Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

²He was with God in the beginning.

³All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

⁵That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

⁶There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

⁷He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.

⁸He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.

⁹The true light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him.

¹¹He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

¹²But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,

¹³who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵(John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’”)

¹⁶Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness,

¹⁷for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

¹⁸No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side —he has revealed him.

¹⁹This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”

²⁰He didn’t deny it but confessed: “I am not the Messiah.”

²¹“What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?” “I am not,” he said. “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered.

²²“Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?”

²³He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord  — just as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.

²⁵So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”

²⁶“I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him.

²⁷He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.”

²⁸All this happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

³⁰This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’

³¹I didn’t know him, but I came baptizing with water so he might be revealed to Israel.”

³²And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him.

³³I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on — he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

³⁴I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

³⁵The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples.

³⁶When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

³⁷The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus.

³⁸When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹“Come and you’ll see,” he replied. So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed him.

⁴¹He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated “the Christ”),

⁴²and he brought Simon to Jesus. When Jesus saw him, he said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated “Peter” ).

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me.”

⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.

⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets ): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

⁴⁶“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. “Come and see,” Philip answered.

⁴⁷Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

⁴⁸“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered.

⁴⁹“Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!”

⁵⁰Jesus responded to him, “Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.”

⁵¹Then he said, “Truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

¹In the third month from the very day the Israelites left the land of Egypt, they came to the Sinai Wilderness.

²They traveled from Rephidim, came to the Sinai Wilderness, and camped in the wilderness. Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

³Moses went up the mountain to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites:

⁴‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

⁵Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine,

⁶and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”

⁷After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.

⁸Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the LORD has spoken.” So Moses brought the people’s words back to the LORD.

⁹The LORD said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you and will always believe you.” Moses reported the people’s words to the LORD,

¹⁰and the LORD told Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes

¹¹and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

¹²Put boundaries for the people all around the mountain and say: Be careful that you don’t go up on the mountain or touch its base. Anyone who touches the mountain must be put to death.

¹³No hand may touch him; instead he will be stoned or shot with arrows and not live, whether animal or human. When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they may go up the mountain.”

¹⁴Then Moses came down from the mountain to the people and consecrated them, and they washed their clothes.

¹⁵He said to the people, “Be prepared by the third day. Do not have sexual relations with women.”

¹⁶On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people in the camp shuddered.

¹⁷Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

¹⁸Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the LORD came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.

¹⁹As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.

²⁰The LORD came down on Mount Sinai at the top of the mountain. Then the LORD summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up.

²¹The LORD directed Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD; otherwise many of them will die.

²²Even the priests who come near the LORD must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out in anger against them.”

²³Moses responded to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, since you warned us: Put a boundary around the mountain and consecrate it.”

²⁴And the LORD replied to him, “Go down and come back with Aaron. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out in anger against them.”

²⁵So Moses went down to the people and told them.

¹Therefore, since the promise to enter his rest remains, let us beware that none of you be found to have fallen short.

²For we also have received the good news just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith.

³For we who have believed enter the rest, in keeping with what he has said, So I swore in my anger, “They will not enter my rest,” even though his works have been finished since the foundation of the world.

⁴For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way: And on the seventh day God rested from all his works.

⁵Again, in that passage he says, They will never enter my rest.

⁶Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience,

⁷he again specifies a certain day —  today. He specified this speaking through David after such a long time: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.

⁹Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people.

¹⁰For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his.

¹¹Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.

¹²For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

¹³No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens — Jesus the Son of God — let us hold fast to our confession.

¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.

¹⁶Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

¹Isn’t each person consigned to forced labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired worker?

²Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hired worker he waits for his pay.

³So I have been made to inherit months of futility, and troubled nights have been assigned to me.

⁴When I lie down I think, “When will I get up?” But the evening drags on endlessly, and I toss and turn until dawn.

⁵My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt. My skin forms scabs and then oozes.

⁶My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.

⁷Remember that my life is but a breath. My eye will never again see anything good.

⁸The eye of anyone who looks on me will no longer see me. Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.

⁹As a cloud fades away and vanishes, so the one who goes down to Sheol will never rise again.

¹⁰He will never return to his house; his hometown will no longer remember him.

¹¹Therefore I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹²Am I the sea or a sea monster, that you keep me under guard?

