Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town.

²Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

³At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

⁴Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?

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

⁶But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”

⁷Then the man got up and went home.

⁸When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

⁹As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.

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

¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

¹³But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

¹⁴Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

¹⁶“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.

¹⁷Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

¹⁸While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.”

¹⁹Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

²⁰Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.

²¹She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

²²Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

²³When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes,

²⁴he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.

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

²⁶News of this spread through all that region.

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

²⁸When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied.

²⁹Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”;

³⁰and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.”

³¹But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

³²While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus.

³³And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

³⁴But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”

³⁵Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

³⁶When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

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

³⁸Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

¹When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty.

²If the guilty person deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves,

³but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.

⁴Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.

⁵If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.

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

⁷However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.”

⁸Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,”

⁹his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.”

¹⁰That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.

¹¹If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts,

¹²you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.

¹³Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light.

¹⁴Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small.

¹⁵You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

¹⁶For the LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.

¹⁷Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt.

¹⁸When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.

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

¹As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

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

⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

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

¹⁰For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

¹¹Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—

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

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

¹⁴For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,

¹⁵by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,

¹⁶and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

¹⁷He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

¹⁸For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,

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

²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

¹Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

²This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.

³In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

⁴for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

⁵Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

⁷For there are three that testify:

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

⁹We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.

¹⁰Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed 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.

¹²Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³I write 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 in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

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

¹⁶If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.

¹⁷All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

¹⁸We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.

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

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

²¹Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

¹Solomon’s Song of Songs.

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is more delightful than wine.

³Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the young women love you!

⁴Take me away with you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you!

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

⁶Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I had to neglect.

⁷Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?

⁸If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.

⁹I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.

¹⁰Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.

¹¹We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.

¹²While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.

¹³My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.

¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.

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

¹⁶How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.

¹⁷The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.

¹For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song. Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled.

²You who answer prayer, to you all people will come.

³When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions.

⁴Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.

⁵You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas,

⁶who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength,

⁷who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.

⁸The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.

⁹You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.

¹⁰You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

¹¹You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.

¹²The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.

¹³The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

¹Do not envy the wicked, do not desire their company;

²for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble.

³By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established;

⁴through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.

⁵The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength.

⁶Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers.

⁷Wisdom is too high for fools; in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths.

⁸Whoever plots evil will be known as a schemer.

⁹The schemes of folly are sin, and people detest a mocker.

¹⁰If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!

¹¹Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

¹²If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?

¹³Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.

¹⁴Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous, do not plunder their dwelling place;

¹⁶for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

¹⁷Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,

¹⁸or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them.

¹⁹Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked,

²⁰for the evildoer has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

²¹Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials,

²²for those two will send sudden destruction on them, and who knows what calamities they can bring?

²³These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judging is not good:

²⁴Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.

²⁵But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them.

²⁶An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.

²⁸Do not testify against your neighbor without cause— would you use your lips to mislead?

²⁹Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me; I’ll pay them back for what they did.”

³⁰I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;

³¹thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.

³²I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw:

³³A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—

³⁴and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.

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

²When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt.

³So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him:

⁴“Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

⁶Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

⁷They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”

⁸But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.

⁹He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.

¹¹My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’ ”

¹²Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.”

¹³The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders,

¹⁴he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”

¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, Israel! Look after your own house, David!” So the Israelites went home.

¹⁷But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.

¹⁸King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem.

¹⁹So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.

²¹When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.

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

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

²⁴‘This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’ ” So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had ordered.

²⁵Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.

²⁶Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David.

²⁷If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”

²⁸After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

²⁹One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.

³⁰And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.

³¹Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites.

³²He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made.

³³On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

¹Concerning the Ammonites: This is what the LORD says: “Has Israel no sons? Has Israel no heir? Why then has Molek taken possession of Gad? Why do his people live in its towns?

²But the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites; it will become a mound of ruins, and its surrounding villages will be set on fire. Then Israel will drive out those who drove her out,” says the LORD.

³“Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed! Cry out, you inhabitants of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth and mourn; rush here and there inside the walls, for Molek will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.

⁴Why do you boast of your valleys, boast of your valleys so fruitful? Unfaithful Daughter Ammon, you trust in your riches and say, ‘Who will attack me?’

⁵I will bring terror on you from all those around you,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. “Every one of you will be driven away, and no one will gather the fugitives.

⁶“Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites,” declares the LORD.

⁷Concerning Edom: This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?

⁸Turn and flee, hide in deep caves, you who live in Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time when I punish him.

⁹If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? If thieves came during the night, would they not steal only as much as they wanted?

¹⁰But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, so that he cannot conceal himself. His armed men are destroyed, also his allies and neighbors, so there is no one to say,

¹¹‘Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive. Your widows too can depend on me.’ ”

¹²This is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, why should you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink it.

¹³I swear by myself,” declares the LORD, “that Bozrah will become a ruin and a curse, an object of horror and reproach; and all its towns will be in ruins forever.”

¹⁴I have heard a message from the LORD; an envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Assemble yourselves to attack it! Rise up for battle!”

¹⁵“Now I will make you small among the nations, despised by mankind.

¹⁶The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.

¹⁷“Edom will become an object of horror; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds.

¹⁸As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, along with their neighboring towns,” says the LORD, “so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.

¹⁹“Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Edom from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?”

²⁰Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Edom, what he has purposed against those who live in Teman: The young of the flock will be dragged away; their pasture will be appalled at their fate.

²¹At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble; their cry will resound to the Red Sea.

²²Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

²³Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are dismayed, for they have heard bad news. They are disheartened, troubled like the restless sea.

²⁴Damascus has become feeble, she has turned to flee and panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her, pain like that of a woman in labor.

²⁵Why has the city of renown not been abandoned, the town in which I delight?

²⁶Surely, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,” declares the LORD Almighty.

²⁷“I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.”

²⁸Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked: This is what the LORD says: “Arise, and attack Kedar and destroy the people of the East.

²⁹Their tents and their flocks will be taken; their shelters will be carried off with all their goods and camels. People will shout to them, ‘Terror on every side!’

³⁰“Flee quickly away! Stay in deep caves, you who live in Hazor,” declares the LORD. “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has plotted against you; he has devised a plan against you.

³¹“Arise and attack a nation at ease, which lives in confidence,” declares the LORD, “a nation that has neither gates nor bars; its people live far from danger.

³²Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be spoils of war. I will scatter to the winds those who are in distant places and will bring disaster on them from every side,” declares the LORD.

³³“Hazor will become a haunt of jackals, a desolate place forever. No one will live there; no people will dwell in it.”

³⁴This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah:

³⁵This is what the LORD Almighty says: “See, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might.

³⁶I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven; I will scatter them to the four winds, and there will not be a nation where Elam’s exiles do not go.

³⁷I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who want to kill them; I will bring disaster on them, even my fierce anger,” declares the LORD. “I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.

³⁸I will set my throne in Elam and destroy her king and officials,” declares the LORD.

³⁹“Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come,” declares the LORD.

¹In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach

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

³After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

⁴On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

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

⁶Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

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

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

⁹After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹⁰They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

¹¹“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

¹²Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.

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

¹⁴They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

¹⁵In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

¹⁶and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus.

¹⁷He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”

¹⁸(With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.

¹⁹Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: “ ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “ ‘May another take his place of leadership.’

²¹Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us,

²²beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

²³So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.

²⁴Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen

²⁵to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.”

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