Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip.

²The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him.

³“Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.

⁴Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.”

⁵Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”

⁶When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” “Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”

⁷The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”

⁸When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever.

⁹He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer.

¹⁰“Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”

¹¹Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹²Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’ Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”

¹³When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha).

¹⁴It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is your king!”

¹⁵“Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!” “What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.

¹⁶Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. The Crucifixion So they took Jesus away.

¹⁷Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha).

¹⁸There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them.

¹⁹And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

²⁰The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.

²¹Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’”

²²Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.”

²³When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

²⁴So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did.

²⁵Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.”

²⁷And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

²⁸Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.”

²⁹A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips.

³⁰When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

³¹It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down.

³²So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus.

³³But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs.

³⁴One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.

³⁵(This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe. )

³⁶These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, “Not one of his bones will be broken,”

³⁷and “They will look on the one they pierced.”

³⁸Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away.

³⁹With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes.

⁴⁰Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth.

⁴¹The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before.

⁴²And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

¹Next Bezalel made the Ark of acacia wood — a sacred chest 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.

²He overlaid it inside and outside with pure gold, and he ran a molding of gold all around it.

³He cast four gold rings and attached them to its four feet, two rings on each side.

⁴Then he made poles from acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

⁵He inserted the poles into the rings at the sides of the Ark to carry it.

⁶Then he made the Ark’s cover — the place of atonement — from pure gold. It was 45 inches long and 27 inches wide.

⁷He made two cherubim from hammered gold and placed them on the two ends of the atonement cover.

⁸He molded the cherubim on each end of the atonement cover, making it all of one piece of gold.

⁹The cherubim faced each other and looked down on the atonement cover. With their wings spread above it, they protected it.

¹⁰Then Bezalel made the table of acacia wood, 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high.

¹¹He overlaid it with pure gold and ran a gold molding around the edge.

¹²He decorated it with a 3-inch border all around, and he ran a gold molding along the border.

¹³Then he cast four gold rings for the table and attached them at the four corners next to the four legs.

¹⁴The rings were attached near the border to hold the poles that were used to carry the table.

¹⁵He made these poles from acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

¹⁶Then he made special containers of pure gold for the table — bowls, ladles, jars, and pitchers — to be used in pouring out liquid offerings.

¹⁷Then Bezalel made the lampstand of pure, hammered gold. He made the entire lampstand and its decorations of one piece — the base, center stem, lamp cups, buds, and petals.

¹⁸The lampstand had six branches going out from the center stem, three on each side.

¹⁹Each of the six branches had three lamp cups shaped like almond blossoms, complete with buds and petals.

²⁰The center stem of the lampstand was crafted with four lamp cups shaped like almond blossoms, complete with buds and petals.

²¹There was an almond bud beneath each pair of branches where the six branches extended from the center stem, all made of one piece.

²²The almond buds and branches were all of one piece with the center stem, and they were hammered from pure gold.

²³He also made seven lamps for the lampstand, lamp snuffers, and trays, all of pure gold.

²⁴The entire lampstand, along with its accessories, was made from 75 pounds of pure gold.

²⁵Then Bezalel made the incense altar of acacia wood. It was 18 inches square and 36 inches high, with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of wood as the altar itself.

²⁶He overlaid the top, sides, and horns of the altar with pure gold, and he ran a gold molding around the entire altar.

²⁷He made two gold rings and attached them on opposite sides of the altar below the gold molding to hold the carrying poles.

²⁸He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

²⁹Then he made the sacred anointing oil and the fragrant incense, using the techniques of a skilled incense maker.

¹With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it.

²My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief

³for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed — cut off from Christ! — if that would save them.

⁴They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises.

⁵Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

⁶Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people!

⁷Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too.

⁸This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children.

⁹For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁰This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins.

¹¹But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes;

¹²he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.”

¹³In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”

¹⁴Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not!

¹⁵For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”

¹⁶So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

¹⁷For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.”

¹⁸So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.

¹⁹Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”

²⁰No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”

²¹When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?

²²In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction.

²³He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory.

²⁴And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

²⁵Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea, “Those who were not my people, I will now call my people. And I will love those whom I did not love before.”

