Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

²Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

³But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

⁴that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

⁵“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

⁶But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

⁷And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

⁸“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

⁹In this manner, therefore, 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 this day our daily bread.

¹²And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

¹³And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

¹⁴“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

¹⁶“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

¹⁷But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

¹⁸so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

¹⁹“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;

²⁰but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

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

²²“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.

²³But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

²⁴“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

²⁵“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

²⁶Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

²⁷Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

²⁸“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

²⁹and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

³⁰Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

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

³²For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

¹‘If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter—if he does not tell it, he bears guilt.

²‘Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean and guilty.

³Or if he touches human uncleanness—whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.

⁴‘Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters.

⁵‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing;

⁶and he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.

⁷‘If he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.

⁸And he shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it completely.

⁹Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering.

¹⁰And he shall offer the second as a burnt offering according to the prescribed manner. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.

¹¹‘But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he who sinned shall bring for his offering one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, nor shall he put frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering.

¹²Then he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar according to the offerings made by fire to the LORD. It is a sin offering.

¹³The priest shall make atonement for him, for his sin that he has committed in any of these matters; and it shall be forgiven him. The rest shall be the priest’s as a grain offering.’ ”

¹⁴Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

¹⁵“If a person commits a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of the LORD, then he shall bring to the LORD as his trespass offering a ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass offering.

¹⁶And he shall make restitution for the harm that he has done in regard to the holy thing, and shall add one-fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.

¹⁷“If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity.

¹⁸And he shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his ignorance in which he erred and did not know it, and it shall be forgiven him.

¹⁹It is a trespass offering; he has certainly trespassed against the LORD.”

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

²To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

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

⁴I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus,

⁵that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge,

⁶even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,

⁷so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁸who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁰Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

¹¹For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.

¹²Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”

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

¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,

¹⁵lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.

¹⁶Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.

¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

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, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

²⁰Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

²²For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;

²³but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,

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

²⁵Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

²⁷But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

²⁸and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,

²⁹that no flesh should glory in His presence.

³⁰But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

³¹that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

¹Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,

²when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

³Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—

⁴rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

⁵For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands,

⁶as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

⁷Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

⁸Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;

⁹not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

¹⁰For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit.

¹¹Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.

¹²For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”

¹³And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”

¹⁵But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

¹⁶having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

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

¹⁸For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

¹⁹by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,

²⁰who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

²¹There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

¹“But please, Job, hear my speech, And listen to all my words.

²Now, I open my mouth; My tongue speaks in my mouth.

³My words come from my upright heart; My lips utter pure knowledge.

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

⁵If you can answer me, Set your words in order before me; Take your stand.

⁶Truly I am as your spokesman before God; I also have been formed out of clay.

⁷Surely no fear of me will terrify you, Nor will my hand be heavy on you.

⁸“Surely you have spoken in my hearing, And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,

⁹‘I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.

¹⁰Yet He finds occasions against me, He counts me as His enemy;

¹¹He puts my feet in the stocks, He watches all my paths.’

¹²“Look, in this you are not righteous. I will answer you, For God is greater than man.

¹³Why do you contend with Him? For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.

¹⁴For God may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it.

¹⁵In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds,

¹⁶Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction.

¹⁷In order to turn man from his deed, And conceal pride from man,

¹⁸He keeps back his soul from the Pit, And his life from perishing by the sword.

¹⁹“Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, And with strong pain in many of his bones,

²⁰So that his life abhors bread, And his soul succulent food.

²¹His flesh wastes away from sight, And his bones stick out which once were not seen.

²²Yes, his soul draws near the Pit, And his life to the executioners.

²³“If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness,

²⁴Then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’;

²⁵His flesh shall be young like a child’s, He shall return to the days of his youth.

²⁶He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, He shall see His face with joy, For He restores to man His righteousness.

²⁷Then he looks at men and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted what was right, And it did not profit me.’

²⁸He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit, And his life shall see the light.

²⁹“Behold, God works all these things, Twice, in fact, three times with a man,

³⁰To bring back his soul from the Pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of life.

³¹“Give ear, Job, listen to me; Hold your peace, and I will speak.

³²If you have anything to say, answer me; Speak, for I desire to justify you.

³³If not, listen to me; Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.”

¹Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.

²Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

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

⁴In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also.

⁵The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land.

⁶Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

⁷For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:

⁸“Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,

⁹When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work.

¹⁰For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’

¹¹So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

¹My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,

²So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;

³Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,

⁴If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;

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 stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

⁸He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.

