Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now the Pharisees and some of the scribes came from Jerusalem and gathered around Him,

²and they had seen that some of His disciples ate their bread with [ceremonially] impure hands, that is, unwashed [and defiled according to Jewish religious ritual].

³( For the Pharisees and all of the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, holding firmly to the traditions of the elders;

⁴and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves [completely according to ritual]; and there are many other things [oral, man-made laws and traditions handed down to them] which they follow diligently, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper utensils.)

⁵So the Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, "Why do Your disciples not live their lives according to the tradition of the elders, but [instead] eat their bread with [ceremonially] unwashed hands?"

⁶He replied, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), as it is written [in Scripture], 'These people honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.

⁷'They worship Me in vain [their worship is meaningless and worthless, a pretense], Teaching the precepts of men as doctrines [giving their traditions equal weight with the Scriptures].'

⁸You disregard and neglect the commandment of God, and cling [faithfully] to the tradition of men."

⁹He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside and nullifying the commandment of God in order to keep your [man-made] tradition and regulations.

¹⁰For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother [with respect and gratitude]'; and, 'He who speaks evil of his father or mother must be put to death';

¹¹but you [Pharisees and scribes] say, 'If a man tells his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you is Corban, (that is to say, already a gift to God),"'

¹²then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother [since helping them would violate his vow of Corban];

¹³so you nullify the [authority of the] word of God [acting as if it did not apply] because of your tradition which you have handed down [through the elders]. And you do many things such as that."

¹⁴After He called the people to Him again, He began saying to them, "Listen [carefully] to Me, all of you, [hear] and understand [what I am saying]:

¹⁵there is nothing outside a man [such as food] which by going into him can defile him [morally or spiritually]; but the things which come out of [the heart of] a man are what defile and dishonor him.

¹⁶["If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."]

¹⁷When Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples asked Him about the parable.

¹⁸And He said to them, "Are you, too, so foolish and lacking in understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile and dishonor him,

¹⁹since it does not enter his heart, but [only] his stomach, and [from there it] is eliminated?" (By this, He declared all foods ceremonially clean.)

²⁰And He said, "Whatever comes from [the heart of] a man, that is what defiles and dishonors him.

²¹For from within, [that is] out the heart of men, come base and malevolent thoughts and schemes, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adulteries,

²²acts of greed and covetousness, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained conduct, envy and jealousy, slander and profanity, arrogance and self-righteousness and foolishness (poor judgment).

²³All these evil things [schemes and desires] come from within and defile and dishonor the man."

²⁴Jesus got up and left there and went to the region of Tyre [and Sidon, the coastal area of Phoenicia]. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know about it; but it was impossible for Him to be hidden [from the public].

²⁵Instead, after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet.

²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile (Greek), a Syrophoenician by nationality. And she kept pleading with Him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷He was saying to her, "First let the children [of Israel] be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the pet dogs (non-Jews)."

²⁸But she replied, "Yes, Lord, but even the pet dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

²⁹And He said to her, "Because of this answer [reflecting your humility and faith], go [knowing that your request is granted]; the demon has left your daughter [permanently]."

³⁰And returning to her home, she found the child lying on the couch [relaxed and resting], the demon having gone.

³¹Soon after this Jesus left the region of Tyre, and passed through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of Decapolis [the ten Hellenistic cities].

³²They brought to Him a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him.

³³Jesus, taking him aside by himself, away from the crowd, put His fingers into the man's ears, and after spitting, He touched the man's tongue [with the saliva];

³⁴and looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to the man, "Ephphatha," which [in Aramaic] means, " Be opened and released!"

³⁵And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he began speaking plainly.

³⁶Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.

³⁷They were thoroughly astounded and completely overwhelmed, saying, "He has done everything well! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!"

¹Then God said to Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you [in a distinct manifestation] when you fled [years ago] from Esau your brother."

²Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the [idols and images of] foreign gods that are among you, and ceremonially purify yourselves and change [into fresh] clothes;

³then let us get up and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone."

⁴So they gave Jacob all the [idols and images of the] foreign gods they had and the rings which were in their ears [worn as charms against evil], and Jacob buried them under the oak tree near Shechem.

