Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹He entered Jericho and was passing through.

²There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.

³He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man.

⁴So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way.

⁵When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today it is necessary for me to stay at your house.”

⁶So he quickly came down and welcomed him joyfully.

⁷All who saw it began to complain, “He’s gone to stay with a sinful man.”

⁸But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord. And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much.”

⁹“Today salvation has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham.

¹⁰For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

¹¹As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.

¹²Therefore he said: “A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king and then to return.

¹³He called ten of his servants, gave them ten minas, and told them, ‘Engage in business until I come back.’

¹⁴“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’

¹⁵“At his return, having received the authority to be king, he summoned those servants he had given the money to, so that he could find out how much they had made in business.

¹⁶The first came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten more minas.’

¹⁷“‘Well done, good servant! ’ he told him. ‘Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, have authority over ten towns.’

¹⁸“The second came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’

¹⁹“So he said to him, ‘You will be over five towns.’

²⁰“And another came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina. I have kept it safe in a cloth

²¹because I was afraid of you since you’re a harsh man: you collect what you didn’t deposit and reap what you didn’t sow.’

²²“He told him, ‘I will condemn you by what you have said, you evil servant! If you knew I was a harsh man, collecting what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow,

²³why, then, didn’t you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest.’

²⁴So he said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

²⁵“But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’

²⁶“‘I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.

²⁷But bring here these enemies of mine, who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter them in my presence.’”

²⁸When he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples

³⁰and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.

³¹If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it? ’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³²So those who were sent left and found it just as he had told them.

³³As they were untying the young donkey, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the donkey?”

³⁴“The Lord needs it,” they said.

³⁵Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their clothes on the donkey, they helped Jesus get on it.

³⁶As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road.

³⁷Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

³⁸Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!

³⁹Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

⁴⁰He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”

⁴¹As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it,

⁴²saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes.

⁴³For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.

⁴⁴They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”

⁴⁵He went into the temple and began to throw out those who were selling,

⁴⁶and he said, “It is written, my house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves!”

⁴⁷Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to kill him,

⁴⁸but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people were captivated by what they heard.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“Consecrate every firstborn male to me, the firstborn from every womb among the Israelites, both man and domestic animal; it is mine.”

³Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day when you came out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, for the LORD brought you out of here by the strength of his hand. Nothing leavened may be eaten.

⁴Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out.

⁵When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers that he would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you must carry out this ceremony in this month.

⁶For seven days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there is to be a festival to the LORD.

⁷Unleavened bread is to be eaten for those seven days. Nothing leavened may be found among you, and no yeast may be found among you in all your territory.

⁸On that day explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

⁹Let it serve as a sign for you on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the LORD’s instruction may be in your mouth; for the LORD brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand.

¹⁰Keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

¹¹“When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you,

¹²you are to present to the LORD every firstborn male of the womb. All firstborn offspring of the livestock you own that are males will be the LORD’s.

¹³You must redeem every firstborn of a donkey with a flock animal, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. However, you must redeem every firstborn among your sons.

¹⁴“In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘By the strength of his hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

¹⁵When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of humans and the firstborn of livestock. That is why I sacrifice to the LORD all the firstborn of the womb that are males, but I redeem all the firstborn of my sons.’

¹⁶So let it be a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead, for the LORD brought us out of Egypt by the strength of his hand.”

¹⁷When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, “The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.”

¹⁸So he led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation.

¹⁹Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath, saying, “God will certainly come to your aid; then you must take my bones with you from this place.”

²⁰They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.

²¹The LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night.

²²The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.

¹For I want you to know how greatly I am struggling for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person.

²I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of complete understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery  — Christ.

³In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁴I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable.

⁵For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.

⁶So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,

⁷being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.

⁸Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.

⁹For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ,

¹⁰and you have been filled by him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

¹¹You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,

¹²when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses.

¹⁴He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

¹⁵He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.

¹⁶Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.

¹⁷These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ.

¹⁸Let no one condemn you by delighting in ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual mind.

¹⁹He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.

²⁰If you died with Christ to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations:

²¹“Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”?

²²All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines.

²³Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.

¹Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

²He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

³He threw him into the abyss, closed it, and put a seal on it so that he would no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years were completed. After that, he must be released for a short time.

⁴Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

⁵The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

⁶Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

⁷When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison

⁸and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea.

