Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up.

²“There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect people.

³And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

⁴“For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people,

⁵yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming.’”

⁶Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.

⁷Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them?

⁸I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

⁹He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else:

¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

¹¹The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people — greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

¹²I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’

¹³“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner! ’

¹⁴I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁵People were bringing infants to him so he might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

¹⁶Jesus, however, invited them: “Let the little children come to me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁷Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

¹⁸A ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone.

²⁰You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.”

²¹“I have kept all these from my youth,” he said.

²²When Jesus heard this, he told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²³After he heard this, he became extremely sad, because he was very rich.

²⁴Seeing that he became sad, Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷He replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

²⁸Then Peter said, “Look, we have left what we had and followed you.”

²⁹So he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers or sisters, parents or children because of the kingdom of God,

³⁰who will not receive many times more at this time, and eternal life in the age to come.”

³¹Then he took the Twelve aside and told them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.

³²For he will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked, insulted, spit on;

³³and after they flog him, they will kill him, and he will rise on the third day.”

³⁴They understood none of these things. The meaning of the saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

³⁵As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging.

³⁶Hearing a crowd passing by, he inquired what was happening.

³⁷“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by,” they told him.

³⁸So he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹Then those in front told him to keep quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to him. When he came closer, he asked him,

⁴¹“What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see.”

⁴²“Receive your sight.” Jesus told him. “Your faith has saved you.”

⁴³Instantly he could see, and he began to follow him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

¹The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

²“This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year.

³Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ families, one animal per family.

⁴If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each will eat.

⁵You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats.

⁶You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.

⁷They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them.

⁸They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

⁹Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire — its head as well as its legs and inner organs.

¹⁰You must not leave any of it until morning; any part of it left until morning you must burn.

¹¹Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the LORD’s Passover.

¹²“I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the LORD; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt.

¹³The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴“This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the LORD. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.

¹⁵You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses. Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off from Israel.

¹⁶You are to hold a sacred assembly on the first day and another sacred assembly on the seventh day. No work may be done on those days except for preparing what people need to eat — you may do only that.

¹⁷“You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread because on this very day I brought your military divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute.

¹⁸You are to eat unleavened bread in the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day.

¹⁹Yeast must not be found in your houses for seven days. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a resident alien or native of the land, must be cut off from the community of Israel.

²⁰Do not eat anything leavened; eat unleavened bread in all your homes.”

²¹Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select an animal from the flock according to your families, and slaughter the Passover animal.

²²Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin. None of you may go out the door of his house until morning.

²³When the LORD passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, he will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you.

²⁴“Keep this command permanently as a statute for you and your descendants.

²⁵When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, you are to observe this ceremony.

²⁶When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’

²⁷you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” So the people knelt low and worshiped.

²⁸Then the Israelites went and did this; they did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.

²⁹Now at midnight the LORD struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock.

³⁰During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead.

³¹He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, “Get out immediately from among my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship the LORD as you have said.

³²Take even your flocks and your herds as you asked and leave, and also bless me.”

³³Now the Egyptians pressured the people in order to send them quickly out of the country, for they said, “We’re all going to die!”

³⁴So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their clothes on their shoulders.

³⁵The Israelites acted on Moses’s word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold items and for clothing.

³⁶And the LORD gave the people such favor with the Egyptians that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand able-bodied men on foot, besides their families.

³⁸A mixed crowd also went up with them, along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds.

³⁹The people baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves, since it had no yeast; for when they were driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared provisions for themselves.

⁴⁰The time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years.

⁴¹At the end of 430 years, on that same day, all the LORD’s military divisions went out from the land of Egypt.

⁴²It was a night of vigil in honor of the LORD, because he would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the LORD, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations.

⁴³The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner may eat it.

⁴⁴But any slave a man has purchased may eat it, after you have circumcised him.

⁴⁵A temporary resident or hired worker may not eat the Passover.

⁴⁶It is to be eaten in one house. You may not take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of its bones.

⁴⁷The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

⁴⁸If an alien resides among you and wants to observe the LORD’s Passover, every male in his household must be circumcised, and then he may participate; he will become like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat it.

⁴⁹The same law will apply to both the native and the alien who resides among you.”

⁵⁰Then all the Israelites did this; they did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.

