Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

³For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’ ”

⁴Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him

⁶and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

⁸Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,

⁹and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

¹⁰And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹²His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.

¹⁴And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

¹⁵But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

¹⁶When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.

¹⁷And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

¹‘When anyone offers a grain offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it.

²He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

³The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.

⁴‘And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.

⁵But if your offering is a grain offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil.

⁶You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.

⁷‘If your offering is a grain offering baked in a covered pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

⁸You shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the LORD. And when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar.

⁹Then the priest shall take from the grain offering a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar. It is an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

¹⁰And what is left of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.

¹¹‘No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire.

¹²As for the offering of the firstfruits, you shall offer them to the LORD, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma.

¹³And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.

¹⁴‘If you offer a grain offering of your firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits green heads of grain roasted on the fire, grain beaten from full heads.

¹⁵And you shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense on it. It is a grain offering.

¹⁶Then the priest shall burn the memorial portion: part of its beaten grain and part of its oil, with all the frankincense, as an offering made by fire to the LORD.

¹Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.

²For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.

³Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.

⁴Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

⁵One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

⁶He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.

⁷For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.

⁸For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

⁹For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

¹¹For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”

¹²So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

¹³Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

¹⁴I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

¹⁵Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

¹⁶Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;

¹⁷for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

¹⁹Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

²⁰Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.

²¹It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

²²Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

²³But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

¹Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!

²Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.

³Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.

⁴Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

⁵You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

⁶You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

⁷Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.

⁸You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

⁹Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

¹⁰My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.

¹¹Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

¹²But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.

¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

¹⁶Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

¹⁷Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

¹⁸And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,

²⁰let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

¹“But now they mock at me, men younger than I, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

²Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished.

³They are gaunt from want and famine, Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,

⁴Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And broom tree roots for their food.

⁵They were driven out from among men, They shouted at them as at a thief.

⁶They had to live in the clefts of the valleys, In caves of the earth and the rocks.

⁷Among the bushes they brayed, Under the nettles they nestled.

⁸They were sons of fools, Yes, sons of vile men; They were scourged from the land.

⁹“And now I am their taunting song; Yes, I am their byword.

¹⁰They abhor me, they keep far from me; They do not hesitate to spit in my face.

¹¹Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off restraint before me.

¹²At my right hand the rabble arises; They push away my feet, And they raise against me their ways of destruction.

¹³They break up my path, They promote my calamity; They have no helper.

¹⁴They come as broad breakers; Under the ruinous storm they roll along.

¹⁵Terrors are turned upon me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.

¹⁶“And now my soul is poured out because of my plight; The days of affliction take hold of me.

¹⁷My bones are pierced in me at night, And my gnawing pains take no rest.

¹⁸By great force my garment is disfigured; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

¹⁹He has cast me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.

²⁰“I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me.

²¹But You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.

²²You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it; You spoil my success.

²³For I know that You will bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living.

²⁴“Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins, If they cry out when He destroys it.

²⁵Have I not wept for him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

²⁶But when I looked for good, evil came to me; And when I waited for light, then came darkness.

²⁷My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest; Days of affliction confront me.

²⁸I go about mourning, but not in the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

²⁹I am a brother of jackals, And a companion of ostriches.

³⁰My skin grows black and falls from me; My bones burn with fever.

³¹My harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the voice of those who weep.

¹A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day. [1] It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

²To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night,

³On an instrument of ten strings, On the lute, And on the harp, With harmonious sound.

⁴For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

⁵O LORD, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep.

⁶A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this.

⁷When the wicked spring up like grass, And when all the workers of iniquity flourish, It is that they may be destroyed forever.

⁸But You, LORD, are on high forevermore.

⁹For behold, Your enemies, O LORD, For behold, Your enemies shall perish; All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

¹⁰But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil.

¹¹My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies; My ears hear my desire on the wicked Who rise up against me.

