Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,

²“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

³King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.

⁴He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

⁵“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:

⁶‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ ”

⁷Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.

⁸Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

⁹After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.

¹⁰When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!

¹¹They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

¹³After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother,

¹⁵and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

¹⁶Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.

¹⁷Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸“A cry was heard in Ramah — weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.”

¹⁹When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.

²⁰“Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”

²¹So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother.

²²But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee.

²³So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

¹The LORD called to Moses from the Tabernacle and said to him,

²“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you present an animal as an offering to the LORD, you may take it from your herd of cattle or your flock of sheep and goats.

³“If the animal you present as a burnt offering is from the herd, it must be a male with no defects. Bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle so you may be accepted by the LORD.

⁴Lay your hand on the animal’s head, and the LORD will accept its death in your place to purify you, making you right with him.

⁵Then slaughter the young bull in the LORD’s presence, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, will present the animal’s blood by splattering it against all sides of the altar that stands at the entrance to the Tabernacle.

⁶Then skin the animal and cut it into pieces.

⁷The sons of Aaron the priest will build a wood fire on the altar.

⁸They will arrange the pieces of the offering, including the head and fat, on the wood burning on the altar.

⁹But the internal organs and the legs must first be washed with water. Then the priest will burn the entire sacrifice on the altar as a burnt offering. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁰“If the animal you present as a burnt offering is from the flock, it may be either a sheep or a goat, but it must be a male with no defects.

¹¹Slaughter the animal on the north side of the altar in the LORD’s presence, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, will splatter its blood against all sides of the altar.

¹²Then cut the animal in pieces, and the priests will arrange the pieces of the offering, including the head and fat, on the wood burning on the altar.

¹³But the internal organs and the legs must first be washed with water. Then the priest will burn the entire sacrifice on the altar as a burnt offering. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁴“If you present a bird as a burnt offering to the LORD, choose either a turtledove or a young pigeon.

¹⁵The priest will take the bird to the altar, wring off its head, and burn it on the altar. But first he must drain its blood against the side of the altar.

¹⁶The priest must also remove the crop and the feathers and throw them in the ashes on the east side of the altar.

¹⁷Then, grasping the bird by its wings, the priest will tear the bird open, but without tearing it apart. Then he will burn it as a burnt offering on the wood burning on the altar. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

¹Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.

²So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.

³For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you.

⁴The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong.

⁵So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.

⁶Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do.

⁷Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.

⁸Owe nothing to anyone — except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.

⁹For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These — and other such commandments — are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

¹⁰Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

¹¹This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

¹²The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.

¹³Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy.

¹⁴Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

¹What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?

²You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.

³And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong — you want only what will give you pleasure.

⁴You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.

⁵Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him.

⁶And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

⁷So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

⁹Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.

¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

¹¹Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.

¹²God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?

¹³Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.”

¹⁴How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog — it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

¹⁵What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”

¹⁶Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.

¹⁷Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

¹Job continued speaking:

²“I long for the years gone by when God took care of me,

³when he lit up the way before me and I walked safely through the darkness.

⁴When I was in my prime, God’s friendship was felt in my home.

⁵The Almighty was still with me, and my children were around me.

⁶My steps were awash in cream, and the rocks gushed olive oil for me.

⁷“Those were the days when I went to the city gate and took my place among the honored leaders.

⁸The young stepped aside when they saw me, and even the aged rose in respect at my coming.

⁹The princes stood in silence and put their hands over their mouths.

¹⁰The highest officials of the city stood quietly, holding their tongues in respect.

¹¹“All who heard me praised me. All who saw me spoke well of me.

¹²For I assisted the poor in their need and the orphans who required help.

¹³I helped those without hope, and they blessed me. And I caused the widows’ hearts to sing for joy.

¹⁴Everything I did was honest. Righteousness covered me like a robe, and I wore justice like a turban.

¹⁵I served as eyes for the blind and feet for the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the poor and assisted strangers who needed help.

¹⁷I broke the jaws of godless oppressors and plucked their victims from their teeth.

¹⁸“I thought, ‘Surely I will die surrounded by my family after a long, good life.

¹⁹For I am like a tree whose roots reach the water, whose branches are refreshed with the dew.

