Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a cunning way to arrest Jesus and kill him.

²“Not during the festival,” they said, “so that there won’t be a riot among the people.”

³While he was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured it on his head.

⁴But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this perfume been wasted?

⁵For this perfume might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they began to scold her.

⁶Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a noble thing for me.

⁷You always have the poor with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me.

⁸She has done what she could; she has anointed my body in advance for burial.

⁹Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.

¹¹And when they heard this, they were glad and promised to give him money. So he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.

¹²On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrifice the Passover lamb, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare the Passover so that you may eat it?”

¹³So he sent two of his disciples and told them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.

¹⁴Wherever he enters, tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’

¹⁵He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.”

¹⁶So the disciples went out, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷When evening came, he arrived with the Twelve.

¹⁸While they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me — one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹They began to be distressed and to say to him one by one, “Surely not I?”

²⁰He said to them, “It is one of the Twelve — the one who is dipping bread in the bowl with me.

²¹For the Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had not been born.”

²²As they were eating, he took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.”

²³Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

²⁴He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

²⁵Truly I tell you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

²⁷Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will fall away, because it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.

²⁸But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

²⁹Peter told him, “Even if everyone falls away, I will not.”

³⁰“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to him, “today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

³¹But he kept insisting, “If I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” And they all said the same thing.

³²Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”

³³He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.

³⁴He said to them, “I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.”

³⁵He went a little farther, fell to the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

³⁶And he said, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.”

³⁷Then he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour?

³⁸Stay awake and pray so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹Once again he went away and prayed, saying the same thing.

⁴⁰And again he came and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him.

⁴¹Then he came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The time has come. See, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴²Get up; let’s go. See, my betrayer is near.”

⁴³While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. With him was a mob, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.

⁴⁴His betrayer had given them a signal. “The one I kiss,” he said, “he’s the one; arrest him and take him away under guard.”

⁴⁵So when he came, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.

⁴⁶They took hold of him and arrested him.

⁴⁷One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.

⁴⁸Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal, to capture me?

⁴⁹Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple, and you didn’t arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”

⁵⁰Then they all deserted him and ran away.

⁵¹Now a certain young man, wearing nothing but a linen cloth, was following him. They caught hold of him,

⁵²but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked.

⁵³They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes assembled.

⁵⁴Peter followed him at a distance, right into the high priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the servants, warming himself by the fire.

⁵⁵The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they could not find any.

⁵⁶For many were giving false testimony against him, and the testimonies did not agree.

⁵⁷Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, stating,

⁵⁸“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another not made by hands.’”

⁵⁹Yet their testimony did not agree even on this.

⁶⁰Then the high priest stood up before them all and questioned Jesus, “Don’t you have an answer to what these men are testifying against you?”

⁶¹But he kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”

⁶²“I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

⁶³Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses?

⁶⁴You have heard the blasphemy. What is your decision?” They all condemned him as deserving death.

⁶⁵Then some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to beat him, saying, “Prophesy!” The temple servants also took him and slapped him.

⁶⁶While Peter was in the courtyard below, one of the high priest’s maidservants came.

⁶⁷When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”

⁶⁸But he denied it: “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about.” Then he went out to the entryway, and a rooster crowed.

⁶⁹When the maidservant saw him again, she began to tell those standing nearby, “This man is one of them.”

⁷⁰But again he denied it. After a little while those standing there said to Peter again, “You certainly are one of them, since you’re also a Galilean.”

⁷¹Then he started to curse and swear, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about!”

⁷²Immediately a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered when Jesus had spoken the word to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

¹When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you keep looking at each other?

²Listen,” he went on, “I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we will live and not die.”

³So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

⁴But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, “Something might happen to him.”

⁵The sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

⁶Joseph was in charge of the country; he sold grain to all its people. His brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

⁷When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

⁸Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

⁹Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies. You have come to see the weakness of the land.”

¹⁰“No, my lord. Your servants have come to buy food,” they said.

¹¹“We are all sons of one man. We are honest; your servants are not spies.”

¹²“No,” he said to them. “You have come to see the weakness of the land.”

¹³But they replied, “We, your servants, were twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no longer living.”

¹⁴Then Joseph said to them, “I have spoken: ‘You are spies!’

