Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹So he got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town.

²Just then some men brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”

³At this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “He’s blaspheming!”

⁴Perceiving their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?

⁵For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”  — then he told the paralytic, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

⁷So he got up and went home.

⁸When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck and gave glory to God, who had given such authority to men.

⁹As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the toll booth, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.

¹⁰While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples.

¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹²Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick.

¹³Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

¹⁴Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests be sad while the groom is with them? The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse.

¹⁷And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

¹⁸As he was telling them these things, suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before him, saying, “My daughter just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”

¹⁹So Jesus and his disciples got up and followed him.

²⁰Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years approached from behind and touched the end of his robe,

²¹for she said to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I’ll be made well.”

²²Jesus turned and saw her. “Have courage, daughter,” he said. “Your faith has saved you.” And the woman was made well from that moment.

²³When Jesus came to the leader’s house, he saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly.

²⁴“Leave,” he said, “because the girl is not dead but asleep.” And they laughed at him.

²⁵After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.

²⁶Then news of this spread throughout that whole area.

²⁷As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

²⁸When he entered the house, the blind men approached him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹Then he touched their eyes, saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”

³⁰And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, “Be sure that no one finds out.”

³¹But they went out and spread the news about him throughout that whole area.

³²Just as they were going out, a demon-possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to him.

³³When the demon had been driven out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”

³⁴But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

³⁵Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.

³⁶When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.

³⁷Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.

³⁸Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

¹“If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court, and the judges will hear their case. They will clear the innocent and condemn the guilty.

²If the guilty party deserves to be flogged, the judge will make him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate for his crime.

³He may be flogged with forty lashes, but no more. Otherwise, if he is flogged with more lashes than these, your brother will be degraded in your sight.

⁴“Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain.

⁵“When brothers live on the same property and one of them dies without a son, the wife of the dead man may not marry a stranger outside the family. Her brother-in-law is to take her as his wife, have sexual relations with her, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law for her.

⁶The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

⁷But if the man doesn’t want to marry his sister-in-law, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, ‘My brother-in-law refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He isn’t willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.’

⁸The elders of his city will summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, ‘I don’t want to marry her,’

⁹then his sister-in-law will go up to him in the sight of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she will declare, ‘This is what is done to a man who will not build up his brother’s house.’

¹⁰And his family name in Israel will be ‘The house of the man whose sandal was removed.’

¹¹“If two men are fighting with each other, and the wife of one steps in to rescue her husband from the one striking him, and she puts out her hand and grabs his genitals,

¹²you are to cut off her hand. Do not show pity.

¹³“Do not have differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.

¹⁴Do not have differing dry measures in your house, a larger and a smaller.

¹⁵You must have a full and honest weight, a full and honest dry measure, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

¹⁶For everyone who does such things and acts unfairly is detestable to the LORD your God.

¹⁷“Remember what the Amalekites did to you on the journey after you left Egypt.

¹⁸They met you along the way and attacked all your stragglers from behind when you were tired and weary. They did not fear God.

¹⁹When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven. Do not forget.

¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins

²in which you previously lived according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.

³We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us,

⁵made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

⁶He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,

⁷so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift —

⁹not from works, so that no one can boast.

¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

¹¹So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh — called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands.

¹²At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

¹³But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh,

¹⁵he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.

¹⁶He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.

¹⁷He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

¹⁸For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father.

¹⁹So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household,

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

²¹In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

²²In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

¹Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him.

²This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands.

³For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,

⁴because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.

⁵Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

⁶Jesus Christ — he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

⁷For there are three that testify:

⁸the Spirit, the water, and the blood  — and these three are in agreement.

⁹If we accept human testimony, God’s testimony is greater, because it is God’s testimony that he has given about his Son.

¹⁰The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his Son.

¹¹And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

¹²The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

¹⁴This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

¹⁵And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.

¹⁶If anyone sees a fellow believer committing a sin that doesn’t lead to death, he should ask, and God will give life to him — to those who commit sin that doesn’t lead to death. There is sin that leads to death. I am not saying he should pray about that.

