Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come that He would depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

²And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,

³Jesus, knowing that the Father had handed all things over to Him, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God,

⁴*got up from supper and *laid His outer garments aside; and He took a towel and tied it around Himself.

⁵Then He *poured water into the basin, and began washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which He had tied around Himself.

⁶So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, You are washing my feet?”

⁷Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.”

⁸Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have noplace with Me.”

⁹Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean. And you are clean—butnot all of you.”

¹¹For He knew the one who was betraying Him; it was for this reason that He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹²Then, when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you?

¹³You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’; andyou are correct, for so I am.

¹⁴So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

¹⁵For I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you.

¹⁶Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor isone who is sent greater than the one who sent him.

¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

¹⁸I am not speaking about all of you. I know the ones whom I have chosen; but this is happening so that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’

¹⁹From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I am He.

²⁰Truly, truly I say to you, the one whoreceives anyone I send,receives Me; and the one whoreceives Mereceives Him who sent Me.”

²¹When Jesus had said these things, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly I say to you that one of you willbetray Me.”

²²The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking.

²³Lying back on Jesus’ chest was one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.

²⁴So Simon Peter *nodded to this disciple and *said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.”

²⁵He then simply leaned back on Jesus’ chest and *said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶Jesus then *answered, “That man is the one for whom I shall dip the piece of bread and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the piece of bread, He *took and *gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

²⁷After this, Satan then entered him. Therefore Jesus *said to him, “What you are doing, do it quickly.”

²⁸Now none of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him.

²⁹For some were assuming, since Judas kept the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we need for the feast”; or else, that he was to give something to the poor.

³⁰So after receiving the piece of bread, he left immediately; and it was night.

³¹Therefore when he had left, Jesus *said, “Nowis the Son of Man glorified, and Godis glorified in Him;

³²if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.

³³Little children, I am still with you a little longer. You will look for Me; and just as I said to theJews, now I also say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

³⁴I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

³⁵By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”

³⁶Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.”

³⁷Peter *said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.”

³⁸Jesus *replied, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.

¹“All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, so that you may live and increase, and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers.

²And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, in order to humble you, putting you to the test, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

³And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the LORD.

⁴Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

⁵So you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.

⁶Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

⁷For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of streams of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in valleys and hills;

⁸a land of wheat and barley, of vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;

⁹a land where you will eat food without shortage, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

¹⁰When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.

¹¹“Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments, His ordinances, and His statutes which I am commanding you today;

¹²otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, and you build good houses and live in them,

¹³and when your herds and your flocks increase, and your silver and gold increase, and everything that you have increases,

¹⁴then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;

¹⁵He who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions, and its thirsty ground where there was no water; He who brought water for you out of the rock of flint.

¹⁶In the wilderness it was He who fed you manna which your fathers did not know, in order to humble you and in order to put you to the test, to do good for you in the end.

¹⁷Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’

¹⁸But you are to remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, in order to confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

¹⁹And it shall come about, if you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and serve and worship them, I testify against you today that you will certainly perish.

²⁰Like the nations that the LORD eliminates from you, so you shall perish, because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God.

¹Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart,

²but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in trickery nor distorting the word of God, but by the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in the sight of God.

³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,

⁴in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they will not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

⁵For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants on account of Jesus.

⁶For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

⁷But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

⁸we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;

⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed;

¹⁰always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

¹¹For we who live are constantly being handed over to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh.

¹²So death works in us, but life in you.

¹³But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written: “I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE,” we also believe, therefore we also speak,

¹⁴knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus, and will present us with you.

¹⁵For all things are for your sakes, so that grace, having spread to more and more people, will cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day.

¹⁷For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,

¹⁸while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

¹James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.

²Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials,

³knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

⁴And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

⁶But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

⁷For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

⁸being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹Now the brother or sister of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;

¹⁰but the rich person is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.

¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so also the rich person, in the midst of his pursuits, will die out.

¹²Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

¹³No one is to say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

¹⁴But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

¹⁵Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters.

¹⁷Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

¹⁸In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

¹⁹You know this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;

²⁰for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.

²¹Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

²²But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.

²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

²⁴for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

²⁵But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

²⁷Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

¹Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind and said,

²“Who is this who darkens the divine plan By words without knowledge?

³Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man, And I shall ask you, and you inform Me!

⁴Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,

⁵Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the measuring line over it?

⁶On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,

⁷When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸“Or who enclosed the sea with doors When it went out from the womb, bursting forth;

⁹When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling bands,

¹⁰And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,

¹¹And I said, ‘As far as this point you shall come, but no farther; And here your proud waves shall stop’?

¹²“Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And made the dawn know its place,

¹³So that it would take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked would be shaken off from it?

¹⁴It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand out like a garment.

¹⁵Their light is withheld from the wicked, And the uplifted arm is broken.

¹⁶“Have you entered the springs of the sea, And walked in the depth of the ocean?

¹⁷Have the gates of death been revealed to you, And have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

¹⁸Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

¹⁹“Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,

²⁰That you would take it to its territory, And discern the paths to its home?

²¹You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!

