Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;

²this man came to Jesus at night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

³Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is bornagain he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

⁴Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?”

⁵Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

⁶That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.

⁷Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be bornagain.’

⁸The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”

⁹Nicodemus responded and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

¹⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

¹¹Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you people do not accept our testimony.

¹²If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

¹³No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.

¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

¹⁵so that everyone whobelieves will have eternal life in Him.

¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

¹⁷For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.

¹⁸The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil.

²⁰For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed.

²¹But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealedas having been performed in God.”

²²After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea; and there He was spending time with them and baptizing.

²³Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and being baptized—

²⁴for John had not yet been thrown into prison.

²⁵Then a matter of dispute developed on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification.

²⁶And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing and all the people are coming to Him.”

²⁷John replied, “A person can receive not even one thing unless it has been given to him from heaven.

²⁸You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’

²⁹He who has the bride is the groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.

³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.

³¹“He who comes from above is above all; the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.

³²What He has seen and heard, of this He testifies; and no one accepts His testimony.

³³The one who has accepted His testimony has certified that God is true.

³⁴For He whom God sent speaks the words of God; for He does not give the Spirit sparingly.

³⁵The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand.

³⁶The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

¹“Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them:

²“If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall leave as a free man without a payment to you.

³If he comes alone, he shall leave alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall leave with him.

⁴If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave alone.

⁵But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’

⁶then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.

⁷“Now if a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to go free as the male slaves do.

⁸If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He does not have authority to sell her to a foreign people, because of his unfairness to her.

⁹And if he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters.

¹⁰If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights.

¹¹But if he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go free for nothing, without payment of money.

¹²“He who strikes someone so that he dies shall certainly be put to death.

¹³Yet if he did not lie in wait for him, but God caused him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee.

¹⁴If, however, someone is enraged against his neighbor, so as to kill him in a cunning way, you are to take him even from My altar, to be put to death.

¹⁵“And one who strikes his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death.

¹⁶“Now one who kidnaps someone, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall certainly be put to death.

¹⁷“And one who curses his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death.

¹⁸“Now if people have a quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with a fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed,

¹⁹if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his loss of time, and shall pay for his care until he is completely healed.

²⁰“And if someone strikes his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies at his hand, he shall be punished.

²¹If, however, the slave survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; for the slave is his property.

²²“Now if people struggle with each other and strike a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, but there is no injury, the guilty person shall certainly be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide.

²³But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life,

²⁴eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

²⁵burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

²⁶“And if someone strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free on account of the eye.

²⁷And if he knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let the slave go free on account of the tooth.

²⁸“Now if an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall certainly be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished.

²⁹If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.

³⁰If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him.

³¹Whether it gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule.

³²If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

³³“Now if someone opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

³⁴the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.

³⁵“And if someone’s ox injures another’s ox so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its proceeds equally; and they shall also divide the dead ox.

³⁶Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not confined it, he must make restitution of ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his.

¹Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

²of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and about the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

³And this we will do, if God permits.

⁴For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,

⁵and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,

⁶and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

⁷For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;

⁸but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.

⁹But, beloved, we are convinced of better things regarding you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we are speaking in this way.

¹⁰For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, by having served and by still serving the saints.

¹¹And we desire that each one of you demonstrate the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,

¹²so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises.

¹³For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear an oath by no one greater, He swore by Himself,

¹⁴saying, “INDEED I WILL GREATLY BLESS YOU AND I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY YOU.”

¹⁵And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.

¹⁶For people swear an oath by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath serving as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

¹⁷In the same way God, desiring even more to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the fact that His purpose is unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath,

¹⁸so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to hold firmly to the hope set before us.

¹⁹This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable and one which enters within the veil,

²⁰where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

¹Then Job responded,

²“In truth I know that this is so; But how can a person be in the right with God?

³If one wished to dispute with Him, He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

⁴Wise in heart and mighty in strength, Who has defied Him without harm?

⁵It is God who removes the mountains, and they do not know how, When He overturns them in His anger.

⁶It is He who shakes the earth from its place, And its pillars tremble;

⁷Who commands the sun not to shine, And puts a seal on the stars;

⁸Who alone stretches out the heavens, And tramples down the waves of the sea;

⁹Who makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the constellations of the south.

¹⁰It is He who does great things, the unfathomable, And wondrous works without number.

¹¹If He were to pass by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.

¹²If He were to snatch away, who could restrain Him? Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

¹³“God will not turn back His anger; Beneath Him the helpers of Rahab cower.

¹⁴How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him?

¹⁵For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my Judge.

¹⁶If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

¹⁷For He bruises me with a storm And multiplies my wounds without cause.

