Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

²She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb.

⁴They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

⁵He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in.

⁶Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there,

⁷while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings.

⁸Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed —

⁹for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.

¹⁰Then they went home.

¹¹Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in.

¹²She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying.

¹³“Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

¹⁴She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.

¹⁵“Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

¹⁶“Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

¹⁷“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

¹⁹That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said.

²⁰As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!

²¹Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

²²Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

²³If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

²⁴One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came.

²⁵They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

²⁶Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.

²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

²⁸“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

²⁹Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

³⁰The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book.

³¹But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

¹Next Bezalel used acacia wood to construct the square altar of burnt offering. It was 7 1⁄2 feet wide, 7 1⁄2 feet long, and 4 1⁄2 feet high.

²He made horns for each of its four corners so that the horns and altar were all one piece. He overlaid the altar with bronze.

³Then he made all the altar utensils of bronze — the ash buckets, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans.

⁴Next he made a bronze grating and installed it halfway down the side of the altar, under the ledge.

⁵He cast four rings and attached them to the corners of the bronze grating to hold the carrying poles.

⁶He made the poles from acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.

⁷He inserted the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar. The altar was hollow and was made from planks.

⁸Bezalel made the bronze washbasin and its bronze stand from bronze mirrors donated by the women who served at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

⁹Then Bezalel made the courtyard, which was enclosed with curtains made of finely woven linen. On the south side the curtains were 150 feet long.

¹⁰They were held up by twenty posts set securely in twenty bronze bases. He hung the curtains with silver hooks and rings.

¹¹He made a similar set of curtains for the north side — 150 feet of curtains held up by twenty posts set securely in bronze bases. He hung the curtains with silver hooks and rings.

¹²The curtains on the west end of the courtyard were 75 feet long, hung with silver hooks and rings and supported by ten posts set into ten bases.

¹³The east end, the front, was also 75 feet long.

¹⁴The courtyard entrance was on the east end, flanked by two curtains. The curtain on the right side was 22 1⁄2 feet long and was supported by three posts set into three bases.

¹⁵The curtain on the left side was also 22 1⁄2 feet long and was supported by three posts set into three bases.

¹⁶All the curtains used in the courtyard were made of finely woven linen.

¹⁷Each post had a bronze base, and all the hooks and rings were silver. The tops of the posts of the courtyard were overlaid with silver, and the rings to hold up the curtains were made of silver.

¹⁸He made the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard of finely woven linen, and he decorated it with beautiful embroidery in blue, purple, and scarlet thread. It was 30 feet long, and its height was 7 1⁄2 feet, just like the curtains of the courtyard walls.

¹⁹It was supported by four posts, each set securely in its own bronze base. The tops of the posts were overlaid with silver, and the hooks and rings were also made of silver.

²⁰All the tent pegs used in the Tabernacle and courtyard were made of bronze.

²¹This is an inventory of the materials used in building the Tabernacle of the Covenant. The Levites compiled the figures, as Moses directed, and Ithamar son of Aaron the priest served as recorder.

²²Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²³He was assisted by Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, a craftsman expert at engraving, designing, and embroidering with blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine linen cloth.

²⁴The people brought special offerings of gold totaling 2,193 pounds, as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel. This gold was used throughout the Tabernacle.

²⁵The whole community of Israel gave 7,545 pounds of silver, as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel.

²⁶This silver came from the tax collected from each man registered in the census. (The tax is one beka, which is half a shekel, based on the sanctuary shekel.) The tax was collected from 603,550 men who had reached their twentieth birthday.

²⁷The hundred bases for the frames of the sanctuary walls and for the posts supporting the inner curtain required 7,500 pounds of silver, about 75 pounds for each base.

²⁸The remaining 45 pounds of silver was used to make the hooks and rings and to overlay the tops of the posts.

²⁹The people also brought as special offerings 5,310 pounds of bronze,

³⁰which was used for casting the bases for the posts at the entrance to the Tabernacle, and for the bronze altar with its bronze grating and all the altar utensils.

³¹Bronze was also used to make the bases for the posts that supported the curtains around the courtyard, the bases for the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard, and all the tent pegs for the Tabernacle and the courtyard.

¹Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.

²I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal.

³For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.

⁴For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

⁵For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.

⁶But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth).

⁷And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).”

⁸In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach:

⁹If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

¹⁰For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

¹¹As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

¹²Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him.

¹³For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”

¹⁴But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?

¹⁵And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

¹⁶But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “LORD, who has believed our message?”

¹⁷So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

¹⁸But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message? Yes, they have: “The message has gone throughout the earth, and the words to all the world.”

¹⁹But I ask, did the people of Israel really understand? Yes, they did, for even in the time of Moses, God said, “I will rouse your jealousy through people who are not even a nation. I will provoke your anger through the foolish Gentiles.”

