Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.

²Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples.

³So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

⁴Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who is it that you’re seeking?”

⁵“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “I am he,” Jesus told them. Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them.

⁶When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.

⁷Then he asked them again, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

⁸“I told you I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you’re looking for me, let these men go.”

⁹This was to fulfill the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.”

¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

¹¹At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”

¹²Then the company of soldiers, the commander, and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus and tied him up.

¹³First they led him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.

¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be better for one man to die for the people.

¹⁵Simon Peter was following Jesus, as was another disciple. That disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest; so he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard.

¹⁶But Peter remained standing outside by the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the girl who was the doorkeeper and brought Peter in.

¹⁷Then the servant girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” “I am not.” he said.

¹⁸Now the servants and the officials had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold. They were standing there warming themselves, and Peter was standing with them, warming himself.

¹⁹The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.

²⁰“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered him. “I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews congregate, and I haven’t spoken anything in secret.

²¹Why do you question me? Question those who heard what I told them. Look, they know what I said.”

²²When he had said these things, one of the officials standing by slapped Jesus, saying, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?”

²³“If I have spoken wrongly,” Jesus answered him, “give evidence about the wrong; but if rightly, why do you hit me?”

²⁴Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

²⁵Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”

²⁶One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?”

²⁷Peter denied it again. Immediately a rooster crowed.

²⁸Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.

²⁹So Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?”

³⁰They answered him, “If this man weren’t a criminal, we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.”

³¹Pilate told them, “You take him and judge him according to your law.” “It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death,” the Jews declared.

³²They said this so that Jesus’s words might be fulfilled indicating what kind of death he was going to die.

³³Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

³⁴Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?”

³⁵“I’m not a Jew, am I?” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

³⁶“My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

³⁷“You are a king then?” Pilate asked. “You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

³⁸“What is truth?” said Pilate. After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds for charging him.

³⁹You have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So, do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

⁴⁰They shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

¹Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the skilled people are to work based on everything the LORD has commanded. The LORD has given them wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work of constructing the sanctuary.”

²So Moses summoned Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person in whose heart the LORD had placed wisdom, all whose hearts moved them, to come to the work and do it.

³They took from Moses’s presence all the contributions that the Israelites had brought for the task of making the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning.

⁴Then all the artisans who were doing all the work for the sanctuary came one by one from the work they were doing

⁵and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than is needed for the construction of the work the LORD commanded to be done.”

⁶After Moses gave an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: “Let no man or woman make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people stopped.

⁷The materials were sufficient for them to do all the work. There was more than enough.

⁸All the skilled artisans among those doing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains. Bezalel made them of finely spun linen, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with a design of cherubim worked into them.

⁹Each curtain was forty-two feet long and six feet wide; all the curtains had the same measurements.

¹⁰He joined five of the curtains to each other, and the other five curtains he joined to each other.

¹¹He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the last curtain in the first set and did the same on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set.

¹²He made fifty loops on the one curtain and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain in the second set, so that the loops lined up with each other.

¹³He also made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains to each other, so that the tabernacle became a single unit.

¹⁴He made curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven of them.

¹⁵Each curtain was forty-five feet long and six feet wide. All eleven curtains had the same measurements.

¹⁶He joined five of the curtains together, and the other six together.

¹⁷He made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set and fifty loops on the edge of the corresponding curtain in the second set.

¹⁸He made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together as a single unit.

¹⁹He also made a covering for the tent from ram skins dyed red and a covering of fine leather on top of it.

²⁰He made upright supports of acacia wood for the tabernacle.

²¹Each support was fifteen feet long and twenty-seven inches wide.

²²Each support had two tenons for joining one to another. He did the same for all the supports of the tabernacle.

²³He made supports for the tabernacle as follows: twenty for the south side,

²⁴and he made forty silver bases to put under the twenty supports, two bases under the first support for its two tenons, and two bases under each of the following supports for their two tenons;

²⁵for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty supports,

²⁶with their forty silver bases, two bases under the first support and two bases under each of the following ones;

²⁷and for the back of the tabernacle, on the west side, he made six supports.

²⁸He also made two additional supports for the two back corners of the tabernacle.

²⁹They were paired at the bottom and joined together at the top in a single ring. This is what he did with both of them for the two corners.

³⁰So there were eight supports with their sixteen silver bases, two bases under each one.

³¹He made five crossbars of acacia wood for the supports on one side of the tabernacle,

³²five crossbars for the supports on the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for those at the back of the tabernacle on the west.

³³He made the central crossbar run through the middle of the supports from one end to the other.

³⁴He overlaid them with gold and made their rings out of gold as holders for the crossbars. He also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

³⁵Then he made the curtain with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. He made it with a design of cherubim worked into it.

³⁶He made four pillars of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were of gold. And he cast four silver bases for the pillars.

³⁷He made a screen embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen for the entrance to the tent,

³⁸together with its five pillars and their hooks. He overlaid the tops of the pillars and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze.

¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,

²because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

³What the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering,

⁴in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit.

⁶Now the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace.

⁷The mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it is unable to do so.

⁸Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.