¹³When I say, “My bed will comfort me, and my couch will ease my complaint,”

¹⁴then you frighten me with dreams, and terrify me with visions,

¹⁵so that I prefer strangling  — death rather than life in this body.

¹⁶I give up! I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.

¹⁷What is a mere human, that you think so highly of him and pay so much attention to him?

¹⁸You inspect him every morning, and put him to the test every moment.

¹⁹Will you ever look away from me, or leave me alone long enough to swallow?

²⁰If I have sinned, what have I done to you, Watcher of humanity? Why have you made me your target, so that I have become a burden to you?

²¹Why not forgive my sin and pardon my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the grave. You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.

¹For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.” Of David. [1] Save me, God, for the water has risen to my neck.

²I have sunk in deep mud, and there is no footing; I have come into deep water, and a flood sweeps over me.

³I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

⁴Those who hate me without cause are more numerous than the hairs of my head; my deceitful enemies, who would destroy me, are powerful. Though I did not steal, I must repay.

⁵God, you know my foolishness, and my guilty acts are not hidden from you.

⁶Do not let those who put their hope in you be disgraced because of me, Lord GOD of Armies; do not let those who seek you be humiliated because of me, God of Israel.

⁷For I have endured insults because of you, and shame has covered my face.

⁸I have become a stranger to my brothers and a foreigner to my mother’s sons

⁹because zeal for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

¹⁰I mourned and fasted, but it brought me insults.

¹¹I wore sackcloth as my clothing, and I was a joke to them.

¹²Those who sit at the city gate talk about me, and drunkards make up songs about me.

¹³But as for me, LORD, my prayer to you is for a time of favor. In your abundant, faithful love, God, answer me with your sure salvation.

¹⁴Rescue me from the miry mud; don’t let me sink. Let me be rescued from those who hate me and from the deep water.

¹⁵Don’t let the floodwaters sweep over me or the deep swallow me up; don’t let the Pit close its mouth over me.

¹⁶Answer me, LORD, for your faithful love is good. In keeping with your abundant compassion, turn to me.

¹⁷Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me quickly!

¹⁸Come near to me and redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies.

¹⁹You know the insults I endure — my shame and disgrace. You are aware of all my adversaries.

²⁰Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I waited for sympathy, but there was none; for comforters, but found no one.

²¹Instead, they gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

²²Let their table set before them be a snare, and let it be a trap for their allies.

²³Let their eyes grow too dim to see, and let their hips continually quake.

²⁴Pour out your rage on them, and let your burning anger overtake them.

²⁵Make their fortification desolate; may no one live in their tents.

²⁶For they persecute the one you struck and talk about the pain of those you wounded.

²⁷Charge them with crime on top of crime; do not let them share in your righteousness.

²⁸Let them be erased from the book of life and not be recorded with the righteous.

²⁹But as for me — poor and in pain — let your salvation protect me, God.

³⁰I will praise God’s name with song and exalt him with thanksgiving.

³¹That will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with horns and hooves.

³²The humble will see it and rejoice. You who seek God, take heart!

³³For the LORD listens to the needy and does not despise his own who are prisoners.

³⁴Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them,

³⁵for God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah. They will live there and possess it.

³⁶The descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will live in it.

¹My son, obey my words, and treasure my commands.

²Keep my commands and live, and guard my instructions as you would the pupil of your eye.

³Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your relative.

⁵She will keep you from a forbidden woman, a wayward woman with her flattering talk.

⁶At the window of my house I looked through my lattice.

⁷I saw among the inexperienced, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking sense.

⁸Crossing the street near her corner, he strolled down the road to her house

⁹at twilight, in the evening, in the dark of the night.

¹⁰A woman came to meet him dressed like a prostitute, having a hidden agenda.

¹¹She is loud and defiant; her feet do not stay at home.

¹²Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner.

¹³She grabs him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him,

¹⁴“I’ve made fellowship offerings; today I’ve fulfilled my vows.

¹⁵So I came out to meet you, to search for you, and I’ve found you.

¹⁶I’ve spread coverings on my bed  — richly colored linen from Egypt.

¹⁷I’ve perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let’s drink deeply of lovemaking until morning. Let’s feast on each other’s love!

¹⁹My husband isn’t home; he went on a long journey.

²⁰He took a bag of silver with him and will come home at the time of the full moon.”

²¹She seduces him with her persistent pleading; she lures with her flattering talk.

