Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus went on to say, “I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power!”

²Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed,

³and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them.

⁴Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus.

⁵Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials — one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁶He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified.

⁷Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.”

⁸Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them.

⁹As they went back down the mountain, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

¹⁰So they kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other what he meant by “rising from the dead.”

¹¹Then they asked him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes? ”

¹²Jesus responded, “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be treated with utter contempt?

¹³But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they chose to abuse him, just as the Scriptures predicted.”

¹⁴When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them.

¹⁵When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him.

¹⁶“What is all this arguing about?” Jesus asked.

¹⁷One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk.

¹⁸And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”

¹⁹Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

²⁰So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.

²¹“How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy.

²²The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

²³“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

²⁴The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

²⁵When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!”

²⁶Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.”

²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.

²⁸Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?”

²⁹Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer. ”

³⁰Leaving that region, they traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there,

³¹for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.”

³²They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.

³³After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?”

³⁴But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.

³⁵He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

³⁶Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,

³⁷“Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”

³⁸John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.”

³⁹“Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me.

⁴⁰Anyone who is not against us is for us.

⁴¹If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded.

⁴²“But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck.

⁴³If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands.

⁴⁴

⁴⁵If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet.

⁴⁶

⁴⁷And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,

⁴⁸‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’

⁴⁹“For everyone will be tested with fire.

⁵⁰Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.”

¹So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner.

²This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.

³Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph — a beautiful robe.

⁴But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.

⁵One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever.

⁶“Listen to this dream,” he said.

⁷“We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”

⁸His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.

⁹Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”

¹⁰This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?”

¹¹But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

¹²Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem.

¹³When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.” “I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.

¹⁴“Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along,” Jacob said. “Then come back and bring me a report.” So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from their home in the valley of Hebron.

¹⁵When he arrived there, a man from the area noticed him wandering around the countryside. “What are you looking for?” he asked.

¹⁶“I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Do you know where they are pasturing their sheep?”

¹⁷“Yes,” the man told him. “They have moved on from here, but I heard them say, ‘Let’s go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.

¹⁸When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him.

¹⁹“Here comes the dreamer!” they said.

²⁰“Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”

²¹But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said.

²²“Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.

²³So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing.

²⁴Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.

²⁶Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime.

²⁷Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother — our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed.

²⁸So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.

²⁹Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief.

³⁰Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone! What will I do now?”

³¹Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood.

³²They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”

³³Their father recognized it immediately. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!”

³⁴Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He mourned deeply for his son for a long time.

³⁵His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “I will go to my grave mourning for my son,” he would say, and then he would weep.

³⁶Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard.

¹For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.

²We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.

³For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.

⁴While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.

⁵God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

⁶So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.

⁷For we live by believing and not by seeing.

⁸Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.

⁹So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.

¹⁰For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

¹¹Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.

¹²Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart.

¹³If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.

¹⁴Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.

¹⁵He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

¹⁶So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!

¹⁷This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

¹⁸And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.

¹⁹For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.

²⁰So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

²¹For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

¹My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.

²He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins — and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

³And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.

⁴If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.

⁵But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.

⁶Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

⁷Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment — to love one another — is the same message you heard before.

⁸Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.

⁹If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness.

¹⁰Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.

¹¹But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

¹²I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.

¹³I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.

¹⁴I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.

¹⁵Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.

¹⁶For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

¹⁷And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

¹⁸Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.

¹⁹These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.

²⁰But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth.

²¹So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies.

²²And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.

²³Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

²⁴So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father.

²⁵And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.

²⁶I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray.

²⁷But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true — it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

²⁸And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.

²⁹Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.

¹“My heart pounds as I think of this. It trembles within me.

²Listen carefully to the thunder of God’s voice as it rolls from his mouth.

³It rolls across the heavens, and his lightning flashes in every direction.

⁴Then comes the roaring of the thunder — the tremendous voice of his majesty. He does not restrain it when he speaks.

⁵God’s voice is glorious in the thunder. We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power.

⁶“He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down.

⁷Then everyone stops working so they can watch his power.

⁸The wild animals take cover and stay inside their dens.

⁹The stormy wind comes from its chamber, and the driving winds bring the cold.

¹⁰God’s breath sends the ice, freezing wide expanses of water.

¹¹He loads the clouds with moisture, and they flash with his lightning.

¹²The clouds churn about at his direction. They do whatever he commands throughout the earth.

¹³He makes these things happen either to punish people or to show his unfailing love.

¹⁴“Pay attention to this, Job. Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God!

¹⁵Do you know how God controls the storm and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds?

¹⁶Do you understand how he moves the clouds with wonderful perfection and skill?

¹⁷When you are sweltering in your clothes and the south wind dies down and everything is still,

¹⁸he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror. Can you do that?

