Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.

²And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich.

³Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable due to the crowd, because he was short in stature.

⁴So he ran on ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because He was about to pass through that way.

⁵And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

⁶And he hurried and came down, and received Him joyfully.

⁷When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!”

⁸But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four times as much.”

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

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

¹¹Now while they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

¹²So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then to return.

¹³And he called ten of his own slaves and gave them tenminas, and said to them, ‘Do business with this moneyuntil I come back.’

¹⁴But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

¹⁵When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be summoned to him so that he would learn how much they had made by the business they had done.

¹⁶The first slave appeared, saying, ‘Master, yourmina has made ten minas more.’

¹⁷And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave; since you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to have authority over ten cities.’

¹⁸The second one came, saying, ‘Yourmina,master, has made five minas.’

¹⁹And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’

²⁰And then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept tucked away in a handkerchief;

²¹for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.’

²²He *said to him, ‘From your own lips I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow?

²³And so why did you not put my money in the bank, and when I came back, I would have collected it with interest?’

²⁴And then he said to the other slaves who were present, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’

²⁵And they said to him, ‘Master, he already has ten minas.’

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

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

²⁸After Jesus said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mountain that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples,

³⁰saying, “Go into the villageahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.

³¹And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ”

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

³³And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴They said, “The Lord has need of it.”

³⁵And they brought it to Jesus, and they threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.

³⁶Now as He was going, they were spreading their cloaks on the road.

³⁷And as soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen,

³⁸shouting: “BLESSED IS the King, THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

³⁹And yet some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!”

⁴⁰Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these stop speaking, the stones will cry out!”

⁴¹When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,

⁴²saying, “If you had known on this day, even you, the conditions for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

⁴³For the days will come upon youwhen your enemies will put up abarricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,

⁴⁴and they will level you to the ground, and throw down your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone uponanother, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

⁴⁵And Jesus entered the temple grounds and began to drive out those who were selling,

⁴⁶saying to them, “It is written: ‘AND MY HOUSE WILL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,’ but you have made it a DEN OF ROBBERS.”

⁴⁷And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to put Him to death,

⁴⁸and yet they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the firstborn of every womb among the sons of Israel, among people and animals alike; it belongs to Me.”

³And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you departed from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the LORD brought you out from this place. And nothing with yeast shall be eaten.

⁴On this day in the month of Abib, you are about to go out from here.

⁵And it shall be when the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall perform this rite in this month.

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

⁷Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and nothing with yeast shall be seen among you, nor shall any dough with yeast be seen among you in all your borders.

⁸And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

⁹And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.

¹⁰Therefore, you shall keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.

¹¹“Now when the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you,

¹²you shall devote to the LORD every firstborn of a womb, and every firstborn offspring of an animal that you own; the males belong to the LORD.

¹³But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn among your sons you shall redeem.

¹⁴And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

¹⁵And it came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD put to death every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human firstborns to animal firstborns. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD the males, every firstborn of a womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’

¹⁶So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and as phylacteries on your forehead, for with a powerful hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

¹⁷Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

¹⁸Therefore God led the people around by way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in battle formation from the land of Egypt.

¹⁹And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will certainly take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.”

²⁰Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.

²¹And the LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night.

²²He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from the presence of the people.

¹For I want you to know how great a struggle I have in your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,

²that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and that they would attain to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,

³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁴I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments.

⁵For even though I am absent in body, I am nevertheless with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your orderly manner and the stability of your faith in Christ.

⁶Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

⁷having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

⁸See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ.

⁹For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

¹⁰and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority;

¹¹and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ,

¹²having been 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 your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings,

¹⁴having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

¹⁵When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

¹⁶Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day—

¹⁷things which are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

¹⁸Take care that no one keeps defrauding you of your prize by delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,

¹⁹and not holding firmly to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

²⁰If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,

²¹“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”

²²(which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of man?

²³These are matters which do have the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

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

²And he took hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

³and he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

⁴Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and 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 has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

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

⁸and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.