¹⁰Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

¹¹And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.

¹²So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh,

¹³because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁴For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons.

¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”

¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,

¹⁷and if children, also heirs  — heirs of God and coheirs with Christ — if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

¹⁸For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

¹⁹For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.

²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility  — not willingly, but because of him who subjected it  — in the hope

²¹that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.

²²For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.

²³Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits  — we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

²⁴Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?

²⁵Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.

²⁶In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings.

²⁷And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

²⁸We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

²⁹For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

³⁰And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

³¹What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

³²He did not even spare his own Son but offered him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?

³³Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.

³⁴Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.

³⁵Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

³⁶As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

³⁸For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

³⁹nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹Remind them to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,

²to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people.

³For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.

⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,

⁵he saved us  —not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy  — through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

⁶He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior

⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.

⁸This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone.

⁹But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless.

¹⁰Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning.

¹¹For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned.

¹²When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me in Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there.

¹³Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they will lack nothing.

¹⁴Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

¹⁵All those who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you.

¹Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why do those who know him never see his days?

²The wicked displace boundary markers. They steal a flock and provide pasture for it.

³They drive away the donkeys owned by the fatherless and take the widow’s ox as collateral.

⁴They push the needy off the road; the poor of the land are forced into hiding.

⁵Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, the poor go out to their task of foraging for food; the desert provides nourishment for their children.

⁶They gather their fodder in the field and glean the vineyards of the wicked.

⁷Without clothing, they spend the night naked, having no covering against the cold.

⁸Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks, shelterless.

⁹The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.

¹⁰Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry sheaves but go hungry.

¹¹They crush olives in their presses; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.

¹²From the city, men groan; the mortally wounded cry for help, yet God pays no attention to this crime.

¹³The wicked are those who rebel against the light. They do not recognize its ways or stay on its paths.

¹⁴The murderer rises at dawn to kill the poor and needy, and by night he becomes a thief.

¹⁵The adulterer’s eye watches for twilight, thinking, “No eye will see me,” and he covers his face.

¹⁶In the dark they break into houses; by day they lock themselves in, never experiencing the light.

¹⁷For the morning is like darkness to them. Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!

¹⁸They float on the surface of the water. Their section of the land is cursed, so that they never go to their vineyards.

¹⁹As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

²⁰The womb forgets them; worms feed on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree.

²¹They prey on the childless woman who is unable to conceive, and do not deal kindly with the widow.

²²Yet God drags away the mighty by his power; when he rises up, they have no assurance of life.

²³He gives them a sense of security, so they can rely on it, but his eyes watch over their ways.

²⁴They are exalted for a moment, then gone; they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else. They wither like heads of grain.

²⁵If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar and show that my speech is worthless?

¹A prayer of David. [1] Listen, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

²Protect my life, for I am faithful. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you.

³Be gracious to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.

⁴Bring joy to your servant’s life, because I appeal to you, Lord.

⁵For you, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive, abounding in faithful love to all who call on you.

⁶LORD, hear my prayer; listen to my plea for mercy.

⁷I call on you in the day of my distress, for you will answer me.

⁸Lord, there is no one like you among the gods, and there are no works like yours.

⁹All the nations you have made will come and bow down before you, Lord, and will honor your name.

¹⁰For you are great and perform wonders; you alone are God.

¹¹Teach me your way, LORD, and I will live by your truth. Give me an undivided mind to fear your name.

¹²I will praise you with all my heart, Lord my God, and will honor your name forever.

¹³For your faithful love for me is great, and you rescue my life from the depths of Sheol.

¹⁴God, arrogant people have attacked me; a gang of ruthless men intends to kill me. They do not let you guide them.

¹⁵But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth.

¹⁶Turn to me and be gracious to me. Give your strength to your servant; save the son of your female servant.

¹⁷Show me a sign of your goodness; my enemies will see and be put to shame because you, LORD, have helped and comforted me.

¹Don’t envy the evil or desire to be with them,

²for their hearts plan violence, and their words stir up trouble.

³A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding;

⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure.

⁵A wise warrior is better than a strong one, and a man of knowledge than one of strength;

⁶for you should wage war with sound guidance — victory comes with many counselors.

⁷Wisdom is inaccessible to a fool; he does not open his mouth at the city gate.

⁸The one who plots evil will be called a schemer.

⁹A foolish scheme is sin, and a mocker is detestable to people.

¹⁰If you do nothing in a difficult time, your strength is limited.

¹¹Rescue those being taken off to death, and save those stumbling toward slaughter.

¹²If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,” won’t he who weighs hearts consider it? Won’t he who protects your life know? Won’t he repay a person according to his work?

¹³Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your palate;

¹⁴realize that wisdom is the same for you. If you find it, you will have a future, and your hope will never fade.

¹⁵Don’t set an ambush, you wicked one, at the camp of the righteous man; don’t destroy his dwelling.

¹⁶Though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin.

¹⁷Don’t gloat when your enemy falls, and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

¹⁸or the LORD will see, be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him.

¹⁹Don’t be agitated by evildoers, and don’t envy the wicked.