⁹They came up across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed them.

¹⁰The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.

¹²I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.

¹³Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works.

¹⁴Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

¹⁵And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

¹There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of complete integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.

²He had seven sons and three daughters.

³His estate included seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.

⁴His sons used to take turns having banquets at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

⁵Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

⁶One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.

⁷The LORD asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” “From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”

⁸Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”

⁹Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

¹⁰Haven’t you placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

¹¹But stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

¹²“Very well,” the LORD told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the LORD’s presence.

¹³One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

¹⁴a messenger came to Job and reported: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby,

¹⁵the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: “God’s fire fell from heaven. It burned the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house.

¹⁹Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

²⁰Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,

²¹saying: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.

²²Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.

¹A psalm of David. When he was in the Wilderness of Judah. [1] God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.

²So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory.

³My lips will glorify you because your faithful love is better than life.

⁴So I will bless you as long as I live; at your name, I will lift up my hands.

⁵You satisfy me as with rich food; my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.

⁶When I think of you as I lie on my bed, I meditate on you during the night watches

⁷because you are my helper; I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.

⁸I follow close to you; your right hand holds on to me.

⁹But those who intend to destroy my life will go into the depths of the earth.

¹⁰They will be given over to the power of the sword; they will become a meal for jackals.

¹¹But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by him will boast, for the mouths of liars will be shut.

¹The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

²For learning wisdom and discipline; for understanding insightful sayings;

³for receiving prudent instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity;

⁴for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man —

⁵let a wise person listen and increase learning, and let a discerning person obtain guidance —

⁶for understanding a proverb or a parable, the words of the wise, and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching,

⁹for they will be a garland of favor on your head and pendants around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, don’t be persuaded.

¹¹If they say — “Come with us! Let’s set an ambush and kill someone. Let’s attack some innocent person just for fun!

¹²Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol, whole, like those who go down to the Pit.

¹³We’ll find all kinds of valuable property and fill our houses with plunder.

¹⁴Throw in your lot with us, and we’ll all share the loot”  —

¹⁵my son, don’t travel that road with them or set foot on their path,

¹⁶because their feet run toward evil and they hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷It is useless to spread a net where any bird can see it,

¹⁸but they set an ambush to kill themselves; they attack their own lives.

¹⁹Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly; it takes the lives of those who receive it.

²⁰Wisdom calls out in the street; she makes her voice heard in the public squares.

²¹She cries out above the commotion; she speaks at the entrance of the city gates:

²²“How long, inexperienced ones, will you love ignorance? How long will you mockers enjoy mocking and you fools hate knowledge?

²³If you respond to my warning, then I will pour out my spirit on you and teach you my words.

²⁴Since I called out and you refused, extended my hand and no one paid attention,

²⁵since you neglected all my counsel and did not accept my correction,

²⁶I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you,

²⁷when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and stress overcome you.

²⁸Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will search for me, but won’t find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge, didn’t choose to fear the LORD,

³⁰were not interested in my counsel, and rejected all my correction,

³¹they will eat the fruit of their way and be glutted with their own schemes.

³²For the apostasy of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will live securely and be undisturbed by the dread of danger.”

¹That same day Saul’s son Jonathan said to the attendant who carried his weapons, “Come on, let’s cross over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” However, he did not tell his father.

²Saul was staying under the pomegranate tree in Migron on the outskirts of Gibeah. The troops with him numbered about six hundred.

³Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod, was also there. He was the son of Ahitub, the brother of Ichabod son of Phinehas, son of Eli the LORD’s priest at Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.

⁴There were sharp columns of rock on both sides of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine garrison. One was named Bozez and the other Seneh;

⁵one stood to the north in front of Michmash and the other to the south in front of Geba.

⁶Jonathan said to the attendant who carried his weapons, “Come on, let’s cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will help us. Nothing can keep the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”

⁷His armor-bearer responded, “Do what is in your heart. You choose. I’m right here with you whatever you decide.”

⁸“All right,” Jonathan replied, “we’ll cross over to the men and then let them see us.

⁹If they say, ‘Wait until we reach you,’ then we will stay where we are and not go up to them.

¹⁰But if they say, ‘Come on up,’ then we’ll go up, because the LORD has handed them over to us — that will be our sign.”

¹¹They let themselves be seen by the Philistine garrison, and the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they’ve been hiding!”

