Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely.

²There was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen.

³Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?”

⁴When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away.

⁵Then he turned to them and said, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?”

⁶Again they could not answer.

⁷When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice:

⁸“When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited?

⁹The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!

¹⁰“Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests.

¹¹For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

¹²Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward.

¹³Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

¹⁴Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”

¹⁵Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!”

¹⁶Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations.

¹⁷When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’

¹⁸But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’

¹⁹Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’

²⁰Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

²¹“The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

²²After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’

²³So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.

²⁴For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’”

²⁵A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,

²⁶“If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else — your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.

²⁷And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

²⁸“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?

²⁹Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.

³⁰They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

³¹“Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him?

³²And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away.

³³So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

³⁴“Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again?

³⁵Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.

²If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs across your entire land.

³The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come up out of the river and into your palace, even into your bedroom and onto your bed! They will enter the houses of your officials and your people. They will even jump into your ovens and your kneading bowls.

⁴Frogs will jump on you, your people, and all your officials.’”

⁵Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Raise the staff in your hand over all the rivers, canals, and ponds of Egypt, and bring up frogs over all the land.’”

⁶So Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the whole land!

⁷But the magicians were able to do the same thing with their magic. They, too, caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the LORD.”

⁹“You set the time!” Moses replied. “Tell me when you want me to pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then you and your houses will be rid of the frogs. They will remain only in the Nile River.”

¹⁰“Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said. “All right,” Moses replied, “it will be as you have said. Then you will know that there is no one like the LORD our God.

¹¹The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile River.”

¹²So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s palace, and Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had inflicted on Pharaoh.

¹³And the LORD did just what Moses had predicted. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields all died.

¹⁴The Egyptians piled them into great heaps, and a terrible stench filled the land.

¹⁵But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted.

¹⁶So the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Raise your staff and strike the ground. The dust will turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’”

¹⁷So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them. When Aaron raised his hand and struck the ground with his staff, gnats infested the entire land, covering the Egyptians and their animals. All the dust in the land of Egypt turned into gnats.

¹⁸Pharaoh’s magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed. And the gnats covered everyone, people and animals alike.

¹⁹“This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the LORD had predicted.

²⁰Then the LORD told Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand in Pharaoh’s way as he goes down to the river. Say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.

²¹If you refuse, then I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, your people, and all the houses. The Egyptian homes will be filled with flies, and the ground will be covered with them.

²²But this time I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live. No flies will be found there. Then you will know that I am the LORD and that I am present even in the heart of your land.

²³I will make a clear distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow.’”

²⁴And the LORD did just as he had said. A thick swarm of flies filled Pharaoh’s palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was thrown into chaos by the flies.

²⁵Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. “All right! Go ahead and offer sacrifices to your God,” he said. “But do it here in this land.”

²⁶But Moses replied, “That wouldn’t be right. The Egyptians detest the sacrifices that we offer to the LORD our God. Look, if we offer our sacrifices here where the Egyptians can see us, they will stone us.

²⁷We must take a three-day trip into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, just as he has commanded us.”

²⁸“All right, go ahead,” Pharaoh replied. “I will let you go into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God. But don’t go too far away. Now hurry and pray for me.”

²⁹Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will disappear from you and your officials and all your people. But I am warning you, Pharaoh, don’t lie to us again and refuse to let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.”

³⁰So Moses left Pharaoh’s palace and pleaded with the LORD to remove all the flies.

³¹And the LORD did as Moses asked and caused the swarms of flies to disappear from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. Not a single fly remained.

³²But Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go.

¹This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and deacons.

²May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

³Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.

⁴Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy,

⁵for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.

⁶And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

⁷So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News.

⁸God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.

⁹I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.

¹⁰For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.

¹¹May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation — the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ — for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

¹²And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.

¹³For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.

¹⁴And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.

¹⁵It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives.

¹⁶They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News.

¹⁷Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me.

¹⁸But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.

¹⁹For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

²⁰For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.

²¹For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

²²But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better.

²³I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.

²⁴But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

²⁵Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith.

²⁶And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

²⁷Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.