²⁶And, “Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

²⁷And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out, “Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved.

²⁸For the LORD will carry out his sentence upon the earth quickly and with finality.”

²⁹And Isaiah said the same thing in another place: “If the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of our children, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah.”

³⁰What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place.

³¹But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded.

³²Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path.

³³God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

¹This letter is from Paul, a prisoner for preaching the Good News about Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. I am writing to Philemon, our beloved co-worker,

²and to our sister Apphia, and to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church that meets in your house.

³May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

⁴I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon,

⁵because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people.

⁶And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.

⁷Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God’s people.

⁸That is why I am boldly asking a favor of you. I could demand it in the name of Christ because it is the right thing for you to do.

⁹But because of our love, I prefer simply to ask you. Consider this as a request from me — Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus.

¹⁰I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in the faith while here in prison.

¹¹Onesimus hasn’t been of much use to you in the past, but now he is very useful to both of us.

¹²I am sending him back to you, and with him comes my own heart.

¹³I wanted to keep him here with me while I am in these chains for preaching the Good News, and he would have helped me on your behalf.

¹⁴But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent. I wanted you to help because you were willing, not because you were forced.

¹⁵It seems you lost Onesimus for a little while so that you could have him back forever.

¹⁶He is no longer like a slave to you. He is more than a slave, for he is a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

¹⁷So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.

¹⁸If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me.

¹⁹I, PAUL, WRITE THIS WITH MY OWN HAND: I WILL REPAY IT. AND I WON’T MENTION THAT YOU OWE ME YOUR VERY SOUL!

²⁰Yes, my brother, please do me this favor for the Lord’s sake. Give me this encouragement in Christ.

²¹I am confident as I write this letter that you will do what I ask and even more!

²²One more thing — please prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that God will answer your prayers and let me return to you soon.

²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings.

²⁴So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my co-workers.

²⁵May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²“God is powerful and dreadful. He enforces peace in the heavens.

³Who is able to count his heavenly army? Doesn’t his light shine on all the earth?

⁴How can a mortal be innocent before God? Can anyone born of a woman be pure?

⁵God is more glorious than the moon; he shines brighter than the stars.

⁶In comparison, people are maggots; we mortals are mere worms.”

¹On the holy mountain stands the city founded by the LORD.

²He loves the city of Jerusalem more than any other city in Israel.

³O city of God, what glorious things are said of you! Interlude

⁴I will count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me — also Philistia and Tyre, and even distant Ethiopia. They have all become citizens of Jerusalem!

⁵Regarding Jerusalem it will be said, “Everyone enjoys the rights of citizenship there.” And the Most High will personally bless this city.

⁶When the LORD registers the nations, he will say, “They have all become citizens of Jerusalem.” Interlude

⁷The people will play flutes and sing, “The source of my life springs from Jerusalem!”

¹These are more proverbs of Solomon, collected by the advisers of King Hezekiah of Judah.

²It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them.

³No one can comprehend the height of heaven, the depth of the earth, or all that goes on in the king’s mind!

⁴Remove the impurities from silver, and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith.

⁵Remove the wicked from the king’s court, and his reign will be made secure by justice.

⁶Don’t demand an audience with the king or push for a place among the great.

⁷It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table than to be sent away in public disgrace. Just because you’ve seen something,

⁸don’t be in a hurry to go to court. For what will you do in the end if your neighbor deals you a shameful defeat?

⁹When arguing with your neighbor, don’t betray another person’s secret.

¹⁰Others may accuse you of gossip, and you will never regain your good reputation.

¹¹Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket.

¹²To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry.

¹³Trustworthy messengers refresh like snow in summer. They revive the spirit of their employer.

¹⁴A person who promises a gift but doesn’t give it is like clouds and wind that bring no rain.

¹⁵Patience can persuade a prince, and soft speech can break bones.

¹⁶Do you like honey? Don’t eat too much, or it will make you sick!

¹⁷Don’t visit your neighbors too often, or you will wear out your welcome.

¹⁸Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot.

²⁰Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound.

²¹If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.

