Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way:

²Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.

³“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

⁵He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered.

⁶He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

⁷Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.

⁸The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.

⁹When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

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

¹¹So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.

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

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

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

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

¹⁶Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

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

¹⁸Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

¹⁹Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

²⁰Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”)

²¹When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

²²Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

²³Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, 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.

²⁵Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

¹From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary. They also made sacred garments for Aaron, as the LORD commanded Moses.

²They made the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen.

³They hammered out thin sheets of gold and cut strands to be worked into the blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen—the work of skilled hands.

⁴They made shoulder pieces for the ephod, which were attached to two of its corners, so it could be fastened.

⁵Its skillfully woven waistband was like it—of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen, as the LORD commanded Moses.

⁶They mounted the onyx stones in gold filigree settings and engraved them like a seal with the names of the sons of Israel.

⁷Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses.

⁸They fashioned the breastpiece—the work of a skilled craftsman. They made it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen.

⁹It was square—a span long and a span wide—and folded double.

¹⁰Then they mounted four rows of precious stones on it. The first row was carnelian, chrysolite and beryl;

¹¹the second row was turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald;

¹²the third row was jacinth, agate and amethyst;

¹³the fourth row was topaz, onyx and jasper. They were mounted in gold filigree settings.

¹⁴There were twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

¹⁵For the breastpiece they made braided chains of pure gold, like a rope.

¹⁶They made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and fastened the rings to two of the corners of the breastpiece.

¹⁷They fastened the two gold chains to the rings at the corners of the breastpiece,

¹⁸and the other ends of the chains to the two settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front.

¹⁹They made two gold rings and attached them to the other two corners of the breastpiece on the inside edge next to the ephod.

²⁰Then they made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the seam just above the waistband of the ephod.

²¹They tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband so that the breastpiece would not swing out from the ephod—as the LORD commanded Moses.

²²They made the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth—the work of a weaver—

²³with an opening in the center of the robe like the opening of a collar, and a band around this opening, so that it would not tear.

²⁴They made pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen around the hem of the robe.

²⁵And they made bells of pure gold and attached them around the hem between the pomegranates.

²⁶The bells and pomegranates alternated around the hem of the robe to be worn for ministering, as the LORD commanded Moses.

²⁷For Aaron and his sons, they made tunics of fine linen—the work of a weaver—

²⁸and the turban of fine linen, the linen caps and the undergarments of finely twisted linen.

²⁹The sash was made of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn—the work of an embroiderer—as the LORD commanded Moses.

³⁰They made the plate, the sacred emblem, out of pure gold and engraved on it, like an inscription on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.

³¹Then they fastened a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban, as the LORD commanded Moses.

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

³³Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent and all its furnishings, its clasps, frames, crossbars, posts and bases;

³⁴the covering of ram skins dyed red and the covering of another durable leather and the shielding curtain;

³⁵the ark of the covenant law with its poles and the atonement cover;

³⁶the table with all its articles and the bread of the Presence;

³⁷the pure gold lampstand with its row of lamps and all its accessories, and the olive oil for the light;

³⁸the gold altar, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, and the curtain for the entrance to the tent;

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

⁴⁰the curtains of the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard; the ropes and tent pegs for the courtyard; all the furnishings for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting;

⁴¹and the woven garments worn for ministering in the sanctuary, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when serving as priests.

⁴²The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁴³Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them.

¹I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

²God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:

³“Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”?

⁴And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

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

⁶And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

⁷What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,

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

⁹And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.

¹⁰May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”

¹¹Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.

¹²But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

¹³I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry

¹⁴in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.

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

¹⁶If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,

¹⁸do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.

¹⁹You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”

²⁰Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble.

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

²²Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

²³And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

²⁴After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

²⁵I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number 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 is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

²⁸As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs,

²⁹for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.

³⁰Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience,

³¹so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you.

³²For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

³³Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

³⁴“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”

³⁵“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?”

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

¹My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.

²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.

³If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”

⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?

⁷Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

⁸If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

⁹But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

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

¹¹For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,

¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?

¹⁵Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.

¹⁶If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

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

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

²⁰You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

²¹Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

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 considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

¹And Job continued his discourse:

²“As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made my life bitter,

³as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils,

⁴my lips will not say anything wicked, and my tongue will not utter lies.

⁵I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity.

⁶I will maintain my innocence and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

⁷“May my enemy be like the wicked, my adversary like the unjust!

⁸For what hope have the godless when they are cut off, when God takes away their life?

⁹Does God listen to their cry when distress comes upon them?

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

¹¹“I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹²You have all seen this yourselves. Why then this meaningless talk?

¹³“Here is the fate God allots to the wicked, the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:

¹⁴However many his children, their fate is the sword; his offspring will never have enough to eat.

¹⁵The plague will bury those who survive him, and their widows will not weep for them.

¹⁶Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay,

¹⁷what he lays up the righteous will wear, and the innocent will divide his silver.