²⁸Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself.

²⁹For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.

³⁰We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

¹Then I saw in heaven another marvelous event of great significance. Seven angels were holding the seven last plagues, which would bring God’s wrath to completion.

²I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. They were all holding harps that God had given them.

³And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations.

⁴Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.”

⁵Then I looked and saw that the Temple in heaven, God’s Tabernacle, was thrown wide open.

⁶The seven angels who were holding the seven plagues came out of the Temple. They were clothed in spotless white linen with gold sashes across their chests.

⁷Then one of the four living beings handed each of the seven angels a gold bowl filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.

⁸The Temple was filled with smoke from God’s glory and power. No one could enter the Temple until the seven angels had completed pouring out the seven plagues.

¹You are beautiful, my darling, beautiful beyond words. Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.

²Your teeth are as white as sheep, recently shorn and freshly washed. Your smile is flawless, each tooth matched with its twin.

³Your lips are like scarlet ribbon; your mouth is inviting. Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates behind your veil.

⁴Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David, jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes.

⁵Your breasts are like two fawns, twin fawns of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.

⁶Before the dawn breezes blow and the night shadows flee, I will hurry to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.

⁷You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Come down from Mount Amana, from the peaks of Senir and Hermon, where the lions have their dens and leopards live among the hills.

⁹You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes, with a single jewel of your necklace.

¹⁰Your love delights me, my treasure, my bride. Your love is better than wine, your perfume more fragrant than spices.

¹¹Your lips are as sweet as nectar, my bride. Honey and milk are under your tongue. Your clothes are scented like the cedars of Lebanon.

¹²You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride, a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.

¹³Your thighs shelter a paradise of pomegranates with rare spices — henna with nard,

¹⁴nard and saffron, fragrant calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, and every other lovely spice.

¹⁵You are a garden fountain, a well of fresh water streaming down from Lebanon’s mountains.

¹⁶Awake, north wind! Rise up, south wind! Blow on my garden and spread its fragrance all around. Come into your garden, my love; taste its finest fruits.

¹Justice — do you rulers know the meaning of the word? Do you judge the people fairly?

²No! You plot injustice in your hearts. You spread violence throughout the land.

³These wicked people are born sinners; even from birth they have lied and gone their own way.

⁴They spit venom like deadly snakes; they are like cobras that refuse to listen,

⁵ignoring the tunes of the snake charmers, no matter how skillfully they play.

⁶Break off their fangs, O God! Smash the jaws of these lions, O LORD!

⁷May they disappear like water into thirsty ground. Make their weapons useless in their hands.

⁸May they be like snails that dissolve into slime, like a stillborn child who will never see the sun.

⁹God will sweep them away, both young and old, faster than a pot heats over burning thorns.

¹⁰The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged. They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹¹Then at last everyone will say, “There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”

¹Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.

²Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth — a stranger, not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.

⁴Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.

⁵An open rebuke is better than hidden love!

⁶Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.

⁷A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.

⁸A person who strays from home is like a bird that strays from its nest.

⁹The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.

¹⁰Never abandon a friend — either yours or your father’s. When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance. It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away.

¹¹Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad. Then I will be able to answer my critics.

¹²A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

¹³Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt. Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.

¹⁴A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!

¹⁵A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day.

¹⁶Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

¹⁸As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit, so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded.

¹⁹As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.

²⁰Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.

²¹Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised.

²²You cannot separate fools from their foolishness, even though you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle.

²³Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds,

²⁴for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.

²⁵After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears and the mountain grasses are gathered in,

²⁶your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field.

²⁷And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself, your family, and your servant girls.

¹There was a wealthy, influential man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, of the tribe of Benjamin.

²His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel — head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land.

³One day Kish’s donkeys strayed away, and he told Saul, “Take a servant with you, and go look for the donkeys.”

⁴So Saul took one of the servants and traveled through the hill country of Ephraim, the land of Shalishah, the Shaalim area, and the entire land of Benjamin, but they couldn’t find the donkeys anywhere.