¹⁵This is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

¹⁶Send one from among you to get your brother. The rest of you will be imprisoned so that your words can be tested to see if they are true. If they are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

¹⁷So Joseph imprisoned them together for three days.

¹⁸On the third day Joseph said to them, “I fear God  — do this and you will live.

¹⁹If you are honest, let one of you be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households.

²⁰Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this.

²¹Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.”

²²But Reuben replied: “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

²³They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.

²⁴He turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.

²⁵Joseph then gave orders to fill their containers with grain, return each man’s silver to his sack, and give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out.

²⁶They loaded the grain on their donkeys and left there.

²⁷At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver there at the top of his bag.

²⁸He said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned! It’s here in my bag.” Their hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

²⁹When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them:

³⁰“The man who is the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

³¹But we told him: We are honest and not spies.

³²We were twelve brothers, sons of the same father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.

³³The man who is the lord of the country said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go.

³⁴Bring back your youngest brother to me, and I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the country.’”

³⁵As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! When they and their father saw their bags of silver, they were afraid.

³⁶Their father Jacob said to them, “It’s me that you make childless. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me!”

³⁷Then Reuben said to his father, “You can kill my two sons if I don’t bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him to you.”

³⁸But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.”

¹Now I Paul, myself, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ — I who am humble among you in person but bold toward you when absent.

²I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are behaving according to the flesh.

³For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh,

⁴since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments

⁵and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

⁶And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

⁷Look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, let him remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we.

⁸For if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame.

⁹I don’t want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters.

¹⁰For it is said, “His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak and his public speaking amounts to nothing.”

¹¹Let such a person consider this: What we are in our letters, when we are absent, we will also be in our actions when we are present.

¹²For we don’t dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding.

¹³We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you.

¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ.

¹⁵We are not boasting beyond measure about other people’s labors. On the contrary, we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged,

¹⁶so that we may preach the gospel to the regions beyond you without boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry.

¹⁷So let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

¹⁸For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends.

¹The elder: To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

²Dear friend, I pray that you are prospering in every way and are in good health, just as your whole life is going well.

³For I was very glad when fellow believers came and testified to your fidelity to the truth — how you are walking in truth.

⁴I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in truth.

⁵Dear friend, you are acting faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, especially when they are strangers.

⁶They have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God,

⁷since they set out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from pagans.

⁸Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can be coworkers with the truth.

⁹I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them, does not receive our authority.

¹⁰This is why, if I come, I will remind him of the works he is doing, slandering us with malicious words. And he is not satisfied with that! He not only refuses to welcome fellow believers, but he even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the church.

¹¹Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

¹²Everyone speaks well of Demetrius — even the truth itself. And we also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

¹³I have many things to write you, but I don’t want to write to you with pen and ink.

¹⁴I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

¹⁵Peace to you. The friends send you greetings. Greet the friends by name.

¹Then Job replied to the LORD:

²I know that you can do anything and no plan of yours can be thwarted.

³You asked, “Who is this who conceals my counsel with ignorance?” Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wondrous for me to know.

⁴You said, “Listen now, and I will speak. When I question you, you will inform me.”

⁵I had heard reports about you, but now my eyes have seen you.

⁶Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them; I am dust and ashes.

⁷After the LORD had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.

⁸Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then my servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his prayer and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”

⁹Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.

¹⁰After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and doubled his previous possessions.

¹¹All his brothers, sisters, and former acquaintances came to him and dined with him in his house. They sympathized with him and comforted him concerning all the adversity the LORD had brought on him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold earring.

¹²So the LORD blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the first. He owned fourteen thousand sheep and goats, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.

¹³He also had seven sons and three daughters.

¹⁴He named his first daughter Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch.

¹⁵No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance with their brothers.

¹⁶Job lived 140 years after this and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

¹⁷Then Job died, old and full of days.

¹For the choir director. A of the sons of Korah. [1] As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God.

²I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God?

³My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, “Where is your God?”

⁴I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God, with joyful and thankful shouts.

⁵Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.

⁶I am deeply depressed; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

⁷Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your billows have swept over me.

⁸The LORD will send his faithful love by day; his song will be with me in the night — a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹I will say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”

¹⁰My adversaries taunt me, as if crushing my bones, while all day long they say to me, “Where is your God?”

¹¹Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.