⁵¹On that same day the LORD brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their military divisions.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother:

²To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers and sisters. Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

³We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

⁴for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints

⁵because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel

⁶that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God’s grace.

⁷You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,

⁸and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

¹⁰so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God,

¹¹being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully

¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

¹³He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

¹⁴In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

¹⁶For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through him and for him.

¹⁷He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.

¹⁸He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

²⁰and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

²¹Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions.

²²But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him  —

²³if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

²⁴Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church.

²⁵I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,

²⁶the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

²⁷God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²⁸We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

²⁹I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.

¹After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,

²because his judgments are true and righteous, because he has judged the notorious prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality; and he has avenged the blood of his servants that was on her hands.

³A second time they said, Hallelujah! Her smoke ascends forever and ever!

⁴Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who is seated on the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah!

⁵A voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all his servants, and the ones who fear him, both small and great!

⁶Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns!

⁷Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself.

⁸She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.

⁹Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.”

¹⁰Then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold firmly to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

¹¹Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war with justice.

¹²His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself.

¹³He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.

¹⁴The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen.

¹⁵A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty.

¹⁶And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

¹⁷Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he called out in a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying high overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,

¹⁸so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of military commanders, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and of their riders, and the flesh of everyone, both free and slave, small and great.”

¹⁹Then I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against his army.

²⁰But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with it the false prophet, who had performed the signs in its presence. He deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image with these signs. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

²¹The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds ate their fill of their flesh.

¹If only I could treat you like my brother, one who nursed at my mother’s breasts, I would find you in public and kiss you, and no one would scorn me.

²I would lead you, I would take you, to the house of my mother who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranate.

³May his left hand be under my head, and his right arm embrace me.

⁴Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you, do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.

⁵Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on the one she loves? I awakened you under the apricot tree. There your mother conceived you; there she conceived and gave you birth.

⁶Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death; jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol. Love’s flames are fiery flames  — an almighty flame!

⁷A huge torrent cannot extinguish love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all his wealth for love, it would be utterly scorned.

⁸Our sister is young; she has no breasts. What will we do for our sister on the day she is spoken for?

⁹If she is a wall, we will build a silver barricade on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with cedar planks.

¹⁰I am a wall and my breasts like towers. So in his eyes I have become like one who finds peace.

¹¹Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased the vineyard to tenants. Each was to bring for his fruit one thousand pieces of silver.

¹²I have my own vineyard. The one thousand are for you, Solomon, but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.

¹³You who dwell in the gardens, companions are listening for your voice; let me hear you!

¹⁴Run away with me, my love, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.

¹For the choir director: according to Jeduthun. A psalm of David. [1] I am at rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.

²He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will never be shaken.

³How long will you threaten a man? Will all of you attack as if he were a leaning wall or a tottering fence?

⁴They only plan to bring him down from his high position. They take pleasure in lying; they bless with their mouths, but they curse inwardly. Selah

⁵Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from him.

⁶He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be shaken.

⁷My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock. My refuge is in God.

⁸Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before him. God is our refuge. Selah

⁹Common people are only a vapor; important people, an illusion. Together on a scale, they weigh less than a vapor.

¹⁰Place no trust in oppression, or false hope in robbery. If wealth increases, don’t set your heart on it.

¹¹God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: strength belongs to God,

¹²and faithful love belongs to you, LORD. For you repay each according to his works.

¹The words of King Lemuel, a pronouncement that his mother taught him:

²What should I say, my son? What, son of my womb? What, son of my vows?

³Don’t spend your energy on women or your efforts on those who destroy kings.

⁴It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire beer.

⁵Otherwise, he will drink, forget what is decreed, and pervert justice for all the oppressed.

⁶Give beer to one who is dying and wine to one whose life is bitter.

⁷Let him drink so that he can forget his poverty and remember his trouble no more.

⁸Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed.

⁹Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the oppressed and needy.

¹⁰Who can find a wife of noble character? She is far more precious than jewels.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will not lack anything good.

¹²She rewards him with good, not evil, all the days of her life.

¹³She selects wool and flax and works with willing hands.

¹⁴She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from far away.

¹⁵She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and portions for her female servants.

¹⁶She evaluates a field and buys it; she plants a vineyard with her earnings.

¹⁷She draws on her strength and reveals that her arms are strong.

¹⁸She sees that her profits are good, and her lamp never goes out at night.

