Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way:

²Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin” ), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples were together.

³“I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them. “We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus.

⁵“Friends,” Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?” “No,” they answered.

⁶“Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” he told them, “and you’ll find some.” So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish.

⁷The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea.

⁸Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish.

⁹When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread.

¹⁰“Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them.

¹¹So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish — 153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.

¹²“Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord.

¹³Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish.

¹⁴This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

¹⁵When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Feed my lambs,” he told him.

¹⁶A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Shepherd my sheep,” he told him.

¹⁷He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.

¹⁸“Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.”

¹⁹He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.”

²⁰So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is the one that’s going to betray you?”

²¹When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”

²²“If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

²³So this rumor spread to the brothers and sisters that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not tell him that he would not die, but, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

²⁴This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

²⁵And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.

¹They made specially woven garments for ministry in the sanctuary, and the holy garments for Aaron from the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²Bezalel made the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen.

³They hammered out thin sheets of gold, and he cut threads from them to interweave with the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and the fine linen in a skillful design.

⁴They made shoulder pieces for attaching it; it was joined together at its two edges.

⁵The artistically woven waistband that was on the ephod was of one piece with the ephod, according to the same workmanship of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁶Then they mounted the onyx stones surrounded with gold filigree settings, engraved with the names of Israel’s sons as a gem cutter engraves a seal.

⁷He fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the Israelites, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁸He also made the embroidered breastpiece with the same workmanship as the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen.

⁹They made the breastpiece square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.

¹⁰They mounted four rows of gemstones on it. The first row was a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald;

¹¹the second row, a turquoise, a lapis lazuli, and a diamond;

¹²the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

¹³and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were surrounded with gold filigree in their settings.

¹⁴The twelve stones corresponded to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone was engraved like a seal with one of the names of the twelve tribes.

¹⁵They made braided chains of pure gold cord for the breastpiece.

¹⁶They also fashioned two gold filigree settings and two gold rings and attached the two rings to its two corners.

¹⁷Then they attached the two gold cords to the two gold rings on the corners of the breastpiece.

¹⁸They attached the other ends of the two cords to the two filigree settings, and in this way they attached them to the ephod’s shoulder pieces in front.

¹⁹They made two other gold rings and put them at the two other corners of the breastpiece on the edge that is next to the inner border of the ephod.

²⁰They made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the ephod’s two shoulder pieces on its front, close to its seam, above the ephod’s woven waistband.

²¹Then they tied the breastpiece from its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece was above the ephod’s waistband and did not come loose from the ephod. They did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²²They made the woven robe of the ephod entirely of blue yarn.

²³There was an opening in the center of the robe like that of body armor with a collar around the opening so that it would not tear.

²⁴They made pomegranates of finely spun blue, purple, and scarlet yarn on the lower hem of the robe.

²⁵They made bells of pure gold and attached the bells between the pomegranates, all around the hem of the robe between the pomegranates,

²⁶a bell and a pomegranate alternating all around the lower hem of the robe to be worn for ministry. They made it just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²⁷They made the tunics of fine woven linen for Aaron and his sons.

²⁸They made the turban and the ornate headbands of fine linen, the linen undergarments of finely spun linen,

²⁹and the sash of finely spun linen expertly embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. They did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³⁰They made a medallion, the holy diadem, out of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription like the engraving on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.

³¹They attached a cord of blue yarn to it in order to mount it on the turban, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³²So all the work for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was finished. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³³They brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent with all its furnishings, its clasps, its supports, its crossbars, and its pillars and bases;

³⁴the covering of ram skins dyed red and the covering of fine leather; the curtain for the screen;

³⁵the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat;

³⁶the table, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence;

³⁷the pure gold lampstand, with its lamps arranged and all its utensils, as well as the oil for the light;

³⁸the gold altar; the anointing oil; the fragrant incense; the screen for the entrance to the tent;

³⁹the bronze altar with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand;

⁴⁰the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and bases, the screen for the gate of the courtyard, its ropes and tent pegs, and all the furnishings for the service of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting;

⁴¹and the specially woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary, the holy garments for the priest Aaron and the garments for his sons to serve as priests.

⁴²The Israelites had done all the work according to everything the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁴³Moses inspected all the work they had accomplished. They had done just as the LORD commanded. Then Moses blessed them.

¹I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

²God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah — how he pleads with God against Israel?

³Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life!

⁴But what was God’s answer to him? I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal.

⁵In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.

⁶Now if by grace, then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace.

⁷What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened,

⁸as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, to this day.

⁹And David says, Let their table become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution to them.

¹⁰Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and their backs be bent continually.

¹¹I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.

¹²Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring!

