Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

²“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

³But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

⁴so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

⁵“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

¹⁰your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹Give us today our daily bread.

¹²And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’

¹⁴For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

¹⁵But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

¹⁶“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

¹⁷But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

¹⁸so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

¹⁹“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²²“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

²³But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

²⁴“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

²⁵“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

²⁷Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

²⁸“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.

²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

³¹So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

¹“ ‘If anyone sins because they do not speak up when they hear a public charge to testify regarding something they have seen or learned about, they will be held responsible.

²“ ‘If anyone becomes aware that they are guilty—if they unwittingly touch anything ceremonially unclean (whether the carcass of an unclean animal, wild or domestic, or of any unclean creature that moves along the ground) and they are unaware that they have become unclean, but then they come to realize their guilt;

³or if they touch human uncleanness (anything that would make them unclean) even though they are unaware of it, but then they learn of it and realize their guilt;

⁴or if anyone thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything, whether good or evil (in any matter one might carelessly swear about) even though they are unaware of it, but then they learn of it and realize their guilt—

⁵when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned.

⁶As a penalty for the sin they have committed, they must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for them for their sin.

⁷“ ‘Anyone who cannot afford a lamb is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the LORD as a penalty for their sin—one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.

⁸They are to bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one for the sin offering. He is to wring its head from its neck, not dividing it completely,

⁹and is to splash some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the altar; the rest of the blood must be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering.

¹⁰The priest shall then offer the other as a burnt offering in the prescribed way and make atonement for them for the sin they have committed, and they will be forgiven.

¹¹“ ‘If, however, they cannot afford two doves or two young pigeons, they are to bring as an offering for their sin a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour for a sin offering. They must not put olive oil or incense on it, because it is a sin offering.

¹²They are to bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful of it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar on top of the food offerings presented to the LORD. It is a sin offering.

¹³In this way the priest will make atonement for them for any of these sins they have committed, and they will be forgiven. The rest of the offering will belong to the priest, as in the case of the grain offering.’ ”

¹⁴The LORD said to Moses:

¹⁵“When anyone is unfaithful to the LORD by sinning unintentionally in regard to any of the LORD’s holy things, they are to bring to the LORD as a penalty a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. It is a guilt offering.

¹⁶They must make restitution for what they have failed to do in regard to the holy things, pay an additional penalty of a fifth of its value and give it all to the priest. The priest will make atonement for them with the ram as a guilt offering, and they will be forgiven.

¹⁷“If anyone sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands, even though they do not know it, they are guilty and will be held responsible.

¹⁸They are to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for them for the wrong they have committed unintentionally, and they will be forgiven.

¹⁹It is a guilt offering; they have been guilty of wrongdoing against the LORD.”

¹Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

²To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

³Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.

⁵For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—

⁶God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.

⁷Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

⁸He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁰I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

¹¹My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.

¹²What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

¹³Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

¹⁴I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

¹⁵so no one can say that you were baptized in my name.

¹⁶(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)

¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

¹⁹For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

²⁰Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

²¹For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

²²Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,

²³but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

²⁴but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.

²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

²⁸God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,

²⁹so that no one may boast before him.

³⁰It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

³¹Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

¹Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,

²when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

³Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.

⁴Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

⁵For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands,

⁶like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

⁷Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

⁸Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.

⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

¹⁰For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.

¹¹They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.

¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

¹³Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”

¹⁵But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

¹⁷For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

¹⁸For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

¹⁹After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—

²⁰to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,

²¹and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

²²who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

¹“But now, Job, listen to my words; pay attention to everything I say.

²I am about to open my mouth; my words are on the tip of my tongue.

³My words come from an upright heart; my lips sincerely speak what I know.

⁴The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

⁵Answer me then, if you can; stand up and argue your case before me.

⁶I am the same as you in God’s sight; I too am a piece of clay.

⁷No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy on you.

⁸“But you have said in my hearing— I heard the very words—

⁹‘I am pure, I have done no wrong; I am clean and free from sin.

¹⁰Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy.

¹¹He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.’

¹²“But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal.

¹³Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one’s words?

¹⁴For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it.

¹⁵In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds,

¹⁶he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings,

¹⁷to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride,

¹⁸to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword.

¹⁹“Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in their bones,

²⁰so that their body finds food repulsive and their soul loathes the choicest meal.

²¹Their flesh wastes away to nothing, and their bones, once hidden, now stick out.

²²They draw near to the pit, and their life to the messengers of death.