¹Dishonest scales are detestable to the LORD, but an accurate weight is his delight.

²When arrogance comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.

³The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the treacherous destroys them.

⁴Wealth is not profitable on a day of wrath, but righteousness rescues from death.

⁵The righteousness of the blameless clears his path, but the wicked person will fall because of his wickedness.

⁶The righteousness of the upright rescues them, but the treacherous are trapped by their own desires.

⁷When the wicked person dies, his expectation comes to nothing, and hope placed in wealth vanishes.

⁸The righteous one is rescued from trouble; in his place, the wicked one goes in.

⁹With his mouth the ungodly destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous are rescued.

¹⁰When the righteous thrive, a city rejoices; when the wicked die, there is joyful shouting.

¹¹A city is built up by the blessing of the upright, but it is torn down by the mouth of the wicked.

¹²Whoever shows contempt for his neighbor lacks sense, but a person with understanding keeps silent.

¹³A gossip goes around revealing a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.

¹⁴Without guidance, a people will fall, but with many counselors there is deliverance.

¹⁵If someone puts up security for a stranger, he will suffer for it, but the one who hates such agreements is protected.

¹⁶A gracious woman gains honor, but violent people gain only riches.

¹⁷A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel person brings ruin on himself.

¹⁸The wicked person earns an empty wage, but the one who sows righteousness, a true reward.

¹⁹Genuine righteousness leads to life, but pursuing evil leads to death.

²⁰Those with twisted minds are detestable to the LORD, but those with blameless conduct are his delight.

²¹Be assured that a wicked person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will escape.

²²A beautiful woman who rejects good sense is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout.

²³The desire of the righteous turns out well, but the hope of the wicked leads to wrath.

²⁴One person gives freely, yet gains more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.

²⁵A generous person will be enriched, and the one who gives a drink of water will receive water.

²⁶People will curse anyone who hoards grain, but a blessing will come to the one who sells it.

²⁷The one who searches for what is good seeks favor, but if someone looks for trouble, it will come to him.

²⁸Anyone trusting in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage.

²⁹The one who brings ruin on his household will inherit the wind, and a fool will be a slave to someone whose heart is wise.

³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and a wise person captivates people. 

³¹If the righteous will be repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and sinful.

¹In those days, there was no king in Israel, and the Danite tribe was looking for territory to occupy. Up to that time no territory had been captured by them among the tribes of Israel.

²So the Danites sent out five brave men from all their clans, from Zorah and Eshtaol, to scout out the land and explore it. They told them, “Go and explore the land.” They came to the hill country of Ephraim as far as the home of Micah and spent the night there.

³While they were near Micah’s home, they recognized the accent of the young Levite. So they went over to him and asked, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is keeping you here?”

⁴He told them, “This is what Micah has done for me: He has hired me, and I became his priest.”

⁵Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God for us to determine if we will have a successful journey.”

⁶The priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over the journey you are going on.”

⁷The five men left and came to Laish. They saw that the people who were there were living securely, in the same way as the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. They were far from the Sidonians, having no alliance with anyone.

⁸When the men went back to their relatives at Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, “What did you find out?”

⁹They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why wait? Don’t hesitate to go and invade and take possession of the land!

¹⁰When you get there, you will come to an unsuspecting people and a spacious land, for God has handed it over to you. It is a place where nothing on earth is lacking.”

¹¹Six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol armed with weapons of war.

¹²They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. This is why the place is still called the Camp of Dan today; it is west of Kiriath-jearim.

¹³From there they traveled to the hill country of Ephraim and arrived at Micah’s house.

¹⁴The five men who had gone to scout out the land of Laish told their brothers, “Did you know that there are an ephod, household gods, and a carved image and a silver idol in these houses? Now think about what you should do.”

¹⁵So they detoured there and went to the house of the young Levite at the home of Micah and greeted him.

¹⁶The six hundred Danite men were standing by the entrance of the city gate, armed with their weapons of war.

¹⁷Then the five men who had gone to scout out the land went in and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the silver idol, while the priest was standing by the entrance of the city gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.

¹⁸When they entered Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the silver idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹They told him, “Be quiet. Keep your mouth shut. Come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or for you to be a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?”

²⁰So the priest was pleased and took his ephod, household idols, and carved image, and went with the people.

