Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.

²After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

³Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

⁴“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

⁵Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.

⁶Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

⁷So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’

⁸The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

⁹“How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?

¹¹I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.

¹²But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

¹³No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.

¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

¹⁵so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

¹⁶“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

¹⁷God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

¹⁸“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.

¹⁹And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.

²⁰All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.

²¹But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. ”

²²Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people.

²³At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism.

²⁴(This was before John was thrown into prison.)

²⁵A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over ceremonial cleansing.

²⁶So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.”

²⁷John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven.

²⁸You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’

²⁹It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success.

³⁰He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

³¹“He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else.

³²He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them!

³³Anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true.

³⁴For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.

³⁵The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands.

³⁶And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”

¹“These are the regulations you must present to Israel.

²“If you buy a Hebrew slave, he may serve for no more than six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom.

³If he was single when he became your slave, he shall leave single. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife must be freed with him.

⁴“If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave and they had sons or daughters, then only the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master.

⁵But the slave may declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I don’t want to go free.’

⁶If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will serve his master for life.

⁷“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are.

⁸If she does not satisfy her owner, he must allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her.

⁹But if the slave’s owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave but as a daughter.

¹⁰“If a man who has married a slave wife takes another wife for himself, he must not neglect the rights of the first wife to food, clothing, and sexual intimacy.

¹¹If he fails in any of these three obligations, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment.

¹²“Anyone who assaults and kills another person must be put to death.

¹³But if it was simply an accident permitted by God, I will appoint a place of refuge where the slayer can run for safety.

¹⁴However, if someone deliberately kills another person, then the slayer must be dragged even from my altar and be put to death.

¹⁵“Anyone who strikes father or mother must be put to death.

¹⁶“Kidnappers must be put to death, whether they are caught in possession of their victims or have already sold them as slaves.

¹⁷“Anyone who dishonors father or mother must be put to death.

¹⁸“Now suppose two men quarrel, and one hits the other with a stone or fist, and the injured person does not die but is confined to bed.

¹⁹If he is later able to walk outside again, even with a crutch, the assailant will not be punished but must compensate his victim for lost wages and provide for his full recovery.

²⁰“If a man beats his male or female slave with a club and the slave dies as a result, the owner must be punished.

²¹But if the slave recovers within a day or two, then the owner shall not be punished, since the slave is his property.

²²“Now suppose two men are fighting, and in the process they accidentally strike a pregnant woman so she gives birth prematurely. If no further injury results, the man who struck the woman must pay the amount of compensation the woman’s husband demands and the judges approve.

²³But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life,

²⁴an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,

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

²⁶“If a man hits his male or female slave in the eye and the eye is blinded, he must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye.

²⁷And if a man knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.

²⁸“If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its flesh may not be eaten. In such a case, however, the owner will not be held liable.

²⁹But suppose the ox had a reputation for goring, and the owner had been informed but failed to keep it under control. If the ox then kills someone, it must be stoned, and the owner must also be put to death.

³⁰However, the dead person’s relatives may accept payment to compensate for the loss of life. The owner of the ox may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded.

³¹“The same regulation applies if the ox gores a boy or a girl.

³²But if the ox gores a slave, either male or female, the animal’s owner must pay the slave’s owner thirty silver coins, and the ox must be stoned.

³³“Suppose someone digs or uncovers a pit and fails to cover it, and then an ox or a donkey falls into it.

³⁴The owner of the pit must pay full compensation to the owner of the animal, but then he gets to keep the dead animal.

³⁵“If someone’s ox injures a neighbor’s ox and the injured ox dies, then the two owners must sell the live ox and divide the price equally between them. They must also divide the dead animal.

³⁶But if the ox had a reputation for goring, yet its owner failed to keep it under control, he must pay full compensation — a live ox for the dead one — but he may keep the dead ox.

¹So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God.

²You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

³And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.

⁴For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened — those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit,

⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come —

⁶and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.

⁷When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing.

⁸But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.

⁹Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation.

¹⁰For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.

¹¹Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.

¹²Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.

¹³For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:

¹⁴“I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”

¹⁵Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.

¹⁶Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding.

¹⁷God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.

¹⁸So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.

¹⁹This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.

²⁰Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

¹Then Job spoke again:

²“Yes, I know all this is true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight?

³If someone wanted to take God to court, would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times?

⁴For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?

⁵“Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger.

⁶He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble.

⁷If he commands it, the sun won’t rise and the stars won’t shine.

⁸He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea.

⁹He made all the stars — the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky.

¹⁰He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.

¹¹“Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go.

¹²If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’

¹³And God does not restrain his anger. Even the monsters of the sea are crushed beneath his feet.

¹⁴“So who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him?

¹⁵Even if I were right, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy.

¹⁶And even if I summoned him and he responded, I’m not sure he would listen to me.

¹⁷For he attacks me with a storm and repeatedly wounds me without cause.

