹¹Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.

¹²“Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers.

¹³And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.

¹⁴You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock.

¹⁵And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

¹⁶Also you shall destroy all the peoples whom the LORD your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

¹⁷“If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’—

¹⁸you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:

¹⁹the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

²⁰Moreover the LORD your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed.

²¹You shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you.

²²And the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

²³But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed.

²⁴And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.

²⁵You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.

²⁶Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.

¹Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you?

²You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men;

³clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

⁴And we have such trust through Christ toward God.

⁵Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,

⁶who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

⁷But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away,

⁸how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

⁹For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

¹⁰For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.

¹¹For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

¹²Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech—

¹³unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.

¹⁴But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.

¹⁵But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.

¹⁶Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

¹⁸But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

¹Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer,

²to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,

⁵hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,

⁶that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

⁷For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.

⁸Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting,

⁹yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ—

¹⁰I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains,

¹¹who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.

¹²I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,

¹³whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.

¹⁴But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.

¹⁵For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever,

¹⁶no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.

¹⁸But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account.

¹⁹I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.

²⁰Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.

²¹Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

²²But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.

²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,

²⁴as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.

²⁵The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

¹“At this also my heart trembles, And leaps from its place.

²Hear attentively the thunder of His voice, And the rumbling that comes from His mouth.

³He sends it forth under the whole heaven, His lightning to the ends of the earth.

⁴After it a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain them when His voice is heard.

⁵God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend.

⁶For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength.

⁷He seals the hand of every man, That all men may know His work.

⁸The beasts go into dens, And remain in their lairs.

⁹From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind, And cold from the scattering winds of the north.

¹⁰By the breath of God ice is given, And the broad waters are frozen.

¹¹Also with moisture He saturates the thick clouds; He scatters His bright clouds.

¹²And they swirl about, being turned by His guidance, That they may do whatever He commands them On the face of the whole earth.

¹³He causes it to come, Whether for correction, Or for His land, Or for mercy.

¹⁴“Listen to this, O Job; Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.

¹⁵Do you know when God dispatches them, And causes the light of His cloud to shine?

¹⁶Do you know how the clouds are balanced, Those wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?

¹⁷Why are your garments hot, When He quiets the earth by the south wind?

¹⁸With Him, have you spread out the skies, Strong as a cast metal mirror?

¹⁹“Teach us what we should say to Him, For we can prepare nothing because of the darkness.

²⁰Should He be told that I wish to speak? If a man were to speak, surely he would be swallowed up.

²¹Even now men cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies, When the wind has passed and cleared them.

²²He comes from the north as golden splendor; With God is awesome majesty.

²³As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is excellent in power, In judgment and abundant justice; He does not oppress.

²⁴Therefore men fear Him; He shows no partiality to any who are wise of heart.”

¹To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. [1] Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

²For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth.

³He will subdue the peoples under us, And the nations under our feet.

⁴He will choose our inheritance for us, The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah

⁵God has gone up with a shout, The LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

⁶Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

⁷For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding.

⁸God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.

⁹The princes of the people have gathered together, The people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted.

¹My son, if you become surety for your friend, If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,

²You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth.

³So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; For you have come into the hand of your friend: Go and humble yourself; Plead with your friend.

⁴Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids.

⁵Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,

⁷Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler,

⁸Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.

⁹How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep—

¹¹So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.

¹²A worthless person, a wicked man, Walks with a perverse mouth;

¹³He winks with his eyes, He shuffles his feet, He points with his fingers;

¹⁴Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord.

¹⁵Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.

¹⁶These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:

¹⁷A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil,

¹⁹A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.

²⁰My son, keep your father’s command, And do not forsake the law of your mother.

²¹Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck.

²²When you roam, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you.

²³For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,

²⁴To keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering tongue of a seductress.

²⁵Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.

²⁶For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.

²⁷Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared?

²⁹So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

³⁰People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.

³¹Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.

³²Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.

³³Wounds and dishonor he will get, And his reproach will not be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy is a husband’s fury; Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

³⁵He will accept no recompense, Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.

¹And David numbered the people who were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.

²Then David sent out one third of the people under the hand of Joab, one third under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, “I also will surely go out with you myself.”

³But the people answered, “You shall not go out! For if we flee away, they will not care about us; nor if half of us die, will they care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us now. For you are now more help to us in the city.”

⁴Then the king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.

⁵Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains orders concerning Absalom.

⁶So the people went out into the field of battle against Israel. And the battle was in the woods of Ephraim.

⁷The people of Israel were overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great slaughter of twenty thousand took place there that day.