¹²The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

¹³Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing,

¹⁵To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

¹The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, his utterance. This man declared to Ithiel—to Ithiel and Ucal:

²Surely I am more stupid than any man, And do not have the understanding of a man.

³I neither learned wisdom Nor have knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, If you know?

⁵Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

⁶Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

⁷Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die):

⁸Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches— Feed me with the food allotted to me;

⁹Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the LORD?” Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.

¹⁰Do not malign a servant to his master, Lest he curse you, and you be found guilty.

¹¹There is a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother.

¹²There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness.

¹³There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up.

¹⁴There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, And whose fangs are like knives, To devour the poor from off the earth, And the needy from among men.

¹⁵The leech has two daughters— Give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, “Enough!”:

¹⁶The grave, The barren womb, The earth that is not satisfied with water— And the fire never says, “Enough!”

¹⁷The eye that mocks his father, And scorns obedience to his mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it.

¹⁸There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yes, four which I do not understand:

¹⁹The way of an eagle in the air, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the midst of the sea, And the way of a man with a virgin.

²⁰This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, “I have done no wickedness.”

²¹For three things the earth is perturbed, Yes, for four it cannot bear up:

²²For a servant when he reigns, A fool when he is filled with food,

²³A hateful woman when she is married, And a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.

²⁴There are four things which are little on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise:

²⁵The ants are a people not strong, Yet they prepare their food in the summer;

²⁶The rock badgers are a feeble folk, Yet they make their homes in the crags;

²⁷The locusts have no king, Yet they all advance in ranks;

²⁸The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, And it is in kings’ palaces.

²⁹There are three things which are majestic in pace, Yes, four which are stately in walk:

³⁰A lion, which is mighty among beasts And does not turn away from any;

³¹A greyhound, A male goat also, And a king whose troops are with him.

³²If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, Or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth.

³³For as the churning of milk produces butter, And wringing the nose produces blood, So the forcing of wrath produces strife.

¹Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.

²The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.

³But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him.

⁴And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!

⁶And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

⁷Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

⁸I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!

⁹Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

¹⁰Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’

¹¹Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

¹²For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ”

¹³So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

¹⁴However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.”

¹⁵Then Nathan departed to his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill.

¹⁶David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.

¹⁷So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.

¹⁸Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”

¹⁹When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.”

²⁰So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate.

²¹Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”

²²And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’

²³But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

²⁴Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the LORD loved him,

²⁵and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.

²⁶Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal city.

²⁷And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, and I have taken the city’s water supply.

²⁸Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called after my name.”

²⁹So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it.

³⁰Then he took their king’s crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance.

³¹And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over to the brick works. So he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

¹In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD, saying,

²“Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’s house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word.

³Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’

⁴And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you,

⁵to heed the words of My servants the prophets whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded),

⁶then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”

⁷So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.

⁸Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You will surely die!

⁹Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

¹⁰When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the LORD and sat down in the entry of the New Gate of the LORD’s house.

¹¹And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, “This man deserves to die! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”

¹²Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard.

¹³Now therefore, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; then the LORD will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you.

¹⁴As for me, here I am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and proper to you.

¹⁵But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

¹⁶So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.”

¹⁷Then certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying:

¹⁸“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest.” ’

¹⁹Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and seek the LORD’s favor? And the LORD relented concerning the doom which He had pronounced against them. But we are doing great evil against ourselves.”

²⁰Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.

²¹And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt.

²²Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt.

²³And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.

²⁴Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

¹Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

²And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

³As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

⁴Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

⁵Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.

⁶And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

⁷For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.

⁸And there was great joy in that city.

⁹But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great,

¹⁰to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.”

¹¹And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time.

¹²But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

¹³Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

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

¹⁵who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

¹⁶For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁷Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

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

¹⁹saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!

²¹You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

²²Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

²⁴Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

²⁵So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.

²⁷So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,

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

²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

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

³¹And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

³²The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

³³In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”

³⁴So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”

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

³⁶Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

³⁷Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

³⁸So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.

³⁹Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.