²⁰For the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹My son, fear the LORD, as well as the king, and don’t associate with rebels,

²²for destruction will come suddenly from them; who knows what distress these two can bring?

²³These sayings also belong to the wise: It is not good to show partiality in judgment.

²⁴Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”  — peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a generous blessing will come to them.

²⁶He who gives an honest answer gives a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Complete your outdoor work, and prepare your field; afterward, build your house.

²⁸Don’t testify against your neighbor without cause. Don’t deceive with your lips.

²⁹Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me; I’ll repay the man for what he has done.”

³⁰I went by the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of one lacking sense.

³¹Thistles had come up everywhere, weeds covered the ground, and the stone wall was ruined.

³²I saw, and took it to heart; I looked, and received instruction:

³³a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest,

³⁴and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need, like a bandit.

¹David again assembled all the fit young men in Israel: thirty thousand.

²He and all his troops set out to bring the ark of God from Baale-judah. The ark bears the Name, the name of the LORD of Armies who is enthroned between the cherubim.

³They set the ark of God on a new cart and transported it from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart

⁴and brought it with the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on the hill. Ahio walked in front of the ark.

⁵David and the whole house of Israel were dancing before the LORD with all kinds of fir wood instruments, lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

⁶When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it because the oxen had stumbled.

⁷Then the LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there next to the ark of God.

⁸David was angry because of the LORD’s outburst against Uzzah, so he named that place Outburst Against Uzzah, as it is today.

⁹David feared the LORD that day and said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?”

¹⁰So he was not willing to bring the ark of the LORD to the city of David; instead, he diverted it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath.

¹¹The ark of the LORD remained in his house three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and his whole family.

¹²It was reported to King David: “The LORD has blessed Obed-edom’s family and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God.” So David went and had the ark of God brought up from Obed-edom’s house to the city of David with rejoicing.

¹³When those carrying the ark of the LORD advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

¹⁴David was dancing with all his might before the LORD wearing a linen ephod.

¹⁵He and the whole house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of the ram’s horn.

¹⁶As the ark of the LORD was entering the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the LORD’s presence.

¹⁸When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of Armies.

¹⁹Then he distributed a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake to each one in the entire Israelite community, both men and women. Then all the people went home.

²⁰When David returned home to bless his household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”

²¹David replied to Michal, “It was before the LORD who chose me over your father and his whole family to appoint me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel. I will dance before the LORD,

²²and I will dishonor myself and humble myself even more. However, by the slave girls you spoke about, I will be honored.”

²³And Saul’s daughter Michal had no child to the day of her death.

¹Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer and chief official in the temple of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.

²So Pashhur had the prophet Jeremiah beaten and put him in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate in the LORD’s temple.

³The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call you Pashhur, but Terror Is on Every Side,

⁴for this is what the LORD says, ‘I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon and put them to the sword.

⁵I will give away all the wealth of this city, all its products and valuables. Indeed, I will hand all the treasures of the kings of Judah over to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.

⁶As for you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, you will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon. There you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied lies.’”

⁷You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived. You seized me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all the time; everyone ridicules me.

⁸For whenever I speak, I cry out, I proclaim, “Violence and destruction!” so the word of the LORD has become my constant disgrace and derision.

⁹I say, “I won’t mention him or speak any longer in his name.” But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.

¹⁰For I have heard the gossip of many people, “Terror is on every side! Report him; let’s report him!” Everyone I trusted watches for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we might prevail against him and take our vengeance on him.”

¹¹But the LORD is with me like a violent warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed, an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten.

¹²LORD of Armies, testing the righteous and seeing the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to you.

¹³Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD, for he rescues the life of the needy from evil people.

¹⁴May the day I was born be cursed. May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.

¹⁵May the man be cursed who brought the news to my father, saying, “A male child is born to you,” bringing him great joy.

¹⁶Let that man be like the cities the LORD demolished without compassion. Let him hear an outcry in the morning and a war cry at noontime

¹⁷because he didn’t kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, her womb eternally pregnant.

¹⁸Why did I come out of the womb to see only struggle and sorrow, to end my life in shame?

¹When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place.

²Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying.

³They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them.

⁴Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them.

⁵Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven.

⁶When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

⁷They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?

⁸How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language?

⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts),

¹¹Cretans and Arabs — we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.”

¹²They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

¹³But some sneered and said, “They’re drunk on new wine.”

¹⁴Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them: “Fellow Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you and pay attention to my words.

¹⁵For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning.

¹⁶On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

¹⁸I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy.

¹⁹I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.

²⁰The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.

²¹Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

²²“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know.

²³Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him.

²⁴God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.

²⁵For David says of him: I saw the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

²⁶Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope,

²⁷because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay.

²⁸You have revealed the paths of life to me; you will fill me with gladness in your presence.

²⁹“Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

³⁰Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne.

³¹Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay.

³²“God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this.

³³Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear.

³⁴For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand

³⁵until I make your enemies your footstool.’

³⁶“Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

³⁷When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what should we do?”

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

⁴⁰With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!”

⁴¹So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.

⁴⁴Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.

⁴⁵They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.

⁴⁶Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts,

⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.