²⁰New honors are constantly bestowed on me, and my strength is continually renewed.’

²¹“Everyone listened to my advice. They were silent as they waited for me to speak.

²²And after I spoke, they had nothing to add, for my counsel satisfied them.

²³They longed for me to speak as people long for rain. They drank my words like a refreshing spring rain.

²⁴When they were discouraged, I smiled at them. My look of approval was precious to them.

²⁵Like a chief, I told them what to do. I lived like a king among his troops and comforted those who mourned.

¹Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

²This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.

³For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.

⁴He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

⁵Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.

⁶Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.

⁷Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you.

⁸Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished.

⁹If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter,

¹⁰no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.

¹¹For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.

¹²They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.

¹³You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

¹⁴The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.

¹⁵When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.

¹⁶I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”

¹Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.

²When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan.

³The man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but if he hangs around with prostitutes, his wealth is wasted.

⁴A just king gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it.

⁵To flatter friends is to lay a trap for their feet.

⁶Evil people are trapped by sin, but the righteous escape, shouting for joy.

⁷The godly care about the rights of the poor; the wicked don’t care at all.

⁸Mockers can get a whole town agitated, but the wise will calm anger.

⁹If a wise person takes a fool to court, there will be ranting and ridicule but no satisfaction.

¹⁰The bloodthirsty hate blameless people, but the upright seek to help them.

¹¹Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.

¹²If a ruler pays attention to liars, all his advisers will be wicked.

¹³The poor and the oppressor have this in common — the LORD gives sight to the eyes of both.

¹⁴If a king judges the poor fairly, his throne will last forever.

¹⁵To discipline a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.

¹⁶When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes, but the godly will live to see their downfall.

¹⁷Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad.

¹⁸When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.

¹⁹Words alone will not discipline a servant; the words may be understood, but they are not heeded.

²⁰There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.

²¹A servant pampered from childhood will become a rebel.

²²An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin.

²³Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.

²⁴If you assist a thief, you only hurt yourself. You are sworn to tell the truth, but you dare not testify.

²⁵Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the LORD means safety.

²⁶Many seek the ruler’s favor, but justice comes from the LORD.

²⁷The righteous despise the unjust; the wicked despise the godly.

¹In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

²Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.

³He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”

⁴Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home.

⁵Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.”

⁶Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.

⁷When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing.

⁸Then he told Uriah, “Go on home and relax. ” David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace.

⁹But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard.

¹⁰When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, “What’s the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night after being away for so long?”

¹¹Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.”

¹²“Well, stay here today,” David told him, “and tomorrow you may return to the army.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.

¹³Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then he couldn’t get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard.

¹⁴So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver.

¹⁵The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.”

¹⁶So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting.

¹⁷And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers.

¹⁸Then Joab sent a battle report to David.

¹⁹He told his messenger, “Report all the news of the battle to the king.

²⁰But he might get angry and ask, ‘Why did the troops go so close to the city? Didn’t they know there would be shooting from the walls?

²¹Wasn’t Abimelech son of Gideon killed at Thebez by a woman who threw a millstone down on him from the wall? Why would you get so close to the wall?’ Then tell him, ‘Uriah the Hittite was killed, too.’”

²²So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David.

²³“The enemy came out against us in the open fields,” he said. “And as we chased them back to the city gate,

²⁴the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of the king’s men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.”

²⁵“Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,” David said. “The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!”

²⁶When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.

²⁷When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the LORD was displeased with what David had done.

¹This message for all the people of Judah came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign over Judah. This was the year when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon began his reign.

²Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people in Judah and Jerusalem,

³“For the past twenty-three years — from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until now — the LORD has been giving me his messages. I have faithfully passed them on to you, but you have not listened.

⁴“Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention.

⁵Each time the message was this: ‘Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the LORD gave to you and your ancestors forever.

⁶Do not provoke my anger by worshiping idols you made with your own hands. Then I will not harm you.’

⁷“But you would not listen to me,” says the LORD. “You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer.

⁸And now the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Because you have not listened to me,

⁹I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever.

¹⁰I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out.

¹¹This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

¹²“Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the LORD. “I will make the country of the Babylonians a wasteland forever.

¹³I will bring upon them all the terrors I have promised in this book — all the penalties announced by Jeremiah against the nations.

