Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.

²And a man with leprosy came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

³Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present theoffering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

⁵And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, begging Him,

⁶and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, terribly tormented.”

⁷Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

⁸But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁹For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

¹⁰Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faithwith anyone in Israel.

¹¹And I say to you that many will come from east and west, andrecline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;

¹²but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go;it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

¹⁴When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.

¹⁵And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him.

¹⁶Now when evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.

¹⁷This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR ILLNESSES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”

¹⁸Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.

¹⁹Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”

²⁰And Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

²¹And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”

²²But Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

²³When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.

²⁴And behold, a violent storm developed on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.

²⁵And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

²⁶He *said to them, “Why are youafraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.

²⁷The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

²⁸And when He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men confronted Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.

²⁹And they cried out, saying, “What business do You have with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

³⁰Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding at a distance from them.

³¹And the demons begged Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

³²And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the pigs; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.

³³And the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.

³⁴And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they pleaded with Him to leave their region.

¹But God remembered Noah and all the animals and all the livestock that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.

²Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained;

³and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of 150 days the water decreased.

⁴Then in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.

⁵And the water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

⁶Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;

⁷and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth.

⁸Then he sent out a dove, to see if the water was low on the surface of the land;

⁹but the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot, so it returned to him in the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took it, and brought it into the ark to himself.

¹⁰So he waited another seven days longer; and again he sent out the dove from the ark.

¹¹And the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, in its beak was a fresh olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was low on the earth.

¹²Then he waited another seven days longer, and sent out the dove; but it did not return to him again.

¹³Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, that the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground had dried up.

¹⁴And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

¹⁵Then God spoke to Noah, saying,

¹⁶“Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.

¹⁷Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

¹⁸So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him.

¹⁹Every animal, every crawling thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.

²⁰Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took some of every kind of clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

²¹The LORD smelled the soothing aroma, and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

²²While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.”

¹Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.

²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

³For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

⁴so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

⁶For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,

⁷because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,

⁸and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

¹⁰If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

¹¹But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

¹²So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—

¹³for if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁴For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God.

¹⁵For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

¹⁶The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

¹⁷and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

¹⁸For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

¹⁹For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God.

²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope

²¹that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

²²For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

²³And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body.

²⁴For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?

²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

²⁶Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

²⁷and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

²⁸And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

²⁹For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters;

³⁰and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

³²He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

³³Who will bring charges against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;

³⁴who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

³⁶Just as it is written: “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE REGARDED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

³⁷But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it was also with you;

²and that we will be rescued from troublesome and evil people; for not all have the faith.

³But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

⁴We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing, and will do, what we command.

⁵May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the perseverance of Christ.

⁶Now we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother or sister who leads a disorderly life and not one in accordance with the tradition which you received from us.

⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined way among you,

⁸nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you;

⁹not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a role model for you, so that you would follow our example.

¹⁰For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.

¹¹For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.

¹²Now we command and exhort such persons in the Lord Jesus Christ to work peacefully and eat their own bread.

¹³But as for you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary of doing good.

¹⁴If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person so as not to associate with him, so that he will be put to shame.

¹⁵And yet do not regard that person as an enemy, but admonish that one as a brother or sister.

¹⁶Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!

¹⁷I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.

¹⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

²“How long will you say these things, And the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

³Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?

⁴If your sons sinned against Him, Then He turned them over to the power of their wrongdoing.

⁵If you will search for God And implore the compassion of the Almighty,

⁶If you are pure and upright, Surely now He will stir Himself for you And restore your righteous estate.

⁷Though your beginning was insignificant, Yet your end will increase greatly.

⁸“Please inquire of past generations, And consider the things searched out by their fathers.

⁹For we are only of yesterday and know nothing, Because our days on earth are as a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you, And bring forth words from their minds?

¹¹“Can papyrus grow tall without a marsh? Can the rushes grow without water?

¹²While it is still green and not cut down, Yet it withers before any other plant.

¹³So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the godless will perish,

¹⁴His confidence is fragile, And his trust is a spider’s web.

¹⁵He depends on his house, but it does not stand; He holds on to it, but it does not endure.

¹⁶He flourishes before the sun, And his shoots spread out over his garden.

¹⁷His roots wrap around a rock pile, He grasps a house of stones.

¹⁸If he is removed from his place, Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

¹⁹Behold, this is the joy of His way; And out of the dust others will spring.

²⁰Behold, God will not reject a person of integrity, Nor will He help evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, And your lips with joyful shouting.

²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, And the tent of the wicked will no longer exist.”

¹LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, You who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!

²From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established strength Because of Your enemies, To do away with the enemy and the revengeful.

³When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have set in place;

⁴What is man that You think of him, And a son of man that You are concerned about him?

⁵Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!

⁶You have him rule over the works of Your hands; You have put everything under his feet,

⁷All sheep and oxen, And also the animals of the field,

⁸The birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

⁹LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

¹Does not wisdom call, And understanding raise her voice?

²On top of the heights beside the way, Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

³Beside the gates, at the opening to the city, At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:

⁴“To you, people, I call, And my voice is to mankind.

⁵You naive ones, understand prudence; And, you fools, understand wisdom!

⁶Listen, for I will speak noble things; And the opening of my lips will reveal right things.

⁷For my mouth will proclaim truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

⁸All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; There is nothing crooked or perverted in them.

⁹They are all straightforward to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge.

¹⁰Accept my instruction and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold.

¹¹For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her.

¹²“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion.

¹³The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride, arrogance, the evil way, And the perverted mouth, I hate.