⁸For the battle there was scattered over the face of the whole countryside, and the woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

⁹Then Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule. The mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and his head caught in the terebinth; so he was left hanging between heaven and earth. And the mule which was under him went on.

¹⁰Now a certain man saw it and told Joab, and said, “I just saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth tree!”

¹¹So Joab said to the man who told him, “You just saw him! And why did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt.”

¹²But the man said to Joab, “Though I were to receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. For in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Beware lest anyone touch the young man Absalom!’

¹³Otherwise I would have dealt falsely against my own life. For there is nothing hidden from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me.”

¹⁴Then Joab said, “I cannot linger with you.” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom’s heart, while he was still alive in the midst of the terebinth tree.

¹⁵And ten young men who bore Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, and struck and killed him.

¹⁶So Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel. For Joab held back the people.

¹⁷And they took Absalom and cast him into a large pit in the woods, and laid a very large heap of stones over him. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his tent.

¹⁸Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the King’s Valley. For he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.

¹⁹Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run now and take the news to the king, how the LORD has avenged him of his enemies.”

²⁰And Joab said to him, “You shall not take the news this day, for you shall take the news another day. But today you shall take no news, because the king’s son is dead.”

²¹Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” So the Cushite bowed himself to Joab and ran.

²²And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “But whatever happens, please let me also run after the Cushite.” So Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, since you have no news ready?”

²³“But whatever happens,” he said, “let me run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain, and outran the Cushite.

²⁴Now David was sitting between the two gates. And the watchman went up to the roof over the gate, to the wall, lifted his eyes and looked, and there was a man, running alone.

²⁵Then the watchman cried out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he came rapidly and drew near.

²⁶Then the watchman saw another man running, and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, “There is another man, running alone!” And the king said, “He also brings news.”

²⁷So the watchman said, “I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, “He is a good man, and comes with good news.”

²⁸So Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “All is well!” Then he bowed down with his face to the earth before the king, and said, “Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king!”

²⁹The king said, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was about.”

³⁰And the king said, “Turn aside and stand here.” So he turned aside and stood still.

³¹Just then the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “There is good news, my lord the king! For the LORD has avenged you this day of all those who rose against you.”

³²And the king said to the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” So the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise against you to do harm, be like that young man!”

³³Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: “O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!”

¹“At the same time,” says the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

²Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness— Israel, when I went to give him rest.”

³The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

⁴Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.

⁵You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food.

⁶For there shall be a day When the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.’ ”

⁷For thus says the LORD: “Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!’

⁸Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the ends of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child And the one who labors with child, together; A great throng shall return there.

⁹They shall come with weeping, And with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, In a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn.

¹⁰“Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, And declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’

¹¹For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, And ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he.

¹²Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, Streaming to the goodness of the LORD— For wheat and new wine and oil, For the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, And they shall sorrow no more at all.

¹³“Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, And the young men and the old, together; For I will turn their mourning to joy, Will comfort them, And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.

¹⁴I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD.”

¹⁵Thus says the LORD: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”

¹⁶Thus says the LORD: “Refrain your voice from weeping, And your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷There is hope in your future, says the LORD, That your children shall come back to their own border.

¹⁸“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained bull; Restore me, and I will return, For You are the LORD my God.

¹⁹Surely, after my turning, I repented; And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh; I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

²⁰Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.

²¹“Set up signposts, Make landmarks; Set your heart toward the highway, The way in which you went. Turn back, O virgin of Israel, Turn back to these your cities.

²²How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth— A woman shall encompass a man.”

²³Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ‘The LORD bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!’

²⁴And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks.

²⁵For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”

²⁶After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me.

²⁷“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.

²⁸And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.

²⁹In those days they shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

³⁰But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

³¹“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—

³²not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.

³³But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

³⁴No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

³⁵Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name):

³⁶“If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.”

³⁷Thus says the LORD: “If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD.

³⁸“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that the city shall be built for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

³⁹The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath.

⁴⁰And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”

¹Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.

²And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him,

³saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”

⁴But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying:

⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me.

⁶When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.

⁷And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’

⁸But I said, ‘Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’

⁹But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’

¹⁰Now this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven.

¹¹At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea.

¹²Then the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house.

¹³And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter,

¹⁴who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’

¹⁵And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.

¹⁶Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

¹⁷If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”

¹⁸When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

¹⁹Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only.

²⁰But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus.

²¹And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

²²Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch.

²³When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.

²⁴For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.

²⁵Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul.

²⁶And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

²⁷And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.

²⁹Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea.

³⁰This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.