Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²He was in the beginning with God.

³All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.

⁴In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind.

⁵And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.

⁶A man came, one sent from God, and his 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.

⁹This was the true Light that, coming into the world, enlightens every person.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not know Him.

¹¹He came to His own, and His own people did not accept Him.

¹²But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name,

¹³who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

¹⁴And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵John *testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who is coming after me has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’ ”

¹⁶For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

¹⁷For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

¹⁸No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him.

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

²⁰And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “I am not the Christ.”

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

²²Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³He said, “I am THE VOICE OF ONE CALLING OUT IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE THE WAY OF THE LORD STRAIGHT,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees.

²⁵They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶John answered them, saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.

²⁷It is He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the strap of His sandal.”

²⁸These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.

²⁹The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

³⁰This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘After me is coming a Man who has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’

³¹And I did not recognize Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing in water.”

³²And John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.

³³And I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’

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

³⁵Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,

³⁶and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

³⁷And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

³⁸And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What are you seeking?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”

³⁹He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day; it was about the tenth hour.

⁴⁰One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

⁴¹He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).

⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son ofJohn; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

⁴³The next day He decided to go to Galilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me.”

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

⁴⁵Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and the prophets also wrote: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!”

⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good be from Nazareth?” Philip *said to him, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!”

⁴⁸Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

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

⁵⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

⁵¹And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

¹In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

²When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain.

³And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel:

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

⁵Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;

⁶and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

⁷So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the LORD had commanded him.

⁸Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

⁹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also trust in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.

¹⁰The LORD also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their garments;

¹¹and have them ready for the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

¹²But you shall set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall certainly be put to death.

¹³No hand shall touch him, but he shall certainly be stoned or shot through; whether animal or person, the violator shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

¹⁴So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments.

¹⁵He also said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

¹⁶So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud over the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

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

¹⁸Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the entire mountain quaked violently.

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

²⁰Then the LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses: “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the LORD to stare, and many of them perish.

²²Also have the priests who approach the LORD consecrate themselves, or else the LORD will break out against them.”

²³And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set boundaries around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ”

²⁴Then the LORD said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break out against them.”

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

¹Therefore, we must fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

²For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also did; but the word they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united with those who listened with faith.

³For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “AS I SWORE IN MY ANGER, THEY CERTAINLY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.

⁴For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS”;

⁵and again in this passage, “THEY CERTAINLY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.”

⁶Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who previously had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience,

⁷He again sets a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.”

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.

⁹Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

¹⁰For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

¹¹Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience.

¹²For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

¹³And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we must answer.

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

¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.

¹⁶Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.

¹“Is a person not forced to labor on earth, And are his days not like the days of a hired worker?

²As a slave pants for the shade, And as a hired worker who eagerly waits for his wages,

³So I am allotted worthless months, And nights of trouble are apportioned to me.

⁴When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ But the night continues, And I am continually tossing until dawn.

⁵My flesh is clothed with maggots and a crust of dirt, My skin hardens and oozes.

⁶My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And they come to an end without hope.

⁷“Remember that my life is a mere breath; My eye will not see goodness again.

⁸The eye of him who sees me will no longer look at me; Your eyes will be on me, but I will not exist.

⁹When a cloud vanishes, it is gone; In the same way one who goes down to Sheol does not come up.

¹⁰He will not return to his house again, Nor will his place know about him anymore.

¹¹“Therefore 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 the sea monster, That You set a guard over me?

¹³If I say, ‘My couch will comfort me, My bed will ease my complaint,’

¹⁴Then You frighten me with dreams, And terrify me by visions,

¹⁵So that my soul would choose suffocation, Death rather than my pains.

¹⁶I waste away; I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are only a breath.

¹⁷What is man that You exalt him, And that You are concerned about him,

¹⁸That You examine him every morning And put him to the test every moment?

¹⁹Will You never turn Your gaze away from me, Nor leave me alone until I swallow my spittle?

²⁰Have I sinned? What have I done to You, Watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, So that I am a burden to myself?

²¹Why then do You not forgive my wrongdoing And take away my guilt? For now I will lie down in the dust; And You will search for me, but I will no longer exist.”

¹Save me, God, For the waters have threatened my life.

²I have sunk in deep mud, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.

³I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

⁴Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; Those who would destroy me are powerful, those who oppose me with lies; What I did not steal, I then have to restore.

⁵God, You know my foolishness, And my guilt is not hidden from You.

⁶May those who wait for You not be ashamed because of me, Lord GOD of armies; May those who seek You not be dishonored because of me, God of Israel,

⁷Because for Your sake I have endured disgrace; Dishonor has covered my face.