¹⁷All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin that doesn’t lead to death.

¹⁸We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

¹⁹We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.

²⁰And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one. We are in the true one — that is, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

²¹Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

¹The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.

²Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your caresses are more delightful than wine.

³The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating; your name is perfume poured out. No wonder young women adore you.

⁴Take me with you  — let’s hurry. Oh, that the king would bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and be glad in you; we will celebrate your caresses more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.

⁵Daughters of Jerusalem, I am dark like the tents of Kedar, yet lovely like the curtains of Solomon.

⁶Do not stare at me because I am dark, for the sun has gazed on me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me take care of the vineyards. I have not taken care of my own vineyard.

⁷Tell me, you whom I love: Where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you let them rest at noon? Why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions?

⁸If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats near the shepherds’ tents.

⁹I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

¹⁰Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry, your neck with its necklace.

¹¹We will make gold jewelry for you, accented with silver.

¹²While the king is on his couch, my perfume releases its fragrance.

¹³The one I love is a sachet of myrrh to me, spending the night between my breasts.

¹⁴The one I love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me, in the vineyards of En-gedi.

¹⁵How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Your eyes are doves.

¹⁶How handsome you are, my love. How delightful! Our bed is verdant;

¹⁷the beams of our house are cedars, and our rafters are cypresses.

¹For the choir director. A psalm of David. A song. [1] Praise is rightfully yours, God, in Zion; vows to you will be fulfilled.

²All humanity will come to you, the one who hears prayer.

³Iniquities overwhelm me; only you can atone for our rebellions.

⁴How happy is the one you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple.

⁵You answer us in righteousness, with awe-inspiring works, God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the distant seas.

⁶You establish the mountains by your power; you are robed with strength.

⁷You silence the roar of the seas, the roar of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.

⁸Those who live far away are awed by your signs; you make east and west shout for joy.

⁹You visit the earth and water it abundantly, enriching it greatly. God’s stream is filled with water, for you prepare the earth in this way, providing people with grain.

¹⁰You soften it with showers and bless its growth, soaking its furrows and leveling its ridges.

¹¹You crown the year with your goodness; your carts overflow with plenty.

¹²The wilderness pastures overflow, and the hills are robed with joy.

¹³The pastures are clothed with flocks and the valleys covered with grain. They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.

¹Don’t envy the evil or desire to be with them,

²for their hearts plan violence, and their words stir up trouble.

³A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding;

⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure.

⁵A wise warrior is better than a strong one, and a man of knowledge than one of strength;

⁶for you should wage war with sound guidance — victory comes with many counselors.

⁷Wisdom is inaccessible to a fool; he does not open his mouth at the city gate.

⁸The one who plots evil will be called a schemer.

⁹A foolish scheme is sin, and a mocker is detestable to people.

¹⁰If you do nothing in a difficult time, your strength is limited.

¹¹Rescue those being taken off to death, and save those stumbling toward slaughter.

¹²If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,” won’t he who weighs hearts consider it? Won’t he who protects your life know? Won’t he repay a person according to his work?

¹³Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your palate;

¹⁴realize that wisdom is the same for you. If you find it, you will have a future, and your hope will never fade.

¹⁵Don’t set an ambush, you wicked one, at the camp of the righteous man; don’t destroy his dwelling.

¹⁶Though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin.

¹⁷Don’t gloat when your enemy falls, and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

¹⁸or the LORD will see, be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him.

¹⁹Don’t be agitated by evildoers, and don’t envy the wicked.

²⁰For the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹My son, fear the LORD, as well as the king, and don’t associate with rebels,

²²for destruction will come suddenly from them; who knows what distress these two can bring?

²³These sayings also belong to the wise: It is not good to show partiality in judgment.

²⁴Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”  — peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a generous blessing will come to them.

²⁶He who gives an honest answer gives a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Complete your outdoor work, and prepare your field; afterward, build your house.

²⁸Don’t testify against your neighbor without cause. Don’t deceive with your lips.