¹³Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,

¹⁴if I might somehow make my own people jealous and save some of them.

¹⁵For if their rejection brings reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

¹⁶Now if the firstfruits are holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree,

¹⁸do not boast that you are better than those branches. But if you do boast — you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you.

¹⁹Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”

²⁰True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but beware,

²¹because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

²²Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness toward you — if you remain in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

²³And even they, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again.

²⁴For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these — the natural branches — be grafted into their own olive tree?

²⁵I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

²⁶And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.

²⁷And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

²⁸Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs,

²⁹since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.

³⁰As you once disobeyed God but now have received mercy through their disobedience,

³¹so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also may now receive mercy.

³²For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may have mercy on all.

³³Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways!

³⁴For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?

³⁵And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid?

³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

¹My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

²For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in,

³if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,”

⁴haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

⁶Yet you have dishonored the poor. Don’t the rich oppress you and drag you into court?

⁷Don’t they blaspheme the good name that was invoked over you?

⁸Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.

⁹If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

¹⁰For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.

¹¹For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. So if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you are a lawbreaker.

¹²Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom.

¹³For judgment is without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?

¹⁵If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food

¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?

¹⁷In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works.

¹⁹You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe — and they shudder.

²⁰Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless?

²¹Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar?

²²You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete,

²³and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.

²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

²⁵In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route?

²⁶For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

¹Job continued his discourse, saying:

²As God lives, who has deprived me of justice, and the Almighty who has made me bitter,

³as long as my breath is still in me and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,

⁴my lips will not speak unjustly, and my tongue will not utter deceit.

⁵I will never affirm that you are right. I will maintain my integrity until I die.

⁶I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go. My conscience will not accuse me as long as I live!

⁷May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.

⁸For what hope does the godless person have when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

⁹Will God hear his cry when distress comes on him?

¹⁰Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times?

¹¹I will teach you about God’s power. I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.

¹²All of you have seen this for yourselves, why do you keep up this empty talk?

¹³This is a wicked man’s lot from God, the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

¹⁴Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword; his descendants will never have enough food.

¹⁵Those who survive him will be buried by the plague, yet their widows will not weep for them.

¹⁶Though he piles up silver like dust and heaps up fine clothing like clay —

¹⁷he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it, and the innocent will divide up his silver.

¹⁸The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon or a shelter set up by a watchman.

¹⁹He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, it is gone.

²⁰Terrors overtake him like a flood; a storm wind sweeps him away at night.

²¹An east wind picks him up, and he is gone; it carries him away from his place.

²²It blasts at him without mercy, while he flees desperately from its force.

²³It claps its hands at him and scoffs at him from its place.

¹A of Ethan the Ezrahite. [1] I will sing about the LORD’s faithful love forever; I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations with my mouth.

²For I will declare, “Faithful love is built up forever; you establish your faithfulness in the heavens.”

³The LORD said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn an oath to David my servant:

⁴‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.’” Selah

⁵LORD, the heavens praise your wonders  — your faithfulness also — in the assembly of the holy ones.

⁶For who in the skies can compare with the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?

⁷God is greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, more awe-inspiring than all who surround him.

⁸LORD God of Armies, who is strong like you, LORD? Your faithfulness surrounds you.

⁹You rule the raging sea; when its waves surge, you still them.

¹⁰You crushed Rahab like one who is slain; you scattered your enemies with your powerful arm.

¹¹The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours. The world and everything in it — you founded them.

¹²North and south — you created them. Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at your name.

¹³You have a mighty arm; your hand is powerful; your right hand is lifted high.

¹⁴Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; faithful love and truth go before you.

¹⁵Happy are the people who know the joyful shout; LORD, they walk in the light from your face.

¹⁶They rejoice in your name all day long, and they are exalted by your righteousness.

¹⁷For you are their magnificent strength; by your favor our horn is exalted.

¹⁸Surely our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹You once spoke in a vision to your faithful ones and said: “I have granted help to a warrior; I have exalted one chosen from the people.

²⁰I have found David my servant; I have anointed him with my sacred oil.

²¹My hand will always be with him, and my arm will strengthen him.

²²The enemy will not oppress him; the wicked will not afflict him.

²³I will crush his foes before him and strike those who hate him.

²⁴My faithfulness and love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted.

²⁵I will extend his power to the sea and his right hand to the rivers.

²⁶He will call to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the rock of my salvation.’

²⁷I will also make him my firstborn, greatest of the kings of the earth.

²⁸I will always preserve my faithful love for him, and my covenant with him will endure.

²⁹I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as heaven lasts.