⁵As they journeyed, there was a great [supernatural] terror [sent from God] on the cities around them, and [for that reason] the Canaanites did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

⁶So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.

⁷There he built an altar [to worship the LORD], and called the place El-bethel (God of the House of God), because there God had revealed Himself to him when he escaped from his brother.

⁸Now Deborah, [who once was] Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried below Bethel under the oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth (Oak of Weeping).

⁹Then God [in a visible manifestation] appeared to Jacob again when he came out of Paddan-aram, and declared a blessing on him.

¹⁰Again God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name." So he was called Israel.

¹¹And God said to him, "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall be born of your loins.

¹²"The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and to your descendants after you I will give the land."

¹³Then God ascended from Jacob in the place where He had spoken with him.

¹⁴Jacob set up a pillar (memorial, monument) in the place where he had talked with God, a pillar of stone, and he poured a drink offering [of wine] on it; he also poured oil on it [to declare it sacred for God's purpose].

¹⁵So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel (the House of God).

¹⁶Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath (Bethlehem), Rachel began to give birth and had difficulty and suffered severely.

¹⁷When she was in hard labor the midwife said to her, "Do not be afraid; you now have another son."

¹⁸And as her soul was departing, (for she died), she named him Ben-oni (son of my sorrow); but his father called him Benjamin ( son of the right hand).

¹⁹So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

²⁰Jacob set a pillar (memorial, monument) on her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day.

²¹Then Israel (Jacob) journeyed on and pitched his tent on the other side of the tower of Eder [the lookout point used by shepherds].

²²While Israel was living in that land, Reuben [his eldest son] went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine, and Israel heard about it. Now Jacob had twelve sons—

²³The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun;

²⁴and the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin;

²⁵and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naphtali;

²⁶and the sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob born to him in Paddan-aram.

²⁷Jacob came to Isaac his father at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had lived temporarily.

²⁸Now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.

²⁹Isaac's spirit departed and he died and was gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death], an old man full of days (satisfied, fulfilled); his sons Esau and Jacob buried him [in the cave of Machpelah with his parents Abraham and Sarah].

¹Are we starting to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some [false teachers], letters of recommendation to you or from you? [No!]

²You are our letter [of recommendation], written in our hearts, recognized and read by everyone.

³You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

⁴Such is the confidence and steadfast reliance and absolute trust that we have through Christ toward God.

⁵Not that we are sufficiently qualified in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency and qualifications come from God.

⁶He has qualified us [making us sufficient] as ministers of a new covenant [of salvation through Christ], not of the letter [of a written code] but of the Spirit; for the letter [of the Law] kills [by revealing sin and demanding obedience], but the Spirit gives life.

⁷Now if the ministry of death, engraved in letters on stones [the covenant of the Law which led to death because of sin], came with such glory and splendor that the Israelites were not able to look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, [a brilliance] that was fading,

⁸how will the ministry of the Spirit [the new covenant which allows us to be Spirit-filled] fail to be even more glorious and splendid?

⁹For if the ministry that brings condemnation [the old covenant, the Law] has glory, how much more does glory overflow in the ministry that brings righteousness [the new covenant which declares believers free of guilt and sets them apart for God's special purpose]!

¹⁰Indeed, what had glory [the Law], in this case no longer has glory because of the glory that surpasses it [the gospel].

¹¹For if that [Law] which fades away came with glory, how much more must that [gospel] which remains and is permanent abide in glory and splendor!

¹²Since we have such a [glorious] hope and confident expectation, we speak with great courage,

¹³and we are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites would not gaze at the end of the glory which was fading away.

¹⁴But [in fact] their minds were hardened [for they had lost the ability to understand]; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed [only] in Christ.

¹⁵But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil [of blindness] lies over their heart;

¹⁶but whenever a person turns [in repentance and faith] 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 [emancipation from bondage, true freedom].

¹⁸And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.

¹Beloved, I am now writing you this second letter. In this [as in the first one], I am stirring up your untainted mind to remind you,

²that you should remember the words spoken in the past [about the future] by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior given by your apostles [His personally chosen representatives].