²⁹Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me; I’ll repay the man for what he has done.”

³⁰I went by the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of one lacking sense.

³¹Thistles had come up everywhere, weeds covered the ground, and the stone wall was ruined.

³²I saw, and took it to heart; I looked, and received instruction:

³³a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest,

³⁴and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need, like a bandit.

¹Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.

²When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about it, he stayed in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon’s presence. Jeroboam stayed in Egypt.

³But they summoned him, and Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam:

⁴“Your father made our yoke harsh. You, therefore, lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵Rehoboam replied, “Go away for three days and then return to me.” So the people left.

⁶Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon when he was alive, asking, “How do you advise me to respond to this people?”

⁷They replied, “Today if you will be a servant to this people and serve them, and if you respond to them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

⁸But he rejected the advice of the elders who had advised him and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and attended him.

⁹He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to this people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰Then the young men who had grown up with him told him, “This is what you should say to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us! ’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist!

¹¹Although my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips.’”

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had ordered: “Return to me on the third day.”

¹³Then the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice the elders had given him

¹⁴and spoke to them according to the young men’s advice: “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips.”

¹⁵The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events came from the LORD to carry out his word, which the LORD had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people answered him: What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Israel, return to your tents; David, now look after your own house! So Israel went to their tents,

¹⁷but Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to get into the chariot and flee to Jerusalem.

¹⁹Israel is still in rebellion against the house of David today.

²⁰When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. No one followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.

²¹When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized one hundred eighty thousand fit young soldiers from the entire house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

²²But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God:

²³“Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people,

²⁴‘This is what the LORD says: You are not to march up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you return home, for this situation is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and went back according to the word of the LORD.

²⁵Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built Penuel.

²⁶Jeroboam said to himself, “The kingdom might now return to the house of David.

²⁷If these people regularly go to offer sacrifices in the LORD’s temple in Jerusalem, the heart of these people will return to their lord, King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and go back to the king of Judah.”

²⁸So the king sought advice. Then he made two golden calves, and he said to the people, “Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

²⁹He set up one in Bethel, and put the other in Dan.

³⁰This led to sin; the people walked in procession before one of the calves all the way to Dan.

³¹Jeroboam also made shrines on the high places and made priests from the ranks of the people who were not Levites.

³²Jeroboam made a festival in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival in Judah. He offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He also stationed the priests in Bethel for the high places he had made.

³³He offered sacrifices on the altar he had set up in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month. He chose this month on his own. He made a festival for the Israelites, offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense.

¹About the Ammonites, this is what the LORD says: Does Israel have no sons? Is he without an heir? Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad and his people settled in their cities?

²Therefore look, the days are coming  — this is the LORD’s declaration — when I will make the shout of battle heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a desolate mound, and its surrounding villages will be set on fire. Israel will dispossess their dispossessors, says the LORD.

³Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated; cry out, daughters of Rabbah! Clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and lament; run back and forth within your walls, because Milcom will go into exile together with his priests and officials.

⁴Why do you boast about your valleys, your flowing valley, you faithless daughter — you who trust in your treasures and say, “Who can attack me?”

⁵Look, I am about to bring terror on you  — this is the declaration of the Lord GOD of Armies — from all those around you. You will be banished, each person headlong, with no one to gather up the fugitives.

⁶But after that, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites. This is the LORD’s declaration.

⁷About Edom, this is what the LORD of Armies says: Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom rotted away?

⁸Run! Turn back! Lie low, residents of Dedan, for I will bring Esau’s calamity on him at the time I punish him.

⁹If grape harvesters came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleanings? Were thieves to come in the night, they would destroy only what they wanted.

¹⁰But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his secret places. He will try to hide, but he will be unable. His descendants will be destroyed along with his relatives and neighbors. He will exist no longer.

¹¹Abandon your fatherless; I will preserve them; let your widows trust in me.

¹²For this is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not remain unpunished, for you must drink it too.