³⁰If his sons abandon my instruction and do not live by my ordinances,

³¹if they dishonor my statutes and do not keep my commands,

³²then I will call their rebellion to account with the rod, their iniquity with blows.

³³But I will not withdraw my faithful love from him or betray my faithfulness.

³⁴I will not violate my covenant or change what my lips have said.

³⁵Once and for all I have sworn an oath by my holiness; I will not lie to David.

³⁶His offspring will continue forever, his throne like the sun before me,

³⁷like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

³⁸But you have spurned and rejected him; you have become enraged with your anointed.

³⁹You have repudiated the covenant with your servant; you have completely dishonored his crown.

⁴⁰You have broken down all his walls; you have reduced his fortified cities to ruins.

⁴¹All who pass by plunder him; he has become an object of ridicule to his neighbors.

⁴²You have lifted high the right hand of his foes; you have made all his enemies rejoice.

⁴³You have also turned back his sharp sword and have not let him stand in battle.

⁴⁴You have made his splendor cease and have overturned his throne.

⁴⁵You have shortened the days of his youth; you have covered him with shame. Selah

⁴⁶How long, LORD? Will you hide forever? Will your anger keep burning like fire?

⁴⁷Remember how short my life is. Have you created everyone for nothing?

⁴⁸What courageous person can live and never see death? Who can save himself from the power of Sheol? Selah

⁴⁹Lord, where are the former acts of your faithful love that you swore to David in your faithfulness?

⁵⁰Remember, Lord, the ridicule against your servants — in my heart I carry abuse from all the peoples —

⁵¹how your enemies have ridiculed, LORD, how they have ridiculed every step of your anointed.

⁵²Blessed be the LORD forever. Amen and amen.

¹Don’t boast about tomorrow, for you don’t know what a day might bring.

²Let another praise you, and not your own mouth — a stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy and sand, a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.

⁴Fury is cruel, and anger a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?

⁵Better an open reprimand than concealed love.

⁶The wounds of a friend are trustworthy, but the kisses of an enemy are excessive.

⁷A person who is full tramples on a honeycomb, but to a hungry person, any bitter thing is sweet.

⁸Anyone wandering from his home is like a bird wandering from its nest.

⁹Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the sweetness of a friend is better than self-counsel.

¹⁰Don’t abandon your friend or your father’s friend, and don’t go to your brother’s house in your time of calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring my heart joy, so that I can answer anyone who taunts me.

¹²A sensible person sees danger and takes cover; the inexperienced keep going and are punished.

¹³Take his garment, for he has put up security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for foreigners.

¹⁴If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted as a curse to him.

¹⁵An endless dripping on a rainy day and a nagging wife are alike;

¹⁶the one who controls her controls the wind and grasps oil with his right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.

¹⁸Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever looks after his master will be honored.

¹⁹As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the person.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and people’s eyes are never satisfied.

²¹A crucible refines silver, a smelter refines gold, and a person refines his praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, you will not separate his foolishness from him.

²³Know well the condition of your flock, and pay attention to your herds,

²⁴for wealth is not forever; not even a crown lasts for all time.

²⁵When hay is removed and new growth appears and the grain from the hills is gathered in,

²⁶lambs will provide your clothing, and goats, the price of a field;

²⁷there will be enough goat’s milk for your food — food for your household and nourishment for your female servants.

¹David asked, “Is there anyone remaining from the family of Saul I can show kindness to for Jonathan’s sake?”

²There was a servant of Saul’s family named Ziba. They summoned him to David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” “I am your servant,” he replied.

³So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family that I can show the kindness of God to?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still Jonathan’s son who was injured in both feet.”

⁴The king asked him, “Where is he?” Ziba answered the king, “You’ll find him in Lo-debar at the house of Machir son of Ammiel.”

⁵So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.

⁶Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, fell facedown, and paid homage. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “I am your servant,” he replied.

⁷“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “since I intend to show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul’s fields, and you will always eat meals at my table.”

⁸Mephibosheth paid homage and said, “What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me?”

⁹Then the king summoned Saul’s attendant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Saul and his family.

¹⁰You, your sons, and your servants are to work the ground for him, and you are to bring in the crops so your master’s grandson will have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all my lord the king commands.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table just like one of the king’s sons.

¹²Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. All those living in Ziba’s house were Mephibosheth’s servants.

¹³However, Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem because he always ate at the king’s table. His feet had been injured.

¹“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” This is the LORD’s declaration.

²“Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend my people: You have scattered my flock, banished them, and have not attended to them. I am about to attend to you because of your evil acts” — this is the LORD’s declaration.

³“I will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.

⁴I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them. They will no longer be afraid or discouraged, nor will any be missing.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

⁵“Look, the days are coming”  — this is the LORD’s declaration — “when I will raise up a Righteous Branch for David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land.

