Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him,

²and they declared, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?”

³But He replied to them, “I will also ask you aquestion, and you tell Me:

⁴Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”

⁵They discussed among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’

⁶But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, since they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

⁷And so they answered that they did not know where it came from.

⁸And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

⁹But He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it tovine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time.

¹⁰At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

¹¹And he proceeded to send another slave; but they beat him also and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.

¹²And he proceeded to send a third; but this one too they wounded and threw out.

¹³Now theowner of the vineyard said, ‘What am I to do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’

¹⁴But when the vine-growers saw him, they discussed with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’

¹⁵And so they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will theowner of the vineyard do to them?

¹⁶He will come and put these vine-growers to death, and will give the vineyard to others.” However, when they heard this, they said, “May it never happen!”

¹⁷But Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what is this statement that has been written: ‘A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE’?

¹⁸Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

¹⁹The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and yet they feared the people; for they were aware that He had spoken this parable against them.

²⁰And so they watched Him closely, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could hand Him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor.

²¹And the spies questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God on the basis of truth.

²²Is it permissible for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

²³But He saw through their trickery and said to them,

²⁴“Show Me adenarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.”

²⁵And He said to them, “Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

²⁶And they were unable to catch Him in a statement in the presence of the people; and they were amazed at His answer, and said nothing.

²⁷Now some of the Sadducees (who maintain that there is no resurrection) came to Him,

²⁸and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife, and he is childless, that his brother is to marry the wife and raise up children for his brother.

²⁹So then, there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless;

³⁰and the second

³¹and the third married her; and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children.

³²Finally the woman also died.

³³Therefore, in the resurrection, which one’s wife does the woman become? For all seven married her.”

³⁴Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and the women are given in marriage,

³⁵but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;

³⁶for they cannot even die anymore, for they are like angels, and are sons of God, beingsons of the resurrection.

³⁷But as for the fact that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed this in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB.

³⁸Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to Him.”

³⁹Some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.”

⁴⁰For they did not have the courage to question Him any longer about anything.

⁴¹But He said to them, “How is it that they say theChrist is David’s son?

⁴²For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,

⁴³UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.” ’

⁴⁴Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and so how is He his son?”

⁴⁵And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples,

⁴⁶“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love personal greetings in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets,

⁴⁷whodevour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”

¹Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea.

³For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’

⁴And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.

⁵When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this that we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

⁶So he had horses harnessed to his chariot and took his people with him;

⁷and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.

⁸So the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly.

⁹Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰As Pharaoh approached, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were coming after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.

¹¹Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?

¹²Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!”

¹³But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, ever.

¹⁴The LORD will fight for you, while you keep silent.”

¹⁵Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.

¹⁶As for you, lift up your staff and reach out with your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

¹⁷And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.

¹⁸Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots, and through his horsemen.”

¹⁹Then the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.

²⁰So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Therefore the one did not approach the other all night.

²¹Then Moses reached out with his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.

²²So the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left.

²³Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea.

²⁴But at the morning watch, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion.

²⁵He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians each said, “Let me flee from Israel, for the LORD is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”

²⁶Then the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.”

²⁷So Moses reached out with his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

²⁸The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained.

²⁹But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left.

³⁰So the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

³¹When Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses.

¹Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

²Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.

³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

⁴When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

⁵Therefore, treat the parts of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

⁶For it is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,

⁷and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

⁸But now you also, rid yourselves of all of them: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene speech from your mouth.

⁹Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its evil practices,

¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it—

¹¹a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free, but Christ is all, and in all.

¹²So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience;

¹³bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so must you do also.

¹⁴In addition to all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

¹⁵Let the peace of Christ, to which you were indeed called in one body, rule in your hearts; and be thankful.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

¹⁷Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

¹⁸Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and do not become bitter against them.

²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

²¹Fathers, do not antagonize your children, so that they will not become discouraged.

²²Slaves, obey those who are your human masters in everything, not with eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

²³Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people,

²⁴knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

²⁵For the one who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

²And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

³And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

⁴and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

⁵And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

⁶Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost.

⁷The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

⁸But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

⁹Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

¹⁰And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

¹¹having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.

¹²It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.

¹³There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

¹⁴And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

¹⁶The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, twelve thousand stadia; its length, width, and height are equal.

¹⁷And he measured its wall, 144 cubits, by human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.

¹⁸The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

¹⁹The foundation stones of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;

²⁰the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.

²¹And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

²²I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

²³And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

²⁵In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;

²⁶and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;

²⁷and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

¹Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD.

²The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”

³The 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. And he still holds firm to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.”

⁴Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life.

⁵However, reach out with Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face!”

⁶So the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”

⁷Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with severe boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.

⁸And Job took a piece of pottery to scrape himself while he was sitting in the ashes.

⁹Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold firm your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹⁰But he said to her, “You are speaking as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we actually accept good from God but not accept adversity?” Despite all this, Job did not sin with his lips.

¹¹Now when Job’s three friends heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, they came, each one from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.

¹²When they looked from a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe, and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky.

¹³Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

¹Hear my voice, God, in my complaint; Protect my life from dread of the enemy.

²Hide me from the secret discussion of evildoers, From the restlessness of the workers of injustice,

³Who have sharpened their tongues like a sword. They aimed bitter speech as their arrows,

⁴To shoot from concealment at the innocent; Suddenly they shoot at him, and do not fear.