¹⁹She extends her hands to the spinning staff, and her hands hold the spindle.

²⁰Her hands reach out to the poor, and she extends her hands to the needy.

²¹She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all in her household are doubly clothed.

²²She makes her own bed coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple.

²³Her husband is known at the city gates, where he sits among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes and sells linen garments; she delivers belts to the merchants.

²⁵Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come.

²⁶Her mouth speaks wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue.

²⁷She watches over the activities of her household and is never idle.

²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also praises her:

²⁹“Many women have done noble deeds, but you surpass them all!”

³⁰Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD will be praised.

³¹Give her the reward of her labor, and let her works praise her at the city gates.

¹Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty-two years over Israel.

²He chose three thousand men from Israel for himself: two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in Bethel’s hill country, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the troops away, each to his own tent.

³Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul blew the ram’s horn throughout the land saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”

⁴And all Israel heard the news, “Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison, and Israel is now repulsive to the Philistines.” Then the troops were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵The Philistines also gathered to fight against Israel: three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.

⁶The men of Israel saw that they were in trouble because the troops were in a difficult situation. They hid in caves, in thickets, among rocks, and in holes and cisterns.

⁷Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul, however, was still at Gilgal, and all his troops were gripped with fear.

⁸He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him.

⁹So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” Then he offered the burnt offering.

¹⁰Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. So Saul went out to greet him,

¹¹and Samuel asked, “What have you done?” Saul answered, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me and you didn’t come within the appointed days and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash,

¹²I thought, ‘The Philistines will now descend on me at Gilgal, and I haven’t sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”

¹³Samuel said to Saul, “You have been foolish. You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. It was at this time that the LORD would have permanently established your reign over Israel,

¹⁴but now your reign will not endure. The LORD has found a man after his own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over his people, because you have not done what the LORD commanded.”

¹⁵Then Samuel went from Gilgal to Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul registered the troops who were with him, about six hundred men.

¹⁶Saul, his son Jonathan, and the troops who were with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, and the Philistines were camped at Michmash.

¹⁷Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three divisions. One division headed toward the Ophrah road leading to the land of Shual.

¹⁸The next division headed toward the Beth-horon road, and the last division headed down the border road that looks out over the Zeboim Valley toward the wilderness.

¹⁹No blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise, the Hebrews will make swords or spears.”

²⁰So all the Israelites went to the Philistines to sharpen their plows, mattocks, axes, and sickles.

²¹The price was two-thirds of a shekel for plows and mattocks, and one-third of a shekel for pitchforks and axes, and for putting a point on a cattle prod.

²²So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hand of any of the troops who were with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.

²³Now a Philistine garrison took control of the pass at Michmash.

¹I will not keep silent because of Zion, and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem, until her righteousness shines like a bright light and her salvation, like a flaming torch.

²Nations will see your righteousness and all kings, your glory. You will be given a new name that the LORD’s mouth will announce.

³You will be a glorious crown in the LORD’s hand, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God’s hand.

⁴You will no longer be called Deserted, and your land will not be called Desolate; instead, you will be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land will be married.

⁵For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you; and as a groom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

⁶Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen on your walls; they will never be silent, day or night. There is no rest for you, who remind the LORD.

⁷Do not give him rest until he establishes and makes Jerusalem the praise of the earth.

⁸The LORD has sworn with his right hand and his strong arm: I will no longer give your grain to your enemies for food, and foreigners will not drink the new wine for which you have labored.

⁹For those who gather grain will eat it and praise the LORD, and those who harvest the grapes will drink the wine in my holy courts.

¹⁰Go out, go out through the city gates; prepare a way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones! Raise a banner for the peoples.

¹¹Look, the LORD has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, “Say to Daughter Zion: Look, your salvation is coming, his wages are with him, and his reward accompanies him.”

¹²And they will be called the Holy People, the LORD’s Redeemed; and you will be called Cared For, A City Not Deserted.

¹In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

²The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables.

³Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty.

⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

⁵This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch.

⁶They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

⁷So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.

⁸Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

⁹Opposition arose, however, from some members of the Freedmen’s Synagogue, composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, and they began to argue with Stephen.

¹⁰But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

¹¹Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

¹²They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so they came, seized him, and took him to the Sanhedrin.

¹³They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the law.

¹⁴For we heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.