Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹So he got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town.

²Just then some men brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”

³At this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “He’s blaspheming!”

⁴Perceiving their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?

⁵For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”  — then he told the paralytic, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

⁷So he got up and went home.

⁸When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck and gave glory to God, who had given such authority to men.

⁹As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the toll booth, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.

¹⁰While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples.

¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹²Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick.

¹³Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

¹⁴Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests be sad while the groom is with them? The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse.

¹⁷And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

¹⁸As he was telling them these things, suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before him, saying, “My daughter just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”

¹⁹So Jesus and his disciples got up and followed him.

²⁰Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years approached from behind and touched the end of his robe,

²¹for she said to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I’ll be made well.”

²²Jesus turned and saw her. “Have courage, daughter,” he said. “Your faith has saved you.” And the woman was made well from that moment.

²³When Jesus came to the leader’s house, he saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly.

²⁴“Leave,” he said, “because the girl is not dead but asleep.” And they laughed at him.

²⁵After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.

²⁶Then news of this spread throughout that whole area.

²⁷As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

²⁸When he entered the house, the blind men approached him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹Then he touched their eyes, saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”

³⁰And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, “Be sure that no one finds out.”

³¹But they went out and spread the news about him throughout that whole area.

³²Just as they were going out, a demon-possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to him.

³³When the demon had been driven out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”

³⁴But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

³⁵Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.

³⁶When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.

³⁷Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.

³⁸Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“Take Aaron, his sons with him, the garments, the anointing oil, the bull of the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread,

³and assemble the whole community at the entrance to the tent of meeting.”

⁴So Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and the community assembled at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

⁵Moses said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded to be done.”

⁶Then Moses presented Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.

⁷He put the tunic on Aaron, wrapped the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him. He put the woven band of the ephod around him and fastened it to him.

⁸Then he put the breastpiece on him and placed the Urim and Thummim into the breastpiece.

⁹He also put the turban on his head and placed the gold medallion, the holy diadem, on the front of the turban, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹⁰Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it to consecrate them.

¹¹He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them.

¹²He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed and consecrated him.

¹³Then Moses presented Aaron’s sons, clothed them with tunics, wrapped sashes around them, and fastened headbands on them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹⁴Then he brought the bull near for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull for the sin offering.

¹⁵Then Moses slaughtered it, took the blood, and applied it with his finger to the horns of the altar on all sides, purifying the altar. He poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it so that atonement can be made on it.

¹⁶Moses took all the fat that was on the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and he burned them on the altar.

¹⁷He burned the bull with its hide, flesh, and waste outside the camp, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹⁸Then he presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.

¹⁹Moses slaughtered it and splattered the blood on all sides of the altar.

²⁰Moses cut the ram into pieces and burned the head, the pieces, and the fat,

²¹but he washed the entrails and legs with water. He then burned the entire ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to the LORD as he had commanded Moses.

²²Next he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.

²³Moses slaughtered it, took some of its blood, and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

²⁴Moses also presented Aaron’s sons and put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then Moses splattered the blood on all sides of the altar.

²⁵He took the fat — the fat tail, all the fat that was on the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat — as well as the right thigh.

²⁶From the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD he took one cake of unleavened bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat portions and the right thigh.

²⁷He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and presented them before the LORD as a presentation offering.

²⁸Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering. This was an ordination offering for a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to the LORD.

²⁹He also took the breast and presented it before the LORD as a presentation offering; it was Moses’s portion of the ordination ram as the LORD had commanded him.

³⁰Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments, as well as on his sons and their garments. In this way he consecrated Aaron and his garments, as well as his sons and their garments.

³¹Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the meat at the entrance to the tent of meeting and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket for the ordination offering as I commanded: Aaron and his sons are to eat it.

³²Burn up what remains of the meat and bread.

³³Do not go outside the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days, until the time your days of ordination are completed, because it will take seven days to ordain you.

³⁴The LORD commanded what has been done today in order to make atonement for you.

³⁵You must remain at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and keep the LORD’s charge so that you will not die, for this is what I was commanded.”

³⁶So Aaron and his sons did everything the LORD had commanded through Moses.

¹A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God.

²In this regard, it is required that managers be found faithful.

³It is of little importance to me that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I don’t even judge myself.

⁴For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. It is the Lord who judges me.

⁵So don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God.

⁶Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying: “Nothing beyond what is written.” The purpose is that none of you will be arrogant, favoring one person over another.

⁷For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn’t receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn’t received it?

⁸You are already full! You are already rich! You have begun to reign as kings without us — and I wish you did reign, so that we could also reign with you!