²²Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, And have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

²³Which I have reserved for a time of distress, For a day of war and battle?

²⁴Where is the way that the light is divided, And the east wind scattered on the earth?

²⁵“Who has split open a channel for the flood, And a way for the thunderbolt,

²⁶To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a person in it,

²⁷To satisfy the waste and desolate land, And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

²⁸Does the rain have a father? Or who has fathered the drops of dew?

²⁹From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

³⁰Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

³¹“Can you tie up the chains of the Pleiades, Or untie the cords of Orion?

³²Can you bring out a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?

³³Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or do you establish their rule over the earth?

³⁴“Can you raise your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you?

³⁵Can you send flashes of lightning, so that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’?

³⁶Who has put wisdom in the innermost being, Or given understanding to the mind?

³⁷Who can count the clouds by wisdom, And pour out the water jars of the heavens,

³⁸When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?

³⁹“Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of young lions,

⁴⁰When they crouch in their hiding places, And lie in wait in their lair?

⁴¹Who prepares feed for the raven When its young cry to God, And wander about without food?

¹Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, His holy mountain.

²Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion in the far north, The city of the great King.

³In its palaces, God has made Himself known as a stronghold.

⁴For, behold, the kings arrived, They passed by together.

⁵They saw it, then they were amazed; They were terrified, they fled in a hurry.

⁶Panic seized them there, Anguish, as that of a woman in childbirth.

⁷With the east wind You smash the ships of Tarshish.

⁸Just as we have heard, so have we seen In the city of the LORD of armies, in the city of our God; God will establish her forever. Selah

⁹We have thought over Your goodness, God, In the midst of Your temple.

¹⁰As is Your name, God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.

¹¹Mount Zion shall be glad, The daughters of Judah shall rejoice Because of Your judgments.

¹²Walk around Zion and encircle her; Count her towers;

¹³Consider her ramparts; Go through her palaces, So that you may tell of her to the next generation.

¹⁴For such is God, Our God forever and ever; He will lead us until death.

¹My son, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you.

²Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye.

³Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your intimate friend,

⁵So that they may keep you from an adulteress, From the foreigner who flatters with her words.

⁶For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice,

⁷And I saw among the naive, And discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense,

⁸Passing through the street near her corner; And he walks along the way to her house,

⁹In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and the darkness.

¹⁰And behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a prostitute and cunning of heart.

¹¹She is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not remain at home;

¹²She is now in the streets, now in the public squares, And lurks by every corner.

¹³So she seizes him and kisses him, And with a brazen face she says to him:

¹⁴“I was due to offer peace offerings; Today I have paid my vows.

¹⁵Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence diligently, and I have found you.

¹⁶I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt.

¹⁷I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning; Let’s delight ourselves with caresses.

¹⁹For my husband is not at home; He has gone on a long journey.

²⁰He has taken a bag of money with him. At the full moon he will come home.”

²¹With her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him.

²²Suddenly he follows her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as one walks in ankle bracelets to the discipline of a fool,

²³Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hurries to the snare, So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths.

²⁶For many are the victims she has brought to ruin, And numerous are all those slaughtered by her.

²⁷Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death.

¹Then it was reported to Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and he mourns for Absalom.”

²So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, because the people heard it said that day, “The king is in mourning over his son.”

³And the people entered the city surreptitiously that day, just as people who are humiliated surreptitiously flee in battle.

⁴And the king covered his face and cried out with a loud voice, “My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁵Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have shamed all your servants, who have saved your life today and the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines,

⁶by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have revealed today that commanders and servants are nothing to you; for I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then it would be right as far as you are concerned.

⁷Now therefore arise, go out and speak kindly to your servants, for I swear by the LORD, if you do not go out, no man will stay the night with you, and this will be worse for you than all the misfortune that has happened to you from your youth until now!”

⁸So the king got up and sat at the gate. When they told all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is sitting at the gate,” then all the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled, each to his tent.

⁹And all the people were quarreling throughout the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king rescued us from the hands of our enemies and saved us from the hands of the Philistines, but now he has fled out of the land from Absalom.

¹⁰However, Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now then, why are you silent about bringing the king back?”

¹¹Then King David sent word to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the word of all Israel has come to the king, even to his house?

¹²You are my brothers; you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’

¹³And say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God do so to me, and more so, if you will not be commander of the army for me continually, in place of Joab.’ ”

¹⁴So he turned the hearts of all the men of Judah as one man, so that they sent word to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants.”

¹⁵The king then returned and came as far as the Jordan. And the men of Judah came to Gilgal in order to go to meet the king, to escort the king across the Jordan.

¹⁶Then Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David.

¹⁷And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.

¹⁸Then they crossed the shallow places repeatedly to bring over the king’s household, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan.

¹⁹And he said to the king, “May my lord not consider me guilty, nor call to mind what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, so that the king would take it to heart.

²⁰For your servant knows that I have sinned; so behold, I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”

²¹But Abishai the son of Zeruiah responded, “Should Shimei not be put to death for this, the fact that he cursed the LORD’S anointed?”

²²David then said, “What is there between you and me, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary to me today? Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?”