¹³For by myself I have sworn”  — this is the LORD’s declaration — “Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and an example for cursing, and all its surrounding cities will become ruins forever.”

¹⁴I have heard an envoy from the LORD; a messenger has been sent among the nations: Assemble yourselves to come against her. Rise up for war!

¹⁵I will certainly make you insignificant among the nations, despised among humanity.

¹⁶As to the terror you cause, your arrogant heart has deceived you. You who live in the clefts of the rock, you who occupy the mountain summit, though you elevate your nest like the eagles, even from there I will bring you down. This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹⁷“Edom will become a desolation. Everyone who passes by her will be appalled and scoff because of all her wounds.

¹⁸As when Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,” says the LORD, “no one will live there; no human being will stay in it even temporarily.

¹⁹“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. I will chase Edom away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like me? Who will issue me a summons? Who is the shepherd who can stand against me?”

²⁰Therefore, hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Edom and the strategies he has devised against the people of Teman: The flock’s little lambs will certainly be dragged away, and their grazing land will be made desolate because of them.

²¹At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; the sound of her cry will be heard at the Red Sea.

²²Look! It will be like an eagle soaring upward, then swooping down and spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.

²³About Damascus: Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report and are agitated, like the anxious sea that cannot be calmed.

²⁴Damascus has become weak; she has turned to run; panic has gripped her. Distress and labor pains have seized her like a woman in labor.

²⁵How can the city of praise not be abandoned, the town that brings me joy?

²⁶Therefore, her young men will fall in her public squares; all the warriors will perish in that day. This is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.

²⁷I will set fire to the wall of Damascus; it will consume Ben-hadad’s citadels.

²⁸About Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated, this is what the LORD says: Rise up, attack Kedar, and destroy the people of the east!

²⁹They will take their tents and their flocks along with their tent curtains and all their equipment. They will take their camels for themselves. They will call out to them, “Terror is on every side!”

³⁰Run! Escape quickly! Lie low, residents of Hazor — this is the LORD’s declaration — for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has drawn up a plan against you; he has devised a strategy against you.

³¹Rise up, attack a nation at ease, one living in security. This is the LORD’s declaration. They have no doors, not even a gate bar; they live alone.

³²Their camels will become plunder, and their massive herds of cattle will become spoil. I will scatter them to the wind in every direction, those who clip the hair on their temples; I will bring calamity on them across all their borders. This is the LORD’s declaration.

³³Hazor will become a jackals’ den, a desolation forever. No one will live there; no human being will stay in it even temporarily.

³⁴This is the word of the LORD that came to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah.

³⁵This is what the LORD of Armies says: I am about to shatter Elam’s bow, the source of their might.

³⁶I will bring the four winds against Elam from the four corners of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will not be a nation to which Elam’s banished ones will not go.

³⁷I will devastate Elam before their enemies, before those who intend to take their lives. I will bring disaster on them, my burning anger. This is the LORD’s declaration. I will send the sword after them until I finish them off.

³⁸I will set my throne in Elam, and I will destroy the king and officials from there. This is the LORD’s declaration.

³⁹Yet, in the last days, I will restore the fortunes of Elam. This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach

²until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

³After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

⁴While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about;

⁵for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.”

⁶So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”

⁷He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.

⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

⁹After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

¹⁰While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them.

¹¹They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”

¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem — a Sabbath day’s journey away.

¹³When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

¹⁴They all were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

¹⁵In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters  — the number of people who were together was about a hundred and twenty — and said:

¹⁶“Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David foretold about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

¹⁷For he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

¹⁸Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst, his body burst open and his intestines spilled out.

¹⁹This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, Field of Blood).

²⁰“For it is written in the Book of Psalms: Let his dwelling become desolate; let no one live in it; and Let someone else take his position.

²¹“Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us —

²²beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us — from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

²³So they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.

²⁴Then they prayed, “You, Lord, know everyone’s hearts; show which of these two you have chosen

²⁵to take the place in this apostolic ministry that Judas left to go where he belongs.”

²⁶Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias and he was added to the eleven apostles.