²²He follows her impulsively like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding toward a trap

²³until an arrow pierces its liver, like a bird darting into a snare  — he doesn’t know it will cost him his life.

²⁴Now, sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words from my mouth.

²⁵Don’t let your heart turn aside to her ways; don’t stray onto her paths.

²⁶For she has brought many down to death; her victims are countless.

²⁷Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.

¹David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What did I do wrong? How have I sinned against your father so that he wants to take my life?”

²Jonathan said to him, “No, you won’t die. Listen, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This can’t be true.”

³But David said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor with you. He has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or else he will be grieved.’” David also swore, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”

⁴Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”

⁵So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I’m supposed to sit down and eat with the king. Instead, let me go, and I’ll hide in the countryside for the next two nights.

⁶If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David urgently requested my permission to go quickly to his hometown Bethlehem for an annual sacrifice there involving the whole clan.’

⁷If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he becomes angry, you will know he has evil intentions.

⁸Deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If I have done anything wrong, then kill me yourself; why take me to your father?”

⁹“No!” Jonathan responded. “If I ever find out my father has evil intentions against you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?”

¹⁰So David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”

¹¹He answered David, “Come on, let’s go out to the countryside.” So both of them went out to the countryside.

¹²“By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If I find out that he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you?

¹³If my father intends to bring evil on you, may God punish Jonathan and do so severely if I do not tell you and send you away so you may leave safely. May the LORD be with you, just as he was with my father.

¹⁴If I continue to live, show me kindness from the LORD, but if I die,

¹⁵don’t ever withdraw your kindness from my household — not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

¹⁶Then Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.”

¹⁷Jonathan once again swore to David in his love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.

¹⁸Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the New Moon; you’ll be missed because your seat will be empty.

¹⁹The following day hurry down and go to the place where you hid on the day this incident began and stay beside the rock Ezel.

²⁰I will shoot three arrows beside it as if I’m aiming at a target.

²¹Then I will send a servant and say, ‘Go and find the arrows! ’ Now, if I expressly say to the servant, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you — get them,’ then come, because as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no problem.

²²But if I say this to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you! ’ then go, for the LORD is sending you away.

²³As for the matter you and I have spoken about, the LORD will be a witness between you and me forever.”

²⁴So David hid in the countryside. At the New Moon, the king sat down to eat the meal.

²⁵He sat at his usual place on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat facing him and Abner took his place beside Saul, but David’s place was empty.

²⁶Saul did not say anything that day because he thought, “Something unexpected has happened; he must be ceremonially unclean — yes, that’s it, he is unclean.”

²⁷However, the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why didn’t Jesse’s son come to the meal either yesterday or today?”

²⁸Jonathan answered, “David asked for my permission to go to Bethlehem.

²⁹He said, ‘Please let me go because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the town, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go so I can see my brothers.’ That’s why he didn’t come to the king’s table.”

³⁰Then Saul became angry with Jonathan and shouted, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you are siding with Jesse’s son to your own shame and to the disgrace of your mother?

³¹Every day Jesse’s son lives on earth you and your kingship are not secure. Now send for him and bring him to me — he must die!”

³²Jonathan answered his father back: “Why is he to be killed? What has he done?”

³³Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, so he knew that his father was determined to kill David.

³⁴He got up from the table fiercely angry and did not eat any food that second day of the New Moon, for he was grieved because of his father’s shameful behavior toward David.

³⁵In the morning Jonathan went out to the countryside for the appointed meeting with David. A young servant was with him.

³⁶He said to the servant, “Run and find the arrows I’m shooting.” As the servant ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.

³⁷He came to the location of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, but Jonathan called to him and said, “The arrow is beyond you, isn’t it?”

³⁸Then Jonathan called to him, “Hurry up and don’t stop!” Jonathan’s servant picked up the arrow and returned to his master.

³⁹He did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement.

⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”

⁴¹When the servant had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone Ezel, fell facedown to the ground, and paid homage three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept with each other, though David wept more.

⁴²Jonathan then said to David, “Go in the assurance the two of us pledged in the name of the LORD when we said: The LORD will be a witness between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.” Then David left, and Jonathan went into the city.

¹If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Wouldn’t such a land become totally defiled? But you! You have prostituted yourself with many partners  — can you return to me? This is the LORD’s declaration.

²Look to the barren heights and see. Where have you not been immoral? You sat waiting for them beside the highways like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.

