Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him,

²for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”

³And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.

⁴There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that?

⁵For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.

⁶But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.

⁷For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.

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

⁹And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.

¹¹And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

¹²And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”

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

¹⁴and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’

¹⁵And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”

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

¹⁷And when it was evening, he came with the twelve.

¹⁸And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?”

²⁰He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.

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

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

²³And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.

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

²⁵Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

²⁷And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

²⁸But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”

²⁹Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”

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

³¹But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

³²And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”

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

³⁴And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”

³⁵And going a little farther, he fell on 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. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

³⁷And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?

³⁸ Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.

⁴⁰And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him.

⁴¹And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴²Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

⁴³And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

⁴⁴Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.”

⁴⁵And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him.

⁴⁶And they laid hands on him and seized him.

⁴⁷But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

⁴⁸And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me?

⁴⁹ Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.”

⁵⁰And they all left him and fled.

⁵¹And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him,

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

⁵³And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.

⁵⁴And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire.

⁵⁵Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none.

⁵⁶For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.

⁵⁷And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying,

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

⁵⁹Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.

⁶⁰And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”

⁶¹But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”

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

⁶³And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need?

⁶⁴You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.

⁶⁵And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.

⁶⁶And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came,

⁶⁷and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”

⁶⁸But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed.

⁶⁹And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.”

⁷⁰But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”

⁷¹But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.”

⁷²And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said 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 for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”

²And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.”

³So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.

⁴But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.

⁵Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

⁶Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

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

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

⁹And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

¹⁰They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food.

¹¹We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.”

¹²He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.”

¹³And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.”

¹⁴But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies.

¹⁵By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

¹⁶Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.”

¹⁷And he put them all together in custody for three days.

¹⁸On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God:

¹⁹if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households,

²⁰and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so.

²¹Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

²²And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.”

²³They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them.

²⁴Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

²⁵And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man's money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.

²⁶Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed.

²⁷And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack.

²⁸He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

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

³⁰“The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land.

³¹But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies.

³²We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’

³³Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way.

³⁴Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’”

³⁵As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid.

³⁶And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.”

³⁷Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”

³⁸But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

¹I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ — I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away! —

²I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh.

³For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

⁵We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

⁶being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

⁷Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we.

⁸For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed.

⁹I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters.

¹⁰For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”

¹¹Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present.

¹²Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

¹³But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you.

¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ.

¹⁵We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged,

¹⁶so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence.

¹⁷“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

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

¹The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.

²Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

³For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.

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

⁵Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are,

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

⁷For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.

⁸Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

⁹I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.

¹⁰So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

¹¹Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

¹²Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.

¹³I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink.

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

¹⁵Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name.

¹Then Job answered the LORD and said:

²“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

³‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

⁴‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’

⁵I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;

⁶therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

⁷After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.

⁸Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”

⁹So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job's prayer.

¹⁰And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

¹¹Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.

¹²And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

¹³He had also seven sons and three daughters.

¹⁴And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch.

¹⁵And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

¹⁶And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations.

¹⁷And Job died, an old man, and full of days.

¹As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

²My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

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

⁴These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.

⁵Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

⁶and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

⁷Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.

⁸By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

¹⁰As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

¹¹Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

¹A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight.

²When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

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

⁴Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

⁵The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

⁶The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.

⁷When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too.

⁸The righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked walks into it instead.

⁹With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

¹⁰When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.

¹¹By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.

¹²Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.

¹³Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.

¹⁴Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

¹⁵Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm, but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.

¹⁶A gracious woman gets honor, and violent men get riches.

¹⁷A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.

¹⁸The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.

¹⁹Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live, but he who pursues evil will die.

²⁰Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the LORD, but those of blameless ways are his delight.

²¹Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.

²²Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.

²³The desire of the righteous ends only in good, the expectation of the wicked in wrath.

²⁴One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

²⁵Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

²⁶The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it.

²⁷Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it.

²⁸Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

²⁹Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.

³¹If the righteous is repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!

¹In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them.

²So the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.

³When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?”

⁴And he said to them, “This is how Micah dealt with me: he has hired me, and I have become his priest.”

⁵And they said to him, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.”

⁶And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the LORD.”

⁷Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.

⁸And when they came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?”

⁹They said, “Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land.

¹⁰As soon as you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is spacious, for God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

¹¹So 600 men of the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol,

¹²and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this account that place is called Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim.

¹³And they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

¹⁴Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do.”

¹⁵And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him about his welfare.

¹⁶Now the 600 men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate.

¹⁷And the five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and entered and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war.

¹⁸And when these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹And they said to him, “Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?”

²⁰And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.

²¹So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the livestock and the goods in front of them.

²²When they had gone a distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house were called out, and they overtook the people of Dan.

²³And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?”

²⁴And he said, “You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”

²⁵And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.”

²⁶Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.

²⁷But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.

²⁸And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it.

²⁹And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at the first.

³⁰And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

³¹So they set up Micah's carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

¹Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

²He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;

³a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

⁴He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.

⁵Thus says God, the LORD, 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 in it:

⁶“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,

⁷to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

⁸I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

⁹Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

¹⁰Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants.

¹¹Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the habitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

¹²Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare his praise in the coastlands.

¹³The LORD goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.

¹⁴For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant.

¹⁵I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools.

¹⁶And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.

¹⁷They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, “You are our gods.”

¹⁸Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!

¹⁹Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD?

²⁰He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.

²¹The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious.

²²But this is a people plundered and looted; they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons; they have become plunder with none to rescue, spoil with none to say, “Restore!”

²³Who among you will give ear to this, will attend and listen for the time to come?

²⁴Who gave up Jacob to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey?

²⁵So he poured on him the heat of his anger and the might of battle; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.

¹Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue 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 remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

⁴But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles.

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

⁶they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country,

⁷and there they continued to preach the gospel.

⁸Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked.

⁹He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well,

¹⁰said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking.

¹¹And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”

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

¹³And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

¹⁴But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out,

¹⁵“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

¹⁶In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.

¹⁷Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

¹⁸Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.

¹⁹But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

²⁰But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

²¹When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,

²²strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

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

²⁴Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.

²⁵And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia,

²⁶and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled.

²⁷And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

²⁸And they remained no little time with the disciples.