Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples *said to Him, “Teacher, look! What wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”

²And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew were questioning Him privately,

⁴“Tell us, when will these things come about, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?”

⁵And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.

⁶Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and they will mislead many.

⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.

⁸For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are only the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“But be on your guard; for they will hand you over to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.

¹⁰And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.

¹¹And when theyarrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you at that time; for you are not the ones speaking, but it is the Holy Spirit.

¹²And brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents andhave them put to death.

¹³And you will be hated by everyone because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

¹⁴“Now when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be— let the reader understand—then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

¹⁵Whoever is on thehousetop must not go down, nor go in to get anything out of his house.

¹⁶Andwhoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.

¹⁷But woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days!

¹⁸Moreover, pray that it will not happen in winter.

¹⁹For those days will be such a time of tribulation as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will again.

²⁰And if the Lord had not shortened those days, nolife would have been saved; but for the sake of theelect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.

²¹And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is theChrist’; or, ‘Look, there He is’; do not believe it;

²²for false christs and false prophets will arise, and will provide signs and wonders, in order to mislead, if possible, the elect.

²³But beware; I have told you everything in advance.

²⁴“But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT,

²⁵AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.

²⁶And then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.

²⁷And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together Hiselect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.

²⁸“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near.

²⁹So you too, when you see these things happening,recognize thatHe is near, right at thedoor.

³⁰Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³²But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

³³“Watch out, stay alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is.

³⁴It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house andputting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert.

³⁵Therefore, stay alert—for you do not know when themaster of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—

³⁶so that he does not come suddenly and find you asleep.

³⁷What I say to you I say to all: ‘Stay alert!’ ”

¹Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.

²And behold, from the Nile seven cows came up, fine-looking and fat; and they grazed in the marsh grass.

³Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

⁴Then the ugly and thin cows ate the seven fine-looking and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.

⁵But he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good.

⁶Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them.

⁷And the thin ears swallowed the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

⁸Now in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent messengers and called for all the soothsayer priests of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would make mention today of my own offenses.

¹⁰Pharaoh was furious with his servants, and he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker.

¹¹Then we had a dream one night, he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.

¹²Now a Hebrew youth was there with us, a servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we told him the dreams, and he interpreted our dreams for us. For each man he interpreted according to his own dream.

¹³And just as he interpreted for us, so it happened; Pharaoh restored me in my office, but he hanged the chief baker.”

¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent word and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.

¹⁵Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

¹⁶Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “It has nothing to do with me; God will give Pharaoh an answer for his own good.”

¹⁷So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the Nile;

¹⁸and behold, seven cows, fat and fine-looking came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass.

¹⁹Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt;

²⁰and the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows.

²¹Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly as before. Then I awoke.

²²I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain, full and good, came up on a single stalk;

²³and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them;

²⁴and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then I told it to the soothsayer priests, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵And Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁶The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.

²⁷The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.

²⁸It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁹Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;

³⁰and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.

³¹So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.

³²Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about.

³³So now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise, and appoint him over the land of Egypt.

³⁴Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land, and let him take a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt as a tax in the seven years of abundance.

³⁵Then have them collect all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and have them guard it.

³⁶Let the food be used as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.”

³⁷Now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.

³⁸Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom there is a divine spirit?”

³⁹So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are.

⁴⁰You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people shall be obedient to you; only regarding the throne will I be greater than you.”

⁴¹Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “See, I have placed you over all the land of Egypt.”

⁴²Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put the gold necklace around his neck.

⁴³And he had him ride in his second chariot; and they proclaimed ahead of him, “Bow the knee!” And he placed him over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁴Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”

⁴⁵Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷During the seven years of plenty the land produced abundantly.

⁴⁸So he collected all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities; he put in every city the food from its own surrounding fields.

⁴⁹Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure.

⁵⁰Now before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.

⁵¹Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh; “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all of my father’s household.”

⁵²And he named the second Ephraim; “For,” he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³When the seven years of plenty which had taken place in the land of Egypt came to an end,

⁵⁴and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

⁵⁵So when all the land of Egypt suffered famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do.”

⁵⁶When the famine was spread over the entire face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

⁵⁷Then the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

¹For it is superfluous for me to write to you about this ministry to the saints;

²for I know your willingness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, namely, that Achaia has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

³But I have sent the brothers, in order that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this case, so that, as I was saying, you will be prepared;

⁴otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to mention you—would be put to shame by this confidence.

⁵So I considered it necessary to urge the brothers that they go on ahead to you and arrange in advance your previously promised generous gift, that the same would be ready as a generous gift, and not as one grudgingly given due to greediness.

⁶Now I say this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows generously will also reap generously.