⁹For I think God has displayed us, the apostles, in last place, like men condemned to die: We have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people.

¹⁰We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!

¹¹Up to the present hour we are both hungry and thirsty; we are poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless;

¹²we labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

¹³when we are slandered, we respond graciously. Even now, we are like the scum of the earth, like everyone’s garbage.

¹⁴I’m not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children.

¹⁵For you may have countless instructors in Christ, but you don’t have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

¹⁶Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

¹⁷This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is my dearly loved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you about my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

¹⁸Now some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.

¹⁹But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk, but the power of those who are arrogant.

²⁰For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

²¹What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

¹Simeon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ: To those who have received a faith equal to ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

²May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

³His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

⁴By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.

⁵For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge,

⁶knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness,

⁷godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

⁸For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.

¹⁰Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble.

¹¹For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

¹²Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have.

¹³I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder,

¹⁴since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me.

¹⁵And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.

¹⁶For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

¹⁷For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!”

¹⁸We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

²⁰Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation,

²¹because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

¹Then Elihu continued, saying:

²Be patient with me a little longer, and I will inform you, for there is still more to be said on God’s behalf.

³I will get my knowledge from a distant place and ascribe justice to my Maker.

⁴Indeed, my words are not false; one who has complete knowledge is with you.

⁵Yes, God is mighty, but he despises no one; he understands all things.

⁶He does not keep the wicked alive, but he gives justice to the oppressed.

⁷He does not withdraw his gaze from the righteous, but he seats them forever with enthroned kings, and they are exalted.

⁸If people are bound with chains and trapped by the cords of affliction,

⁹God tells them what they have done and how arrogantly they have transgressed.

¹⁰He opens their ears to correction and tells them to repent from iniquity.

¹¹If they listen and serve him, they will end their days in prosperity and their years in happiness.

¹²But if they do not listen, they will cross the river of death and die without knowledge.

¹³Those who have a godless heart harbor anger; even when God binds them, they do not cry for help.

¹⁴They die in their youth; their life ends among male cult prostitutes.

¹⁵God rescues the afflicted by their affliction; he instructs them by their torment.

¹⁶Indeed, he lured you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and unconfined place. Your table was spread with choice food.

¹⁷Yet now you are obsessed with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have seized you.

¹⁸Be careful that no one lures you with riches; do not let a large ransom lead you astray.

¹⁹Can your wealth or all your physical exertion keep you from distress?

²⁰Do not long for the night when nations will disappear from their places.

²¹Be careful that you do not turn to iniquity, for that is why you have been tested by affliction.

²²Look, God shows himself exalted by his power. Who is a teacher like him?

²³Who has appointed his way for him, and who has declared, “You have done wrong”?

²⁴Remember that you should praise his work, which people have sung about.

²⁵All mankind has seen it; people have looked at it from a distance.

²⁶Yes, God is exalted beyond our knowledge; the number of his years cannot be counted.

²⁷For he makes waterdrops evaporate; they distill the rain into its mist,

²⁸which the clouds pour out and shower abundantly on mankind.

²⁹Can anyone understand how the clouds spread out or how the thunder roars from God’s pavilion?

³⁰See how he spreads his lightning around him and covers the depths of the sea.

³¹For he judges the nations with these; he gives food in abundance.

³²He covers his hands with lightning and commands it to hit its mark.

³³The thunder declares his presence; the cattle also, the approaching storm.

¹A psalm. [1] Sing a new song to the LORD, for he has performed wonders; his right hand and holy arm have won him victory.

²The LORD has made his victory known; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.

³He has remembered his love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory.

⁴Let the whole earth shout to the LORD; be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.

⁵Sing to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and melodious song.

⁶With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn shout triumphantly in the presence of the LORD, our King.

⁷Let the sea and all that fills it, the world and those who live in it, resound.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains shout together for joy

⁹before the LORD, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world righteously and the peoples fairly.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen closely to my understanding

²so that you may maintain discretion and your lips safeguard knowledge.

³Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil,

⁴in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol.

⁶She doesn’t consider the path of life; she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

⁷So now, sons, listen to me, and don’t turn away from the words from my mouth.

⁸Keep your way far from her. Don’t go near the door of her house.

⁹Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others and your years to someone cruel;

¹⁰strangers will drain your resources, and your hard-earned pay will end up in a foreigner’s house.

¹¹At the end of your life, you will lament when your physical body has been consumed,

¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and how my heart despised correction.

¹³I didn’t obey my teachers or listen closely to my instructors.