¹²The men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armor-bearer. “Come on up, and we’ll teach you a lesson!” they said. “Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the LORD has handed them over to Israel.”

¹³Jonathan climbed up using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. Jonathan cut them down, and his armor-bearer followed and finished them off.

¹⁴In that first assault Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men in a half-acre field.

¹⁵Terror spread through the Philistine camp and the open fields to all the troops. Even the garrison and the raiding parties were terrified. The earth shook, and terror spread from God.

¹⁶When Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, they saw the panicking troops scattering in every direction.

¹⁷So Saul said to the troops with him, “Call the roll and determine who has left us.” They called the roll and saw that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were gone.

¹⁸Saul told Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God,” for it was with the Israelites at that time.

¹⁹While Saul spoke to the priest, the panic in the Philistine camp increased in intensity. So Saul said to the priest, “Stop what you’re doing.”

²⁰Saul and all the troops with him assembled and marched to the battle, and there the Philistines were, fighting against each other in great confusion!

²¹There were Hebrews from the area who had gone earlier into the camp to join the Philistines, but even they joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

²²When all the Israelite men who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined Saul and Jonathan in the battle.

²³So the LORD saved Israel that day. The battle extended beyond Beth-aven,

²⁴and the men of Israel were worn out that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath: “The man who eats food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies is cursed.” So none of the troops tasted any food.

²⁵Everyone went into the forest, and there was honey on the ground.

²⁶When the troops entered the forest, they saw the flow of honey, but none of them ate any of it because they feared the oath.

²⁷However, Jonathan had not heard his father make the troops swear the oath. He reached out with the end of the staff he was carrying and dipped it into the honeycomb. When he ate the honey, he had renewed energy.

²⁸Then one of the troops said, “Your father made the troops solemnly swear, ‘The man who eats food today is cursed,’ and the troops are exhausted.”

²⁹Jonathan replied, “My father has brought trouble to the land. Just look at how I have renewed energy because I tasted a little of this honey.

³⁰How much better if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Then the slaughter of the Philistines would have been much greater.”

³¹The Israelites struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash all the way to Aijalon. Since the Israelites were completely exhausted,

³²they rushed to the plunder, took sheep, goats, cattle, and calves, slaughtered them on the ground, and ate meat with the blood still in it.

³³Some reported to Saul: “Look, the troops are sinning against the LORD by eating meat with the blood still in it.” Saul said, “You have been unfaithful. Roll a large stone over here at once.”

³⁴He then said, “Go among the troops and say to them, ‘Let each man bring me his ox or his sheep. Do the slaughtering here and then you can eat. Don’t sin against the LORD by eating meat with the blood in it.’” So every one of the troops brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there.

³⁵Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first time he had built an altar to the LORD.

³⁶Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines tonight and plunder them until morning. Don’t let even one remain!” “Do whatever you want,” the troops replied. But the priest said, “Let’s approach God here.”

³⁷So Saul inquired of God, “Should I go after the Philistines? Will you hand them over to Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.

³⁸Saul said, “All you leaders of the troops, come here. Let us investigate how this sin has occurred today.

³⁹As surely as the LORD lives who saves Israel, even if it is because of my son Jonathan, he must die!” Not one of the troops answered him.

⁴⁰So he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” And the troops replied, “Do whatever you want.”

⁴¹So Saul said to the LORD, “God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant today? If the unrighteousness is in me or in my son Jonathan, LORD God of Israel, give Urim; but if the fault is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were selected, and the troops were cleared of the charge.

⁴²Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan,” and Jonathan was selected.

⁴³Saul commanded him, “Tell me what you did.” Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the end of the staff I was carrying. I am ready to die!”

⁴⁴Saul declared to him, “May God punish me and do so severely if you do not die, Jonathan!”

⁴⁵But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die, who accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel? No, as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he worked with God’s help today.” So the people redeemed Jonathan, and he did not die.

⁴⁶Then Saul gave up the pursuit of the Philistines, and the Philistines returned to their own territory.

⁴⁷When Saul assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies in every direction: against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he caused havoc.

⁴⁸He fought bravely, defeated the Amalekites, and rescued Israel from those who plundered them.

⁴⁹Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua. The names of his two daughters were Merab, his firstborn, and Michal, the younger.

