Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him,

²and he began to teach them.

³“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

⁴God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.

⁶God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.

⁷God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

⁸God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

⁹God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.

¹⁰God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

¹¹“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.

¹²Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

¹³“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

¹⁴“You are the light of the world — like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.

¹⁵No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.

¹⁶In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

¹⁷“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.

¹⁸I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.

¹⁹So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

²⁰“But I warn you — unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

²¹“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’

²²But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.

²³“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you,

²⁴leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

²⁵“When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison.

²⁶And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’

²⁸But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

²⁹So if your eye — even your good eye — causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

³⁰And if your hand — even your stronger hand — causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

³¹“You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’

³²But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.

³³“You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the LORD.’

³⁴But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne.

³⁵And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King.

³⁶Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black.

³⁷Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

³⁸“You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’

³⁹But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.

⁴⁰If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.

⁴¹If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.

⁴²Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.

⁴³“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy.

⁴⁴But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!

⁴⁵In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

⁴⁶If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much.

⁴⁷If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.

⁴⁸But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

¹This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself.

²He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them “human.”

³When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him — in his very image. He named his son Seth.

⁴After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

⁵Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.

⁶When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh.

⁷After the birth of Enosh, Seth lived another 807 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

⁸Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.

⁹When Enosh was 90 years old, he became the father of Kenan.

¹⁰After the birth of Kenan, Enosh lived another 815 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹¹Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.

¹²When Kenan was 70 years old, he became the father of Mahalalel.

¹³After the birth of Mahalalel, Kenan lived another 840 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died.

¹⁵When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he became the father of Jared.

¹⁶After the birth of Jared, Mahalalel lived another 830 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁷Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died.

¹⁸When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father of Enoch.

¹⁹After the birth of Enoch, Jared lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁰Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.

²¹When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah.

²²After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

²³Enoch lived 365 years,

²⁴walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.

²⁵When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech.

²⁶After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived another 782 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁷Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.

²⁸When Lamech was 182 years old, he became the father of a son.

²⁹Lamech named his son Noah, for he said, “May he bring us relief from our work and the painful labor of farming this ground that the LORD has cursed.”

³⁰After the birth of Noah, Lamech lived another 595 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

³¹Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.

³²After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

²Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

³We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.

⁴And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

⁵And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

⁶When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

⁷Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.

⁸But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

⁹And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.

¹⁰For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

¹¹So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

¹²When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

¹³Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.

¹⁴Still, everyone died — from the time of Adam to the time of Moses — even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.

¹⁵But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁶And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.

¹⁷For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

¹⁹Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

²⁰God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.

²¹So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you.

²For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.

³When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.

⁴But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief.

⁵For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.

⁶So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded.

⁷Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk.

⁸But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.

⁹For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.

¹⁰Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever.

¹¹So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

¹²Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance.

¹³Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other.

¹⁴Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.

¹⁵See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.

¹⁶Always be joyful.

¹⁷Never stop praying.

¹⁸Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

¹⁹Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.

²⁰Do not scoff at prophecies,

²¹but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.

²²Stay away from every kind of evil.

²³Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

²⁴God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.

²⁵Dear brothers and sisters, pray for us.

²⁶Greet all the brothers and sisters with a sacred kiss.

²⁷I command you in the name of the Lord to read this letter to all the brothers and sisters.

²⁸May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

¹“Cry for help, but will anyone answer you? Which of the angels will help you?

²Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple.

³I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster.

⁴Their children are abandoned far from help; they are crushed in court with no one to defend them.

⁵The hungry devour their harvest, even when it is guarded by brambles. The thirsty pant after their wealth.

⁶But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth.

⁷People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.

⁸“If I were you, I would go to God and present my case to him.

⁹He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.

¹⁰He gives rain for the earth and water for the fields.

¹¹He gives prosperity to the poor and protects those who suffer.

¹²He frustrates the plans of schemers so the work of their hands will not succeed.

¹³He traps the wise in their own cleverness so their cunning schemes are thwarted.

¹⁴They find it is dark in the daytime, and they grope at noon as if it were night.

¹⁵He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong, and rescues them from the clutches of the powerful.

¹⁶And so at last the poor have hope, and the snapping jaws of the wicked are shut.

¹⁷“But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin.

¹⁸For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.

¹⁹From six disasters he will rescue you; even in the seventh, he will keep you from evil.

²⁰He will save you from death in time of famine, from the power of the sword in time of war.

²¹You will be safe from slander and have no fear when destruction comes.

²²You will laugh at destruction and famine; wild animals will not terrify you.

²³You will be at peace with the stones of the field, and its wild animals will be at peace with you.

²⁴You will know that your home is safe. When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing.

²⁵You will have many children; your descendants will be as plentiful as grass!

²⁶You will go to the grave at a ripe old age, like a sheaf of grain harvested at the proper time!

²⁷“We have studied life and found all this to be true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.”

¹O LORD, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning.

²Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you.

³Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

⁴O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness; you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.

⁵Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence, for you hate all who do evil.

⁶You will destroy those who tell lies. The LORD detests murderers and deceivers.

⁷Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house; I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe.

⁸Lead me in the right path, O LORD, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.

⁹My enemies cannot speak a truthful word. Their deepest desire is to destroy others. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with flattery.

¹⁰O God, declare them guilty. Let them be caught in their own traps. Drive them away because of their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.

¹¹But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy.

¹²For you bless the godly, O LORD; you surround them with your shield of love.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel.

²Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned.

³For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil.

⁴But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.

⁶For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.

⁷So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say:

⁸Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house!

