Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.

²Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.

³Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

⁵Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”

⁶He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

⁷That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.

⁸The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

⁹When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.

¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”

¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.

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

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

¹⁶He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

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

¹⁸ Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”

¹⁹(This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

²⁰Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”

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

²²Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

²³So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

²⁴This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

²⁵Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

¹From the blue and purple and scarlet yarns they made finely woven garments, for ministering in the Holy Place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²He made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

³And they hammered out gold leaf, and he cut it into threads to work into the blue and purple and the scarlet yarns, and into the fine twined linen, in skilled design.

⁴They made for the ephod attaching shoulder pieces, joined to it at its two edges.

⁵And the skillfully woven band on it was of one piece with it and made like it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁶They made the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold filigree, and engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the sons of Israel.

⁷And he set them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁸He made the breastpiece, in skilled work, in the style of the ephod, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

⁹It was square. They made the breastpiece doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth when doubled.

¹⁰And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row;

¹¹and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond;

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

¹³and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold filigree.

¹⁴There were twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They were like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes.

¹⁵And they made on the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold.

¹⁶And they made two settings of gold filigree and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece.

¹⁷And they put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece.

¹⁸They attached the two ends of the two cords to the two settings of filigree. Thus they attached it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod.

¹⁹Then they made two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod.

²⁰And they made two rings of gold, and attached them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

²¹And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it should lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²²He also made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue,

²³and the opening of the robe in it was like the opening in a garment, with a binding around the opening, so that it might not tear.

²⁴On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

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

²⁶a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²⁷They also made the coats, woven of fine linen, for Aaron and his sons,

²⁸and the turban of fine linen, and the caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twined linen,

²⁹and the sash of fine twined linen and of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, embroidered with needlework, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³⁰They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the LORD.”

³¹And they tied to it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³²Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses; so they did.

³³Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases;

³⁴the covering of tanned rams' skins and goatskins, and the veil of the screen;

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

³⁶the table with all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence;

³⁷the lampstand of pure gold and its lamps with the lamps set and all its utensils, and the oil for the light;

³⁸the golden altar, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance of the tent;

³⁹the bronze altar, and its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin and its stand;

⁴⁰the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, and its pegs; and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting;

⁴¹the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for their service as priests.

⁴²According to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work.

⁴³And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them.

¹I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

²God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?

³“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”

⁴But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

⁵So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

⁶But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

⁷What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,

⁸as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

⁹And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

¹⁰let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”

¹¹So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.

¹²Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

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

¹⁴in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.

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

¹⁶If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,

¹⁸do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.

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

²⁰That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.

²¹For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

²²Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

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

²⁴For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

²⁵Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: 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 banish ungodliness from Jacob”;

²⁷“and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

²⁸As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.

²⁹For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

³⁰For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,

³¹so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.

³²For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

³³Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

³⁴“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”

³⁵“Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”

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

¹My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

²For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,

³and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”

⁴have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?

⁷Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

⁸If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

⁹But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

¹¹For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

¹²So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

¹³For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

¹⁵If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,

¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

¹⁷So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

¹⁹You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder!

²⁰Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

²¹Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

²²You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;

²³and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” — and he was called a friend of God.

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

²⁵And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

²⁶For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

¹And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

²“As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,

³as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,

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

⁵Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

⁶I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

⁷“Let my enemy be as the wicked, and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.

⁸For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life?

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

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

¹¹I will teach you concerning the hand of God; what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹²Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?

¹³“This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:

¹⁴If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword, and his descendants have not enough bread.

¹⁵Those who survive him the pestilence buries, and his widows do not weep.

¹⁶Though he heap up silver like dust, and pile up clothing like clay,

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

¹⁸He builds his house like a moth's, like a booth that a watchman makes.

¹⁹He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more; he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone.

²⁰Terrors overtake him like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries him off.

²¹The east wind lifts him up and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.

