Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way.

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

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 after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

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

⁶He said to them, “Cast the net to 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 there were so many fish.

⁷That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea.

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

⁹When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish 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, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn.

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

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

¹⁴This was now the third time that Jesus appeared 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.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

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

¹⁷He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt 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.

¹⁸Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”

¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

²⁰Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at 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 him?”

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

²³So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

²⁴This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.

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

¹Of the blue, purple, and crimson yarns they made finely worked vestments, for ministering in the holy place; they made the sacred vestments for Aaron; as the LORD had commanded Moses.

²He made the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen.

³Gold leaf was hammered out and cut into threads to work into the blue, purple, and crimson yarns and into the fine twisted linen, in skilled design.

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

⁵The decorated band on it was of the same materials and workmanship, of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen; as the LORD had commanded Moses.

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

⁷He 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, like the work of the ephod, of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen.

⁹It was square; the breastpiece was made double, a span in length and a span in width when doubled.

¹⁰They set in it four rows of stones. A row of carnelian, chrysolite, and emerald was the first row;

¹¹and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and a moonstone;

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 names corresponding to the names of the sons of Israel; they were like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes.

¹⁵They made on the breastpiece chains of pure gold, twisted like cords;

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.

¹⁸Two ends of the two cords they had attached to the two settings of filigree; in this way 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.

²⁰They made two rings of gold, and attached them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod, at its joining above the decorated band of the ephod.

²¹They bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it should lie on the decorated 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 yarn;

²³and the opening of the robe in the middle of it was like the opening in a coat of mail, with a binding around the opening, so that it might not be torn.

²⁴On the lower hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen.

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

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

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

²⁸and the turban of fine linen, and the headdresses of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twisted linen,

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

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

³¹They tied to it a blue cord, to fasten it on the turban above; as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³²In this way all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished; the Israelites had done everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

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 the covering of fine leather, and the curtain for the screen;

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

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

³⁷the pure lampstand with its lamps set on it 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 with 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 vestments for ministering in the holy place, the sacred vestments for the priest Aaron, and the vestments of his sons to serve as priests.

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

⁴³When Moses saw that they had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded, he blessed them.

¹I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! 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 pleads with God against Israel?

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

⁴But what is the divine reply to him? “I have kept 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.

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 sluggish spirit, 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 keep their backs forever bent.”

¹¹So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.

¹²Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for 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 glorify my ministry

¹⁴in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them.

¹⁵For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead!

¹⁶If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; and if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy.

¹⁷But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree,

¹⁸do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you.

¹⁹You 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 only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe.

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

²²Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

²³And even those of Israel, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.

²⁴For if you have been 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 natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.

²⁵So that you may not claim to be wiser than you are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

²⁶And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, “Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.”

²⁷“And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”

²⁸As regards the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors;

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

³⁰Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience,

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

³²For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

³³O 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, to receive a gift in return?”

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

¹My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?

²For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in,

³and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,”

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

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

⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court?

⁷Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

⁸You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

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

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

¹¹For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

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

¹³For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?

¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,

¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?

¹⁷So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

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

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

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

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

²²You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works.

²³Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.

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

²⁵Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road?

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

¹Job 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; until 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“May my enemy be like the wicked, and may my opponent be like the unrighteous.

⁸For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts them off, when God takes away their lives?

⁹Will God hear their cry when trouble comes upon them?

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

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

¹²All of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?

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

¹⁴If their children are multiplied, it is for the sword; and their offspring have not enough to eat.

¹⁵Those who survive them the pestilence buries, and their widows make no lamentation.

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

¹⁷they may pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸They build their houses like nests, like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard.

¹⁹They go to bed with wealth, but will do so no more; they open their eyes, and it is gone.

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

²¹The east wind lifts them up and they are gone; it sweeps them out of their place.

²²It hurls at them without pity; they flee from its power in headlong flight.

²³It claps its hands at them, and hisses at them from its place.

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

²I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

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

⁴‘I will establish your descendants 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 feared in the council of the holy ones, great and awesome above all that are around him?

⁸O LORD God of hosts, who is as mighty as you, O LORD? Your faithfulness surrounds 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 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.

¹⁵Happy are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of your countenance;

¹⁶they exult in your name all day long, and extol your righteousness.

