Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.

²But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³Then Jesus told them this parable:

⁴“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders

⁶and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

⁷I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

⁸“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?

⁹And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’

¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

¹¹Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons.

¹²The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.

¹⁴After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.

¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.

¹⁶He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!

¹⁸I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’

²⁰So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.

²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.

²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.

²⁷‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.

²⁹But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.

³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹“ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”

²If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back,

³the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys and camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats.

⁴But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’ ”

⁵The LORD set a time and said, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land.”

⁶And the next day the LORD did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.

⁷Pharaoh investigated and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.

⁸Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh.

⁹It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on people and animals throughout the land.”

¹⁰So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on people and animals.

¹¹The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians.

¹²But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses.

¹³Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me,

¹⁴or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

¹⁵For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth.

¹⁶But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

¹⁷You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go.

¹⁸Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.

¹⁹Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every person and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.’ ”

²⁰Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside.

²¹But those who ignored the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the field.

²²Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt—on people and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt.”

²³When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt;

²⁴hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.

²⁵Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both people and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree.

²⁶The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.

²⁷Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said to them. “The LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.

²⁸Pray to the LORD, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.”

²⁹Moses replied, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.

³⁰But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the LORD God.”

³¹(The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom.

³²The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)

³³Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the LORD; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.

³⁴When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts.

³⁵So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.

¹Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,

²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,

⁴not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

⁵In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

⁷rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹²Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

¹⁴Do everything without grumbling or arguing,

¹⁵so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky

¹⁶as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

¹⁷But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

¹⁸So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

¹⁹I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you.

²⁰I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare.

²¹For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

²²But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

²³I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me.

²⁴And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.

²⁵But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.

²⁶For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.

²⁷Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.

²⁸Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety.

²⁹So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him,

³⁰because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.

¹Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”

²The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

³The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.

⁴The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.

⁵Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, you who are and who were;

⁶for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”

⁷And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”

⁸The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire.

⁹They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.

¹⁰The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony

¹¹and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.

¹²The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.

¹³Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

¹⁴They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.

¹⁵“Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”

¹⁶Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

¹⁷The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!”

¹⁸Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.

¹⁹The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.

²⁰Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.

²¹From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.

¹I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk. Eat, friends, and drink; drink your fill of love.

²I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”

³I have taken off my robe— must I put it on again? I have washed my feet— must I soil them again?

⁴My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.

⁵I arose to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, on the handles of the bolt.

⁶I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer.

⁷The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls!

⁸Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you— if you find my beloved, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love.

⁹How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you so charge us?

¹⁰My beloved is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.

¹¹His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.

¹²His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels.

¹³His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh.

¹⁴His arms are rods of gold set with topaz. His body is like polished ivory decorated with lapis lazuli.

¹⁵His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.

¹⁶His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.

¹For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam. When Saul had sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, O God; be my fortress against those who are attacking me.

²Deliver me from evildoers and save me from those who are after my blood.

³See how they lie in wait for me! Fierce men conspire against me for no offense or sin of mine, LORD.

⁴I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Arise to help me; look on my plight!

⁵You, LORD God Almighty, you who are the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to wicked traitors.

⁶They return at evening, snarling like dogs, and prowl about the city.

⁷See what they spew from their mouths— the words from their lips are sharp as swords, and they think, “Who can hear us?”

⁸But you laugh at them, LORD; you scoff at all those nations.

⁹You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress,

¹⁰my God on whom I can rely. God will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me.

¹¹But do not kill them, Lord our shield, or my people will forget. In your might uproot them and bring them down.

¹²For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride. For the curses and lies they utter,

¹³consume them in your wrath, consume them till they are no more. Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob.

¹⁴They return at evening, snarling like dogs, and prowl about the city.

¹⁵They wander about for food and howl if not satisfied.

¹⁶But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

¹⁷You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.

¹The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

²When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order.

³A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.

⁴Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked, but those who heed it resist them.

⁵Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully.

⁶Better the poor whose walk is blameless than the rich whose ways are perverse.

⁷A discerning son heeds instruction, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.

⁸Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor.

⁹If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.

¹⁰Whoever leads the upright along an evil path will fall into their own trap, but the blameless will receive a good inheritance.

¹¹The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.

¹²When the righteous triumph, there is great elation; but when the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding.

¹³Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

¹⁴Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.

¹⁵Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.

¹⁶A tyrannical ruler practices extortion, but one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy a long reign.

¹⁷Anyone tormented by the guilt of murder will seek refuge in the grave; let no one hold them back.

¹⁸The one whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but the one whose ways are perverse will fall into the pit.

¹⁹Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.

²⁰A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

²¹To show partiality is not good— yet a person will do wrong for a piece of bread.

²²The stingy are eager to get rich and are unaware that poverty awaits them.

²³Whoever rebukes a person will in the end gain favor rather than one who has a flattering tongue.

²⁴Whoever robs their father or mother and says, “It’s not wrong,” is partner to one who destroys.

²⁵The greedy stir up conflict, but those who trust in the LORD will prosper.

²⁶Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.

²⁷Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.

²⁸When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding; but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive.

¹Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over his inheritance?

²When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?” ’

³“Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to worship God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine.

⁴They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.

⁵“After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying.

⁶The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.

⁷Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

⁸“Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.”

⁹As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day.

¹⁰When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.

¹¹When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

¹²A man who lived there answered, “And who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

¹³After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.

¹⁴Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?” “Looking for the donkeys,” he said. “But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”

¹⁵Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.”

¹⁶Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.

¹⁷Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah

¹⁸and said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’

¹⁹But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, ‘No, appoint a king over us.’ So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”

²⁰When Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot.

²¹Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was taken. Finally Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found.

²²So they inquired further of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?” And the LORD said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.”

²³They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others.

²⁴Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

²⁵Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people to go to their own homes.

²⁶Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched.

²⁷But some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.

¹Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

²But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

³For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things.

⁴No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.

⁵They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.

⁶Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.

⁷Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways.

⁸The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace.

⁹So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.

¹⁰Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead.

¹¹We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.

¹²For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities:

¹³rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.

¹⁴So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.

¹⁵Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

¹⁶He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.

¹⁷He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.

¹⁸According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due.

¹⁹From the west, people will fear the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along.

²⁰“The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the LORD.

²¹“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the LORD.

¹One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.

²Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.

³When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.

⁴Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!”

⁵So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

⁶Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

⁷Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.

⁸He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.

⁹When all the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

¹¹While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹²When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

¹⁴You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

¹⁵You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.

¹⁶By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

¹⁷“Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.

¹⁸But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.

¹⁹Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

²⁰and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

²¹Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

²²For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.

²³Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’

²⁴“Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days.

²⁵And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’

²⁶When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”