²²It hurls at him without pity; he flees from its power in headlong flight.

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

¹I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

²For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”

³You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant:

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

⁵Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!

⁶For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD,

⁷a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him?

⁸O LORD God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O LORD, with your faithfulness all around you?

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

¹⁰You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

¹¹The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.

¹²The north and the south, you have created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.

¹³You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand.

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

¹⁵Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,

¹⁶who exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted.

¹⁷For you are the glory of their strength; by your favor our horn is exalted.

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

¹⁹Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said: “I have granted help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.

²⁰I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him,

²¹so that my hand shall be established with him; my arm also shall strengthen him.

²²The enemy shall not outwit him; the wicked shall not humble him.

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

²⁴My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

²⁵I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers.

²⁶He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’

²⁷And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

²⁸My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him.

²⁹I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens.

³⁰If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules,

³¹if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments,

³²then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes,

³³but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness.

³⁴I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips.

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

³⁶His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me.

³⁷Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah

³⁸But now you have cast off and rejected; you are full of wrath against your anointed.

³⁹You have renounced the covenant with your servant; you have defiled his crown in the dust.

⁴⁰You have breached all his walls; you have laid his strongholds in ruins.

⁴¹All who pass by plunder him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors.

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

⁴³You have also turned back the edge of his sword, and you have not made him stand in battle.

⁴⁴You have made his splendor to cease and cast his throne to the ground.

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

⁴⁶How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?

⁴⁷Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man!

⁴⁸What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

⁴⁹Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?

⁵⁰Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked, and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations,

⁵¹with which your enemies mock, O LORD, with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.

⁵²Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.

¹Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

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

³A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool's provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

⁷One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.

⁸Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home.

⁹Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend, and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me.

¹²The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.

¹³Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.

¹⁴Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.

¹⁵A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike;

¹⁶to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one's right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

¹⁸Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored.

¹⁹As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.

²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.

²²Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.

²³Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds,

²⁴for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?

²⁵When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,

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

²⁷There will be enough goats' milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls.

¹And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?”

²Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.”

³And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.”

⁴The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.”

⁵Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.

⁶And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.”

⁷And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.”

⁸And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

⁹Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson.

¹⁰And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's grandson shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David's table, like one of the king's sons.

¹²And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants.

¹³So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet.

¹“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD.

²Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD.

³Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.

⁴I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD.

⁵“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

⁶In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’

⁷“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’

⁸but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

⁹Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD and because of his holy words.

¹⁰For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land mourns, and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right.

¹¹“Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their evil, declares the LORD.

¹²Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery paths in the darkness, into which they shall be driven and fall, for I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment, declares the LORD.

¹³In the prophets of Samaria I saw an unsavory thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.

¹⁴But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”

¹⁵Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”

¹⁶Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.

¹⁷They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

¹⁸For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened?

¹⁹Behold, the storm of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

²⁰The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

²¹“I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

²²But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.

²³“Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away?

²⁴Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.

²⁵I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’

²⁶How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart,

²⁷who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal?

²⁸Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD.

²⁹Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

³⁰Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another.

³¹Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’

³²Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.

³³“When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.’

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

³⁵Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

³⁶But ‘the burden of the LORD’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God.

³⁷Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

³⁸But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’”

³⁹therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers.

⁴⁰And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”

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

²and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.

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

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

⁵When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

⁶The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

⁷After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

⁸And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.”

⁹But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

¹⁰Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

¹²Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico.

¹³None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

¹⁴And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

¹⁵so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

¹⁶The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

¹⁷But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy

¹⁸they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

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

²⁰“Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”

²¹And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

²²But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported,

²³“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”

²⁴Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.

²⁵And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”

²⁶Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,

²⁸saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.”

²⁹But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

³⁰The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

³¹God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

³²And we are witnesses to 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 in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.

³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.

³⁶For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

³⁷After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

³⁸So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail;

³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,

⁴⁰and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

⁴²And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.