¹⁸The house he builds is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut made by a watchman.

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

²⁰Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest snatches him away in the night.

²¹The east wind carries him off, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.

²²It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power.

²³It claps its hands in derision and hisses him out of his place.”

¹A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.

²I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

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

⁴‘I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’ ”

⁵The heavens praise your wonders, LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.

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

⁷In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him.

⁸Who is like you, LORD God Almighty? You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

⁹You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.

¹⁰You crushed Rahab like one of the slain; with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.

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

¹²You created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.

¹³Your arm is endowed with power; your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.

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

¹⁵Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, LORD.

¹⁶They rejoice in your name all day long; they celebrate your righteousness.

¹⁷For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn.

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

¹⁹Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said: “I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have raised up a young man from among the people.

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

²¹My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him.

²²The enemy will not get the better of him; the wicked will not oppress him.

²³I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries.

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

²⁵I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers.

²⁶He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.’

²⁷And I will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.

²⁸I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail.

²⁹I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.

³⁰“If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes,

³¹if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands,

³²I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging;

³³but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.

³⁴I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered.

³⁵Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness— and I will not lie to David—

³⁶that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun;

³⁷it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.”

³⁸But you have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one.

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

⁴⁰You have broken through all his walls and reduced his strongholds to ruins.

⁴¹All who pass by have plundered 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.

⁴³Indeed, you have turned back the edge of his sword and have not supported him in battle.

⁴⁴You have put an end to his splendor and cast his throne to the ground.

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

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

⁴⁷Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all humanity!

⁴⁸Who can live and not see death, or who can escape the power of the grave?

⁴⁹Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David?

⁵⁰Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,

⁵¹the taunts with which your enemies, LORD, have mocked, with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.

⁵²Praise be to the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.

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

²Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips.

³Stone is heavy and sand a burden, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

⁷One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

⁸Like a bird that flees its nest is anyone who flees from home.

⁹Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family, and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you— better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.

¹²The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

¹³Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.

¹⁴If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.

¹⁵A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;

¹⁶restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

¹⁸The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master will be honored.

¹⁹As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.

²⁰Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.

²¹The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding them like grain with a pestle, you will not remove their folly from them.

²³Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;

²⁴for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.

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

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

²⁷You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family and to nourish your female servants.

¹David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

²Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” “At your service,” he replied.

³The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”

⁴“Where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”

⁵So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.

⁶When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “At your service,” he replied.

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

⁸Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”

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

¹⁰You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

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

¹²Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth.

¹³And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.

¹“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD.

²Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the LORD.

³“I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number.

⁴I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD.

⁵“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.

⁶In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior.

⁷“So then, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’

⁸but they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

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

¹⁰The land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land lies parched and the pastures in the wilderness are withered. The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly.

¹¹“Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness,” declares the LORD.

¹²“Therefore their path will become slippery; they will be banished to darkness and there they will fall. I will bring disaster on them in the year they are punished,” declares the LORD.

¹³“Among the prophets of Samaria I saw this repulsive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.

¹⁴And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that not one of them turns from their wickedness. They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”

¹⁵Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says concerning the prophets: “I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, because from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”

¹⁶This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.

¹⁷They keep saying to those who despise me, ‘The LORD says: You will have peace.’ And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’

¹⁸But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?

¹⁹See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a whirlwind swirling down on the heads of the wicked.

²⁰The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand it clearly.

²¹I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.

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

²³“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?

²⁴Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD.

²⁵“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’

²⁶How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?

²⁷They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship.

²⁸Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the LORD.

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

³⁰“Therefore,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me.

³¹Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The LORD declares.’

³²Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the LORD. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the LORD.

³³“When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the message from the LORD?’ say to them, ‘What message? I will forsake you, declares the LORD.’

³⁴If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is a message from the LORD,’ I will punish them and their household.

³⁵This is what each of you keeps saying to your friends and other Israelites: ‘What is the LORD’s answer?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

³⁶But you must not mention ‘a message from the LORD’ again, because each one’s word becomes their own message. So you distort the words of the living God, the LORD Almighty, our God.

³⁷This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the LORD’s answer to you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

³⁸Although you claim, ‘This is a message from the LORD,’ this is what the LORD says: You used the words, ‘This is a message from the LORD,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is a message from the LORD.’

³⁹Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors.

⁴⁰I will bring on you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”

¹Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

²With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

³Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

⁴Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

⁵When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

⁶Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

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

⁸Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

⁹Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁰At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

¹¹Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

¹²The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹³No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.

¹⁴Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

¹⁵As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.

¹⁶Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

¹⁷Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.

¹⁸They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

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

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

²¹At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles.

²²But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported,

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

²⁴On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.

²⁵Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.”

²⁶At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.

²⁷The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.

²⁸“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

²⁹Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!

³⁰The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.

³¹God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their 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 furious and wanted to put them to death.

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

³⁵Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.

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

³⁷After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.

³⁸Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.

³⁹But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

⁴⁰His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

⁴¹The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

⁴²Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.