⁵They make firm for themselves an evil purpose; They talk of setting snares secretly; They say, “Who can see them?”

⁶They devise injustices, saying, “We are ready with a well-conceived plot”; For the inward thought and the heart of a person are deep.

⁷But God will shoot an arrow at them; Suddenly they will be wounded.

⁸So they will make him stumble; Their own tongue is against them; All who see them will shake their heads.

⁹Then all people will fear, And they will declare the work of God, And will consider what He has done.

¹⁰The righteous person will be glad in the LORD and take refuge in Him; And all the upright in heart will boast.

¹My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you,

²Make your ear attentive to wisdom; Incline your heart to understanding.

³For if you cry out for insight, And raise your voice for understanding;

⁴If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures;

⁵Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And discover the knowledge of God.

⁶For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

⁸Guarding the paths of justice, And He watches over the way of His godly ones.

⁹Then you will discern righteousness, justice, And integrity, and every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, And knowledge will be delightful to your soul;

¹¹Discretion will watch over you, Understanding will guard you,

¹²To rescue you from the way of evil, From a person who speaks perverse things;

¹³From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil;

¹⁵Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways;

¹⁶To rescue you from the strange woman, From the foreign woman who flatters with her words,

¹⁷Who leaves the companion of her youth And forgets the covenant of her God;

¹⁸For her house sinks down to death, And her tracks lead to the dead;

¹⁹None who go to her return, Nor do they reach the paths of life.

²⁰So you will walk in the way of good people And keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will live in the land, And the blameless will remain in it;

²²But the wicked will be eliminated from the land, And the treacherous will be torn away from it.

¹Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.

²This is what the LORD of armies says: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, in that he obstructed him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.

³Now go and strike Amalek and completely destroy everything that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

⁴Then Saul summoned the people and counted them in Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah.

⁵And Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the wadi.

⁶But Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, get away, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they went up from Egypt.” So the Kenites got away from among the Amalekites.

⁷Then Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah going toward Shur, which is east of Egypt.

⁸He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

⁹But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the more valuable animals, the lambs, and everything that was good, and were unwilling to destroy them completely; but everything despicable and weak, that they completely destroyed.

¹⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,

¹¹“I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was furious and cried out to the LORD all night.

¹²Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was reported to Samuel, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal.”

¹³So Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD.”

¹⁴But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the bellowing of the oxen which I hear?”

¹⁵Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have completely destroyed.”

¹⁶Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop, and let me inform you of what the LORD said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”

¹⁷So Samuel said, “Is it not true, though you were insignificant in your own eyes, that you became the head of the tribes of Israel? For the LORD anointed you as king over Israel.

¹⁸And the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are eliminated.’

¹⁹Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Instead, you loudly rushed upon the spoils and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD!”

²⁰Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the LORD, for I went on the mission on which the LORD sent me; and I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites.

²¹But the people took some of the spoils, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things designated for destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”

²²Samuel said, “Does the LORD have as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than a sacrifice, And to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.

²³For rebellion is as reprehensible as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as reprehensible as false religion and idolatry. Since you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have violated the command of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.

²⁵Now then, please pardon my sin and return with me, so that I may worship the LORD.”

²⁶But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

²⁷Then Samuel turned to go, but Saul grasped the edge of his robe, and it tore off.

²⁸So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.

²⁹Also the Glory of Israel will not lie nor change His mind; for He is not a man, that He would change His mind.”

³⁰Then Saul said, “I have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before all Israel, and go back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”

³¹So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is gone!”

³³But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.

³⁴Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul.

³⁵And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, though Samuel mourned for Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

¹Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and come down, That the mountains would quake at Your presence—

²As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil— To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence!

³When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.

⁴For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of one who waits for Him.

⁵You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in our sins for a long time; Yet shall we be saved?

⁶For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.

⁷There is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.

⁸But now, LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter, And all of us are the work of Your hand.

⁹Do not be angry beyond measure, LORD, Nor remember wrongdoing forever. Behold, please look, all of us are Your people.

¹⁰Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

¹¹Our holy and beautiful house, Where our fathers praised You, Has been burned by fire; And all our precious things have become a ruin.

¹²Will You restrain Yourself at these things, LORD? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

¹Now Saul approved of putting Stephen to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.

²Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him.

³But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would drag away men and women and put them in prison.

⁴Therefore, those who had been scattered went through places preaching the word.

⁵Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them.

⁶The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.

⁷For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed.

⁸So there was much rejoicing in that city.

⁹Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;

¹⁰and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “This man is the Power of God that is called Great.”

¹¹And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic arts.

¹²But when they believed Philip as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being baptized.

¹³Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

¹⁴Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,

¹⁵who came down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶(For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

¹⁷Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

¹⁹saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire the gift of God with money!

²¹You have no part or share in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

²²Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of unrighteousness.”

²⁴But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

²⁵So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

²⁷So he got ready and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,

²⁸and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet.

²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”

³⁰Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³²Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “HE WAS LED LIKE A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND LIKE A LAMB THAT IS SILENT BEFORE ITS SHEARER, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.

³³IN HUMILIATION HIS JUSTICE WAS TAKEN AWAY; WHO WILL DESCRIBE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE EARTH.”

³⁴The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?”

³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

³⁶As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸And he ordered that the chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.