²¹They prepared to leave, putting their dependents, livestock, and possessions in front of them.

²²After they were some distance from Micah’s house, the men who were in the houses near it were mustered and caught up with the Danites.

²³They called to the Danites, who turned to face them, and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you mustered the men?”

²⁴He said, “You took the gods I had made and the priest, and went away. What do I have left? How can you say to me, ‘What’s the matter with you? ’”

²⁵The Danites said to him, “Don’t raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”

²⁶The Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were stronger than he was.

²⁷After they had taken the gods Micah had made and the priest that belonged to him, they went to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people. They killed them with their swords and burned the city.

²⁸There was no one to rescue them because it was far from Sidon and they had no alliance with anyone. It was in a valley that belonged to Beth-rehob. They rebuilt the city and lived in it.

²⁹They named the city Dan, after the name of their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel. The city was formerly named Laish.

³⁰The Danites set up the carved image for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the Danite tribe until the time of the exile from the land.

³¹So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image that he had made, and it was there as long as the house of God was in Shiloh.

¹“This is my servant; I strengthen him, this is my chosen one; I delight in him. I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring justice to the nations.

²He will not cry out or shout or make his voice heard in the streets.

³He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick; he will faithfully bring justice.

⁴He will not grow weak or be discouraged until he has established justice on earth. The coasts and islands will wait for his instruction.”

⁵This is what God, the LORD, says — who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it  —

⁶“I am the LORD. I have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will hold you by your hand. I will watch over you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,

⁷in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.

⁸I am the LORD. That is my name, and I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.

⁹The past events have indeed happened. Now I declare new events; I announce them to you before they occur.”

¹⁰Sing a new song to the LORD; sing his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea with all that fills it, you coasts and islands with your inhabitants.

¹¹Let the desert and its cities shout, the settlements where Kedar dwells cry aloud. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy; let them cry out from the mountaintops.

¹²Let them give glory to the LORD and declare his praise in the coasts and islands.

¹³The LORD advances like a warrior; he stirs up his zeal like a soldier. He shouts, he roars aloud, he prevails over his enemies.

¹⁴“I have kept silent from ages past; I have been quiet and restrained myself. But now, I will groan like a woman in labor, gasping breathlessly.

¹⁵I will lay waste mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn rivers into islands and dry up marshes.

¹⁶I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness to light in front of them and rough places into level ground. This is what I will do for them, and I will not abandon them.

¹⁷They will be turned back and utterly ashamed — those who trust in an idol and say to a cast image, ‘You are our gods! ’

¹⁸“Listen, you deaf! Look, you blind, so that you may see.

¹⁹Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like my messenger I am sending? Who is blind like my dedicated one, or blind like the servant of the LORD?

²⁰Though seeing many things, you pay no attention. Though his ears are open, he does not listen.”

²¹Because of his righteousness, the LORD was pleased to magnify his instruction and make it glorious.

²²But this is a people plundered and looted, all of them trapped in holes or imprisoned in dungeons. They have become plunder with no one to rescue them and loot, with no one saying, “Give it back!”

²³Who among you will hear this? Let him listen and obey in the future.

²⁴Who gave Jacob to the robber, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD? Have we not sinned against him? They were not willing to walk in his ways, and they would not listen to his instruction.

²⁵So he poured out his furious anger and the power of war on Jacob. It surrounded him with fire, but he did not know it; it burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.

¹In Iconium they entered the Jewish synagogue, as usual, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

²But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

³So they stayed there a long time and spoke boldly for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace by enabling them to do signs and wonders.

⁴But the people of the city were divided, some siding with the Jews and others with the apostles.

⁵When an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat and stone them,

⁶they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside.

⁷There they continued preaching the gospel.

⁸In Lystra a man was sitting who was without strength in his feet, had never walked, and had been lame from birth.

⁹He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

¹⁰Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” And he jumped up and began to walk around.

¹¹When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice.

¹⁴The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting:

¹⁵“People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

¹⁶In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own way,

¹⁷although he did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.”

¹⁸Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹Some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.

²⁰After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

²¹After they had preached the gospel in that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch,

²²strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

²³When they had appointed elders for them in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

²⁴They passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.

²⁵After they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

²⁶From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

²⁷After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

²⁸And they spent a considerable time with the disciples.