Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.

²For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.

³Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye?

⁴Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye?

⁵Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.

⁶Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.

⁷“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

⁸For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?

¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.

¹²Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

¹³“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it.

¹⁴How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.

¹⁵“Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves.

¹⁶You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?

¹⁷In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit.

¹⁸A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit.

¹⁹Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

²⁰So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’

²³Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’

²⁴“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

²⁵The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.

²⁶But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

²⁷The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”

²⁸When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

²⁹because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“When someone sins and offends the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit, a security, or a robbery; or defrauds his neighbor;

³or finds something lost and lies about it; or swears falsely about any of the sinful things a person may do —

⁴once he has sinned and acknowledged his guilt  — he must return what he stole or defrauded, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost item he found,

⁵or anything else about which he swore falsely. He will make full restitution for it and add a fifth of its value to it. He is to pay it to its owner on the day he acknowledges his guilt.

⁶Then he is to bring his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock according to your assessment of its value as a guilt offering to the priest.

⁷In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt.”

⁸The LORD spoke to Moses:

⁹“Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the burnt offering; the burnt offering itself must remain on the altar’s hearth all night until morning, while the fire of the altar is kept burning on it.

¹⁰The priest is to put on his linen robe and linen undergarments. He is to remove the ashes of the burnt offering the fire has consumed on the altar, and place them beside the altar.

¹¹Then he will take off his garments, put on other clothes, and bring the ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place.

¹²The fire on the altar is to be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest will burn wood on the fire. He is to arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat portions from the fellowship offerings on it.

¹³Fire must be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not go out.

¹⁴“Now this is the law of the grain offering: Aaron’s sons will present it before the LORD in front of the altar.

¹⁵The priest is to remove a handful of fine flour and olive oil from the grain offering, with all the frankincense that is on the offering, and burn its memorial portion on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁶Aaron and his sons may eat the rest of it. It is to be eaten in the form of unleavened bread in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

¹⁷It must not be baked with yeast; I have assigned it as their portion from my fire offerings. It is especially holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

¹⁸Any male among Aaron’s descendants may eat it. It is a permanent portion throughout your generations from the fire offerings to the LORD. Anything that touches the offerings will become holy.”

¹⁹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²⁰“This is the offering that Aaron and his sons are to present to the LORD on the day that he is anointed: two quarts of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.

²¹It is to be prepared with oil on a griddle; you are to bring it well-kneaded. You are to present it as a grain offering of baked pieces, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

²²The priest, who is one of Aaron’s sons and will be anointed to take his place, is to prepare it. It must be completely burned as a permanent portion for the LORD.

²³Every grain offering for a priest will be a whole burnt offering; it is not to be eaten.”

²⁴The LORD spoke to Moses:

²⁵“Tell Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the sin offering. The sin offering is most holy and must be slaughtered before the LORD at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.

²⁶The priest who offers it as a sin offering will eat it. It is to be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

²⁷Anything that touches its flesh will become holy, and if any of its blood spatters on a garment, then you must wash that garment in a holy place.

²⁸A clay pot in which the sin offering is boiled is to be broken; if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it is to be scoured and rinsed with water.

²⁹Any male among the priests may eat it; it is especially holy.

³⁰But no sin offering may be eaten if its blood has been brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place; it must be burned.

¹When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom.

²I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

³I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

⁴My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,

⁵so that your faith might not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.

⁶We do, however, speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

⁷On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory.

⁸None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

⁹But as it is written, What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived — God has prepared these things for those who love him.

¹⁰Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, since the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

¹¹For who knows a person’s thoughts except his spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

¹²Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.

¹³We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.

¹⁴But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

¹⁵The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone.

¹⁶For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

¹Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding  — because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin  —

²in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.

³For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry.

⁴They are surprised that you don’t join them in the same flood of wild living — and they slander you.

⁵They will give an account to the one who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.

⁶For this reason the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead, so that, although they might be judged in the flesh according to human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God’s standards.

⁷The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer.

⁸Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.

⁹Be hospitable to one another without complaining.

¹⁰Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

¹¹If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

¹²Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you.

¹³Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.

¹⁴If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

¹⁵Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler.

¹⁶But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.

¹⁷For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?

¹⁸And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

¹⁹So then, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good.

¹Then Elihu continued, saying:

²Hear my words, you wise ones, and listen to me, you knowledgeable ones.

³Doesn’t the ear test words as the palate tastes food?

⁴Let us judge for ourselves what is right; let us decide together what is good.

⁵For Job has declared, “I am righteous, yet God has deprived me of justice.

⁶Would I lie about my case? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.”

⁷What man is like Job? He drinks derision like water.

⁸He keeps company with evildoers and walks with wicked men.

⁹For he has said, “A man gains nothing when he becomes God’s friend.”

¹⁰Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding. It is impossible for God to do wrong, and for the Almighty to act unjustly.

¹¹For he repays a person according to his deeds, and he gives him what his conduct deserves.

¹²Indeed, it is true that God does not act wickedly and the Almighty does not pervert justice.