⁵⁰The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of his army was Abner son of Saul’s uncle Ner.

⁵¹Saul’s father was Kish. Abner’s father was Ner son of Abiel.

⁵²The conflict with the Philistines was fierce all of Saul’s days, so whenever Saul noticed any strong or valiant man, he enlisted him.

¹Who is this coming from Edom in crimson-stained garments from Bozrah — this one who is splendid in his apparel, striding in his formidable might? It is I, proclaiming vindication, powerful to save.

²Why are your clothes red, and your garments like one who treads a winepress?

³I trampled the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with me. I trampled them in my anger and ground them underfoot in my fury; their blood spattered my garments, and all my clothes were stained.

⁴For I planned the day of vengeance, and the year of my redemption came.

⁵I looked, but there was no one to help, and I was amazed that no one assisted; so my arm accomplished victory for me, and my wrath assisted me.

⁶I crushed nations in my anger; I made them drunk with my wrath and poured out their blood on the ground.

⁷I will make known the LORD’s faithful love and the LORD’s praiseworthy acts, because of all the LORD has done for us — even the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, which he did for them based on his compassion and the abundance of his faithful love.

⁸He said, “They are indeed my people, children who will not be disloyal,” and he became their Savior.

⁹In all their suffering, he suffered, and the angel of his presence saved them. He redeemed them because of his love and compassion; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of the past.

¹⁰But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he became their enemy and fought against them.

¹¹Then he remembered the days of the past, the days of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among the flock?

¹²He made his glorious strength available at the right hand of Moses, divided the water before them to make an eternal name for himself,

¹³and led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble.

¹⁴Like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. You led your people this way to make a glorious name for yourself.

¹⁵Look down from heaven and see from your lofty home — holy and beautiful. Where is your zeal and your might? Your yearning and your compassion are withheld from me.

¹⁶Yet you are our Father, even though Abraham does not know us and Israel doesn’t recognize us. You, LORD, are our Father; your name is Our Redeemer from Ancient Times.

¹⁷Why, LORD, do you make us stray from your ways? You harden our hearts so we do not fear you. Return, because of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.

¹⁸Your holy people had a possession for a little while, but our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.

¹⁹We have become like those you never ruled, like those who did not bear your name.

¹“Are these things true?” the high priest asked.

²“Brothers and fathers,” he replied, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

³and said to him: Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.

⁴“Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land in which you are now living.

⁵He didn’t give him an inheritance in it — not even a foot of ground — but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless.

⁶God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for four hundred years.

⁷I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship me in this place.

⁸And so he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him

¹⁰and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household.

¹¹Now a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan, and our ancestors could find no food.

¹²When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time.

¹³The second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all,

¹⁵and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there,

¹⁶were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷“As the time was approaching to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt

¹⁸until a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt.

¹⁹He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them abandon their infants outside so that they wouldn’t survive.

²⁰At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home for three months.

²¹When he was put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son.

²²So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.

²³“When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites.

²⁴When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian.

²⁵He assumed his people would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.

²⁶The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other? ’

²⁷“But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying: Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us?

²⁸Do you want to kill me, the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?

²⁹“When he heard this, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

³⁰After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.

³¹When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came:

³²I am the God of your ancestors — the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.

³³“The Lord said to him: Take off the sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground.

³⁴I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt.

³⁵“This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?  — this one God sent as a ruler and a deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

³⁶This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

³⁷“This is the Moses who said to the Israelites: God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers and sisters.

³⁸He is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors. He received living oracles to give to us.

³⁹Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

⁴⁰They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.

⁴¹They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made.

⁴²God turned away and gave them up to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: House of Israel, did you bring me offerings and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness?

⁴³You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship. So I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.

⁴⁴“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.

⁴⁵Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them, until the days of David.

⁴⁶He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷It was Solomon, rather, who built him a house,

⁴⁸but the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says:

⁴⁹Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. What sort of house will you build for me? says the Lord, or what will be my resting place?

⁵⁰Did not my hand make all these things?

⁵¹“You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also.

⁵²Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.

⁵³You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it.”

⁵⁴When they heard these things, they were enraged and gnashed their teeth at him.

⁵⁵Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

⁵⁶He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

⁵⁷They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him.

⁵⁸They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹While they were stoning Stephen, he called out: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

⁶⁰He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he died.