²²You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the LORD will reward you.

²³As surely as a north wind brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger!

²⁴It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.

²⁵Good news from far away is like cold water to the thirsty.

²⁶If the godly give in to the wicked, it’s like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.

²⁷It’s not good to eat too much honey, and it’s not good to seek honors for yourself.

²⁸A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.

¹When King David was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all the surrounding enemies,

²the king summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of God is out there in a tent!”

³Nathan replied to the king, “Go ahead and do whatever you have in mind, for the LORD is with you.”

⁴But that same night the LORD said to Nathan,

⁵“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD has declared: Are you the one to build a house for me to live in?

⁶I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. I have always moved from one place to another with a tent and a Tabernacle as my dwelling.

⁷Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel’s tribal leaders, the shepherds of my people Israel. I have never asked them, “Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar house?”’

⁸“Now go and say to my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel.

⁹I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth!

¹⁰And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won’t oppress them as they’ve done in the past,

¹¹starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. “‘Furthermore, the LORD declares that he will make a house for you — a dynasty of kings!

¹²For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong.

¹³He is the one who will build a house — a temple — for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever.

¹⁴I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will correct and discipline him with the rod, like any father would do.

¹⁵But my favor will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from your sight.

¹⁶Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.’”

¹⁷So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the LORD had said in this vision.

¹⁸Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and prayed, “Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?

¹⁹And now, Sovereign LORD, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign LORD?

²⁰“What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign LORD.

²¹Because of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known to your servant.

²²“How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you!

²³What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way.

²⁴You made Israel your very own people forever, and you, O LORD, became their God.

²⁵“And now, O LORD God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever.

²⁶And may your name be honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is God over Israel!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.

²⁷“O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer to you because you have revealed all this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you — a dynasty of kings!’

²⁸For you are God, O Sovereign LORD. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant.

²⁹And now, may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you have spoken, and when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign LORD, it is an eternal blessing!”

¹The LORD spoke through Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to speak with him. They begged Jeremiah,

²“Please speak to the LORD for us and ask him to help us. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking Judah. Perhaps the LORD will be gracious and do a mighty miracle as he has done in the past. Perhaps he will force Nebuchadnezzar to withdraw his armies.”

³Jeremiah replied, “Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him,

⁴‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I will make your weapons useless against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside your walls attacking you. In fact, I will bring your enemies right into the heart of this city.

⁵I myself will fight against you with a strong hand and a powerful arm, for I am very angry. You have made me furious!

⁶I will send a terrible plague upon this city, and both people and animals will die.

⁷And after all that, says the LORD, I will hand over King Zedekiah, his staff, and everyone else in the city who survives the disease, war, and famine. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their other enemies. He will slaughter them and show them no mercy, pity, or compassion.’

⁸“Tell all the people, ‘This is what the LORD says: Take your choice of life or death!

⁹Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life!

¹⁰For I have decided to bring disaster and not good upon this city, says the LORD. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will reduce it to ashes.’

¹¹“Say to the royal family of Judah, ‘Listen to this message from the LORD!

¹²This is what the LORD says to the dynasty of David: “‘Give justice each morning to the people you judge! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Otherwise, my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins.

¹³I will personally fight against the people in Jerusalem, that mighty fortress — the people who boast, “No one can touch us here. No one can break in here.”

¹⁴And I myself will punish you for your sinfulness, says the LORD. I will light a fire in your forests that will burn up everything around you.’”

¹Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service.

²As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple.

³When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.

⁴Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!”

⁵The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money.

⁶But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

⁷Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened.

⁸He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

⁹All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God.

¹⁰When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded!

¹¹They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John.

¹²Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness?

¹³For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the God of all our ancestors — who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him.

¹⁴You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer.

¹⁵You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!

¹⁶“Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed — and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.

¹⁷“Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance.

¹⁸But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah — that he must suffer these things.

¹⁹Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.

²⁰Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.

²¹For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.

²²Moses said, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you.’

²³Then Moses said, ‘Anyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.’

²⁴“Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today.

²⁵You are the children of those prophets, and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the families on earth will be blessed.’

²⁶When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.”