⁶In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is the name he will be called: The LORD Is Our Righteousness.

⁷“Look, the days are coming”  — the LORD’s declaration — “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’

⁸but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other countries where I had banished them.’ They will dwell once more in their own land.”

⁹Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of his holy words.

¹⁰For the land is full of adulterers; the land mourns because of the curse, and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up. Their way of life has become evil, and their power is not rightly used

¹¹because both prophet and priest are ungodly, even in my house I have found their evil. This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹²Therefore, their way will seem like slippery paths in the gloom. They will be driven away and fall down there, for I will bring disaster on them, the year of their punishment. This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹³Among the prophets of Samaria I saw something disgusting: They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.

¹⁴Among the prophets of Jerusalem also I saw a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, and none turns his back on evil. They are all like Sodom to me; Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.

¹⁵Therefore, this is what the LORD of Armies says concerning the prophets: I am about to feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.

¹⁶This is what the LORD of Armies says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the LORD’s mouth.

¹⁷They keep on saying to those who despise me, ‘The LORD has spoken: You will have peace.’ They have said to everyone who follows the stubbornness of his heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’”

¹⁸For who has stood in the council of the LORD to see and hear his word? Who has paid attention to his word and obeyed?

¹⁹Look, a storm from the LORD! Wrath has gone out, a whirling storm. It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.

²⁰The LORD’s anger will not turn away until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart. In time to come you will understand it clearly.

²¹I did not send out these prophets, yet they ran. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

²²If they had really stood in my council, they would have enabled my people to hear my words and would have turned them from their evil ways and their evil deeds.

²³“Am I a God who is only near”  — this is the LORD’s declaration — “and not a God who is far away?

²⁴Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him?”  — the LORD’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?”  — the LORD’s declaration.

²⁵“I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in my name have said: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream! ’

²⁶How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds?

²⁷Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause my people to forget my name as their fathers forgot my name through Baal worship.

²⁸The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has my word should speak my word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?” — this is the LORD’s declaration.

²⁹“Is not my word like fire” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “and like a hammer that pulverizes rock?

³⁰Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets”  — the LORD’s declaration — “who steal my words from each other.

³¹I am against the prophets” — the LORD’s declaration — “who use their own tongues to make a declaration.

³²I am against those who prophesy false dreams”  — the LORD’s declaration — “telling them and leading my people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people” — this is the LORD’s declaration.

³³“Now when these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD? ’ you will respond to them, ‘What is the burden? I will throw you away! This is the LORD’s declaration.’

³⁴As for the prophet, priest, or people who say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household.

³⁵This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: ‘What has the LORD answered? ’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

³⁶But no longer refer to the burden of the LORD, for each man’s word becomes his burden and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of Armies, our God.

³⁷Say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you? ’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

³⁸But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ then this is what the LORD says: Because you have said, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ and I specifically told you not to say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’

³⁹I will surely forget you. I will throw you away from my presence — both you and the city that I gave you and your fathers.

⁴⁰I will bring on you everlasting disgrace and humiliation that will never be forgotten.”

¹But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property.

²However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge, and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

³“Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds of the land?

⁴Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God.”

⁵When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard.

⁶The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him.

⁷About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸“Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the land for this price?” “Yes,” she said, “for that price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

¹⁰Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things.

¹²Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹³No one else dared to join them, but the people spoke well of them.

¹⁴Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers — multitudes of both men and women.

¹⁵As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

¹⁶In addition, a multitude came together from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

¹⁷Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.

¹⁸So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

¹⁹But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said,

²⁰“Go and stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life.”

²¹Hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. When the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin — the full council of the Israelites — and sent orders to the jail to have them brought.

²²But when the servants got there, they did not find them in the jail, so they returned and reported,

²³“We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing in front of the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

²⁴As the captain of the temple police and the chief priests heard these things, they were baffled about them, wondering what would come of this.

²⁵Someone came and reported to them, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”

²⁶Then the commander went with the servants and brought them in without force, because they were afraid the people might stone them.

²⁷After they brought them in, they had them stand before the Sanhedrin, and the high priest asked,

²⁸“Didn’t we strictly order you not to teach in this name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

²⁹Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than people.

³⁰The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging him on a tree.

³¹God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

³²We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.

³⁴But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while.

³⁵He said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful about what you’re about to do to these men.

³⁶Some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and came to nothing.

³⁷After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and attracted a following. He also perished, and all his followers were scattered.

³⁸So in the present case, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail;

³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him.

⁴⁰After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.

⁴¹Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of the Name.

⁴²Every day in the temple, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.