⁷Each one must do just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

⁸And God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that, always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;

⁹as it is written: “HE SCATTERED ABROAD, HE GAVE TO THE POOR, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER.”

¹⁰Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;

¹¹you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.

¹²For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.

¹³Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all,

¹⁴while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.

¹⁵Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

¹The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth,

²because of the truth which remains in us and will be with us forever:

³Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

⁴I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received a commandment to do from the Father.

⁵Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.

⁶And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you are to walk in it.

⁷For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

⁸Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.

⁹Anyone who goes too far and does not remain in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

¹⁰If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;

¹¹for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

¹²Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made complete.

¹³The children of your chosen sister greet you.

¹“Can you drag out Leviathan with a fishhook, And press down his tongue with a rope?

²Can you put a rope in his nose, And pierce his jaw with a hook?

³Will he make many pleas to you, Or will he speak to you gentle words?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him as a servant forever?

⁵Will you play with him as with a bird, And tie him down for your young girls?

⁶Will the traders bargain for him? Will they divide him among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle; you will not do it again!

⁹Behold, your expectation is false; Will you be hurled down even at the sight of him?

¹⁰No one is so reckless that he dares to stir him; Who then is he who opposes Me?

¹¹Who has been first to give to Me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the entire heaven is Mine.

¹²“I will not be silent about his limbs, Or his mighty strength, or his graceful frame.

¹³Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can pierce his double armor?

¹⁴Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth there is terror.

¹⁵His strong scales are his pride, Locked as with a tight seal.

¹⁶One is so close to another That no air can come between them.

¹⁷They are joined one to another; They clasp each other and cannot be separated.

¹⁸His sneezes flash forth light, And his eyes are like the eye of dawn.

¹⁹From his mouth go burning torches; Sparks of fire leap forth.

²⁰From his nostrils smoke goes out As from a boiling pot and burning reeds.

²¹His breath sets coals aglow, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

²²In his neck dwells strength, And dismay leaps before him.

²³The folds of his flesh are joined together, Firm and immovable on him.

²⁴His heart is as firm as a stone, And as firm as a lower millstone.

²⁵When he rises up, the mighty are afraid; Because of the crashing they are bewildered.

²⁶The sword that reaches him cannot prevail, Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

²⁷He regards iron as straw, Bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸The arrow cannot make him flee; Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

²⁹Clubs are regarded as stubble; He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

³⁰His underparts are like sharp pieces of pottery; He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mud.

³¹He makes the depths boil like a pot; He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

³²Behind him he illuminates a pathway; One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

³³Nothing on earth is like him, One made without fear.

³⁴He looks on everything that is high; He is king over all the sons of pride.”

¹Blessed is one who considers the helpless; The LORD will save him on a day of trouble.

²The LORD will protect him and keep him alive, And he will be called blessed upon the earth; And do not turn him over to the desire of his enemies.

³The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, You restore him to health.

⁴As for me, I said, “LORD, be gracious to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”

⁵My enemies speak evil against me, “When will he die, and his name perish?”

⁶And when he comes to see me, he speaks empty words; His heart gathers wickedness to itself; When he goes outside, he tells it.

⁷All who hate me whisper together against me; They plot my harm against me, saying,

⁸“A wicked thing is poured out upon him, So that when he lies down, he will not get up again.”

⁹Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.

¹⁰But You, LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up, That I may repay them.

¹¹By this I know that You are pleased with me, Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.

¹²As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And You place me in Your presence forever.

¹³Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

¹The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

²Ill-gotten gains do not benefit, But righteousness rescues from death.

³The LORD will not allow the righteous to hunger, But He will reject the craving of the wicked.

⁴Poor is one who works with a lazy hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

⁵He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.

⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

⁷The mentioning of the righteous is a blessing, But the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸The wise of heart will receive commands, But a babbling fool will come to ruin.

⁹One who walks in integrity walks securely, But one who perverts his ways will be found out.

¹⁰He who winks the eye causes trouble, And a babbling fool will come to ruin.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

¹²Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all offenses.

¹³On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found, But a rod is for the back of him who has no sense.

¹⁴Wise people store up knowledge, But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.

¹⁵The rich person’s wealth is his fortress, The ruin of the poor is their poverty.

¹⁶The wages of the righteous is life, The income of the wicked, punishment.

¹⁷One who is on the path of life follows instruction, But one who ignores a rebuke goes astray.

¹⁸One who conceals hatred has lying lips, And one who spreads slander is a fool.

¹⁹When there are many words, wrongdoing is unavoidable, But one who restrains his lips is wise.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver, The heart of the wicked is worth little.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for lack of understanding.

²²It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it.

²³Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool, And so is wisdom to a person of understanding.