³First of all, know [without any doubt] that mockers will come in the last days with their mocking, following after their own human desires

⁴and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming [what has become of it]? For ever since the fathers fell asleep [in death], all things have continued [exactly] as they did from the beginning of creation."

⁵For they willingly forget [the fact] that the heavens existed long ago by the word of God, and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

⁶through which the world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water.

⁷But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly people.

⁸Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day.

⁹The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish with a [mighty and thunderous] roar, and the [material] elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and the works that are on it will be burned up.

¹¹Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be [in the meantime] in holy behavior [that is, in a pattern of daily life that sets you apart as a believer] and in godliness [displaying profound reverence toward our awesome God],

¹²[while you earnestly] look for and await the coming of the day of God. For on this day the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the [material] elements will melt with intense heat!

¹³But in accordance with His promise we expectantly await new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴So, beloved, since you are looking forward to these things, be diligent and make every effort to be found by Him [at His return] spotless and blameless, in peace [that is, inwardly calm with a sense of spiritual well-being and confidence, having lived a life of obedience to Him].

¹⁵And consider the patience of our Lord [His delay in judging and avenging wrongs] as salvation [that is, allowing time for more to be saved]; just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him [by God],

¹⁶speaking about these things as he does in all of his letters. In which there are some things that are difficult to understand, which the untaught and unstable [who have fallen into error] twist and misinterpret, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁷Therefore, [let me warn you] beloved, knowing these things beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men [who distort doctrine] and fall from your own steadfastness [of mind, knowledge, truth, and faith],

¹⁸but grow [spiritually mature] in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory (honor, majesty, splendor), both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

¹Elihu continued speaking [to Job] and said,

²"Do you think this is according to [your] justice? Do you say, 'My righteousness is more than God's'?

³"For you say, 'What advantage have you [by living a righteous life]? What profit will I have, more [by being righteous] than if I had sinned?'

⁴"I will answer you, And your companions with you.

⁵"Look to the heavens and see; And behold the skies which are [much] higher than you.

⁶"If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what have you done to Him?

⁷"If you are righteous, what do you give God, Or what does He receive from your hand?

⁸"Your wickedness affects only a man such as you, And your righteousness affects only a son of man [but it cannot affect God, who is sovereign].

⁹"Because of the multitudes of oppressions the people cry out; They cry for help because of the [violent] arm of the mighty.

¹⁰"But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs [of rejoicing] in the night,

¹¹Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?'

¹²"The people cry out, but He does not answer Because of the pride of evil men.

¹³"Surely God will not listen to an empty cry [which lacks trust], Nor will the Almighty regard it.

¹⁴"Even though you say that you do not see Him [when missing His righteous judgment on earth], Yet your case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

¹⁵"And now, because He has not [quickly] punished in His anger, Nor has He acknowledged transgression and arrogance well [and seems unaware of the wrong of which a person is guilty],

¹⁶Job uselessly opens his mouth And multiplies words without knowledge [drawing the worthless conclusion that the righteous have no more advantage than the wicked]."

¹A Psalm of David. Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; Fight against those who fight against me.

²Take hold of shield and buckler ( small shield), And stand up for my help.

³Draw also the spear and javelin to meet those who pursue me. Say to my soul, "I am your salvation."

⁴Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life; Let those be turned back [in defeat] and humiliated who plot evil against me.

⁵Let them be [blown away] like chaff before the wind [worthless, without substance], With the angel of the LORD driving them on.

⁶Let their way be dark and slippery, With the angel of the LORD pursuing and harassing them.

⁷For without cause they hid their net for me; Without cause they dug a pit [of destruction] for my life.

⁸Let destruction come upon my enemy by surprise; Let the net he hid for me catch him; Into that very destruction let him fall.

⁹Then my soul shall rejoice in the LORD; It shall rejoice in His salvation.

¹⁰All my bones will say, "LORD, who is like You, Who rescues the afflicted from him who is too strong for him [to resist alone], And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?"

¹¹Malicious witnesses rise up; They ask me of things that I do not know.