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.

¹⁹Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said: “I have set the crown on one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people.

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

²¹my hand shall always remain 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 steadfast love shall be with him; and in my name his horn shall 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!’

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

²⁸Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him, and my covenant with him will stand firm.

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

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

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

³²then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with scourges;

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

³⁶His line shall continue forever, and his throne endure before me like the sun.

³⁷It shall be established forever like the moon, an enduring witness in the skies.” Selah

³⁸But now you have spurned and rejected him; 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 broken through 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.

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

⁴⁴You have removed the scepter from his hand, and hurled 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 mortals!

⁴⁸Who can live and never see death? Who can escape 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 servant is taunted; how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples,

⁵¹with which your enemies taunt, O LORD, with which they taunted 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 is able to stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts, but profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

⁷The sated appetite spurns honey, but to a ravenous appetite even the bitter is sweet.

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

⁹Perfume and incense make the heart glad, but the soul is torn by trouble.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent; do not go to the house of your kindred in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is nearby than kindred who are far away.

¹¹Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad, so that I may answer whoever reproaches me.

¹²The clever see danger and hide; but the simple go on, and suffer for it.

¹³Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger; seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.

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

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

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

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits of another.

¹⁸Anyone who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and anyone who takes care of a master will be honored.

¹⁹Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and human eyes are never satisfied.

²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, so a person is tested by being praised.

²²Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, but the folly will not be driven out.

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

²⁴for riches do not last forever, nor a crown for all generations.

²⁵When the grass is gone, and new growth appears, and the herbage 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 nourishment for your servant-girls.

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

²Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and he was summoned to David. The king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “At your service!”

³The king said, “Is there anyone remaining of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” Ziba said to the king, “There remains a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.”

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

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

⁶Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, “Mephibosheth!” He answered, “I am your servant.”

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

⁸He did obeisance and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon a dead dog such as I?”

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

¹⁰You and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him, and shall bring in the produce, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat; but your master’s grandson Mephibosheth 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 your servant will do.” Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons.

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

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

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

²Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD.

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

⁴I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD.

⁵The days are surely coming, says 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 live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.”

⁷Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, “As the LORD lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,”

⁸but “As the LORD lives who brought out and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them.” Then they shall live in their own land.

⁹Concerning the prophets: My heart is crushed within me, all my bones shake; I have become like a drunkard, like one 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 has been evil, and their might is not right.

¹¹Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their wickedness, — says 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, — says the LORD.

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

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

¹⁵Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: “I am going to make them eat wormwood, and give them poisoned water to drink; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”

¹⁶Thus says the LORD of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you; they are deluding you. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.

¹⁷They keep saying to those who despise the word of the LORD, “It shall be well with you”; and to all who stubbornly follow their own stubborn hearts, they say, “No calamity shall come upon you.”

¹⁸For who has stood in the council of the LORD so as to see and to hear his word? Who has given heed to his word so as to proclaim it?

¹⁹Look, 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 mind. In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

²¹I 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 doings.

²³Am I a God near by, says the LORD, and not a God far off?

²⁴Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says 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? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back — those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart?

²⁷They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal.

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

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

³⁰See, therefore, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who steal my words from one another.

³¹See, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who use their own tongues and say, “Says the LORD.”

³²See, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says the LORD, and who tell them, and who lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or appoint them; so they do not profit this people at all, says the LORD.

³³When 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, says the LORD.”

³⁴And as for the prophet, priest, or the people who say, “The burden of the LORD,” I will punish them and their households.

³⁵Thus shall you say to one another, among yourselves, “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 everyone’s own word, and so you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God.

³⁷Thus you shall ask 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, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your ancestors.

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

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

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

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

⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!”

⁵Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it.

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

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

⁸Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”

⁹Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, 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 died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

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

¹²Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.

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

¹⁴Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women,

¹⁵so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by.

¹⁶A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.

¹⁷Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy,

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

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

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

²¹When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

²²But when the temple police went there, 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 perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on.

²⁵Then someone arrived and announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”

²⁶Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them,

²⁸saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.”

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

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

³¹God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might 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, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time.

³⁵Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men.

³⁶For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared.

³⁷After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also 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; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail;

³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them — in that case you may even be found fighting against God!” They were convinced by him,

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

⁴¹As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

⁴²And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.