Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.

²Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

⁵When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading with him,

⁶“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.”

⁷He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?”

⁸“Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁹For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

¹⁰Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith.

¹¹I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

¹²But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.

¹⁴Jesus went into Peter’s house and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.

¹⁵So he touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve him.

¹⁶When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick,

¹⁷so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: He himself took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.

¹⁸When Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea.

¹⁹A scribe approached him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

²¹“Lord,” another of his disciples said, “first let me go bury my father.”

²²But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

²³As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.

²⁴Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves — but Jesus kept sleeping.

²⁵So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”

²⁶He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

²⁷The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!”

²⁸When he had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.

²⁹Suddenly they shouted, “What do you have to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

³⁰A long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding.

³¹“If you drive us out,” the demons begged him, “send us into the herd of pigs.”

³²“Go!” he told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water.

³³Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed.

³⁴At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

¹“Now this is the law of the guilt offering; it is especially holy.

²The guilt offering is to be slaughtered at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and the priest is to splatter its blood on all sides of the altar.

³The offerer is to present all the fat from it: the fat tail, the fat surrounding the entrails,

⁴and the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins; he will also remove the fatty lobe of the liver with the kidneys.

⁵The priest will burn them on the altar as a fire offering to the LORD; it is a guilt offering.

⁶Any male among the priests may eat it. It is to be eaten in a holy place; it is especially holy.

⁷“The guilt offering is like the sin offering; the law is the same for both. It belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.

⁸As for the priest who presents someone’s burnt offering, the hide of the burnt offering he has presented belongs to him; it is the priest’s.

⁹Any grain offering that is baked in an oven or prepared in a pan or on a griddle belongs to the priest who presents it; it is his.

¹⁰But any grain offering, whether dry or mixed with oil, belongs equally to all of Aaron’s sons.

¹¹“Now this is the law of the fellowship sacrifice that someone may present to the LORD:

¹²If he presents it for thanksgiving, in addition to the thanksgiving sacrifice, he is to present unleavened cakes mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers coated with oil, and well-kneaded cakes of fine flour mixed with oil.

¹³He is to present as his offering cakes of leavened bread with his thanksgiving sacrifice of fellowship.

¹⁴From the cakes he is to present one portion of each offering as a contribution to the LORD. It will belong to the priest who splatters the blood of the fellowship offering; it is his.

¹⁵The meat of his thanksgiving sacrifice of fellowship must be eaten on the day he offers it; he may not leave any of it until morning.

¹⁶“If the sacrifice he offers is a vow or a freewill offering, it is to be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, and what is left over may be eaten on the next day.

¹⁷But what remains of the sacrificial meat by the third day must be burned.

¹⁸If any of the meat of his fellowship sacrifice is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted. It will not be credited to the one who presents it; it is repulsive. The person who eats any of it will bear his iniquity.

¹⁹“Meat that touches anything unclean must not be eaten; it is to be burned. Everyone who is clean may eat any other meat.

²⁰But the one who eats meat from the LORD’s fellowship sacrifice while he is unclean, that person must be cut off from his people.

²¹If someone touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean, abhorrent creature, and eats meat from the LORD’s fellowship sacrifice, that person is to be cut off from his people.”

²²The LORD spoke to Moses:

²³“Tell the Israelites: You are not to eat any fat of an ox, a sheep, or a goat.

²⁴The fat of an animal that dies naturally or is mauled by wild beasts may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it.

²⁵If anyone eats animal fat from a fire offering presented to the LORD, the person who eats it is to be cut off from his people.

²⁶Wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal.

²⁷Whoever eats any blood is to be cut off from his people.”

²⁸The LORD spoke to Moses:

²⁹“Tell the Israelites: The one who presents a fellowship sacrifice to the LORD is to bring an offering to the LORD from his sacrifice.

³⁰His own hands will bring the fire offerings to the LORD. He will bring the fat together with the breast. The breast is to be presented as a presentation offering before the LORD.

³¹The priest is to burn the fat on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons.

³²You are to give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution from your fellowship sacrifices.

³³The son of Aaron who presents the blood of the fellowship offering and the fat will have the right thigh as a portion.

³⁴I have taken from the Israelites the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution from their fellowship sacrifices, and have assigned them to the priest Aaron and to his sons as a permanent portion from the Israelites.”