⁸I have become estranged from my brothers, And a stranger to my mother’s sons.

⁹For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the taunts of those who taunt You have fallen on me.

¹⁰When I wept in my soul with fasting, It became my disgrace.

¹¹When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a proverb to them.

¹²Those who sit in the gate talk about me, And songs of mockery by those habitually drunk are about me.

¹³But as for me, my prayer is to You, LORD, at an acceptable time; God, in the greatness of Your mercy, Answer me with Your saving truth.

¹⁴Rescue me from the mud and do not let me sink; May I be rescued from those who hate me, and from the depths of water.

¹⁵May the flood of water not overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit close its mouth on me.

¹⁶Answer me, LORD, for Your mercy is good; According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me,

¹⁷And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in distress; answer me quickly.

¹⁸Come near to my soul and redeem it; Ransom me because of my enemies!

¹⁹You know my disgrace, my shame, and my dishonor; All my enemies are known to You.

²⁰Disgrace has broken my heart, and I am so sick. And I waited for sympathy, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.

²¹They also gave me a bitter herb in my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

²²May their table before them become a snare; And when they are at peace, may it become a trap.

²³May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see, And make their hips shake continually.

²⁴Pour out Your indignation on them, And may Your burning anger overtake them.

²⁵May their camp be desolated; May there be none living in their tents.

²⁶For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself struck, And they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded.

²⁷Add guilt to their guilt, And may they not come into Your righteousness.

²⁸May they be wiped out of the book of life, And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

²⁹But I am afflicted and in pain; May Your salvation, God, set me safely on high.

³⁰I will praise the name of God with song, And exalt Him with thanksgiving.

³¹And it will please the LORD better than an ox Or bull with horns and hoofs.

³²The humble have seen it and are glad; You who seek God, let your heart revive.

³³For the LORD hears the needy, And does not despise those of His who are prisoners.

³⁴Heaven and earth shall praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them.

³⁵For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, So that they may 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, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you.

²Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye.

³Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your intimate friend,

⁵So that they may keep you from an adulteress, From the foreigner who flatters with her words.

⁶For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice,

⁷And I saw among the naive, And discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense,

⁸Passing through the street near her corner; And he walks along the way to her house,

⁹In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and the darkness.

¹⁰And behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a prostitute and cunning of heart.

¹¹She is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not remain at home;

¹²She is now in the streets, now in the public squares, And lurks by every corner.

¹³So she seizes him and kisses him, And with a brazen face she says to him:

¹⁴“I was due to offer peace offerings; Today I have paid my vows.

¹⁵Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence diligently, and I have found you.

¹⁶I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt.

¹⁷I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning; Let’s delight ourselves with caresses.

¹⁹For my husband is not at home; He has gone on a long journey.

²⁰He has taken a bag of money with him. At the full moon he will come home.”

²¹With her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him.

²²Suddenly he follows her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as one walks in ankle bracelets to the discipline of a fool,

²³Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hurries to the snare, So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths.

²⁶For many are the victims she has brought to ruin, And numerous are all those slaughtered by her.

²⁷Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death.

¹Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and he came and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?”

²He said to him, “Far from it, you shall not die! Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without informing me. So why would my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!”

³Yet David vowed again, saying, “Your father is well aware that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Jonathan is not to know this, otherwise he will be worried.’ But indeed as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is just a step between me and death.”

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

⁵So David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I am obligated to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go so that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening.

⁶If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly requested leave of me to run to Bethlehem, his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.’

⁷If he says, ‘That is good,’ your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, be aware that he has decided on evil.

⁸So deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if I am guilty of wrongdoing, kill me yourself; for why then should you bring me to your father?”

⁹Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I in fact learn that my father has decided to inflict harm on you, would I not inform you?”

¹⁰Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will inform me if your father answers you harshly?”

¹¹Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let’s go out to the field.” So both of them went out to the field.

¹²Then Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, is my witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow or the third day, behold, if he has a good feeling toward you, shall I not then send word to you and inform you?

¹³If it pleases my father to do you harm, may the LORD do so to me and more so, if I fail to inform you and send you away, so that you may go in safety. And may the LORD be with you as He has been with my father.

¹⁴And if I am still alive, will you not show me the faithfulness of the LORD, so that I do not die?

¹⁵And you shall never cut off your loyalty to my house, not even when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”

¹⁶So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD demand it from the hands of David’s enemies.”

¹⁷And Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because he loved him as he loved his own life.

¹⁸Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed since your seat will be empty.

¹⁹When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day, and you shall remain beside the stone Ezel.

²⁰And I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target.

²¹Then behold, I will send the boy, telling him, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the boy, ‘Behold, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come, because it is safe for you and there is nothing to harm you, as the LORD lives.