²³So the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” The king also swore to him.

²⁴Then Mephibosheth the grandson of Saul came down to meet the king; but he had neither tended to his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes since the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace.

²⁵And it was when he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”

²⁶So he said, “My lord the king, my servant betrayed me; for your servant said, ‘I will saddle the donkey for myself so that I may ride on it and go with the king,’ since your servant cannot walk.

²⁷Furthermore, he has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is like the angel of God, therefore do what is good in your sight.

²⁸For all my father’s household was only people worthy of death to my lord the king; yet you placed your servant among those who ate at your own table. So what right do I still have, that I should complain anymore to the king?”

²⁹So the king said to him, “Why do you still speak of your affairs? I have decided, ‘You and Ziba shall divide the land.’ ”

³⁰And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him even take it all, since my lord the king has come safely to his own house.”

³¹Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim; and he went on to the Jordan with the king to escort him over the Jordan.

³²Barzillai was very old: eighty years old; and he had provided the king food while he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.

³³So the king said to Barzillai, “You cross over with me, and I will provide you food in Jerusalem with me.”

³⁴But Barzillai said to the king, “How long do I still have to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

³⁵I am now eighty years old. Can I distinguish between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I still hear the voice of men and women singing? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?

³⁶Your servant would merely cross over the Jordan with the king. So why should the king compensate me with this reward?

³⁷Please let your servant return, so that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. However, here is your servant Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight.”

³⁸And the king answered, “Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your sight; and whatever you require of me, I will do for you.”

³⁹All the people crossed over the Jordan and the king crossed too. The king then kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his place.

⁴⁰Now the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him; and all the people of Judah and also half the people of Israel accompanied the king.

⁴¹And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, “Why have our brothers, the men of Judah, abducted you and brought the king and his household and all David’s men with him, over the Jordan?”

⁴²Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is a close relative to us. Why then are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king’s expense, or has anything been taken for us?”

⁴³But the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, “We have ten parts in the king, therefore we also have more claim on David than you. Why then did you treat us with contempt? Was it not our advice first to bring back our king?” Yet the words of the men of Judah were harsher than the words of the men of Israel.

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

²Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was at the house of the king of Judah,

³because Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will take it;

⁴and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye.

⁵Then he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the LORD. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed” ’?”

⁶And Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁷‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.” ’

⁸Then my uncle’s son Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard in accordance with the word of the LORD and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

⁹“So I bought the field which was in Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver.

¹⁰And I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.

¹¹Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy;

¹²and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

¹³And I commanded Baruch in their sight, saying,

¹⁴‘This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, so that they may last a long time.”

¹⁵For this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be purchased in this land.” ’

¹⁶“After giving the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying,

¹⁷‘Oh, Lord GOD! Behold, You Yourself have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You,

¹⁸who shows mercy to thousands, but repays the wrongdoing of fathers into the laps of their children after them, great and mighty God. The LORD of armies is His name;

¹⁹great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of mankind, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;

²⁰who has accomplished signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day.

²¹You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror;

²²and You gave them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.

²³They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your Law; they did not do anything that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made all this disaster happen to them.

²⁴Behold, the assault ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the plague; and what You have spoken has come to pass; and behold, You see it.

²⁵Yet You have said to me, Lord GOD, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans.’ ”

²⁶Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁷“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”

²⁸Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am going to hand this city over to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it.

²⁹And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses where people have offered incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger.

³⁰For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only evil in My sight since their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares the LORD.

³¹“Indeed this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My wrath since the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be removed from My sight,

³²because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

³³They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen to accept discipline.

³⁴But they put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.

³⁵They built the high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them, nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to mislead Judah to sin.

³⁶“Now therefore the LORD God of Israel says the following concerning this city of which you say, ‘It has been handed over to the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by plague’:

³⁷Behold, I am going to gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and have them live in safety.

³⁸They shall be My people, and I will be their God;

³⁹and I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

⁴⁰I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts, so that they will not turn away from Me.

⁴¹I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and all My soul.

⁴²For this is what the LORD says: ‘Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.

⁴³And fields will be purchased in this land of which you say, “It is a desolation, without man or animal; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans.”

⁴⁴People will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,’ declares the LORD.”

¹Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm.

²And he had James the brother of John executed with a sword.

³When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well. (Now these were the days of Unleavened Bread.)

⁴When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, turning him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending only after the Passover to bring him before the people.

⁵So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made to God intensely by the church.

⁶On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.

⁷And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near Peter, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands.

⁸And the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and strap on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

⁹And he went out and continued to follow, and yet he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰Now when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

¹¹When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹²And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

¹³When he knocked at the door of the gate, a slave woman named Rhoda came to answer.

¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.

¹⁵They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.”

¹⁶But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.

¹⁷But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James and the brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.

¹⁹When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.

²⁰Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one mind they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was supported with grain from the king’s country.

²¹On an appointed day, after putting on his royal apparel, Herod took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.

²²The people repeatedly cried out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”

²³And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

²⁵And Barnabas and Saul returned when they had fulfilled their mission to Jerusalem, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.