⁹And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

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

¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them.

¹²And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

¹³And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds.

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

¹⁵And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

¹There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.

²Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

³His possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

⁴His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send word and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

⁵When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send word to them and consecrate them, getting up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did so continually.

⁶Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

⁷The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”

⁸The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”

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

¹⁰Have You not made a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

¹¹But reach out with Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will certainly curse You to Your face.”

¹²Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not reach out and put your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.

¹³Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

¹⁴a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the female donkeys feeding beside them,

¹⁵and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁶While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁷While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three units and made a raid on the camels and took them, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁸While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

¹⁹and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

²⁰Then Job got up, tore his robe, and shaved his head; then he fell to the ground and worshiped.

²¹He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

²²Despite all this, Job did not sin, nor did he blame God.

¹God, You are my God; I shall be watching for You; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and exhausted land where there is no water.

²So have I seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and glory.

³Because Your favor is better than life, My lips will praise You.

⁴So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

⁵My soul is satisfied as with fat and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

⁶When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches,

⁷For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.

⁸My soul clings to You; Your right hand takes hold of me.

⁹But those who seek my life to destroy it, Will go into the depths of the earth.

¹⁰They will be turned over to the power of the sword; They will be a prey for foxes.

¹¹But the king will rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him will boast, For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.

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

²To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding,

³To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice, and integrity;

⁴To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion,

⁵A wise person will hear and increase in learning, And a person of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

⁶To understand a proverb and a saying, The words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, And do not ignore your mother’s teaching;

⁹For they are a graceful wreath for your head And necklaces for your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.

¹¹If they say, “Come with us, Let’s lie in wait for blood, Let’s ambush the innocent without cause;

¹²Let’s swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, like those who go down to the pit;

¹³We will find all kinds of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with plunder;

¹⁴Throw in your lot with us; We will all have one money bag,”

¹⁵My son, do not walk on the way with them. Keep your feet from their path,

¹⁶For their feet run to evil, And they are quick to shed blood.

¹⁷Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net In the sight of any bird;

¹⁸But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives.

¹⁹Such are the ways of everyone who makes unjust gain; It takes away the life of its possessors.

²⁰Wisdom shouts in the street, She raises her voice in the public square;

²¹At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she declares her sayings:

²²“How long, you naive ones, will you love simplistic thinking? And how long will scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?

²³Turn to my rebuke, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.

²⁴Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

²⁵And you neglected all my advice And did not want my rebuke;

²⁶I will also laugh at your disaster; I will mock when your dread comes,

²⁷When your dread comes like a storm And your disaster comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but will not find me,

²⁹Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD.

³⁰They did not accept my advice, They disdainfully rejected every rebuke from me.

³¹So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own schemes.

³²For the faithlessness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

¹Now the day came that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come, and let’s cross over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

²Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is in Migron. And the people who were with him numbered about six hundred men;

³and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the LORD at Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.

⁴Now between the gorges by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistines’ garrison there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side; and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other, Seneh.

⁵The one crag rose on the north opposite Michmash, and the other on the south opposite Geba.

⁶Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come, and let’s cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men; perhaps the LORD will work for us, because the LORD is not limited to saving by many or by few!”

⁷His armor bearer said to him, “Do everything that is in your heart; turn yourself to it, and here I am with you, as your heart desires.”

⁸Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we are going to cross over to the men and reveal ourselves to them.

⁹If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you’; then we will stand in our place and not go up to them.

¹⁰But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has handed them over to us; and this shall be the sign to us.”

¹¹When the two of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, “Behold, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have kept themselves hidden.”

¹²So the men of the garrison responded to Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, “Come up to us and we will inform you of something.” And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has handed them over to Israel.”

¹³Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him; and the men fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer put some to death after him.

¹⁴Now that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer inflicted was about twenty men within about half a furrow in an acre of land.

¹⁵And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even the garrison and the raiders trembled, and the earth quaked so that it became a great trembling.