¹⁸He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me instead with bitter sorrows.

¹⁹If it’s a question of strength, he’s the strong one. If it’s a matter of justice, who dares to summon him to court?

²⁰Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty. Though I am blameless, it would prove me wicked.

²¹“I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me — I despise my life.

²²Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

²³When a plague sweeps through, he laughs at the death of the innocent.

²⁴The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked, and God blinds the eyes of the judges. If he’s not the one who does it, who is?

²⁵“My life passes more swiftly than a runner. It flees away without a glimpse of happiness.

²⁶It disappears like a swift papyrus boat, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

²⁷If I decided to forget my complaints, to put away my sad face and be cheerful,

²⁸I would still dread all the pain, for I know you will not find me innocent, O God.

²⁹Whatever happens, I will be found guilty. So what’s the use of trying?

³⁰Even if I were to wash myself with soap and clean my hands with lye,

³¹you would plunge me into a muddy ditch, and my own filthy clothing would hate me.

³²“God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial.

³³If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together.

³⁴The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment.

³⁵Then I could speak to him without fear, but I cannot do that in my own strength.

¹O LORD, I have come to you for protection; don’t let me be disgraced.

²Save me and rescue me, for you do what is right. Turn your ear to listen to me, and set me free.

³Be my rock of safety where I can always hide. Give the order to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

⁴My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked, from the clutches of cruel oppressors.

⁵O Lord, you alone are my hope. I’ve trusted you, O LORD, from childhood.

⁶Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!

⁷My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection.

⁸That is why I can never stop praising you; I declare your glory all day long.

⁹And now, in my old age, don’t set me aside. Don’t abandon me when my strength is failing.

¹⁰For my enemies are whispering against me. They are plotting together to kill me.

¹¹They say, “God has abandoned him. Let’s go and get him, for no one will help him now.”

¹²O God, don’t stay away. My God, please hurry to help me.

¹³Bring disgrace and destruction on my accusers. Humiliate and shame those who want to harm me.

¹⁴But I will keep on hoping for your help; I will praise you more and more.

¹⁵I will tell everyone about your righteousness. All day long I will proclaim your saving power, though I am not skilled with words.

¹⁶I will praise your mighty deeds, O Sovereign LORD. I will tell everyone that you alone are just.

¹⁷O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood, and I constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do.

¹⁸Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.

¹⁹Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens. You have done such wonderful things. Who can compare with you, O God?

²⁰You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth.

²¹You will restore me to even greater honor and comfort me once again.

²²Then I will praise you with music on the harp, because you are faithful to your promises, O my God. I will sing praises to you with a lyre, O Holy One of Israel.

²³I will shout for joy and sing your praises, for you have ransomed me.

²⁴I will tell about your righteous deeds all day long, for everyone who tried to hurt me has been shamed and humiliated.

¹Wisdom has built her house; she has carved its seven columns.

²She has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table.

³She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come. She calls out from the heights overlooking the city.

⁴“Come in with me,” she urges the simple. To those who lack good judgment, she says,

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

⁶Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live; learn to use good judgment.”

⁷Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt.

⁸So don’t bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you.

⁹Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more.

¹⁰Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.

¹¹Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life.

¹²If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit. If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.

¹³The woman named Folly is brash. She is ignorant and doesn’t know it.

¹⁴She sits in her doorway on the heights overlooking the city.

¹⁵She calls out to men going by who are minding their own business.

¹⁶“Come in with me,” she urges the simple. To those who lack good judgment, she says,

¹⁷“Stolen water is refreshing; food eaten in secret tastes the best!”

¹⁸But little do they know that the dead are there. Her guests are in the depths of the grave.

¹So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and all his other relatives joined him there.

²Then others began coming — men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented — until David was the captain of about 400 men.

³Later David went to Mizpeh in Moab, where he asked the king, “Please allow my father and mother to live here with you until I know what God is going to do for me.”

⁴So David’s parents stayed in Moab with the king during the entire time David was living in his stronghold.

⁵One day the prophet Gad told David, “Leave the stronghold and return to the land of Judah.” So David went to the forest of Hereth.

⁶The news of his arrival in Judah soon reached Saul. At the time, the king was sitting beneath the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, holding his spear and surrounded by his officers.

⁷“Listen here, you men of Benjamin!” Saul shouted to his officers when he heard the news. “Has that son of Jesse promised every one of you fields and vineyards? Has he promised to make you all generals and captains in his army?

⁸Is that why you have conspired against me? For not one of you told me when my own son made a solemn pact with the son of Jesse. You’re not even sorry for me. Think of it! My own son — encouraging him to kill me, as he is trying to do this very day!”

⁹Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing there with Saul’s men, spoke up. “When I was at Nob,” he said, “I saw the son of Jesse talking to the priest, Ahimelech son of Ahitub.