¹⁹“So teach the rest of us what to say to God. We are too ignorant to make our own arguments.

²⁰Should God be notified that I want to speak? Can people even speak when they are confused?

²¹We cannot look at the sun, for it shines brightly in the sky when the wind clears away the clouds.

²²So also, golden splendor comes from the mountain of God. He is clothed in dazzling splendor.

²³We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty; but even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us.

²⁴No wonder people everywhere fear him. All who are wise show him reverence. ”

¹Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong.

²For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

³Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.

⁴Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

⁵Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.

⁶He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

⁷Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.

⁸Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper — it only leads to harm.

⁹For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the LORD will possess the land.

¹⁰Soon the wicked will disappear. Though you look for them, they will be gone.

¹¹The lowly will possess the land and will live in peace and prosperity.

¹²The wicked plot against the godly; they snarl at them in defiance.

¹³But the Lord just laughs, for he sees their day of judgment coming.

¹⁴The wicked draw their swords and string their bows to kill the poor and the oppressed, to slaughter those who do right.

¹⁵But their swords will stab their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶It is better to be godly and have little than to be evil and rich.

¹⁷For the strength of the wicked will be shattered, but the LORD takes care of the godly.

¹⁸Day by day the LORD takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.

¹⁹They will not be disgraced in hard times; even in famine they will have more than enough.

²⁰But the wicked will die. The LORD’s enemies are like flowers in a field — they will disappear like smoke.

²¹The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers.

²²Those the LORD blesses will possess the land, but those he curses will die.

²³The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.

²⁴Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.

²⁵Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.

²⁶The godly always give generous loans to others, and their children are a blessing.

²⁷Turn from evil and do good, and you will live in the land forever.

²⁸For the LORD loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will die.

²⁹The godly will possess the land and will live there forever.

³⁰The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong.

³¹They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.

³²The wicked wait in ambush for the godly, looking for an excuse to kill them.

³³But the LORD will not let the wicked succeed or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial.

³⁴Put your hope in the LORD. Travel steadily along his path. He will honor you by giving you the land. You will see the wicked destroyed.

³⁵I have seen wicked and ruthless people flourishing like a tree in its native soil.

³⁶But when I looked again, they were gone! Though I searched for them, I could not find them!

³⁷Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.

³⁸But the rebellious will be destroyed; they have no future.

³⁹The LORD rescues the godly; he is their fortress in times of trouble.

⁴⁰The LORD helps them, rescuing them from the wicked. He saves them, and they find shelter in him.

¹My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger —

²if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said —

³follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased.

⁴Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.

⁵Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.

⁶Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!

⁷Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work,

⁸they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.

⁹But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?

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

¹¹then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

¹²What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars,

¹³signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.

¹⁴Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble.

¹⁵But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.

¹⁶There are six things the LORD hates — no, seven things he detests:

¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent,

¹⁸a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong,

¹⁹a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

²⁰My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

²¹Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck.

²²When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you.

²³For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.

²⁴It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.

²⁵Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.

²⁶For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.

²⁷Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire?

²⁸Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?

²⁹So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.

³⁰Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving.

³¹But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house.

³²But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself.

³³He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased.

³⁴For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

³⁵He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.

¹Again the Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years.

²In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children.

³The angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son.

⁴So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food.

⁵You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.”

⁶The woman ran and told her husband, “A man of God appeared to me! He looked like one of God’s angels, terrifying to see. I didn’t ask where he was from, and he didn’t tell me his name.

⁷But he told me, ‘You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.’”

⁸Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, saying, “Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be born.”

⁹God answered Manoah’s prayer, and the angel of God appeared once again to his wife as she was sitting in the field. But her husband, Manoah, was not with her.

¹⁰So she quickly ran and told her husband, “The man who appeared to me the other day is here again!”

¹¹Manoah ran back with his wife and asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife the other day?” “Yes,” he replied, “I am.”

¹²So Manoah asked him, “When your words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy’s life and work?”

¹³The angel of the LORD replied, “Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her.

¹⁴She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food.”

¹⁵Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”

¹⁶“I will stay,” the angel of the LORD replied, “but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the LORD.” (Manoah didn’t realize it was the angel of the LORD.)

¹⁷Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, “What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you.”

¹⁸“Why do you ask my name?” the angel of the LORD replied. “It is too wonderful for you to understand.”

¹⁹Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the LORD did an amazing thing.

²⁰As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground.

²¹The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the LORD,

²²and he said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God!”

²³But his wife said, “If the LORD were going to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn’t have appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles.”

²⁴When her son was born, she named him Samson. And the LORD blessed him as he grew up.

²⁵And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he lived in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol.

¹When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes and put on burlap and went into the Temple of the LORD.

²And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, all dressed in burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.