¹⁶Now Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude dissolved; they went here and there.

¹⁷So Saul said to the people who were with him, “Look carefully now and see who has left us.” And when they had looked, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.

¹⁸Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here.” For at that time the ark of God was with the sons of Israel.

¹⁹While Saul talked to the priest, the commotion in the camp of the Philistines continued and increased; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”

²⁰Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow Philistine, and there was very great confusion.

²¹Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously, who went up with them all around in the camp, even they also returned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

²²When all the men of Israel who had kept themselves hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, they also closely pursued them in the battle.

²³So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle spread beyond Beth-aven.

²⁴Now the men of Israel were hard-pressed on that day, for Saul had put the people under oath, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food before evening, and before I have avenged myself on my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food.

²⁵All the people of the land entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground.

²⁶When the people entered the forest, behold, there was honey dripping; but no man put his hand to his mouth, because the people feared the oath.

²⁷However, Jonathan had not heard it when his father put the people under oath; so he put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.

²⁸Then one of the people responded and said, “Your father strictly put the people under oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today.’ ” And the people were weary.

²⁹Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See now that my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.

³⁰How much more, if only the people had freely eaten today of the spoils of their enemies which they found! For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”

³¹They attacked the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. But the people were very tired.

³²So the people loudly rushed upon the spoils, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood.

³³Then observers informed Saul, saying, “Look, the people are sinning against the LORD by eating meat with the blood.” And he said, “You have acted treacherously; roll a large rock to me today.”

³⁴Then Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, ‘Each one of you bring me his ox or his sheep, and slaughter it here and eat; and do not sin against the LORD by eating it with the blood.’ ” So all the people brought them that night, each one his ox with him, and they slaughtered them there.

³⁵And Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first altar that he built to the LORD.

³⁶Then Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines by night and take plunder among them until the morning light, and let’s not leave a man among them alive.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” So the priest said, “Let’s approach God here.”

³⁷So Saul inquired of God: “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You hand them over to Israel?” But He did not answer him on that day.

³⁸Then Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, and investigate and see how this sin has happened today.

³⁹For as the LORD lives, who saves Israel, even if it is in my son Jonathan, he shall assuredly die!” But not one of all the people answered him.

⁴⁰Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.”

⁴¹Therefore, Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel, “Give a perfect lot.” And Jonathan and Saul were selected by lot, but the people were exonerated.

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

⁴³So Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, and said, “I did indeed taste a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die!”

⁴⁴And Saul said, “May God do the same to me and more also, for you shall certainly die, Jonathan!”

⁴⁵But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die, he who has brought about this great victory in Israel? Far from it! As the LORD lives, not even a hair of his head shall fall to the ground, because he has worked with God this day.” So the people rescued Jonathan and he did not die.

⁴⁶Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

⁴⁷Now when Saul had taken control of the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, the sons of Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines; and wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment.

⁴⁸And he acted valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, and saved Israel from the hands of those who plundered them.

⁴⁹Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was Merab, and the name of the younger, Michal.

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

⁵¹Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

⁵²Now the war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any warrior or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff.

¹Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, the One who speaks in righteousness, mighty to save.”

²Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who treads in the wine press?

³“I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no one with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My clothes.

⁴For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come.

⁵I looked, but there was no one to help, And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me.

⁶I trampled down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk with My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

⁷I will make mention of the mercies of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, According to all that the LORD has granted us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has granted them according to His compassion And according to the abundance of His mercies.

⁸For He said, “Certainly they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.” So He became their Savior.

⁹In all their distress He was distressed, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.

¹⁰But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.

¹¹Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them,

¹²Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, Who divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name,

¹³Who led them through the depths? Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble;

¹⁴Like the cattle which go down into the valley, The Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So You led Your people, To make for Yourself a glorious name.

¹⁵Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious lofty habitation; Where are Your zeal and Your mighty deeds? The stirrings of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained toward me.

¹⁶For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us And Israel does not recognize us. You, LORD, are our Father, Our Redeemer from ancient times is Your name.