¹⁰Ahimelech consulted the LORD for him. Then he gave him food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹King Saul immediately sent for Ahimelech and all his family, who served as priests at Nob.

¹²When they arrived, Saul shouted at him, “Listen to me, you son of Ahitub!” “What is it, my king?” Ahimelech asked.

¹³“Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me?” Saul demanded. “Why did you give him food and a sword? Why have you consulted God for him? Why have you encouraged him to kill me, as he is trying to do this very day?”

¹⁴“But sir,” Ahimelech replied, “is anyone among all your servants as faithful as David, your son-in-law? Why, he is the captain of your bodyguard and a highly honored member of your household!

¹⁵This was certainly not the first time I had consulted God for him! May the king not accuse me and my family in this matter, for I knew nothing at all of any plot against you.”

¹⁶“You will surely die, Ahimelech, along with your entire family!” the king shouted.

¹⁷And he ordered his bodyguards, “Kill these priests of the LORD, for they are allies and conspirators with David! They knew he was running away from me, but they didn’t tell me!” But Saul’s men refused to kill the LORD’s priests.

¹⁸Then the king said to Doeg, “You do it.” So Doeg the Edomite turned on them and killed them that day, eighty-five priests in all, still wearing their priestly garments.

¹⁹Then he went to Nob, the town of the priests, and killed the priests’ families — men and women, children and babies — and all the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats.

²⁰Only Abiathar, one of the sons of Ahimelech, escaped and fled to David.

²¹When he told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD,

²²David exclaimed, “I knew it! When I saw Doeg the Edomite there that day, I knew he was sure to tell Saul. Now I have caused the death of all your father’s family.

²³Stay here with me, and don’t be afraid. I will protect you with my own life, for the same person wants to kill us both.”

¹“Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the LORD. “Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one just and honest person, I will not destroy the city.

²But even when they are under oath, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are still telling lies!”

³LORD, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.

⁴Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor? They are ignorant. They don’t know the ways of the LORD. They don’t understand God’s laws.

⁵So I will go and speak to their leaders. Surely they know the ways of the LORD and understand God’s laws.” But the leaders, too, as one man, had thrown off God’s yoke and broken his chains.

⁶So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many.

⁷“How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were full. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the brothels.

⁸They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.

⁹Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

¹⁰“Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines, leaving a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vines, for these people do not belong to the LORD.

¹¹The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me,” says the LORD.

¹²“They have lied about the LORD and said, ‘He won’t bother us! No disasters will come upon us. There will be no war or famine.

¹³God’s prophets are all windbags who don’t really speak for him. Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’”

¹⁴Therefore, this is what the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies says: “Because the people are talking like this, my messages will flame out of your mouth and burn the people like kindling wood.

¹⁵O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you,” says the LORD. “It is a mighty nation, an ancient nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand.

¹⁶Their weapons are deadly; their warriors are mighty.

¹⁷They will devour the food of your harvest; they will devour your sons and daughters. They will devour your flocks and herds; they will devour your grapes and figs. And they will destroy your fortified towns, which you think are so safe.

¹⁸“Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely,” says the LORD.

¹⁹“And when your people ask, ‘Why did the LORD our God do all this to us?’ you must reply, ‘You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’

²⁰“Make this announcement to Israel, and say this to Judah:

²¹Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear.

²²Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set.

²³But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me.

²⁴They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’

²⁵Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.

²⁶“Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They continually set traps to catch people.

²⁷Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And now they are great and rich.

²⁸They are fat and sleek, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse to provide justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor.

²⁹Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

³⁰A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land —

³¹the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?

¹While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers : “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

²Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question.

³The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them — much to everyone’s joy — that the Gentiles, too, were being converted.

⁴When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them.

⁵But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”

⁶So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue.

⁷At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe.

⁸God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.

⁹He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith.

¹⁰So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?

¹¹We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”

¹²Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

¹³When they had finished, James stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me.

¹⁴Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself.

¹⁵And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written:

¹⁶‘Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house of David. I will rebuild its ruins and restore it,

¹⁷so that the rest of humanity might seek the LORD, including the Gentiles — all those I have called to be mine. The LORD has spoken —

¹⁸he who made these things known so long ago.’

¹⁹“And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

²⁰Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood.

²¹For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.”

²²Then the apostles and elders together with the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders — Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas.

²³This is the letter they took with them: “This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!

²⁴“We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but we did not send them!

²⁵So we decided, having come to complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

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

²⁷We are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided concerning your question.

²⁸“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements:

²⁹You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰The messengers went at once to Antioch, where they called a general meeting of the believers and delivered the letter.

³¹And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message.

³²Then Judas and Silas, both being prophets, spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and strengthening their faith.

³³They stayed for a while, and then the believers sent them back to the church in Jerusalem with a blessing of peace.

³⁴

³⁵Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch. They and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord there.

³⁶After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.”

³⁷Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark.

³⁸But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work.

³⁹Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus.

⁴⁰Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care.

⁴¹Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.