¹⁴Advice is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine.

¹⁵By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice.

¹⁶By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly.

¹⁷I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.

¹⁸Riches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness.

¹⁹My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold; And my yield better than choice silver.

²⁰I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice,

²¹To endow those who love me with wealth, That I may fill their treasuries.

²²“The LORD created me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old.

²³From eternity I was established, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.

²⁴When there were no ocean depths, I was born, When there were no springs abounding with water.

²⁵Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, I was born;

²⁶While He had not yet made the earth and the fields, Nor the first dust of the world.

²⁷When He established the heavens, I was there; When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

²⁸When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed,

²⁹When He set a boundary for the sea So that the water would not violate His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth;

³⁰Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was His delight daily, Rejoicing always before Him,

³¹Rejoicing in the world, His earth, And having my delight in the sons of mankind.

³²“Now then, sons, listen to me, For blessed are those who keep my ways.

³³Listen to instruction and be wise, And do not neglect it.

³⁴Blessed is the person who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at my doorposts.

³⁵For one who finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the LORD.

³⁶But one who sins against me injures himself; All those who hate me love death.”

¹Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you. Arise, go up to Ai; see, I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.

²You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall take only its spoils and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.”

³So Joshua rose up with all the people of war to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand men, valiant warriors, and sent them out at night.

⁴He commanded them, saying, “See, you are going to ambush the city from behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

⁵Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out to meet us as they did the first time, we will flee before them.

⁶They will come out after us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us just as they did the first time.’ So we will flee before them.

⁷Then you shall rise from your ambush and take possession of the city, for the LORD your God will hand it over to you.

⁸Then it will be when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it in accordance with the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.”

⁹So Joshua sent them away, and they went to the place of ambush and remained between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.

¹⁰Now Joshua got up early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai.

¹¹Then all the people of war who were with him went up and approached, and arrived in front of the city; and they camped on the north side of Ai. And there was a valley between him and Ai.

¹²Then he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

¹³So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley.

¹⁴And it came about, when the king of Ai saw them, that the men of the city hurried and got up early, and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

¹⁵Then Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

¹⁶And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city.

¹⁷So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel, but they had all gone out after Israel, and they left the city unguarded and pursued Israel.

¹⁸Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Reach out with the sword that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand it over to you.” So Joshua reached out with the sword that was in his hand toward the city.

¹⁹Then the men in ambush rose quickly from their place, and when he had reached out with his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it, and they quickly set the city on fire.

²⁰When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers.

²¹When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and killed the men of Ai.

²²The others came out from the city to confront them, so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side; and they killed them until there was not one left who escaped or survived.

²³But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴Now when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

²⁵So all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people of Ai.

²⁶For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he reached out with the sword until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

²⁷Israel took only the cattle and the spoils of that city as plunder for themselves, in accordance with the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua.

²⁸So Joshua burned Ai and made it a refuse heap forever, a desolation until this day.

²⁹And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; but at sunset Joshua gave the command and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and erected over it a large heap of stones that stands to this day.

³⁰Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

³¹just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no one had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.

³²And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he had written, in the presence of the sons of Israel.

³³And all Israel with their elders, officers, and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at first to bless the people of Israel.

³⁴Then afterward he read all the words of the Law, the blessing and the curse, according to everything that is written in the Book of the Law.

³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them.

¹Then the LORD said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

²And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

³So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz;

⁴for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵Again the LORD spoke to me further, saying,

⁶“Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah;

⁷Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates River, That is, the king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks.

⁸Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will reach as far as the neck; And the spread of its wings will fill the expanse of your land, Immanuel.

⁹“Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; And listen, all remote places of the earth. Get ready, yet be shattered; Get ready, yet be shattered.

¹⁰Devise a plan, but it will fail; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us.”

¹¹For so the LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

¹²“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’ Regarding everything that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.

¹³It is the LORD of armies whom you are to regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.

¹⁴Then He will become a sanctuary; But to both houses of Israel, He will be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁵Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will be snared and caught.”

¹⁶Bind up the testimony, seal the Law among my disciples.

¹⁷And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will wait eagerly for Him.

¹⁸Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of armies, who dwells on Mount Zion.

¹⁹When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should a people not consult their God? Should they consult the dead in behalf of the living?

²⁰To the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak in accordance with this word, it is because they have no dawn.

²¹They will pass through the land dejected and hungry, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will become enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward.

²²Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.

¹Now Saul approved of putting Stephen to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.

²Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him.

³But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would drag away men and women and put them in prison.

⁴Therefore, those who had been scattered went through places preaching the word.

⁵Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them.

⁶The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.

⁷For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed.

⁸So there was much rejoicing in that city.

⁹Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;

¹⁰and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “This man is the Power of God that is called Great.”

¹¹And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic arts.

¹²But when they believed Philip as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being baptized.

¹³Now even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was repeatedly amazed.

¹⁴Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,

¹⁵who came down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶(For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

¹⁷Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,

¹⁹saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire the gift of God with money!

²¹You have no part or share in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

²²Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of unrighteousness.”

²⁴But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

²⁵So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

²⁷So he got ready and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,

²⁸and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet.

²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”

³⁰Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³²Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “HE WAS LED LIKE A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND LIKE A LAMB THAT IS SILENT BEFORE ITS SHEARER, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.

³³IN HUMILIATION HIS JUSTICE WAS TAKEN AWAY; WHO WILL DESCRIBE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE EARTH.”

³⁴The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?”

³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

³⁶As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

³⁷

³⁸And he ordered that the chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.