⁵Finally, they entered the region of Zuph, and Saul said to his servant, “Let’s go home. By now my father will be more worried about us than about the donkeys!”

⁶But the servant said, “I’ve just thought of something! There is a man of God who lives here in this town. He is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true. Let’s go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go.”

⁷“But we don’t have anything to offer him,” Saul replied. “Even our food is gone, and we don’t have a thing to give him.”

⁸“Well,” the servant said, “I have one small silver piece. We can at least offer it to the man of God and see what happens!”

⁹(In those days if people wanted a message from God, they would say, “Let’s go and ask the seer,” for prophets used to be called seers.)

¹⁰“All right,” Saul agreed, “let’s try it!” So they started into the town where the man of God lived.

¹¹As they were climbing the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to draw water. So Saul and his servant asked, “Is the seer here today?”

¹²“Yes,” they replied. “Stay right on this road. He is at the town gates. He has just arrived to take part in a public sacrifice up at the place of worship.

¹³Hurry and catch him before he goes up there to eat. The guests won’t begin eating until he arrives to bless the food.”

¹⁴So they entered the town, and as they passed through the gates, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the place of worship.

¹⁵Now the LORD had told Samuel the previous day,

¹⁶“About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him to be the leader of my people, Israel. He will rescue them from the Philistines, for I have looked down on my people in mercy and have heard their cry.”

¹⁷When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said, “That’s the man I told you about! He will rule my people.”

¹⁸Just then Saul approached Samuel at the gateway and asked, “Can you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”

¹⁹“I am the seer!” Samuel replied. “Go up to the place of worship ahead of me. We will eat there together, and in the morning I’ll tell you what you want to know and send you on your way.

²⁰And don’t worry about those donkeys that were lost three days ago, for they have been found. And I am here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all Israel’s hopes.”

²¹Saul replied, “But I’m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?”

²²Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and placed them at the head of the table, honoring them above the thirty special guests.

²³Samuel then instructed the cook to bring Saul the finest cut of meat, the piece that had been set aside for the guest of honor.

²⁴So the cook brought in the meat and placed it before Saul. “Go ahead and eat it,” Samuel said. “I was saving it for you even before I invited these others!” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

²⁵When they came down from the place of worship and returned to town, Samuel took Saul up to the roof of the house and prepared a bed for him there.

²⁶At daybreak the next morning, Samuel called to Saul, “Get up! It’s time you were on your way.” So Saul got ready, and he and Samuel left the house together.

²⁷When they reached the edge of town, Samuel told Saul to send his servant on ahead. After the servant was gone, Samuel said, “Stay here, for I have received a special message for you from God.”

¹“Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel of their sins!

²Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me.

³‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’ “I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers.

⁴What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.

⁵You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the LORD?

⁶“No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.

⁷Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

⁸“Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind.

⁹Then when you call, the LORD will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!

¹⁰Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

¹¹The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.

¹²Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.

¹³“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the LORD’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.

¹⁴Then the LORD will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

¹On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place.

²Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting.

³Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.

⁴And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

⁵At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem.

⁶When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.

⁷They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee,

⁸and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages!

⁹Here we are — Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia,

¹⁰Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome

¹¹(both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!”

¹²They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.

¹³But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!”

¹⁴Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this.

¹⁵These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that.

¹⁶No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:

¹⁷‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

¹⁸In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants — men and women alike — and they will prophesy.

¹⁹And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below — blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

²⁰The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the LORD arrives.

²¹But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.’

²²“People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.

²³But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.

²⁴But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.

²⁵King David said this about him: ‘I see that the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

²⁶No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope.

²⁷For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.

²⁸You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’

²⁹“Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us.

³⁰But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne.

³¹David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.

³²“God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.

³³Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.

³⁴For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said, ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand

³⁵until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”’

³⁶“So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”

³⁷Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

³⁸Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away — all who have been called by the Lord our God.”

⁴⁰Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”

⁴¹Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day — about 3,000 in all.

⁴²All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper ), and to prayer.

⁴³A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.

⁴⁴And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.

⁴⁵They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.

⁴⁶They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity —

⁴⁷all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.