¹⁴I am on the verge of complete ruin before the entire community.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern, water flowing from your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs flow in the streets, streams in the public squares?

¹⁷They should be for you alone and not for you to share with strangers.

¹⁸Let your fountain be blessed, and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹A loving deer, a graceful doe  — let her breasts always satisfy you; be lost in her love forever.

²⁰Why, my son, would you lose yourself with a forbidden woman or embrace a wayward woman?

²¹For a man’s ways are before the LORD’s eyes, and he considers all his paths.

²²A wicked man’s iniquities will trap him; he will become tangled in the ropes of his own sin.

²³He will die because there is no discipline, and be lost because of his great stupidity.

¹David reviewed his troops and appointed commanders of thousands and of hundreds over them.

²He then sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai of Gath. The king said to the troops, “I must also march out with you.”

³“You must not go!” the people pleaded. “If we have to flee, they will not pay any attention to us. Even if half of us die, they will not pay any attention to us because you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore, it is better if you support us from the city.”

⁴“I will do whatever you think is best,” the king replied to them. So he stood beside the city gate while all the troops marched out by hundreds and thousands.

⁵The king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” All the people heard the king’s orders to all the commanders about Absalom.

⁶Then David’s forces marched into the field to engage Israel in battle, which took place in the forest of Ephraim.

⁷Israel’s army was defeated by David’s soldiers, and the slaughter there was vast that day — twenty thousand dead.

⁸The battle spread over the entire area, and that day the forest claimed more people than the sword.

⁹Absalom was riding on his mule when he happened to meet David’s soldiers. When the mule went under the tangled branches of a large oak tree, Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so he was suspended in midair.

¹⁰One of the men saw him and informed Joab. He said, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”

¹¹“You just saw him!” Joab exclaimed. “Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you ten silver pieces and a belt!”

¹²The man replied to Joab, “Even if I had the weight of a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. For we heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for me.’

¹³If I had jeopardized my own life — and nothing is hidden from the king — you would have abandoned me.”

¹⁴Joab said, “I’m not going to waste time with you!” He then took three spears in his hand and thrust them into Absalom’s chest. While Absalom was still alive in the oak tree,

¹⁵ten young men who were Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him.

¹⁶Joab blew the ram’s horn, and the troops broke off their pursuit of Israel because Joab restrained them.

¹⁷They took Absalom, threw him into a large pit in the forest, and raised up a huge mound of stones over him. And all Israel fled, each to his tent.

¹⁸When he was alive, Absalom had taken a pillar and raised it up for himself in the King’s Valley, since he thought, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he named the pillar after himself. It is still called Absalom’s Monument today.

¹⁹Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and tell the king the good news that the LORD has vindicated him by freeing him from his enemies.”

²⁰Joab replied to him, “You are not the man to take good news today. You may do it another day, but today you aren’t taking good news, because the king’s son is dead.”

²¹Joab then said to a Cushite, “Go tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.

²²However, Ahimaaz son of Zadok persisted and said to Joab, “No matter what, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” Joab replied, “My son, why do you want to run since you won’t get a reward?”

²³“No matter what, I want to run!” “Then run!” Joab said to him. So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.

²⁴David was sitting between the city gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the city gate and over to the wall. The watchman looked out and saw a man running alone.

²⁵He called out and told the king. The king said, “If he’s alone, he bears good news.” As the first runner came closer,

²⁶the watchman saw another man running. He called out to the gatekeeper, “Look! Another man is running alone!” “This one is also bringing good news,” said the king.

²⁷The watchman said, “The way the first man runs looks to me like the way Ahimaaz son of Zadok runs.” “This is a good man; he comes with good news,” the king commented.

²⁸Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well,” and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. He continued, “Blessed be the LORD your God! He delivered up the men who rebelled against my lord the king.”

²⁹The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and your servant, I saw a big disturbance, but I don’t know what it was.”

³⁰The king said, “Move aside and stand here.” So he stood to one side.

³¹Just then the Cushite came and said, “May my lord the king hear the good news: The LORD has vindicated you today by freeing you from all who rise against you!”

³²The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” The Cushite replied, “I wish that the enemies of my lord the king, along with all who rise up against you with evil intent, would become like that young man.”

³³The king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber above the city gate and wept. As he walked, he cried, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!”

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

²At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned in the guard’s courtyard in the palace of the king of Judah.

³King Zedekiah of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why are you prophesying as you do? You say, ‘This is what the LORD says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to Babylon’s king, and he will capture it.