⁹If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.

¹⁰Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.

¹¹In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body.

¹²You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings!

¹³Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?

¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own well — share your love only with your wife.

¹⁶Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?

¹⁷You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers.

¹⁸Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.

²⁰Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?

²¹For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes.

²²An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him.

²³He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.

¹When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart and were paralyzed with fear because of them.

²At that time the LORD told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise this second generation of Israelites. ”

³So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the entire male population of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.

⁴Joshua had to circumcise them because all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died in the wilderness.

⁵Those who left Egypt had all been circumcised, but none of those born after the Exodus, during the years in the wilderness, had been circumcised.

⁶The Israelites had traveled in the wilderness for forty years until all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died. For they had disobeyed the LORD, and the LORD vowed he would not let them enter the land he had sworn to give us — a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁷So Joshua circumcised their sons — those who had grown up to take their fathers’ places — for they had not been circumcised on the way to the Promised Land.

⁸After all the males had been circumcised, they rested in the camp until they were healed.

⁹Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day.

¹⁰While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month.

¹¹The very next day they began to eat unleavened bread and roasted grain harvested from the land.

¹²No manna appeared on the day they first ate from the crops of the land, and it was never seen again. So from that time on the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan.

¹³When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”

¹⁴“Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the LORD’s army.” At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?”

¹⁵The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.

¹Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill.

²He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter.

³Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard.

⁴What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?

⁵Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it.

⁶I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it.

⁷The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.

⁸What sorrow for you who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land.

⁹But I have heard the LORD of Heaven’s Armies swear a solemn oath: “Many houses will stand deserted; even beautiful mansions will be empty.

¹⁰Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket of grain.”

¹¹What sorrow for those who get up early in the morning looking for a drink of alcohol and spend long evenings drinking wine to make themselves flaming drunk.

¹²They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties — lyre and harp, tambourine and flute — but they never think about the LORD or notice what he is doing.

¹³So my people will go into exile far away because they do not know me. Those who are great and honored will starve, and the common people will die of thirst.

¹⁴The grave is licking its lips in anticipation, opening its mouth wide. The great and the lowly and all the drunken mob will be swallowed up.

¹⁵Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down; even the arrogant will lower their eyes in humiliation.

¹⁶But the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will be exalted by his justice. The holiness of God will be displayed by his righteousness.

¹⁷In that day lambs will find good pastures, and fattened sheep and young goats will feed among the ruins.

¹⁸What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart!

¹⁹They even mock God and say, “Hurry up and do something! We want to see what you can do. Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan, for we want to know what it is.”

²⁰What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.

²¹What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever.

²²What sorrow for those who are heroes at drinking wine and boast about all the alcohol they can hold.

²³They take bribes to let the wicked go free, and they punish the innocent.

²⁴Therefore, just as fire licks up stubble and dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will rot and their flowers wither. For they have rejected the law of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies; they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

²⁵That is why the LORD’s anger burns against his people, and why he has raised his fist to crush them. The mountains tremble, and the corpses of his people litter the streets like garbage. But even then the LORD’s anger is not satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike!

²⁶He will send a signal to distant nations far away and whistle to those at the ends of the earth. They will come racing toward Jerusalem.

²⁷They will not get tired or stumble. They will not stop for rest or sleep. Not a belt will be loose, not a sandal strap broken.

²⁸Their arrows will be sharp and their bows ready for battle. Sparks will fly from their horses’ hooves, and the wheels of their chariots will spin like a whirlwind.

²⁹They will roar like lions, like the strongest of lions. Growling, they will pounce on their victims and carry them off, and no one will be there to rescue them.

³⁰They will roar over their victims on that day of destruction like the roaring of the sea. If someone looks across the land, only darkness and distress will be seen; even the light will be darkened by clouds.

¹But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property.

²He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.

³Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself.

⁴The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”

⁵As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified.

⁶Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.

⁷About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?” “Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”

⁹And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”

¹⁰Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.

¹²The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹³But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them.

¹⁴Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord — crowds of both men and women.

¹⁵As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by.

¹⁶Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.

¹⁷The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.

¹⁸They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

¹⁹But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them,

²⁰“Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!”

²¹So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching. When the high priest and his officials arrived, they convened the high council — the full assembly of the elders of Israel. Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial.

²²But when the Temple guards went to the jail, the men were gone. So they returned to the council and reported,

²³“The jail was securely locked, with the guards standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there!”

²⁴When the captain of the Temple guard and the leading priests heard this, they were perplexed, wondering where it would all end.

²⁵Then someone arrived with startling news: “The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple, teaching the people!”

²⁶The captain went with his Temple guards and arrested the apostles, but without violence, for they were afraid the people would stone them.

²⁷Then they brought the apostles before the high council, where the high priest confronted them.

²⁸“We gave you strict orders never again to teach in this man’s name!” he said. “Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death!”

²⁹But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.

³⁰The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross.

³¹Then God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven.

³²We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him.”

³³When they heard this, the high council was furious and decided to kill them.

³⁴But one member, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was an expert in religious law and respected by all the people, stood up and ordered that the men be sent outside the council chamber for a while.

³⁵Then he said to his colleagues, “Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men!

³⁶Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About 400 others joined him, but he was killed, and all his followers went their various ways. The whole movement came to nothing.

³⁷After him, at the time of the census, there was Judas of Galilee. He got people to follow him, but he was killed, too, and all his followers were scattered.

³⁸“So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown.

³⁹But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!”

⁴⁰The others accepted his advice. They called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go.

⁴¹The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.

⁴²And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.”