³⁵This is the portion from the fire offerings to the LORD for Aaron and his sons since the day they were presented to serve the LORD as priests.

³⁶The LORD commanded this to be given to them by the Israelites on the day he anointed them. It is a permanent portion throughout their generations.

³⁷This is the law for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, and the fellowship sacrifice,

³⁸which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai.

¹For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ.

²I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready,

³because you are still worldly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans?

⁴For whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not acting like mere humans?

⁵What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given.

⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

⁷So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

⁸Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

⁹For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it.

¹¹For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.

¹²If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw,

¹³each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.

¹⁴If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward.

¹⁵If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved  — but only as through fire.

¹⁶Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and that is what you are.

¹⁸Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so that he can become wise.

¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, since it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness;

²⁰and again, The Lord knows that the reasonings of the wise are futile.

²¹So let no one boast in human leaders, for everything is yours  —

²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come  — everything is yours,

²³and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

¹I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed:

²Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly;

³not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

⁴And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

⁵In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time,

⁷casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.

⁸Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

⁹Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

¹⁰The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.

¹¹To him be dominion forever. Amen.

¹²Through Silvanus, a faithful brother (as I consider him), I have written to you briefly in order to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!

¹³She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son.

¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

¹Then Elihu continued, saying:

²Do you think it is just when you say, “I am righteous before God”?

³For you ask, “What does it profit you, and what benefit comes to me, if I do not sin?”

⁴I will answer you and your friends with you.

⁵Look at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you.

⁶If you sin, how does it affect God? If you multiply your transgressions, what does it do to him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give him, or what does he receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness affects a person like yourself, and your righteousness, a son of man.

⁹People cry out because of severe oppression; they shout for help because of the power of the mighty.

¹⁰But no one asks, “Where is God my Maker, who provides us with songs in the night,

¹¹who gives us more understanding than the animals of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?”

¹²There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil people.

¹³Indeed, God does not listen to empty cries, and the Almighty does not take note of it —

¹⁴how much less when you complain that you do not see him, that your case is before him and you are waiting for him.

¹⁵But now, because God’s anger does not punish and he does not pay attention to transgression,

¹⁶Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.

¹The LORD reigns! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coasts and islands be glad.

²Clouds and total darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

³Fire goes before him and burns up his foes on every side.

⁴His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles.

⁵The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD  — at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

⁶The heavens proclaim his righteousness; all the peoples see his glory.

⁷All who serve carved images, those who boast in idols, will be put to shame. All the gods must worship him.

⁸Zion hears and is glad, Judah’s villages rejoice because of your judgments, LORD.

⁹For you, LORD, are the Most High over the whole earth; you are exalted above all the gods.

¹⁰You who love the LORD, hate evil! He protects the lives of his faithful ones; he rescues them from the power of the wicked.

¹¹Light dawns for the righteous, gladness for the upright in heart.

¹²Be glad in the LORD, you righteous ones, and give thanks to his holy name.

¹Listen, sons, to a father’s discipline, and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

²for I am giving you good instruction. Don’t abandon my teaching.

³When I was a son with my father, tender and precious to my mother,

⁴he taught me and said: “Your heart must hold on to my words. Keep my commands and live.

⁵Get wisdom, get understanding; don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth.

⁶Don’t abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you; love her, and she will guard you.

⁷Wisdom is supreme — so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.

⁸Cherish her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.

⁹She will place a garland of favor on your head; she will give you a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son. Accept my words, and you will live many years.

¹¹I am teaching you the way of wisdom; I am guiding you on straight paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hindered; when you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Hold on to instruction; don’t let go. Guard it, for it is your life.

¹⁴Keep off the path of the wicked; don’t proceed on the way of evil ones.

¹⁵Avoid it; don’t travel on it. Turn away from it, and pass it by.

¹⁶For they can’t sleep unless they have done what is evil; they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

¹⁷They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they don’t know what makes them stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words; listen closely to my sayings.

²¹Don’t lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, and health to one’s whole body.

²³Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.

²⁴Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly, and don’t let your lips talk deviously.

²⁵Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.

²⁶Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established.

²⁷Don’t turn to the right or to the left; keep your feet away from evil.

¹Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out in pursuit of David tonight.