¹⁰When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,

¹¹Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you,

¹²To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,

¹³From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked;

¹⁵Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths;

¹⁶To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words,

¹⁷Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.

¹⁸For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead;

¹⁹None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life—

²⁰So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness.

²¹For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it;

²²But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

¹After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

²Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel.”

³Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your case is good and right; but there is no deputy of the king to hear you.”

⁴Moreover Absalom would say, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice.”

⁵And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out his hand and take him and kiss him.

⁶In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷Now it came to pass after forty years that Absalom said to the king, “Please, let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I made to the LORD.

⁸For your servant took a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the LORD indeed brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.’ ”

⁹And the king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron.

¹⁰Then Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’ ”

¹¹And with Absalom went two hundred men invited from Jerusalem, and they went along innocently and did not know anything.

¹²Then Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city—from Giloh—while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy grew strong, for the people with Absalom continually increased in number.

¹³Now a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

¹⁴So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

¹⁵And the king’s servants said to the king, “We are your servants, ready to do whatever my lord the king commands.”

¹⁶Then the king went out with all his household after him. But the king left ten women, concubines, to keep the house.

¹⁷And the king went out with all the people after him, and stopped at the outskirts.

¹⁸Then all his servants passed before him; and all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who had followed him from Gath, passed before the king.

¹⁹Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why are you also going with us? Return and remain with the king. For you are a foreigner and also an exile from your own place.

²⁰In fact, you came only yesterday. Should I make you wander up and down with us today, since I go I know not where? Return, and take your brethren back. Mercy and truth be with you.”

²¹But Ittai answered the king and said, “As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be.”

²²So David said to Ittai, “Go, and cross over.” Then Ittai the Gittite and all his men and all the little ones who were with him crossed over.

²³And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people crossed over. The king himself also crossed over the Brook Kidron, and all the people crossed over toward the way of the wilderness.

²⁴There was Zadok also, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar went up until all the people had finished crossing over from the city.

²⁵Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place.

²⁶But if He says thus: ‘I have no delight in you,’ here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him.”

²⁷The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

²⁸See, I will wait in the plains of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”

²⁹Therefore Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem. And they remained there.

³⁰So David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went up.

³¹Then someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O LORD, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

³²Now it happened when David had come to the top of the mountain, where he worshiped God—there was Hushai the Archite coming to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head.

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

³⁴But if you return to the city, and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; as I was your father’s servant previously, so I will now also be your servant,’ then you may defeat the counsel of Ahithophel for me.

³⁵And do you not have Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? Therefore it will be that whatever you hear from the king’s house, you shall tell to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

³⁶Indeed they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and by them you shall send me everything you hear.”

³⁷So Hushai, David’s friend, went into the city. And Absalom came into Jerusalem.

¹Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive—to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²(This happened after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.)

³The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,

⁴Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:

⁵Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.

⁶Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished.

⁷And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.

⁸For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.

⁹For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the LORD.

¹⁰For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.

¹¹For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

¹²Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

¹³And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

¹⁴I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

¹⁵Because you have said, “The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon”—

¹⁶therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity—

¹⁷thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.

¹⁸And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth—to be a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,

¹⁹because they have not heeded My words, says the LORD, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the LORD.

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

²¹Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes.

²²And because of them a curse shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire”;

²³because they have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed I know, and am a witness, says the LORD.

²⁴You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

²⁵Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

²⁶“The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there should be officers in the house of the LORD over every man who is demented and considers himself a prophet, that you should put him in prison and in the stocks.

²⁷Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you?

²⁸For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘This captivity is long; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’ ”

²⁹Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.

³⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying:

³¹Send to all those in captivity, saying, Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie—

³²therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his family: he shall not have anyone to dwell among this people, nor shall he see the good that I will do for My people, says the LORD, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD.

¹Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.

²And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him,

³saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”

⁴But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying:

⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me.

⁶When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.

⁷And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’

⁸But I said, ‘Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’

⁹But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’

¹⁰Now this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven.

¹¹At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea.

¹²Then the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house.

¹³And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter,

¹⁴who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’

¹⁵And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.

¹⁶Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

¹⁷If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”

¹⁸When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

¹⁹Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only.

²⁰But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus.

²¹And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

²²Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch.

²³When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.

²⁴For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.

²⁵Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul.

²⁶And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

²⁷And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.

²⁸Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.

²⁹Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea.

³⁰This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.