Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.

²And the chief priests and the scribes were trying to find a way to put Him to death, since they were afraid of the people.

³And Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who belonged to the number of the twelve.

⁴And he left and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he was to betray Him to them.

⁵And they were delighted, and agreed to give him money.

⁶And so he consented, and began looking for a good opportunity to betray Him to them away from the crowd.

⁷Now the first day of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.

⁸And so Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.”

⁹They said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare it?”

¹⁰And He said to them, “When you have entered the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you; follow him into the house that he enters.

¹¹And you shall say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’

¹²And he will show you a large, furnished upstairs room; prepare it there.”

¹³And they left and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁴When the hour came, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him.

¹⁵And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;

¹⁶for I say to you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁷And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves;

¹⁸for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”

¹⁹And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

²⁰And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.

²¹But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is withMine on the table.

²²For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”

²³And they began to debate among themselves which one of them it was who was going to do this.

²⁴And a dispute also developed among them as to which one of them was regarded as being the greatest.

²⁵And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles domineer over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’

²⁶But it is not this way for you; rather, the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.

²⁷For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

²⁸“You are the ones who have stood by Me in My trials;

²⁹and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you

³⁰that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

³¹“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat;

³²but I have prayed foryou, thatyour faith will not fail; andyou, when you haveturned back, strengthen your brothers.”

³³But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death!”

³⁴But He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

³⁵And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They said, “No, nothing.”

³⁶And He said to them, “But now,whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, andwhoever has no sword is to sell hiscloak and buy one.

³⁷For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me: ‘AND HE WAS COUNTED WITH WRONGDOERS’; for that which refers to Me has itsfulfillment.”

³⁸They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”

³⁹And He came out and went, as was His habit, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him.

⁴⁰Now when He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you do not come into temptation.”

⁴¹And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,

⁴²saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

⁴³[Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.

⁴⁴And being in agony, He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground].

⁴⁵When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow,

⁴⁶and He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you do not come into temptation.”

⁴⁷While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading the way for them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him.

⁴⁸But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

⁴⁹When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”

⁵⁰And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

⁵¹But Jesus responded and said, “Stop! No more of this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.

⁵²And Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a man inciting a revolt?

⁵³While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; butthis hour and the power of darkness are yours.”

⁵⁴Now they arrested Him and led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance.

⁵⁵After they kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter was sitting among them.

⁵⁶And a slave woman, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, and staring at him, said, “This man was with Him as well.”

⁵⁷But he denied it, saying, “I do not know Him, woman!”

⁵⁸And a little later, another person saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”

⁵⁹And after about an hour had passed, some other man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he, too, is a Galilean.”

⁶⁰But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” And immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.

⁶¹And then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”

⁶²And he went out and wept bitterly.

⁶³The men who were holding Jesus in custody began mocking Him and beating Him,

⁶⁴and they blindfolded Him and repeatedly asked Him, saying, “Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?”

⁶⁵And they were saying many other things against Him, blaspheming.

⁶⁶When it was day, the Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their council chamber, saying,

⁶⁷“If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe;

⁶⁸and if I ask a question, you will not answer.

⁶⁹But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”

⁷⁰And they all said, “So You are the Son of God?” And He said to them, “You say correctly that I am.”

⁷¹And then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth!”

¹Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt.

²But the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

³The sons of Israel said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!”

⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.

⁵On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

⁶So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening you will know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt;

⁷and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, for He hears your grumblings against the LORD; and what are we, that you grumble against us?”

⁸And Moses said, “This will happen when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the LORD hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”

⁹Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘Come forward before the LORD, for He has heard your grumblings.’ ”

¹⁰And it came about, as Aaron spoke to the entire congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.

¹¹And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹²“I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’ ”

¹³So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

¹⁴When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground.

¹⁵When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.

¹⁶This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Everyone gather as much as he will eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’ ”

¹⁷The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little.

¹⁸When they measured it by the omer, the one who had gathered much did not have too much, and the one who had gathered little did not have too little; everyone gathered as much as he would eat.

¹⁹Moses said to them, “No one is to leave any of it until morning.”

²⁰But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank; and Moses was angry with them.

²¹They gathered it morning by morning, everyone as much as he would eat; but when the sun became hot, it would melt.

²²Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,

²³then he said to them, “This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.”

²⁴So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not stink nor was there a maggot in it.

²⁵Then Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.

²⁶Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

²⁷Yet it came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.

²⁸Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?

²⁹See, the LORD has given you the Sabbath; for that reason He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain, everyone, in his place; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.”

³⁰So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹And the house of Israel named the bread manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey.

³²Then Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘A full omer of it is to be kept safe throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”

³³And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put a full omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept safe throughout your generations.”

³⁴As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony, to be kept.

³⁵And the sons of Israel ate the manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

³⁶(Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)

¹God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

²in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world.

³And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

⁴having become so much better than the angels, to the extent that He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

⁵For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE FATHERED YOU”? And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE WILL BE A SON TO ME”?

⁶And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.”

⁷And regarding the angels He says, “HE MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE.”

⁸But regarding the Son He says, “YOUR THRONE, GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE SCEPTER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.