⁴King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon’s king. They will speak face to face and meet eye to eye.

⁵He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I attend to him — this is the LORD’s declaration. For you will fight the Chaldeans, but you will not succeed.’”

⁶Jeremiah replied, “The word of the LORD came to me:

⁷Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, for you own the right of redemption to buy it.’

⁸“Then, as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to the guard’s courtyard and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

⁹So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out the silver to him  — seventeen shekels of silver.

¹⁰I recorded it on a scroll, sealed it, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.

¹¹I took the purchase agreement — the sealed copy with its terms and conditions and the open copy —

¹²and gave the purchase agreement to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. I did this in the sight of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the purchase agreement, and all the Judeans sitting in the guard’s courtyard.

¹³“I charged Baruch in their sight,

¹⁴‘This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Take these scrolls — this purchase agreement with the sealed copy and this open copy — and put them in an earthen storage jar so they will last a long time.

¹⁵For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’

¹⁶“After I had given the purchase agreement to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD:

¹⁷Oh, Lord GOD! You yourself made the heavens and earth by your great power and with your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you!

¹⁸You show faithful love to thousands but lay the fathers’ iniquity on their sons’ laps after them, great and mighty God whose name is the LORD of Armies,

¹⁹the one great in counsel and powerful in action. Your eyes are on all the ways of the children of men in order to reward each person according to his ways and as the result of his actions.

²⁰You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and still do today, both in Israel and among all mankind. You made a name for yourself, as is the case today.

²¹You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror.

²²You gave them this land you swore to give to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.

²³They entered and possessed it, but they did not obey you or live according to your instructions. They failed to perform all you commanded them to do, and so you have brought all this disaster on them.

²⁴Look! Siege ramps have come against the city to capture it, and the city, as a result of the sword, famine, and plague, has been handed over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you have spoken has happened. Look, you can see it!

²⁵Yet you, Lord GOD, have said to me, ‘Purchase the field and call in witnesses’ — even though the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans!”

²⁶The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

²⁷“Look, I am the LORD, the God over every creature. Is anything too difficult for me?

²⁸Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans, to Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar, and he will capture it.

²⁹The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and set this city on fire. They will burn it, including the houses where incense has been burned to Baal on their rooftops and where drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to anger me.

³⁰From their youth, the Israelites and Judeans have done nothing but what is evil in my sight! They have done nothing but anger me by the work of their hands”  — this is the LORD’s declaration —

³¹“for this city has caused my wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. I will therefore remove it from my presence

³²because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to anger me — they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem.

³³They have turned their backs to me and not their faces. Though I taught them time and time again, they do not listen and receive discipline.

³⁴They have placed their abhorrent things in the house that bears my name and have defiled it.

³⁵They have built the high places of Baal in Ben Hinnom Valley to sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire to Molech  — something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin!

³⁶“Now therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said, ‘It has been handed over to Babylon’s king through sword, famine, and plague’:

³⁷I will certainly gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in my anger, rage and intense wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety.

³⁸They will be my people, and I will be their God.

³⁹I will give them integrity of heart and action so that they will fear me always, for their good and for the good of their descendants after them.

⁴⁰“I will make a permanent covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from me.

⁴¹I will take delight in them to do what is good for them, and with all my heart and mind I will faithfully plant them in this land.

⁴²“For this is what the LORD says: Just as I have brought all this terrible disaster on these people, so am I about to bring on them all the good I am promising them.

⁴³Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It’s a desolation without people or animals; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans!’

⁴⁴Fields will be purchased, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed, and witnesses will be called on in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judah’s cities — the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, and the cities of the Negev — because I will restore their fortunes.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹In Iconium they entered the Jewish synagogue, as usual, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

²But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

³So they stayed there a long time and spoke boldly for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace by enabling them to do signs and wonders.

⁴But the people of the city were divided, some siding with the Jews and others with the apostles.

⁵When an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat and stone them,

⁶they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside.

⁷There they continued preaching the gospel.

⁸In Lystra a man was sitting who was without strength in his feet, had never walked, and had been lame from birth.

⁹He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

¹⁰Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” And he jumped up and began to walk around.

¹¹When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice.

¹⁴The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting:

¹⁵“People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

¹⁶In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own way,

¹⁷although he did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.”

¹⁸Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹Some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.

²⁰After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

²¹After they had preached the gospel in that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch,

²²strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

²³When they had appointed elders for them in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

²⁴They passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.

²⁵After they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

²⁶From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

²⁷After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

²⁸And they spent a considerable time with the disciples.