¹⁴Many nations and great kings will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my people.”

¹⁵This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.

¹⁶When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them.”

¹⁷So I took the cup of anger from the LORD and made all the nations drink from it — every nation to which the LORD sent me.

¹⁸I went to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and their kings and officials drank from the cup. From that day until this, they have been a desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt, and cursing.

¹⁹I gave the cup to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials, and all his people,

²⁰along with all the foreigners living in that land. I also gave it to all the kings of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod.

²¹Then I gave the cup to the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon,

²²and the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the regions across the sea.

²³I gave it to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people who live in distant places.

²⁴I gave it to the kings of Arabia, the kings of the nomadic tribes of the desert,

²⁵and to the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media.

²⁶And I gave it to the kings of the northern countries, far and near, one after the other — all the kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylon himself drank from the cup of the LORD’s anger.

²⁷Then the LORD said to me, “Now tell them, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Drink from this cup of my anger. Get drunk and vomit; fall to rise no more, for I am sending terrible wars against you.’

²⁸And if they refuse to accept the cup, tell them, ‘The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: You have no choice but to drink from it.

²⁹I have begun to punish Jerusalem, the city that bears my name. Now should I let you go unpunished? No, you will not escape disaster. I will call for war against all the nations of the earth. I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!’

³⁰“Now prophesy all these things, and say to them, “‘The LORD will roar against his own land from his holy dwelling in heaven. He will shout like those who tread grapes; he will shout against everyone on earth.

³¹His cry of judgment will reach the ends of the earth, for the LORD will bring his case against all the nations. He will judge all the people of the earth, slaughtering the wicked with the sword. I, the LORD, have spoken!’”

³²This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: “Look! Disaster will fall upon nation after nation! A great whirlwind of fury is rising from the most distant corners of the earth!”

³³In that day those the LORD has slaughtered will fill the earth from one end to the other. No one will mourn for them or gather up their bodies to bury them. They will be scattered on the ground like manure.

³⁴Weep and moan, you evil shepherds! Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock! The time of your slaughter has arrived; you will fall and shatter like a fragile vase.

³⁵You will find no place to hide; there will be no way to escape.

³⁶Listen to the frantic cries of the shepherds. The leaders of the flock are wailing in despair, for the LORD is ruining their pastures.

³⁷Peaceful meadows will be turned into a wasteland by the LORD’s fierce anger.

³⁸He has left his den like a strong lion seeking its prey, and their land will be made desolate by the sword of the enemy and the LORD’s fierce anger.

¹Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”

²This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.

³God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’

⁴So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.

⁵“But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants — even though he had no children yet.

⁶God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.

⁷‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’

⁸“God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.

⁹“These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him

¹⁰and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.

¹¹“But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food.

¹²Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons — our ancestors — to buy some.

¹³The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh.

¹⁴Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all.

¹⁵So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors.

¹⁶Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.

¹⁷“As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.

¹⁸But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.

¹⁹This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.

²⁰“At that time Moses was born — a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months.

²¹When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son.

²²Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.

²³“One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel.

²⁴He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian.

²⁵Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.

²⁶“The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’

²⁷“But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked.

²⁸‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’

²⁹When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.

³⁰“Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush.

³¹When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the LORD called out to him,

³²‘I am the God of your ancestors — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.

³³“Then the LORD said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.

³⁴I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’

³⁵“So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior.

³⁶And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.

³⁷“Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’

³⁸Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.

³⁹“But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt.

⁴⁰They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’

⁴¹So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made.

⁴²Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written, ‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?

⁴³No, you carried your pagan gods — the shrine of Molech, the star of your god Rephan, and the images you made to worship them. So I will send you into exile as far away as Babylon.’

⁴⁴“Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses.

⁴⁵Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.

⁴⁶“David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.

⁴⁷But it was Solomon who actually built it.

⁴⁸However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,

⁴⁹‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that?’ asks the LORD. ‘Could you build me such a resting place?

⁵⁰Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’

⁵¹“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!

⁵²Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One — the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.

⁵³You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”

⁵⁴The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.

⁵⁵But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

⁵⁶And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”

⁵⁷Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him

⁵⁸and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

⁶⁰He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.