¹⁸He will not allow me to get my breath, But He saturates me with bitterness.

¹⁹If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?

²⁰Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.

²¹I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I reject my life.

²²It is all one; therefore I say, ‘He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’

²³If the whip kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent.

²⁴The earth is handed over to the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?

²⁵“Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good.

²⁶They slip by like reed boats, Like an eagle that swoops on its prey.

²⁷Though I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put my face in order and be cheerful,’

²⁸I am afraid of all my pains, I know that You will not acquit me.

²⁹I am guilty, Why then should I struggle in vain?

³⁰If I washed myself with snow, And cleansed my hands with lye,

³¹Then You would plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes would loathe me.

³²For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him— That we may go to court together!

³³There is no arbitrator between us, Who can place his hand upon us both.

³⁴Let Him remove His rod from me, And let not the dread of Him terrify me.

³⁵Then I would speak and not fear Him; But I am not like that in myself.

¹In You, LORD, I have taken refuge; Let me never be put to shame.

²In Your righteousness rescue me and save me; Extend Your ear to me and help me.

³Be to me a rock of dwelling to which I may continually come; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.

⁴Save me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, From the grasp of the wrongdoer and the ruthless,

⁵For You are my hope; Lord GOD, You are my confidence from my youth.

⁶I have leaned on you since my birth; You are He who took me from my mother’s womb; My praise is continually of You.

⁷I have become a marvel to many, For You are my strong refuge.

⁸My mouth is filled with Your praise And with Your glory all day long.

⁹Do not cast me away at the time of my old age; Do not abandon me when my strength fails.

¹⁰For my enemies have spoken against me; And those who watch for my life have consulted together,

¹¹Saying, “God has abandoned him; Pursue and seize him, for there is no one to save him.”

¹²God, do not be far from me; My God, hurry to my aid!

¹³May those who are enemies of my soul be put to shame and consumed; May they be covered with disgrace and dishonor, who seek to injure me.

¹⁴But as for me, I will wait continually, And will praise You yet more and more.

¹⁵My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And of Your salvation all day long; For I do not know the art of writing.

¹⁶I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.

¹⁷God, You have taught me from my youth, And I still declare Your wondrous deeds.

¹⁸And even when I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come.

¹⁹For Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; God, who is like You?

²⁰You who have shown me many troubles and distresses Will revive me again, And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

²¹May You increase my greatness And turn to comfort me.

²²I will also praise You with a harp, And Your truth, my God; I will sing praises to You with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

²³My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You; And my soul, which You have redeemed.

²⁴My tongue also will tell of Your righteousness all day long; For they are put to shame, for they are humiliated who seek my harm.

¹Wisdom has built her house, She has carved out her seven pillars;

²She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; She has also set her table;

³She has sent out her attendants, she calls out From the tops of the heights of the city:

⁴“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks understanding she says,

⁵“Come, eat of my food And drink of the wine I have mixed.

⁶Abandon your foolishness and live, And proceed in the way of understanding.”

⁷One who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And one who rebukes a wicked person gets insults for himself.

⁸Do not rebuke a scoffer, or he will hate you; Rebuke a wise person and he will love you.

⁹Give instruction to a wise person and he will become still wiser; Teach a righteous person and he will increase his insight.

¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will suffer from it.

¹³A woman of foolishness is boisterous, She has a lack of understanding and knows nothing.

¹⁴She sits at the doorway of her house, On a seat by the high places of the city,

¹⁵Calling to those who pass by, Who are going straight on their paths:

¹⁶“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,” And to him who lacks understanding she says,

¹⁷“Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

¹⁸But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

¹So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard about it, they went down there to him.

²Then everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.

³And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.”

⁴Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

⁵But Gad the prophet said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; leave, and go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went into the forest of Hereth.

⁶Then Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing in front of him.

⁷Saul said to his servants who were standing in front of him, “Hear now, you Benjaminites! Will the son of Jesse really give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?

⁸For all of you have conspired against me so that there is no one who informs me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who cares about me or informs me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in ambush, as it is this day.”

⁹Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing in front of the servants of Saul, responded and said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.

¹⁰And he inquired of the LORD for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹Then the king sent a messenger to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s household, the priests who were in Nob; and all of them came to the king.

¹²Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” And he replied, “Here I am, my lord.”

¹³Saul then said to him, “Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, so that he would rise up against me by lying in ambush as it is this day?”

¹⁴Then Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, the king’s own son-in-law, who is commander over your bodyguard, and is honored in your house?

¹⁵Did I just begin to inquire of God for him today? Far be it from me! Do not let the king impute anything against his servant or against any of the household of my father, because your servant knows nothing at all of this whole affair.”

¹⁶But the king said, “You shall certainly die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s household!”