¹³Who gave him authority over the earth? Who put him in charge of the entire world?

¹⁴If he put his mind to it and withdrew the spirit and breath he gave,

¹⁵every living thing would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

¹⁶If you have understanding, hear this; listen to what I have to say.

¹⁷Could one who hates justice govern the world? Will you condemn the mighty Righteous One,

¹⁸who says to a king, “Worthless man!” and to nobles, “Wicked men!”?

¹⁹God is not partial to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.

²⁰They die suddenly in the middle of the night; people shudder, then pass away. Even the mighty are removed without effort.

²¹For his eyes watch over a man’s ways, and he observes all his steps.

²²There is no darkness, no deep darkness, where evildoers can hide.

²³God does not need to examine a person further, that one should approach him in court.

²⁴He shatters the mighty without an investigation and sets others in their place.

²⁵Therefore, he recognizes their deeds and overthrows them by night, and they are crushed.

²⁶In full view of the public, he strikes them for their wickedness,

²⁷because they turned aside from following him and did not understand any of his ways

²⁸but caused the poor to cry out to him, and he heard the outcry of the needy.

²⁹But when God is silent, who can declare him guilty? When he hides his face, who can see him? Yet he watches over both individuals and nations,

³⁰so that godless men should not rule or ensnare the people.

³¹Suppose someone says to God, “I have endured my punishment; I will no longer act wickedly.

³²Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I won’t do it again.”

³³Should God repay you on your terms when you have rejected his? You must choose, not I! So declare what you know.

³⁴Reasonable men will say to me, along with the wise men who hear me,

³⁵“Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without insight.”

³⁶If only Job were tested to the limit, because his answers are like those of wicked men.

³⁷For he adds rebellion to his sin; he scornfully claps in our presence, while multiplying his words against God.

¹[1] Sing a new song to the LORD; let the whole earth sing to the LORD.

²Sing to the LORD, bless his name; proclaim his salvation from day to day.

³Declare his glory among the nations, his wondrous works among all peoples.

⁴For the LORD is great and is highly praised; he is feared above all gods.

⁵For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

⁶Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

⁷Ascribe to the LORD, you families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

⁸Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; bring an offering and enter his courts.

⁹Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him.

¹⁰Say among the nations: “The LORD reigns. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. He judges the peoples fairly.”

¹¹Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound.

¹²Let the fields and everything in them celebrate. Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy

¹³before the LORD, for he is coming — for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his faithfulness.

¹My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;

²for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.

³Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Tie them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Then you will find favor and high regard with God and people.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;

⁶in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.

⁷Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

⁸This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones.

⁹Honor the LORD with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest;

¹⁰then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

¹¹Do not despise the LORD’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe his discipline;

¹²for the LORD disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

¹³Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding,

¹⁴for she is more profitable than silver, and her revenue is better than gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than jewels; nothing you desire can equal her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand; in her left, riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are pleasant, and all her paths, peaceful.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who hold on to her are happy.

¹⁹The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.

²⁰By his knowledge the watery depths broke open, and the clouds dripped with dew.

²¹Maintain sound wisdom and discretion. My son, don’t lose sight of them.

²²They will be life for you and adornment for your neck.

²³Then you will go safely on your way; your foot will not stumble.

²⁴When you lie down, you will not be afraid; you will lie down, and your sleep will be pleasant.

²⁵Don’t fear sudden danger or the ruin of the wicked when it comes,

²⁶for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from a snare.

²⁷When it is in your power, don’t withhold good from the one to whom it belongs.

²⁸Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later. I’ll give it tomorrow” — when it is there with you.

²⁹Don’t plan any harm against your neighbor, for he trusts you and lives near you.

³⁰Don’t accuse anyone without cause, when he has done you no harm.

³¹Don’t envy a violent man or choose any of his ways;

³²for the devious are detestable to the LORD, but he is a friend to the upright.

³³The LORD’s curse is on the household of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous;

³⁴He mocks those who mock, but gives grace to the humble.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor, but he holds up fools to dishonor.

¹When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba, Mephibosheth’s servant, was right there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred bunches of summer fruit, and a clay jar of wine.

²The king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these?” Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those to drink who become exhausted in the wilderness.”

³“Where is your master’s grandson?” the king asked. “Why, he’s staying in Jerusalem,” Ziba replied to the king, “for he said, ‘Today, the house of Israel will restore my grandfather’s kingdom to me.’”

⁴The king said to Ziba, “All that belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours!” “I bow before you,” Ziba said. “May I find favor with you, my lord the king!”

⁵When King David got to Bahurim, a man belonging to the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he was yelling curses as he approached.

⁶He threw stones at David and at all the royal servants, the people and the warriors on David’s right and left.

⁷Shimei said as he cursed: “Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, you wicked man!

⁸The LORD has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul in whose place you became king, and the LORD has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. Look, you are in trouble because you’re a man of bloodshed!”

⁹Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and remove his head!”