¹²They repay me evil for good, To the sorrow of my soul.

¹³But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth (mourning garment); I humbled my soul with fasting, And I prayed with my head bowed on my chest.

¹⁴I behaved as if grieving for my friend or my brother; I bowed down in mourning, as one who sorrows for his mother.

¹⁵But in my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered together [against me]; The slanderers whom I did not know gathered against me; They slandered and reviled me without ceasing.

¹⁶Like godless jesters at a feast, They gnashed at me with their teeth [in malice].

¹⁷LORD, how long will You look on [without action]? Rescue my life from their destructions, My only life from the young lions.

¹⁸I will give You thanks in the great congregation; I will praise You among a mighty people.

¹⁹Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me; Nor let those who hate me without cause wink their eye [maliciously].

²⁰For they do not speak peace, But they devise deceitful words [half-truths and lies] against those who are quiet in the land.

²¹They open their mouths wide against me; They say, "Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!"

²²You have seen this, O LORD; do not keep silent. O Lord, do not be far from me.

²³Wake Yourself up, and arise to my right And to my cause, my God and my Lord.

²⁴Judge me, O LORD my God, according to Your righteousness and justice; And do not let them rejoice over me.

²⁵Do not let them say in their heart, "Aha, that is what we wanted!" Do not let them say, "We have swallowed him up and destroyed him."

²⁶Let those be ashamed and humiliated together who rejoice at my distress; Let those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me.

²⁷Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication and want what is right for me; Let them say continually, "Let the LORD be magnified, who delights and takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant."

²⁸And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness (justice), And Your praise all the day long.

¹Hear, O children, the instruction of a father, And pay attention [and be willing to learn] so that you may gain understanding and intelligent discernment.

²For I give you good doctrine; Do not turn away from my instruction.

³When I was a son with my father (David), Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother (Bathsheba),

⁴He taught me and said to me, "Let your heart hold fast my words; Keep my commandments and live.

⁵"Get [skillful and godly] wisdom! Acquire understanding [actively seek spiritual discernment, mature comprehension, and logical interpretation]! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

⁶"Do not turn away from her (Wisdom) and she will guard and protect you; Love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷"The beginning of wisdom is: Get [skillful and godly] wisdom [it is preeminent]! And with all your acquiring, get understanding [actively seek spiritual discernment, mature comprehension, and logical interpretation].

⁸"Prize wisdom [and exalt her], and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her.

⁹"She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty and glory."

¹⁰Hear, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I have instructed you in the way of [skillful and godly] wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be impeded [for your path will be clear and open]; And when you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Take hold of instruction; [actively seek it, grip it firmly and] do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not go the way of evil men.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶For the wicked cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are deprived of sleep unless they make someone stumble and fall.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness And drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the just (righteous) is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until [it reaches its full strength and glory in] the perfect day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like [deep] darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words and be willing to learn; Open your ears to my sayings.

²¹Do not let them escape from your sight; Keep them in the center of your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, And healing and health to all their flesh.

²³Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

²⁴Put away from you a deceitful (lying, misleading) mouth, And put devious lips far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead [toward the path of moral courage] And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you [toward the path of integrity].

²⁶Consider well and watch carefully the path of your feet, And all your ways will be steadfast and sure.

²⁷Do not turn away to the right nor to the left [where evil may lurk]; Turn your foot from [the path of] evil.

¹Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.

²Gilead's wife bore him sons, and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, because you are the son of another woman."

³Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless and unprincipled men gathered around Jephthah, and went out [on raids] with him.

⁴Now it happened after a while that the Ammonites fought against Israel.

⁵When the Ammonites fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob;

⁶and they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our leader, so that we may fight against the Ammonites."

⁷But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me and drive me from the house of my father? Why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?"

⁸The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "This is why we have turned to you now: that you may go with us and fight the Ammonites and become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

⁹So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you take me back [home] to fight against the Ammonites and the LORD gives them over to me, will I [really] become your head?"

¹⁰The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD is the witness between us; be assured that we will do as you have said."

¹¹So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah repeated everything that he had promised before the LORD at Mizpah.