¹⁷And the king said to the guards who were attending him, “Turn around and put the priests of the LORD to death, because their hand also is with David and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not inform me.” But the servants of the king were unwilling to reach out with their hands to attack the priests of the LORD.

¹⁸Then the king said to Doeg, “You, turn around and attack the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.

¹⁹He also struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; he also struck oxen, donkeys, and sheep with the edge of the sword.

²⁰But one son of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to David.

²¹Abiathar informed David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD.

²²Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul. I myself have turned against every person in your father’s household.

²³Stay with me; do not be afraid, even though he who is seeking my life is seeking your life. For you are safe with me.”

¹“Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem, And look and take notice. And seek in her public squares, If you can find a person, If there is one who does justice, who seeks honesty, Then I will forgive her.

²And although they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ Certainly they swear falsely.”

³LORD, do Your eyes not look for honesty? You have struck them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.

⁴Then I said, “They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the judgment of their God.

⁵I will go to the great And speak to them, For they know the way of the LORD And the judgment of their God.” But together they too have broken the yoke And burst the restraints.

⁶Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them, A wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, Because their wrongdoings are many, Their apostasies are numerous.

⁷“Why should I forgive you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And stayed at the prostitute’s house.

⁸They were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing at his neighbor’s wife.

⁹Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD, “And shall I not avenge Myself On a nation such as this?

¹⁰“Go up through her vine rows and destroy, But do not execute a complete destruction; Strip away her branches, For they are not the LORD’S.

¹¹For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the LORD.

¹²They have lied about the LORD And said, “Not He; Misfortune will not come upon us, Nor will we see sword or famine.

¹³The prophets are as wind, And the word is not in them. So it will be done to them!”

¹⁴Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of armies says: “Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words fire in your mouth, And this people wood, and it will consume them.

¹⁵Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from far away, you house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an enduring nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.

¹⁶Their quiver is like an open grave, All of them are warriors.

¹⁷They will devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your vines and your fig trees; They will demolish your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.

¹⁸“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a complete destruction of you.

¹⁹And it shall come about when they say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Just as you have abandoned Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

²⁰“Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying,

²¹‘Now hear this, you foolish and senseless people, Who have eyes but do not see, Who have ears but do not hear.

²²Do you not fear Me?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal limit, and it will not cross over it. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; Though they roar, they will not cross over it.

²³But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed.

²⁴They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest.”

²⁵Your wrongdoings have turned these away, And your sins have kept good away from you.

²⁶For wicked people are found among My people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch people.

²⁷Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich.

²⁸They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, so that they may be successful; And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

²⁹Shall I not punish them for these things?’ declares the LORD, ‘Or shall I not avenge Myself On a nation such as this?’

³⁰“An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land:

³¹The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it this way! But what will you do when the end comes?

¹Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

²And after Paul and Barnabas had a heated argument and debate with them, the brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue.

³Therefore, after being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they were bringing great joy to all the brothers and sisters.

⁴When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.

⁵But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to keep the Law of Moses.”

⁶The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.

⁷After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.

⁸And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;

⁹and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.

¹⁰Since this is the case, why are you putting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear?

¹¹But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹²All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.

¹³After they stopped speaking, James responded, saying, “Brothers, listen to me.

¹⁴Simeon has described how God first concerned Himself about taking a people for His name from among the Gentiles.

¹⁵The words of the Prophets agree with this, just as it is written:

¹⁶‘AFTER THESE THINGS I will return, AND I WILL REBUILD THE FALLEN TABERNACLE OF DAVID, AND I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL RESTORE IT,

¹⁷SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD, AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME,’

¹⁸SAYS THE LORD, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS known from long ago.

¹⁹Therefore, it is my judgment that we do not cause trouble for those from the Gentiles who are turning to God,

²⁰but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols, from acts of sexual immorality, from what has been strangled, and from blood.

²¹For from ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²²Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

²³and they sent this letter with them: “The apostles and the brothers who are elders, to the brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles: Greetings.

²⁴Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have confused you by their teaching, upsetting your souls,

²⁵it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

²⁶men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁷Therefore, we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth.

²⁸For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:

²⁹that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from acts of sexual immorality; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰So when they were sent away, they went down to Antioch; and after gathering the congregation together, they delivered the letter.

³¹When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.

³²Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers and sisters with a lengthy message.

³³After they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers and sisters in peace to those who had sent them out.

³⁴

³⁵But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

³⁶After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the brothers and sisters in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”

³⁷Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also.

³⁸But Paul was of the opinion that they should not take along with them this man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.

³⁹Now it turned into such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

⁴⁰But Paul chose Silas, and left after being entrusted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

⁴¹And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.