²I will attack him while he is weary and discouraged, throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will scatter. I will strike down only the king

³and bring all the people back to you. When everyone returns except the man you’re looking for, all the people will be at peace.”

⁴This proposal seemed right to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

⁵Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite also. Let’s hear what he has to say as well.”

⁶So Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom told him: “Ahithophel offered this proposal. Should we carry out his proposal? If not, what do you say?”

⁷Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given this time is not good.”

⁸Hushai continued, “You know your father and his men. They are warriors and are desperate like a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is an experienced soldier who won’t spend the night with the people.

⁹He’s probably already hiding in one of the caves or some other place. If some of our troops fall first, someone is sure to hear and say, ‘There’s been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’

¹⁰Then, even a brave man with the heart of a lion will lose heart because all Israel knows that your father and the valiant men with him are warriors.

¹¹Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba — as numerous as the sand by the sea  — be gathered to you and that you personally go into battle.

¹²Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. Not even one will be left—neither he nor any of the men with him.

¹³If he retreats to some city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag its stones into the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.”

¹⁴Since the LORD had decreed that Ahithophel’s good advice be undermined in order to bring about Absalom’s ruin, Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel’s advice.”

¹⁵Hushai then told the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “This is what Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I advised.

¹⁶Now send someone quickly and tell David, ‘Don’t spend the night at the wilderness ford, but be sure to cross over the Jordan, or the king and all the people with him will be devoured.’”

¹⁷Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, where a servant girl would come and pass along information to them. They in turn would go and inform King David, because they dared not be seen entering the city.

¹⁸However, a young man did see them and informed Absalom. So the two left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.

¹⁹Then his wife took the cover, placed it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain on it so nobody would know anything.

²⁰Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” “They passed by toward the water,” the woman replied to them. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹After they had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed out of the well and went and informed King David. They told him, “Get up and immediately ford the river, for Ahithophel has given this advice against you.”

²²So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He set his house in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

²⁴David had arrived at Mahanaim by the time Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.

²⁵Now Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in Joab’s place. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Israelite; Ithra had married Abigail daughter of Nahash. Abigail was a sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

²⁶And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim

²⁸brought beds, basins, and pottery items. They also brought wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,

²⁹honey, curds, sheep, goats, and cheese from the herd for David and the people with him to eat. They had reasoned, “The people must be hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

¹“At that time” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

²This is what the LORD says: The people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness. When Israel went to find rest,

³the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.

⁴Again I will build you so that you will be rebuilt, Virgin Israel. You will take up your tambourines again and go out in joyful dancing.

⁵You will plant vineyards again on the mountains of Samaria; the planters will plant and will enjoy the fruit.

⁶For there will be a day when watchmen will call out in the hill country of Ephraim, “Come, let’s go up to Zion, to the LORD our God!”

⁷For this is what the LORD says: Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations! Proclaim, praise, and say, “LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel!”

⁸Watch! I am going to bring them from the northern land. I will gather them from remote regions of the earth  — the blind and the lame will be with them, along with those who are pregnant and those about to give birth. They will return here as a great assembly!

⁹They will come weeping, but I will bring them back with consolation. I will lead them to wadis filled with water, by a smooth way where they will not stumble, for I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

¹⁰Nations, hear the word of the LORD, and tell it among the far off coasts and islands! Say, “The one who scattered Israel will gather him. He will watch over him as a shepherd guards his flock,

¹¹for the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the power of one stronger than he.”

¹²They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant with joy because of the LORD’s goodness, because of the grain, the new wine, the fresh oil, and because of the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like an irrigated garden, and they will no longer grow weak from hunger.

¹³Then the young women will rejoice with dancing, while young and old men rejoice together. I will turn their mourning into joy, give them consolation, and bring happiness out of grief.

¹⁴I will refresh the priests with an abundance, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness. This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹⁵This is what the LORD says: A voice was heard in Ramah, a lament with bitter weeping — Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they are no more.

¹⁶This is what the LORD says: Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come — this is the LORD’s declaration — and your children will return from the enemy’s land.

¹⁷There is hope for your future  — this is the LORD’s declaration — and your children will return to their own territory.

¹⁸I have surely heard Ephraim moaning, “You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined like an untrained calf. Take me back, so that I can return, for you, LORD, are my God.