¹²Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, "What is [the problem] between you and me, that you have come against me to fight in my land?"

¹³The Ammonites' king replied to the messengers of Jephthah, "It is because Israel took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the [river] Arnon as far as the Jabbok and [east of] the Jordan; so now, return those lands peaceably."

¹⁴But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the Ammonites,

¹⁵and they said to him, "This is what Jephthah says: 'Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.

¹⁶For when they came up from Egypt, Israel walked through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh;

¹⁷then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, "Please let us pass through your land," but the king of Edom would not listen. Also they sent word to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

¹⁸Then they went through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they camped on the other side of the [river] Arnon; but they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the [northern] boundary of Moab.

¹⁹Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, "Please let us pass through your land to our place."

²⁰But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered together all his people and camped at Jahaz and fought against Israel.

²¹The LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

²²They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness [westward] as far as the Jordan.

²³And now the LORD God of Israel has dispossessed and driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, so [why] should you possess it?

²⁴Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And everything that the LORD our God dispossessed before us, we will possess.

²⁵Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever go to war against them?

²⁶While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon for three hundred years, why did you not recover your lost lands during that time?

²⁷So I have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me; may the LORD, the [righteous] Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.'"

²⁸But the king of the Ammonites disregarded the message of Jephthah, which he sent to him.

²⁹Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.

³⁰Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, "If You will indeed give the Ammonites into my hand,

³¹then whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites, it shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

³²Then Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight with them; and the LORD gave them into his hand.

³³And from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith he struck them, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim (brook by the vineyard), with a very great defeat. So the Ammonites were subdued and humbled before the Israelites.

³⁴Then Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, and this is what he saw: his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. And she was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.

³⁵And when he saw her, he tore his clothes [in grief] and said, "Alas, my daughter! You have brought me great disaster, and you are the cause of ruin to me; for I have made a vow to the LORD, and I cannot take it back."

³⁶And she said to him, "My father, you have made a vow to the LORD; do to me as you have vowed, since the LORD has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, the Ammonites."

³⁷And she said to her father, "Let this one thing be done for me; let me alone for two months, so that I may go to the mountains and weep over my virginity, I and my companions."

³⁸And he said, "Go." So he sent her away for two months; and she left with her companions, and wept over her virginity on the mountains.

³⁹At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did to her as he had vowed; and she had no relations with a man. It became a custom in Israel,

⁴⁰that the daughters of Israel went yearly to tell the story of the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.

¹The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; The Arabah (desert) will shout in exultation and blossom Like the autumn crocus.

²It will blossom abundantly And rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of [Mount] Carmel and [the plain] of Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, The majesty and splendor of our God.

³Encourage the exhausted, and make staggering knees firm.

⁴Say to those with an anxious and panic-stricken heart, "Be strong, fear not! Indeed, your God will come with vengeance [for the ungodly]; The retribution of God will come, But He will save you."

⁵Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

⁶Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the desert.

⁷And the burning sand (mirage) will become a pool [of water] And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, where they lay resting, Grass becomes reeds and rushes.

⁸A highway will be there, and a roadway; And it will be called the Holy Way. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for those who walk on the way [the redeemed]; And fools will not wander on it.

⁹No lion will be there, Nor will any predatory animal come up on it; They will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there.

¹⁰And the ransomed of the LORD will return And come to Zion with shouts of jubilation, And everlasting joy will be upon their heads; They will find joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

¹Now the high priest asked [Stephen], "Are these charges true?"

²And he answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory [the Shekinah, the radiance of God] appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

³and He said to him, 'Leave your country and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.'

⁴Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God sent him to this country in which you now live.

⁵But He did not give him inheritable property, not even enough ground to take a step on, yet He promised that He would give it to Him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.

⁶And this is, in effect, what God spoke [to him]: That his descendants would be aliens (strangers) in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

⁷'And I will judge any nation to whom they will be in bondage,' said God, 'and after that they will come out and serve Me [in worship] in this place.'