⁹YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF JOY ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.”

¹⁰And, “YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;

¹¹THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN; AND THEY ALL WILL WEAR OUT LIKE A GARMENT,

¹²AND LIKE A ROBE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP; LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED. BUT YOU ARE THE SAME, AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT COME TO AN END.”

¹³But to which of the angels has He ever said, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET”?

¹⁴Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to provide service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

²“If one ventures a word with you, will you become impatient? But who can refrain from speaking?

³Behold, you have taught many, And you have strengthened weak hands.

⁴Your words have helped the stumbling to stand, And you have strengthened feeble knees.

⁵But now it comes to you, and you are impatient; It touches you, and you are horrified.

⁶Is your fear of God not your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed?

⁸According to what I have seen, those who plow wrongdoing And those who sow trouble harvest it.

⁹By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they come to an end.

¹⁰The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, And the teeth of the young lions are broken out.

¹¹The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹²“Now a word was brought to me secretly, And my ear received a whisper of it.

¹³Amid disquieting thoughts from visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on people,

¹⁴Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake.

¹⁵Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh stood up.

¹⁶Something was standing still, but I could not recognize its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, then I heard a voice:

¹⁷‘Can mankind be righteous before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?

¹⁸He puts no trust even in His servants; And He accuses His angels of error.

¹⁹How much more those who live in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!

²⁰Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces; Unregarded, they perish forever.

²¹Is their tent-cord not pulled out within them? They die, yet without wisdom.’

¹Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;

²Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious.

³Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will pretend to obey You.

⁴All the earth will worship You, And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name.” Selah

⁵Come and see the works of God, Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of mankind.

⁶He turned the sea into dry land; They passed through the river on foot; Let’s rejoice there, in Him!

⁷He rules by His might forever; His eyes keep watch on the nations; The rebellious shall not exalt themselves! Selah

⁸Bless our God, you peoples, And sound His praise abroad,

⁹Who keeps us in life, And does not allow our feet to slip.

¹⁰For You have put us to the test, God; You have refined us as silver is refined.

¹¹You brought us into the net; You laid an oppressive burden upon us.

¹²You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water. Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.

¹³I shall come into Your house with burnt offerings; I shall pay You my vows,

¹⁴Which my lips uttered And my mouth spoke when I was in distress.

¹⁵I shall offer to You burnt offerings of fat animals, With the smoke of rams; I shall make an offering of bulls with male goats. Selah

¹⁶Come and hear, all who fear God, And I will tell of what He has done for my soul.

¹⁷I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was exalted with my tongue.

¹⁸If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear;

¹⁹But God has heard; He has given attention to the sound of my prayer.

²⁰Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer Nor His favor from me.

¹Listen, my sons, to the instruction of a father, And pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

²For I give you good teaching; Do not abandon my instruction.

³When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

⁴He taught me and said to me, “Let your heart take hold of my words; Keep my commandments and live;

⁵Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

⁶Do not abandon her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your possessions, acquire understanding.

⁸Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her.

⁹She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I have instructed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; And if you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil people.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹They are not to escape from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, And healing to all their body.

²³Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

²⁴Rid yourself of a deceitful mouth And keep devious speech far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

²⁶Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established.

²⁷Do not turn to the right or to the left; Turn your foot from evil.

¹Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.

²Saul and the men of Israel were assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah, and they drew up in battle formation to confront the Philistines.

³The Philistines were standing on the mountain on one side, while Israel was standing on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.

⁴Then a champion came forward from the army encampment of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span.

⁵And he had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze.

⁶He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze saber slung between his shoulders.

⁷The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-carrier walked in front of him.

⁸He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to draw up in battle formation? Am I not the Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man as your representative and have him come down to me.

⁹If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.”

¹⁰Then the Philistine said, “I have defied the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man, so that we may fight together.”

¹¹When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and very fearful.

¹²Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, the man whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons. And Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.

¹³The three older sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who had gone into the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and second to him, Abinadab, and the third, Shammah.

¹⁴So David was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul,

¹⁵but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock at Bethlehem.

¹⁶And the Philistine came forward morning and evening, and took his stand for forty days.

¹⁷Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to your brothers.

¹⁸Bring also these ten slices of cheese to the commander of their thousand, and look into the well-being of your brothers and bring back confirmation from them.

¹⁹For Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the Valley of Elah, fighting the Philistines.”

²⁰So David got up early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper, and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the entrenchment encircling the camp while the army was going out in battle formation, shouting the war cry.

²¹Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle formation, army against army.

²²Then David left the baggage in the care of the baggage keeper and ran to the battle line. And he entered and greeted his brothers.

²³As he was speaking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard him.

²⁴When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were very fearful.

²⁵And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will make the man who kills him wealthy with great riches, and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.”

²⁶Then David said to the men who were standing by him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and rids Israel of the disgrace? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he has dared to defy the armies of the living God?”

²⁷The people answered him in agreement with this statement, saying, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

²⁸Now Eliab his oldest brother heard him when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said, “Why is it that you have come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I myself know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.”

²⁹But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a question?”

³⁰Then he turned away from him to another and said the same thing; and the people replied with the same words as before.