²³Yet if there is an angel at their side, a messenger, one out of a thousand, sent to tell them how to be upright,

²⁴and he is gracious to that person and says to God, ‘Spare them from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for them—

²⁵let their flesh be renewed like a child’s; let them be restored as in the days of their youth’—

²⁶then that person can pray to God and find favor with him, they will see God’s face and shout for joy; he will restore them to full well-being.

²⁷And they will go to others and say, ‘I have sinned, I have perverted what is right, but I did not get what I deserved.

²⁸God has delivered me from going down to the pit, and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’

²⁹“God does all these things to a person— twice, even three times—

³⁰to turn them back from the pit, that the light of life may shine on them.

³¹“Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.

³²If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want to vindicate you.

³³But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

¹Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

²Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

³For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.

⁴In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.

⁵The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

⁶Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

⁷for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice,

⁸“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,

⁹where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.

¹⁰For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’

¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

¹My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,

²turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—

³indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,

⁴and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,

⁵then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

⁶For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

⁸for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

⁹Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

¹¹Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.

¹²Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,

¹³who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways,

¹⁴who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

¹⁵whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

¹⁶Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words,

¹⁷who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.

¹⁸Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

¹⁹None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.

²⁰Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it;

²²but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

¹In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him.

²He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”

³Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.”

⁴And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that they receive justice.”

⁵Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him.

⁶Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel.

⁷At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the LORD.

⁸While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: ‘If the LORD takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’ ”

⁹The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he went to Hebron.

¹⁰Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’ ”

¹¹Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter.

¹²While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from Giloh, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept on increasing.

¹³A messenger came and told David, “The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom.”

¹⁴Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin on us and put the city to the sword.”

¹⁵The king’s officials answered him, “Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses.”

¹⁶The king set out, with his entire household following him; but he left ten concubines to take care of the palace.

¹⁷So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at the edge of the city.

¹⁸All his men marched past him, along with all the Kerethites and Pelethites; and all the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath marched before the king.

¹⁹The king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland.

²⁰You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your people with you. May the LORD show you kindness and faithfulness.”

²¹But Ittai replied to the king, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be.”

²²David said to Ittai, “Go ahead, march on.” So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and the families that were with him.

²³The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the wilderness.

²⁴Zadok was there, too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.

²⁵Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the LORD’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again.

²⁶But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.”

²⁷The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Do you understand? Go back to the city with my blessing. Take your son Ahimaaz with you, and also Abiathar’s son Jonathan. You and Abiathar return with your two sons.

²⁸I will wait at the fords in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”

²⁹So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there.

³⁰But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up.

³¹Now David had been told, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David prayed, “LORD, turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”

³²When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head.

³³David said to him, “If you go with me, you will be a burden to me.

³⁴But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘Your Majesty, I will be your servant; I was your father’s servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,’ then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel’s advice.

³⁵Won’t the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Tell them anything you hear in the king’s palace.

³⁶Their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with anything you hear.”

³⁷So Hushai, David’s confidant, arrived at Jerusalem as Absalom was entering the city.

¹This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²(This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.)

³He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:

⁴This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:

⁵“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.

⁶Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.

⁷Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

⁸Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.

⁹They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the LORD.

¹⁰This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.

¹¹For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

¹²Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

¹³You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

¹⁴I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

¹⁵You may say, “The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,”

¹⁶but this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile—

¹⁷yes, this is what the LORD Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.

¹⁸I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them.

¹⁹For they have not listened to my words,” declares the LORD, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the LORD.

²⁰Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²¹This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: “I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes.

²²Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the LORD treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’

²³For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares the LORD.

²⁴Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite,

²⁵“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah,

²⁶‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the LORD; you should put any maniac who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons.

²⁷So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you?

²⁸He has sent this message to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’ ”

²⁹Zephaniah the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet.

³⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

³¹“Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the LORD says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies,

³²this is what the LORD says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares the LORD, because he has preached rebellion against me.’ ”

¹The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him

³and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story:

⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was.

⁶I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds.

⁷Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

⁸“I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹“The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’

¹⁰This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

¹¹“Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying.

¹²The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.

¹³He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter.

¹⁴He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

¹⁵“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.

¹⁶Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

¹⁷So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

¹⁹Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews.

²⁰Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

²¹The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

²²News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

²³When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

²⁴He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

²⁵Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,

²⁶and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

²⁷During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)

²⁹The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea.

³⁰This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.