⁸And God gave Abraham a covenant [a formal agreement to be strictly observed] of [which] circumcision [was the sign]; and so [under these circumstances] Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [became the father] of Jacob, and Jacob [became the father] of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹"The [ten elder] patriarchs, overwhelmed with jealousy, sold [their younger brother] Joseph into [slavery in] Egypt; but God was with him,

¹⁰and He rescued him from all his suffering, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made Joseph governor over Egypt and over his entire household.

¹¹"Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great distress and our fathers could not find food [for their households and livestock].

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.

¹³And on the second visit Joseph identified himself to his brothers, and Joseph's family and background were revealed to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all.

¹⁵And Jacob (Israel) went down into Egypt, and there he died, as did our fathers;

¹⁶and [from Egypt] their bodies were taken back to Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷"But as the time [for the fulfillment] of the promise which God had made to Abraham was approaching, the [Hebrew] people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

¹⁸until [the time when] there arose another king over egypt who did not know joseph [nor his history and the merit of his service to Egypt].

¹⁹He shrewdly exploited our race and mistreated our fathers, forcing them to expose their [male] babies so that they would die.

²⁰It was at this [critical] time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and for three months he was nourished in his father's house.

²¹Then when he was set outside [to die], Pharaoh's daughter rescued him and claimed him for herself, and cared for him as her own son.

²²So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.

²³But when he reached the age of forty, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel.

²⁴And when he saw one [of them] being treated unfairly, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking and killing the Egyptian.

²⁵He expected his countrymen to understand that God was granting them freedom through him [assuming that they would accept him], but they did not understand.

²⁶Then on the next day he suddenly appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong one another?'

²⁷But the man who was injuring his neighbor pushed Moses away, saying, 'Who appointed you ruler and judge over us?

²⁸Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'

²⁹At this remark Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons.

³⁰"After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.

³¹When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; but as he went near to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came [to him, saying]:

³²'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

³³Then the Lord said to him, 'Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground [worthy of reverence and respect].

³⁴I have most certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, and I will send you to Egypt [as My messenger].'

³⁵"This Moses whom they rejected, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' is the very one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer, with the [protecting and helping] hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.

³⁶This man led them out [of Egypt] after performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

³⁷This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel, 'God will raise up for you a Prophetlike me from your countrymen.'

³⁸This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles [divine words that still live] to be handed down to you.

³⁹Our fathers were unwilling to be subject to him [and refused to listen to him]. They rejected him, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

⁴⁰They said to Aaron, 'Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.'

⁴¹In those days they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced and celebrated over the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned away [from them] and handed them over to serve the host of heaven. As it is written and forever remains written in the book of the prophets, 'It was not [really] to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?

⁴³You also took along the tabernacle (portable temple) of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship; and I will remove you beyond Babylon [carrying you away into exile].'

⁴⁴"Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as God directed Moses to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.

⁴⁵Our fathers also brought it in [with them into the land] with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, [and so it remained here] until the time of David,

⁴⁶who found favor (grace, spiritual blessing) in the sight of God and asked that he might [be allowed to] find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.

⁴⁸However, the Most High [the One infinitely exalted above humanity] does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet [Isaiah] says,

⁴⁹'Heaven is My throne, And the earth is the footstool for My feet; What kind of house will you build for Me?' says the Lord, 'Or what place is there for My rest?

⁵⁰'Was it not My hand that made all these things?'

⁵¹"You stiff-necked and stubborn people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. You are doing just as your fathers did.

⁵²Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become;

⁵³you who received the law as ordained and delivered to you by angels, and yet you did not obey it!"

⁵⁴Now when they heard this [accusation and understood its implication], they were cut to the heart, and they began grinding their teeth [in rage] at him.

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit and led by Him, gazed into heaven and saw the glory [the great splendor and majesty] of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;

⁵⁶and he said, "Look! I see the heavens opened up [in welcome] and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

⁵⁷But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and together rushed at him [considering him guilty of blasphemy].

⁵⁸Then they drove him out of the city and began stoning him; and the witnesses placed their outer robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹They continued stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive and accept and welcome my spirit!"

⁶⁰Then falling on his knees [in worship], he cried out loudly, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them [do not charge them]!" When he had said this, he fell asleep [in death].