¹⁰The king replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, do we agree on anything? He curses me this way because the LORD told him, ‘Curse David! ’ Therefore, who can say, ‘Why did you do that? ’”

¹¹Then David said to Abishai and all his servants, “Look, my own son, my own flesh and blood, intends to take my life  — how much more now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone and let him curse me; the LORD has told him to.

¹²Perhaps the LORD will see my affliction and restore goodness to me instead of Shimei’s curses today.”

¹³So David and his men proceeded along the road as Shimei was going along the ridge of the hill opposite him. As Shimei went, he cursed David, threw stones at him, and kicked up dust.

¹⁴Finally, the king and all the people with him arrived exhausted, so they rested there.

¹⁵Now Absalom and all the Israelites came to Jerusalem. Ahithophel was also with him.

¹⁶When David’s friend Hushai the Archite came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

¹⁷“Is this your loyalty to your friend?” Absalom asked Hushai. “Why didn’t you go with your friend?”

¹⁸“Not at all,” Hushai answered Absalom. “I am on the side of the one that the LORD, this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen. I will stay with him.

¹⁹Furthermore, whom will I serve if not his son? As I served in your father’s presence, I will also serve in yours.”

²⁰Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give me your advice. What should we do?”

²¹Ahithophel replied to Absalom, “Sleep with your father’s concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become repulsive to your father, everyone with you will be encouraged.”

²²So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

²³Now the advice Ahithophel gave in those days was like someone asking about a word from God  — such was the regard that both David and Absalom had for Ahithophel’s advice.

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD.

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Write on a scroll all the words that I have spoken to you,

³for look, the days are coming” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “when I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel and Judah,” says the LORD. “I will restore them to the land I gave to their ancestors and they will possess it.”

⁴These are the words the LORD spoke to Israel and Judah.

⁵This is what the LORD says: We have heard a cry of terror, of dread — there is no peace.

⁶Ask and see whether a male can give birth. Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?

⁷How awful that day will be! There will be no other like it! It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.

⁸On that day — this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies — I will break his yoke from your neck and tear off your chains, and strangers will never again enslave him.

⁹They will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰As for you, my servant Jacob, do not be afraid — this is the LORD’s declaration — and do not be discouraged, Israel, for without fail I will save you out of a distant place, your descendants, from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return and have calm and quiet with no one to frighten him.

¹¹For I will be with you — this is the LORD’s declaration — to save you! I will bring destruction on all the nations where I have scattered you; however, I will not bring destruction on you. I will discipline you justly, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

¹²For this is what the LORD says: Your injury is incurable; your wound most severe.

¹³You have no defender for your case. There is no remedy for your sores, and no healing for you.

¹⁴All your lovers have forgotten you; they no longer look for you, for I have struck you as an enemy would, with the discipline of someone cruel, because of your enormous guilt and your innumerable sins.

¹⁵Why do you cry out about your injury? Your pain has no cure! I have done these things to you because of your enormous guilt and your innumerable sins.

¹⁶Nevertheless, all who devoured you will be devoured, and all your adversaries — all of them — will go off into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered, and all who raid you will be raided.

¹⁷But I will bring you health and will heal you of your wounds — this is the LORD’s declaration — for they call you Outcast, Zion whom no one cares about.

¹⁸This is what the LORD says: I will certainly restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and show compassion on his dwellings. Every city will be rebuilt on its mound; every citadel will stand on its proper site.

¹⁹Thanksgiving will come out of them, a sound of rejoicing. I will multiply them, and they will not decrease; I will honor them, and they will not be insignificant.

²⁰His children will be as in past days; his congregation will be established in my presence. I will punish all his oppressors.

²¹Jacob’s leader will be one of them; his ruler will issue from him. I will invite him to me, and he will approach me, for who would otherwise risk his life to approach me? This is the LORD’s declaration.

²²You will be my people, and I will be your God.

²³Look, a storm from the LORD! Wrath has gone out, a churning storm. It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.

²⁴The LORD’s burning anger will not turn back until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart. In time to come you will understand it.

¹About that time King Herod violently attacked some who belonged to the church,

²and he executed James, John’s brother, with the sword.

³When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

⁴After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying fervently to God for him.

⁶When Herod was about to bring him out for trial, that very night Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison.

⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists.

⁸“Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.”

⁹So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what the angel did was really happening, but he thought he was seeing a vision.

¹⁰After they passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.”

¹²As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many had assembled and were praying.

¹³He knocked at the door of the outer gate, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer.

¹⁴She recognized Peter’s voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the outer gate.

¹⁵“You’re out of your mind!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true, and they said, “It’s his angel.”

¹⁶Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.

¹⁷Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Tell these things to James and the brothers,” he said, and he left and went to another place.

¹⁸At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.

¹⁹After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

²⁰Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Together they presented themselves before him. After winning over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country.

²¹On an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a speech to them.

²²The assembled people began to shout, “It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!”

²³At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴But the word of God flourished and multiplied.

²⁵After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, taking along John who was called Mark.