Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.

²Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

¹⁰“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.

¹⁵No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.

¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

¹⁹Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

²¹“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’

²²But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.

²³So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,

²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

²⁵Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.

²⁶Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’

²⁸But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

³⁰And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

³¹“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

³²But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’

³⁴But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

³⁵or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

³⁶And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

³⁷Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

³⁸“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’

³⁹But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;

⁴⁰and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well;

⁴¹and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.

⁴²Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

⁴⁴But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

⁴⁵so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

¹This is the list of the descendants of Adam. When God created humankind, he made them in the likeness of God.

²Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them “Humankind” when they were created.

³When Adam had lived one hundred thirty years, he became the father of a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.

⁴The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years; and he had other sons and daughters.

⁵Thus all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years; and he died.

⁶When Seth had lived one hundred five years, he became the father of Enosh.

⁷Seth lived after the birth of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and had other sons and daughters.

⁸Thus all the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years; and he died.

⁹When Enosh had lived ninety years, he became the father of Kenan.

¹⁰Enosh lived after the birth of Kenan eight hundred fifteen years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹¹Thus all the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years; and he died.

¹²When Kenan had lived seventy years, he became the father of Mahalalel.

¹³Kenan lived after the birth of Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴Thus all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

¹⁵When Mahalalel had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Jared.

¹⁶Mahalalel lived after the birth of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁷Thus all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years; and he died.

¹⁸When Jared had lived one hundred sixty-two years he became the father of Enoch.

¹⁹Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰Thus all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years; and he died.

²¹When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah.

²²Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

²³Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years.

²⁴Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.

²⁵When Methuselah had lived one hundred eighty-seven years, he became the father of Lamech.

²⁶Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁷Thus all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years; and he died.

²⁸When Lamech had lived one hundred eighty-two years, he became the father of a son;

²⁹he named him Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands.”

³⁰Lamech lived after the birth of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and had other sons and daughters.

³¹Thus all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years; and he died.

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

¹Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

²through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

³And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

⁵and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

⁷Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person — though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.

⁸But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

⁹Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.

¹⁰For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

¹¹But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

¹²Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned —

¹³sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law.

¹⁴Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

¹⁵But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.

¹⁶And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.

¹⁷If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.

¹⁹For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

²⁰But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

²¹so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you.

²For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

³When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!

⁴But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief;

⁵for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.

⁶So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober;

⁷for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.

⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

⁹For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁰who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.

¹¹Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

¹²But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you;

¹³esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

¹⁴And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.

¹⁵See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.

¹⁶Rejoice always,

¹⁷pray without ceasing,

¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit.

²⁰Do not despise the words of prophets,

²¹but test everything; hold fast to what is good;

²²abstain from every form of evil.

²³May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

²⁵Beloved, pray for us.

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

²⁷I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them.

²⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

¹“Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

²Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.

³I have seen fools taking root, but suddenly I cursed their dwelling.

⁴Their children are far from safety, they are crushed in the gate, and there is no one to deliver them.

⁵The hungry eat their harvest, and they take it even out of the thorns; and the thirsty pant after their wealth.

⁶For misery does not come from the earth, nor does trouble sprout from the ground;

⁷but human beings are born to trouble just as sparks fly upward.

⁸“As for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause.

⁹He does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.

¹⁰He gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;

¹¹he sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

¹²He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.

¹³He takes the wise in their own craftiness; and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.

¹⁴They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noonday as in the night.

¹⁵But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth, from the hand of the mighty.

¹⁶So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.

¹⁷“How happy is the one whom God reproves; therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

¹⁸For he wounds, but he binds up; he strikes, but his hands heal.

¹⁹He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no harm shall touch you.

²⁰In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

²¹You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes.

²²At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.

²³For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the wild animals shall be at peace with you.

²⁴You shall know that your tent is safe, you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.

²⁵You shall know that your descendants will be many, and your offspring like the grass of the earth.

²⁶You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing floor in its season.

²⁷See, we have searched this out; it is true. Hear, and know it for yourself.”

¹Give ear to my words, O LORD; give heed to my sighing.

²Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.

³O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.

⁴For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil will not sojourn with you.

⁵The boastful will not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.

⁶You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.