²⁰And later Isaiah spoke boldly for God, saying, “I was found by people who were not looking for me. I showed myself to those who were not asking for me.”

²¹But regarding Israel, God said, “All day long I opened my arms to them, but they were disobedient and rebellious.”

¹This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am writing to the “twelve tribes” — Jewish believers scattered abroad. Greetings!

²Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

³For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

⁴So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

⁵If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

⁶But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.

⁷Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

⁸Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

⁹Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them.

¹⁰And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field.

¹¹The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.

¹²God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

¹³And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else.

¹⁴Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.

¹⁵These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

¹⁶So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.

¹⁷Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

¹⁸He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

¹⁹Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

²⁰Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

²¹So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

²²But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

²³For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.

²⁴You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.

²⁵But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

²⁶If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.

²⁷Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

¹Then Job spoke again:

²“How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the weak!

³How you have enlightened my stupidity! What wise advice you have offered!

⁴Where have you gotten all these wise sayings? Whose spirit speaks through you?

⁵“The dead tremble — those who live beneath the waters.

⁶The underworld is naked in God’s presence. The place of destruction is uncovered.

⁷God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.

⁸He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds don’t burst with the weight.

⁹He covers the face of the moon, shrouding it with his clouds.

¹⁰He created the horizon when he separated the waters; he set the boundary between day and night.

¹¹The foundations of heaven tremble; they shudder at his rebuke.

¹²By his power the sea grew calm. By his skill he crushed the great sea monster.

¹³His Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and his power pierced the gliding serpent.

¹⁴These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power. Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power?”

¹O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night.

²Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry.

³For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near.

⁴I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left.

⁵They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave. I am forgotten, cut off from your care.

⁶You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.

⁷Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me. Interlude

⁸You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them. I am in a trap with no way of escape.

⁹My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your help, O LORD; I lift my hands to you for mercy.

¹⁰Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Interlude

¹¹Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love? Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?

¹²Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds? Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?

¹³O LORD, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day.

¹⁴O LORD, why do you reject me? Why do you turn your face from me?

¹⁵I have been sick and close to death since my youth. I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.

¹⁶Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have paralyzed me.

¹⁷They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long. They have engulfed me completely.

¹⁸You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.

¹Honor is no more associated with fools than snow with summer or rain with harvest.

²Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.

³Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle, and a fool with a rod to his back!

⁴Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.

⁵Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation.

⁶Trusting a fool to convey a message is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison!

⁷A proverb in the mouth of a fool is as useless as a paralyzed leg.

⁸Honoring a fool is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot.

⁹A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk.

¹⁰An employer who hires a fool or a bystander is like an archer who shoots at random.

¹¹As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.

¹²There is more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise.

¹³The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!”

¹⁴As a door swings back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in bed.

¹⁵Lazy people take food in their hand but don’t even lift it to their mouth.

¹⁶Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.

¹⁷Interfering in someone else’s argument is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.

¹⁸Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon

¹⁹is someone who lies to a friend and then says, “I was only joking.”

²⁰Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.

²¹A quarrelsome person starts fights as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire lights wood.

²²Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart.

²³Smooth words may hide a wicked heart, just as a pretty glaze covers a clay pot.

²⁴People may cover their hatred with pleasant words, but they’re deceiving you.

²⁵They pretend to be kind, but don’t believe them. Their hearts are full of many evils.

²⁶While their hatred may be concealed by trickery, their wrongdoing will be exposed in public.

²⁷If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself. If you roll a boulder down on others, it will crush you instead.

²⁸A lying tongue hates its victims, and flattering words cause ruin.

¹After this, David defeated and subdued the Philistines by conquering Gath, their largest town.

²David also conquered the land of Moab. He made the people lie down on the ground in a row, and he measured them off in groups with a length of rope. He measured off two groups to be executed for every one group to be spared. The Moabites who were spared became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money.

³David also destroyed the forces of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when Hadadezer marched out to strengthen his control along the Euphrates River.

⁴David captured 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers, and 20,000 foot soldiers. He crippled all the chariot horses except enough for 100 chariots.

⁵When Arameans from Damascus arrived to help King Hadadezer, David killed 22,000 of them.

⁶Then he placed several army garrisons in Damascus, the Aramean capital, and the Arameans became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.

⁷David brought the gold shields of Hadadezer’s officers to Jerusalem,

⁸along with a large amount of bronze from Hadadezer’s towns of Tebah and Berothai.

⁹When King Toi of Hamath heard that David had destroyed the entire army of Hadadezer,

¹⁰he sent his son Joram to congratulate King David for his successful campaign. Hadadezer and Toi had been enemies and were often at war. Joram presented David with many gifts of silver, gold, and bronze.