³¹When the words that David spoke were heard, they informed Saul, and he sent for him.

³²And David said to Saul, “May no one’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!”

³³But Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him; for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior since his youth.”

³⁴But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock,

³⁵I went out after it and attacked it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I grabbed it by its mane and struck it and killed it.

³⁶Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.”

³⁷And David said, “The LORD who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

³⁸Then Saul clothed David with his military attire and put a bronze helmet on his head, and outfitted him with armor.

³⁹And David strapped on his sword over his military attire and struggled at walking, for he had not trained with the armor. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, because I have not trained with them.” And David took them off.

⁴⁰Then he took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, that is, in his shepherd’s pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹Then the Philistine came and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.

⁴²When the Philistine looked and saw David, he was contemptuous of him; for he was only a youth, and reddish, with a handsome appearance.

⁴³So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild animals.”

⁴⁵But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a saber, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

⁴⁶This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I will strike you and remove your head from you. Then I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

⁴⁷and that this entire assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S, and He will hand you over to us!”

⁴⁸Then it happened, when the Philistine came closer to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.

⁴⁹And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

⁵⁰So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and the stone: he struck the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in David’s hand.

⁵¹Then David ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and finished him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

⁵²Then the men of Israel and Judah rose up and shouted, and they pursued the Philistines as far as the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the Philistine dead lay along the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron.

⁵³Then the sons of Israel returned from their close pursuit of the Philistines, and plundered their camps.

⁵⁴And David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

⁵⁵Now when Saul had seen David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” And Abner said, “By your life, O king, I do not know.”

⁵⁶And the king said, “You then, ask whose son the youth is.”

⁵⁷So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand.

⁵⁸Then Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

¹This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne and the earth is the footstool for My feet. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?

²For My hand made all these things, So all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But I will look to this one, At one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My word.

³“But the one who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a person; The one who sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; One who offers a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; One who burns incense is like one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways, And their souls delight in their abominations,

⁴So I will choose their punishments And bring on them what they dread. Because I called, but no one answered; I spoke, but they did not listen. Instead, they did evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight.”

⁵Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at His word: “Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you on account of My name, Have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified, so that we may see your joy.’ But they will be put to shame.

⁶A sound of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple, The voice of the LORD who is dealing retribution to His enemies.

⁷“Before she was in labor, she delivered; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy.

⁸Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be given birth all at once? As soon as Zion was in labor, she also delivered her sons.

⁹Shall I bring to the point of birth but not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God.

¹⁰“Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,

¹¹So that you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, So that you may drink fully and be delighted with her bountiful breasts.”

¹²For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and rocked back and forth on the knees.

¹³As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”

¹⁴Then you will see this, and your heart will be glad, And your bones will flourish like the new grass; And the hand of the LORD will be made known to His servants, But He will be indignant toward His enemies.

¹⁵For behold, the LORD will come in fire, And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire.

¹⁶For the LORD will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on humanity, And those put to death by the LORD will be many.

¹⁷“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, Following one in the center, Who eat pig’s flesh, detestable things, and mice, Will come to an end altogether,” declares the LORD.

¹⁸“For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all the nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.

¹⁹And I will put a sign among them and send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard of My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations.

²⁰Then they shall bring all your countrymen from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.

²¹I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.

²²“For just as the new heavens and the new earth, Which I make, will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “So will your descendants and your name endure.

²³And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from Sabbath to Sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the LORD.

²⁴“Then they will go out and look At the corpses of the people Who have rebelled against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be extinguished; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”

¹Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort,

²a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.

³About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴And he looked at him intently and became terrified, and said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and charitable gifts have ascended as a memorial offering before God.

⁵Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;

⁶he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷When the angel who *spoke to him left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier from his personal attendants,

⁸and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.

¹⁰But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance;

¹¹and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,

¹²and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky.

¹³A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”

¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.”

¹⁵Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.

¹⁷Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to Simon’s house, and they appeared at the gate;

¹⁸and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.

¹⁹While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

²⁰But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”

²¹Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”

²²They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.”

²³So he invited them in and gave them lodging. Now on the next day he got ready and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

²⁴On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him.

²⁶But Peter helped him up, saying, “Stand up; I, too, am just a man.”

²⁷As he talked with him, he entered and *found many people assembled.

²⁸And he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner; and yet God has shown me that I am not to call any person unholy or unclean.

²⁹That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask, for what reason did you send for me?”

³⁰Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining clothing,

³¹and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your charitable gifts have been remembered before God.

³²Therefore send some men to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’

³³So I sent men to you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear everything that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

³⁴Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,

³⁵but in every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him.

³⁶The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)—

³⁷you yourselves know the thing that happened throughout Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.

³⁸You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

³⁹We are witnesses of all the things that He did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.

⁴⁰God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He be revealed,

⁴¹not to all the people, but to witnesses who had been chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

⁴²And He ordered us to preach to the people, and to testify solemnly that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.

⁴³All the prophets testify of Him, that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.

⁴⁵All the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles.

⁴⁶For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded,

⁴⁷“Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”

⁴⁸And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.