³This is why the showers haven’t come  — why there has been no spring rain. You have the brazen look of a prostitute and refuse to be ashamed.

⁴Haven’t you recently called to me, “My Father. You were my friend in my youth.

⁵Will he bear a grudge forever? Will he be endlessly infuriated?” This is what you have said, but you have done the evil things you are capable of.

⁶In the days of King Josiah the LORD asked me, “Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has ascended every high hill and gone under every green tree to prostitute herself there.

⁷I thought, ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to me.’  But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

⁸I observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce. Nevertheless, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid but also went and prostituted herself.

⁹Indifferent to her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.

¹⁰Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to me with all her heart  — only in pretense.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹¹The LORD announced to me, “Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

¹²Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say, ‘Return, unfaithful Israel. This is the LORD’s declaration. I will not look on you with anger, for I am unfailing in my love. This is the LORD’s declaration. I will not be angry forever.

¹³Only acknowledge your guilt  — you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have scattered your favors to strangers under every green tree and have not obeyed me. This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹⁴“‘Return, you faithless children  — this is the LORD’s declaration — for I am your master, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

¹⁵I will give you shepherds who are loyal to me, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill.

¹⁶When you multiply and increase in the land, in those days — this is the LORD’s declaration — no one will say again, “The ark of the LORD’s covenant.” It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. Another one will not be made.

¹⁷At that time Jerusalem will be called The LORD’s Throne, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD in Jerusalem. They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

¹⁸In those days the house of Judah will join with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land I have given your ancestors to inherit.’”

¹⁹I thought, “How I long to make you my sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations.” I thought, “You will call me ‘My Father’ and never turn away from me.”

²⁰However, as a woman may betray her lover, so you have betrayed me, house of Israel. This is the LORD’s declaration.

²¹A sound is heard on the barren heights: the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, for they have perverted their way; they have forgotten the LORD their God.

²²Return, you faithless children. I will heal your unfaithfulness. “Here we are, coming to you, for you are the LORD our God.

²³Surely, falsehood comes from the hills, commotion from the mountains, but the salvation of Israel is only in the LORD our God.

²⁴From the time of our youth the shameful one has consumed what our fathers have worked for — their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

²⁵Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our fathers, from the time of our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed the LORD our God.”

¹Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

²As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.

⁴So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

⁵Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.

⁶When they had traveled the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

⁷He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (that is the meaning of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul — also called Paul — filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at Elymas

¹⁰and said, “You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, you son of the devil and enemy of all that is right. Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?

¹¹Now, look, the Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

¹²Then, when he saw what happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and went back to Jerusalem.

¹⁴They continued their journey from Perga and reached Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, you can speak.”

¹⁶Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites, and you who fear God, listen!

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, made the people prosper during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty arm.

¹⁸And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness;

¹⁹and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.

²⁰This all took about 450 years. After this, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

²¹Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

²²After removing him, he raised up David as their king and testified about him:’ I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my will.’

²³“From this man’s descendants, as he promised, God brought to Israel the Savior, Jesus.

²⁴Before his coming to public attention, John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵Now as John was completing his mission, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the one. But one is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.’

²⁶“Brothers and sisters, children of Abraham’s race, and those among you who fear God, it is to us that the word of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷Since the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him or the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, they have fulfilled their words by condemning him.

²⁸Though they found no grounds for the death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him killed.

²⁹When they had carried out all that had been written about him, they took him down from the tree and put him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised him from the dead,

³¹and he appeared for many days to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

³²And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors.

³³God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm: You are my Son; today I have become your Father.

³⁴As to his raising him from the dead, never to return to decay, he has spoken in this way, I will give you the holy and sure promises of David.

³⁵Therefore he also says in another passage, You will not let your Holy One see decay.

³⁶For David, after serving God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and decayed,

³⁷but the one God raised up did not decay.

³⁸Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers and sisters, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you.

³⁹Everyone who believes is justified through him from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.

⁴⁰So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:

⁴¹Look, you scoffers, marvel and vanish away, because I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will never believe, even if someone were to explain it to you.”

⁴²As they were leaving, the people urged them to speak about these matters the following Sabbath.

⁴³After the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The following Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what Paul was saying, insulting him.

⁴⁶Paul and Barnabas boldly replied, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the end of the earth.”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and honored the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the prominent God-fearing women and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district.

⁵¹But Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet against them and went to Iconium.

⁵²And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.