²⁴What the wicked fears will come upon him, But the desire of the righteous will be granted.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.

²⁶Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy one to those who send him.

²⁷The fear of the LORD prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.

²⁸The hope of the righteous is gladness, But the expectation of the wicked perishes.

²⁹The way of the LORD is a stronghold for the upright, But ruin to the workers of injustice.

³⁰The righteous will never be shaken, But the wicked will not live in the land.

³¹The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom, But the perverted tongue will be cut out.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked, what is perverted.

¹Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.

²And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and also spoke it in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD.”

³He then returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly consecrate the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son to make a carved image and a cast metal image; so now I will return them to you.”

⁴So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a cast metal image, and they were in the house of Micah.

⁵And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols, and consecrated one of his sons, so that he might become his priest.

⁶In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

⁷Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there.

⁸Then the man left the city, Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he would find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah.

⁹Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I may find a place.”

¹⁰Micah then said to him, “Stay with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a supply of clothing, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in.

¹¹The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.

¹²So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah.

¹³Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as a priest.”

¹“Listen to Me in silence, you coastlands, And let the peoples gain new strength; Let them come forward, then let them speak; Let’s come together for judgment.

²Who has stirred one from the east Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet? He turns nations over to him And subdues kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, Like the wind-driven chaff with his bow.

³He pursues them, passing on in safety, By a way he had not been traversing with his feet.

⁴Who has performed and accomplished it, Summoning the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’ ”

⁵The coastlands have seen and are afraid; The ends of the earth tremble; They have approached and have come.

⁶Each one helps his neighbor And says to his brother, “Be strong!”

⁷So the craftsman encourages the smelter, And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, Saying of the soldering, “It is good”; And he fastens it with nails, So that it will not totter.

⁸“But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend,

⁹You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth And called from its remotest parts, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

¹⁰Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will also help you, I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

¹¹Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

¹²You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

¹³For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

¹⁴Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you people of Israel; I will help you,” declares the LORD, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵Behold, I turned you into a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them, And make the hills like chaff.

¹⁶You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, And the storm will scatter them; But you will rejoice in the LORD, You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷“The poor and needy are seeking water, but there is none, And their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them Myself; As the God of Israel I will not abandon them.

¹⁸I will open rivers on the bare heights, And springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land fountains of water.

¹⁹I will put the cedar in the wilderness, The acacia, the myrtle, and the olive tree; I will place the juniper in the desert, Together with the elm tree and the cypress,

²⁰So that they may see and recognize, And consider and gain insight as well, That the hand of the LORD has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹“Present your case,” the LORD says. “Bring forward your evidence,” The King of Jacob says.

²²Let them bring them forward and declare to us what is going to take place; As for the former events, declare what they were, So that we may consider them and know their outcome. Or announce to us what is coming;

²³Declare the things that are going to come afterward, So that we may know that you are gods; Indeed, do good or evil, that we may be afraid and fear together.

²⁴Behold, you are less than nothing, And your work is less than nothing! He who chooses you is an abomination.

²⁵“I have put one from the north into motion, and he has come; From the rising of the sun he will call on My name; And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar, As the potter treads on clay.”

²⁶Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know? Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”? There was no one at all who declared, There was no one at all who proclaimed, There was no one at all who heard your words.

²⁷“Previously I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’ And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’

²⁸But when I look, there is no one, And there is no counselor among them Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

²⁹Behold, all of them are false; Their works are nothing, Their cast metal images are wind and emptiness.

¹Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

²While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then, when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

⁵When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.

⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

⁷who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him,

¹⁰and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

¹¹Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

¹²Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁴But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue officials sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

¹⁶Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it.

¹⁸For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.

¹⁹When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about 450 years.

²⁰After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

²¹Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

²²After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

²³From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

²⁴after John had proclaimed, before His coming, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the declarations of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him.

²⁸And though they found no grounds for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed.

²⁹When they had carried out everything that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised Him from the dead;

³¹and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people.

³²And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,

³³that God has fulfilled this promise to those of us who are the descendants by raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE FATHERED YOU.’

³⁴As for the fact that He raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and faithful mercies of DAVID.’

³⁵Therefore, He also says in another Psalm: ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’

³⁶For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, and was buried among his fathers and underwent decay;

³⁷but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.

³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

³⁹and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

⁴⁰Therefore, see that the thing spoken of in the Prophets does not come upon you:

⁴¹‘LOOK, YOU SCOFFERS, AND BE ASTONISHED, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’ ”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people repeatedly begged to have these things spoken to them the next Sabbath.

⁴³Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The next Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.

⁴⁶Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE APPOINTED YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’ ”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.

⁵¹But they shook off the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

⁵²And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.