⁷But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house, I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.

⁸Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.

⁹For there is no truth in their mouths; their hearts are destruction; their throats are open graves; they flatter with their tongues.

¹⁰Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of their many transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.

¹¹But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you.

¹²For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover them with favor as with a shield.

¹My child, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,

²so that you may hold on to prudence, and your lips may guard knowledge.

³For the lips of a loose woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;

⁴but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol.

⁶She does not keep straight to the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷And now, my child, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house;

⁹or you will give your honor to others, and your years to the merciless,

¹⁰and strangers will take their fill of your wealth, and your labors will go to the house of an alien;

¹¹and at the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,

¹²and you say, “Oh, how I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!

¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.

¹⁴Now I am at the point of utter ruin in the public assembly.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone, and not for sharing with strangers.

¹⁸Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

¹⁹a lovely deer, a graceful doe. May her breasts satisfy you at all times; may you be intoxicated always by her love.

²⁰Why should you be intoxicated, my son, by another woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?

²¹For human ways are under the eyes of the LORD, and he examines all their paths.

²²The iniquities of the wicked ensnare them, and they are caught in the toils of their sin.

²³They die for lack of discipline, and because of their great folly they are lost.

¹When all the kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them, because of the Israelites.

²At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites a second time.”

³So Joshua made flint knives, and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath-haaraloth.

⁴This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the warriors, had died during the journey through the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt.

⁵Although all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people born on the journey through the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised.

⁶For the Israelites traveled forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the warriors who came out of Egypt, perished, not having listened to the voice of the LORD. To them the LORD swore that he would not let them see the land that he had sworn to their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁷So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

⁸When the circumcising of all the nation was done, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed.

⁹The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.

¹⁰While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho.

¹¹On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.

¹²The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

¹³Once when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?”

¹⁴He replied, “Neither; but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and he said to him, “What do you command your servant, my lord?”

¹⁵The commander of the army of the LORD said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

¹Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.

²He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

³And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.

⁴What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?

⁵And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.

⁶I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

⁷For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!

⁸Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land!

⁹The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.

¹⁰For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.

¹¹Ah, you who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger in the evening to be inflamed by wine,

¹²whose feasts consist of lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine, but who do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands!

¹³Therefore my people go into exile without knowledge; their nobles are dying of hunger, and their multitude is parched with thirst.

¹⁴Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure; the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down, her throng and all who exult in her.

¹⁵People are bowed down, everyone is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.

¹⁶But the LORD of hosts is exalted by justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness.

¹⁷Then the lambs shall graze as in their pasture, fatlings and kids shall feed among the ruins.

¹⁸Ah, you who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood, who drag sin along as with cart ropes,

¹⁹who say, “Let him make haste, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment, that we may know it!”

²⁰Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

²¹Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes, and shrewd in your own sight!

²²Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant at mixing drink,

²³who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of their rights!

²⁴Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will become rotten, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

²⁵Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them; the mountains quaked, and their corpses were like refuse in the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

²⁶He will raise a signal for a nation far away, and whistle for a people at the ends of the earth; Here they come, swiftly, speedily!

²⁷None of them is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a loincloth is loose, not a sandal-thong broken;

²⁸their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind.

²⁹Their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey, they carry it off, and no one can rescue.

³⁰They will roar over it on that day, like the roaring of the sea. And if one look to the land — only darkness and distress; and the light grows dark with clouds.

¹But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property;

²with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

³“Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!”

⁵Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it.

⁶The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him.

⁷After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

¹⁰Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.

¹²Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.

¹³None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

¹⁴Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women,

¹⁵so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by.

¹⁶A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.

¹⁷Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy,

¹⁸arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

¹⁹But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said,

²⁰“Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.”

²¹When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

²²But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported,

²³“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

²⁴Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on.

²⁵Then someone arrived and announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”

²⁶Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them,

²⁸saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.”

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

³⁰The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.

³¹God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

³²And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.

³⁴But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time.

³⁵Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men.

³⁶For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared.

³⁷After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

³⁸So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail;

³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them — in that case you may even be found fighting against God!” They were convinced by him,

⁴⁰and when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

⁴²And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.