¹¹King David dedicated all these gifts to the LORD, as he did with the silver and gold from the other nations he had defeated —

¹²from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek — and from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³So David became even more famous when he returned from destroying 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

¹⁴He placed army garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. In fact, the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.

¹⁵So David reigned over all Israel and did what was just and right for all his people.

¹⁶Joab son of Zeruiah was commander of the army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the royal historian.

¹⁷Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were the priests. Seraiah was the court secretary.

¹⁸Benaiah son of Jehoiada was captain of the king’s bodyguard. And David’s sons served as priestly leaders.

¹This is what the LORD said to me: “Go over and speak directly to the king of Judah. Say to him,

²‘Listen to this message from the LORD, you king of Judah, sitting on David’s throne. Let your attendants and your people listen, too.

³This is what the LORD says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!

⁴If you obey me, there will always be a descendant of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem. The king will ride through the palace gates in chariots and on horses, with his parade of attendants and subjects.

⁵But if you refuse to pay attention to this warning, I swear by my own name, says the LORD, that this palace will become a pile of rubble.’”

⁶Now this is what the LORD says concerning Judah’s royal palace: “I love you as much as fruitful Gilead and the green forests of Lebanon. But I will turn you into a desert, with no one living within your walls.

⁷I will call for wreckers, who will bring out their tools to dismantle you. They will tear out all your fine cedar beams and throw them on the fire.

⁸“People from many nations will pass by the ruins of this city and say to one another, ‘Why did the LORD destroy such a great city?’

⁹And the answer will be, ‘Because they violated their covenant with the LORD their God by worshiping other gods.’”

¹⁰Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss. Instead, weep for the captive king being led away! For he will never return to see his native land again.

¹¹For this is what the LORD says about Jehoahaz, who succeeded his father, King Josiah, and was taken away as a captive: “He will never return.

¹²He will die in a distant land and will never again see his own country.”

¹³And the LORD says, “What sorrow awaits Jehoiakim, who builds his palace with forced labor. He builds injustice into its walls, for he makes his neighbors work for nothing. He does not pay them for their labor.

¹⁴He says, ‘I will build a magnificent palace with huge rooms and many windows. I will panel it throughout with fragrant cedar and paint it a lovely red.’

¹⁵But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king! Your father, Josiah, also had plenty to eat and drink. But he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him.

¹⁶He gave justice and help to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn’t that what it means to know me?” says the LORD.

¹⁷“But you! You have eyes only for greed and dishonesty! You murder the innocent, oppress the poor, and reign ruthlessly.”

¹⁸Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim, son of King Josiah: “The people will not mourn for him, crying to one another, ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ His subjects will not mourn for him, crying, ‘Alas, our master is dead! Alas, his splendor is gone!’

¹⁹He will be buried like a dead donkey — dragged out of Jerusalem and dumped outside the gates!

²⁰Weep for your allies in Lebanon. Shout for them in Bashan. Search for them in the regions east of the river. See, they are all destroyed. Not one is left to help you.

²¹I warned you when you were prosperous, but you replied, ‘Don’t bother me.’ You have been that way since childhood — you simply will not obey me!

²²And now the wind will blow away your allies. All your friends will be taken away as captives. Surely then you will see your wickedness and be ashamed.

²³It may be nice to live in a beautiful palace paneled with wood from the cedars of Lebanon, but soon you will groan with pangs of anguish — anguish like that of a woman in labor.

²⁴“As surely as I live,” says the LORD, “I will abandon you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. Even if you were the signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off.

²⁵I will hand you over to those who seek to kill you, those you so desperately fear — to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the mighty Babylonian army.

²⁶I will expel you and your mother from this land, and you will die in a foreign country, not in your native land.

²⁷You will never again return to the land you yearn for.

²⁸“Why is this man Jehoiachin like a discarded, broken jar? Why are he and his children to be exiled to a foreign land?

²⁹O earth, earth, earth! Listen to this message from the LORD!

³⁰This is what the LORD says: ‘Let the record show that this man Jehoiachin was childless. He is a failure, for none of his children will succeed him on the throne of David to rule over Judah.’

¹While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees.

²These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.

³They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning.

⁴But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000.

⁵The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem.

⁶Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest.

⁷They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people,

⁹are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed?

¹⁰Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.

¹¹For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’

¹²There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

¹³The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.

¹⁴But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say.

¹⁵So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves.

¹⁶“What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it.

¹⁷But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.”

¹⁸So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?

²⁰We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

²¹The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God

²²for this miraculous sign — the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.

²³As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said.

²⁴When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them —

²⁵you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, ‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans?

²⁶The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the LORD and against his Messiah.’

²⁷“In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed.

²⁸But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will.

²⁹And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.

³⁰Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

³²All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.

³³The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.

³⁴There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them

³⁵and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.

³⁶For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus.

³⁷He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.