³They told him, “This is what King Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, insults, and disgrace. It is like when a child is ready to be born, but the mother has no strength to deliver the baby.

⁴But perhaps the LORD your God has heard the Assyrian chief of staff, sent by the king to defy the living God, and will punish him for his words. Oh, pray for those of us who are left!”

⁵After King Hezekiah’s officials delivered the king’s message to Isaiah,

⁶the prophet replied, “Say to your master, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers.

⁷Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.’”

⁸Meanwhile, the Assyrian chief of staff left Jerusalem and went to consult the king of Assyria, who had left Lachish and was attacking Libnah.

⁹Soon afterward King Sennacherib received word that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was leading an army to fight against him. Before leaving to meet the attack, he sent messengers back to Hezekiah in Jerusalem with this message:

¹⁰“This message is for King Hezekiah of Judah. Don’t let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you with promises that Jerusalem will not be captured by the king of Assyria.

¹¹You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done wherever they have gone. They have completely destroyed everyone who stood in their way! Why should you be any different?

¹²Have the gods of other nations rescued them — such nations as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Tel-assar? My predecessors destroyed them all!

¹³What happened to the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”

¹⁴After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the LORD’s Temple and spread it out before the LORD.

¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the LORD:

¹⁶“O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth.

¹⁷Bend down, O LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, O LORD, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.

¹⁸“It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations.

¹⁹And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all — only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands.

²⁰Now, O LORD our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O LORD, are God. ”

²¹Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you prayed about King Sennacherib of Assyria,

²²the LORD has spoken this word against him: “The virgin daughter of Zion despises you and laughs at you. The daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head in derision as you flee.

²³“Whom have you been defying and ridiculing? Against whom did you raise your voice? At whom did you look with such haughty eyes? It was the Holy One of Israel!

²⁴By your messengers you have defied the Lord. You have said, ‘With my many chariots I have conquered the highest mountains — yes, the remotest peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypress trees. I have reached its farthest heights and explored its deepest forests.

²⁵I have dug wells in many foreign lands and refreshed myself with their water. With the sole of my foot, I stopped up all the rivers of Egypt!’

²⁶“But have you not heard? I decided this long ago. Long ago I planned it, and now I am making it happen. I planned for you to crush fortified cities into heaps of rubble.

²⁷That is why their people have so little power and are so frightened and confused. They are as weak as grass, as easily trampled as tender green shoots. They are like grass sprouting on a housetop, scorched before it can grow lush and tall.

²⁸“But I know you well — where you stay and when you come and go. I know the way you have raged against me.

²⁹And because of your raging against me and your arrogance, which I have heard for myself, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. I will make you return by the same road on which you came.”

³⁰Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Here is the proof that what I say is true: “This year you will eat only what grows up by itself, and next year you will eat what springs up from that. But in the third year you will plant crops and harvest them; you will tend vineyards and eat their fruit.

³¹And you who are left in Judah, who have escaped the ravages of the siege, will put roots down in your own soil and grow up and flourish.

³²For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem, a group of survivors from Mount Zion. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

³³“And this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: “‘His armies will not enter Jerusalem. They will not even shoot an arrow at it. They will not march outside its gates with their shields nor build banks of earth against its walls.

³⁴The king will return to his own country by the same road on which he came. He will not enter this city,’ says the LORD.

³⁵‘For my own honor and for the sake of my servant David, I will defend this city and protect it.’”

³⁶That night the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere.

³⁷Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there.

³⁸One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. They then escaped to the land of Ararat, and another son, Esarhaddon, became the next king of Assyria.

¹Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest.

²He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them — both men and women — back to Jerusalem in chains.

³As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him.

⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

⁵“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!

⁶Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one!

⁸Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus.

⁹He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.

¹⁰Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied.

¹¹The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.

¹²I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”

¹³“But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem!

¹⁴And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.

¹⁶And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

¹⁷So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

¹⁹Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength. Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days.

²⁰And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”

²¹All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?”

²²Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

²³After a while some of the Jews plotted together to kill him.

²⁴They were watching for him day and night at the city gate so they could murder him, but Saul was told about their plot.

²⁵So during the night, some of the other believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city wall.

²⁶When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer!

²⁷Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.

²⁸So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.

²⁹He debated with some Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to murder him.

³⁰When the believers heard about this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown.

³¹The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.

³²Meanwhile, Peter traveled from place to place, and he came down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda.

³³There he met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.

³⁴Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed instantly.

³⁵Then the whole population of Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas walking around, and they turned to the Lord.

³⁶There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas ). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor.

³⁷About this time she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room.

³⁸But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as possible!”

³⁹So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them.

⁴⁰But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up!

⁴¹He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.

⁴²The news spread through the whole town, and many believed in the Lord.

⁴³And Peter stayed a long time in Joppa, living with Simon, a tanner of hides.