¹⁹After my return, I felt regret; After I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”

²⁰Isn’t Ephraim a precious son to me, a delightful child? Whenever I speak against him, I certainly still think about him. Therefore, my inner being yearns for him; I will truly have compassion on him. This is the LORD’s declaration.

²¹Set up road markers for yourself; establish signposts! Keep the highway in mind, the way you have traveled. Return, Virgin Israel! Return to these cities of yours.

²²How long will you turn here and there, faithless daughter? For the LORD creates something new in the land  — a female will shelter a man.

²³This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore their fortunes, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May the LORD bless you, righteous settlement, holy mountain.’

²⁴Judah and all its cities will live in it together — also farmers and those who move with the flocks —

²⁵for I satisfy the thirsty person and feed all those who are weak.”

²⁶At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.

²⁷“Look, the days are coming” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of people and the seed of animals.

²⁸Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear them down, to demolish and to destroy, and to cause disaster, so will I watch over them to build and to plant them”  — this is the LORD’s declaration.

²⁹“In those days, it will never again be said, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

³⁰Rather, each will die for his own iniquity. Anyone who eats sour grapes — his own teeth will be set on edge.

³¹“Look, the days are coming”  — this is the LORD’s declaration — “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

³²This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt — my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”  — the LORD’s declaration.

³³“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” — the LORD’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

³⁴No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”  — this is the LORD’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.

³⁵“This is what the LORD says: The one who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar  — the LORD of Armies is his name:

³⁶If this fixed order departs from before me — this is the LORD’s declaration — only then will Israel’s descendants cease to be a nation before me forever.

³⁷“This is what the LORD says: Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, will I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done — this is the LORD’s declaration.

³⁸“Look, the days are coming” — the LORD’s declaration — “when the city from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate will be rebuilt for the LORD.

³⁹A measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah.

⁴⁰The whole valley — the corpses, the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east — will be holy to the LORD. It will never be uprooted or demolished again.”

¹Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

²As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.

⁴So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

⁵Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.

⁶When they had traveled the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

⁷He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.

⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (that is the meaning of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹But Saul — also called Paul — filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at Elymas

¹⁰and said, “You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, you son of the devil and enemy of all that is right. Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?

¹¹Now, look, the Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

¹²Then, when he saw what happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and went back to Jerusalem.

¹⁴They continued their journey from Perga and reached Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, you can speak.”

¹⁶Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites, and you who fear God, listen!

¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, made the people prosper during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty arm.

¹⁸And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness;

¹⁹and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.

²⁰This all took about 450 years. After this, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

²¹Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

²²After removing him, he raised up David as their king and testified about him:’ I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my will.’

²³“From this man’s descendants, as he promised, God brought to Israel the Savior, Jesus.

²⁴Before his coming to public attention, John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

²⁵Now as John was completing his mission, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the one. But one is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.’

²⁶“Brothers and sisters, children of Abraham’s race, and those among you who fear God, it is to us that the word of this salvation has been sent.

²⁷Since the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him or the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, they have fulfilled their words by condemning him.

²⁸Though they found no grounds for the death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him killed.

²⁹When they had carried out all that had been written about him, they took him down from the tree and put him in a tomb.

³⁰But God raised him from the dead,

³¹and he appeared for many days to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

³²And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors.

³³God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm: You are my Son; today I have become your Father.

³⁴As to his raising him from the dead, never to return to decay, he has spoken in this way, I will give you the holy and sure promises of David.

³⁵Therefore he also says in another passage, You will not let your Holy One see decay.

³⁶For David, after serving God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and decayed,

³⁷but the one God raised up did not decay.

³⁸Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers and sisters, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you.

³⁹Everyone who believes is justified through him from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.

⁴⁰So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:

⁴¹Look, you scoffers, marvel and vanish away, because I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will never believe, even if someone were to explain it to you.”

⁴²As they were leaving, the people urged them to speak about these matters the following Sabbath.

⁴³After the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴The following Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what Paul was saying, insulting him.

⁴⁶Paul and Barnabas boldly replied, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles.

⁴⁷For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the end of the earth.”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and honored the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.

⁵⁰But the Jews incited the prominent God-fearing women and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district.

⁵¹But Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet against them and went to Iconium.

⁵²And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.