¹⁷Why, LORD, do You cause us to stray from Your ways And harden our heart from fearing You? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.

¹⁸Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while, Our adversaries have trampled it down.

¹⁹We have become like those over whom You have never ruled, Like those who were not called by Your name.

¹Now the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

²And Stephen said, “Listen to me, brothers and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

³and He said to him, ‘GO FROM YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME TO THE LAND WHICH I WILL SHOW YOU.’

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

⁵But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child.

⁶But God spoke to this effect, that his DESCENDANTS WOULD BE STRANGERS IN A LAND THAT WAS NOT THEIRS, AND THEY WOULD ENSLAVE AND MISTREAT them for four hundred years.

⁷‘AND WHATEVER NATION TO WHICH THEY ARE ENSLAVED I MYSELF WILL JUDGE,’ said God, ‘AND AFTER THAT THEY WILL COME OUT AND SERVE ME IN THIS PLACE.’

⁸And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs.

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

¹⁰and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and his entire household.

¹¹“Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers could find no food.

¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.

¹³And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent word and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five people in all.

¹⁵And Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there.

¹⁶And they were brought back from there to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷“But as the time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,

¹⁸until ANOTHER KING AROSE OVER EGYPT WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH.

¹⁹It was he who shrewdly took advantage of our nation and mistreated our fathers in order that they would abandon their infants in the Nile, so that they would not survive.

²⁰At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father’s home.

²¹And after he had been put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.

²²Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was proficient in speaking and action.

²³But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his countrymen, the sons of Israel.

²⁴And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian.

²⁵And he thought that his brothers understood that God was granting them deliverance through him; but they did not understand.

²⁶And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting each other, and he tried to reconcile them to peace, by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you injuring each other?’

²⁷But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US?

²⁸YOU DO NOT INTEND TO KILL ME AS YOU KILLED THE EGYPTIAN YESTERDAY, DO YOU?’

²⁹At this remark, MOSES FLED AND BECAME A STRANGER IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN, where he fathered two sons.

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

³¹When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came:

³²‘I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND ISAAC, AND JACOB.’ Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look closely.

³³But the LORD said to him, ‘REMOVE YOUR SANDALS FROM YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE ON WHICH YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY GROUND.

³⁴I HAVE CERTAINLY SEEN THE OPPRESSION OF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE IN EGYPT, AND HAVE HEARD THEIR GROANING, AND I HAVE COME DOWN TO RESCUE THEM; AND NOW COME, I WILL SEND YOU TO EGYPT.’

³⁵“This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.

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

³⁷This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN.’

³⁸This is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness together with the angel who spoke to him at length on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to you.

³⁹Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,

⁴⁰saying to Aaron, ‘MAKE US A GOD WHO WILL GO BEFORE US; FOR THIS MOSES WHO LED US OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT—WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM.’

⁴¹At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned away and gave them over to serve the heavenly lights; as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘YOU DID NOT OFFER ME VICTIMS AND SACRIFICES FOR FORTY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS, DID YOU, HOUSE OF ISRAEL?

⁴³YOU ALSO TOOK ALONG THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH AND THE STAR OF YOUR GOD ROMPHA, THE IMAGES WHICH YOU MADE TO WORSHIP. I ALSO WILL DEPORT YOU BEYOND BABYLON.’

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

⁴⁵Our fathers in turn received it, and they also brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations that God drove out from our fathers, until the time of David.

⁴⁶David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.

⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.

⁴⁸However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:

⁴⁹‘HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND THE EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?’ says the Lord, ‘OR WHAT PLACE IS THERE FOR MY REST?

⁵⁰WAS IT NOT MY HAND THAT MADE ALL THESE THINGS?’

⁵¹“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.

⁵²Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, and you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him;

⁵³you who received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

⁵⁴Now when they heard this, they were infuriated, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.

⁵⁵But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;

⁵⁶and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one mind.

⁵⁸When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

⁶⁰Then he fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.