²²But if I say to the youth, ‘Behold, the arrows are beyond you,’ go, because the LORD has sent you away.

²³As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.”

²⁴So David hid himself in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.

²⁵Now the king sat on his seat as usual, the seat by the wall; then Jonathan stood up and Abner sat down by Saul’s side; but David’s place was empty.

²⁶Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, because he thought, “It must have been an accident; he is not clean, undoubtedly he is not clean.”

²⁷But it came about the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty again; so Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”

²⁸And Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly requested leave of me to go to Bethlehem.

²⁹He said, ‘Please let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has ordered me to attend. So now, if I have found favor in your sight, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”

³⁰Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?

³¹For, as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now then, send men and bring him to me, for he is doomed to die!”

³²But Jonathan replied to his father Saul and said to him, “Why must he be put to death? What has he done?”

³³Then Saul hurled his spear at him to strike and kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father had decided to put David to death.

³⁴Then Jonathan got up from the table in the heat of anger, and did not eat food on the second day of the new moon, because he was worried about David since his father had insulted him.

³⁵Now it came about in the morning that Jonathan went out to the field at the time agreed upon with David, and a little boy was with him.

³⁶He said to his boy, “Run, find now the arrows which I am about to shoot.” The boy ran, and he shot an arrow past him.

³⁷When the boy reached the location of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is the arrow not beyond you?”

³⁸Then Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” And Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrow and came to his master.

³⁹But the boy was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter.

⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, bring them to the city.”

⁴¹When the boy was gone, David got up from the south side, then he fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, until David wept immeasurably.

⁴²Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in safety, since we have sworn to each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD will be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’ ” So David set out and went on his way, while Jonathan went into the city.

¹God says, “If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man’s wife, Will he return to her again? Would that land not be completely defiled? But you are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares the LORD.

²“Raise your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? You have sat for them by the roads Like an Arab in the desert, And you have defiled a land With your prostitution and your wickedness.

³Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a prostitute’s forehead; You refused to be ashamed.

⁴Have you not just now called to Me, ‘My Father, You are the friend of my youth?

⁵Will He be angry forever, Or keep His anger to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken And have done evil things, And you have had your own way.”

⁶Then the LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there.

⁷Yet I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

⁸And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also.

⁹And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.

¹⁰Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the LORD.

¹¹And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah.

¹²Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not look at you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not be angry forever.

¹³Only acknowledge your wrongdoing, That you have revolted against the LORD your God, And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every leafy tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the LORD.

¹⁴‘Return, you faithless sons,’ declares the LORD; ‘For I am a master to you, And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, And bring you to Zion.’

¹⁵“Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you knowledge and understanding.

¹⁶And it shall be in those days when you become numerous and are fruitful in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor miss it, nor will it be made again.

¹⁷At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the LORD,’ and all the nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; and they will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil heart.

¹⁸In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

¹⁹“Then I said, ‘How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.’

²⁰However, as a woman treacherously leaves her lover, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, House of Israel,” declares the LORD.

²¹A voice is heard on the bare heights, The weeping, the pleading of the sons of Israel. Because they have perverted their way, They have forgotten the LORD their God.

²²“Return, you faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to You; For You are the LORD our God.

²³Certainly the hills are a deception, Commotion on the mountains. Certainly in the LORD our God Is the salvation of Israel.

²⁴“But the shame has consumed the product of our fathers’ labor since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

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

¹Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

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

³Then, when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

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

⁵When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.

⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

⁷who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him,

¹⁰and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

¹¹Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

¹²Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁴But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue officials sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

¹⁶Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it.

¹⁸For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.

¹⁹When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about 450 years.

²⁰After these things 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 He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

²³From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

²⁴after John had proclaimed, before His coming, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the declarations of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him.

²⁸And though they found no grounds for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed.

²⁹When they had carried out everything that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised Him from the dead;

³¹and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people.

³²And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,

³³that God has fulfilled this promise to those of us who are the descendants by raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE FATHERED YOU.’

³⁴As for the fact that He raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and faithful mercies of DAVID.’

³⁵Therefore, He also says in another Psalm: ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’

³⁶For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, and was buried among his fathers and underwent decay;

³⁷but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.

³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

³⁹and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

⁴⁰Therefore, see that the thing spoken of in the Prophets does not come upon you:

⁴¹‘LOOK, YOU SCOFFERS, AND BE ASTONISHED, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’ ”

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people repeatedly begged to have these things spoken to them the next Sabbath.

⁴³Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The next Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.

⁴⁶Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE APPOINTED YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’ ”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.

⁵¹But they shook off the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

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