Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness.

²Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew; and James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

⁴Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who also betrayed Him.

⁵These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, “Do not go on a roadto Gentiles, and do not enter a city of Samaritans;

⁶but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

⁷And as you go,preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heavenhas come near.’

⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

⁹Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts,

¹⁰or abag for your journey, or even twotunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is deserving of hissupport.

¹¹And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stayat his house until you leave that city.

¹²As you enter thehouse, give it yourgreeting.

¹³If the house is worthy, see that your blessing of peace comes upon it. But if it is not worthy,take back your blessing of peace.

¹⁴And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust off your feet.

¹⁵Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment, than for that city.

¹⁶“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be as wary as serpents, and as innocent as doves.

¹⁷But be on guard against people, for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues;

¹⁸and you will even be brought before governors and kings on My account, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

¹⁹But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you in that hour.

²⁰For it is not you who are speaking, but it is the Spirit of your Father who is speakingin you.

²¹“Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.

²²And you will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

²³“But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

²⁴“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.

²⁵It is enough for the disciple that he may become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the houseBeelzebul, how much more will they insult the members of his household!

²⁶“So do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

²⁷What I tell you in the darkness, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim on the housetops.

²⁸And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body inhell.

²⁹Are two sparrows not sold for anassarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

³⁰But even the hairs of your head are all counted.

³¹So do not fear; you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows.

³²“Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before people, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.

³³But whoever denies Me before people, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

³⁴“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵For I came to TURN A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;

³⁶and A PERSON’S ENEMIES will be the members of his household.

³⁷“The one who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

³⁸And the one who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

³⁹The one who has found hislife will lose it, and the one who has lost hislife on My account will find it.

⁴⁰“The one who receives you receives Me, and the one who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.

⁴¹The one whoreceives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and the one whoreceives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person shall receive a righteous person’s reward.

⁴²And whoever gives one of theselittle ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”

¹Now it came about on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel;

²and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a calf, a bull, as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, both without defect, and offer them before the LORD.

³Then you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Take a male goat as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both one year old, without defect, as a burnt offering,

⁴and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil; for today the LORD will appear to you.’ ”

⁵So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the whole congregation came near and stood before the LORD.

⁶And Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.”

⁷Moses then said to Aaron, “Come near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, so that you may make atonement for yourself and for the people; then make the offering for the people, so that you may make atonement for them, just as the LORD has commanded.”

⁸So Aaron came near to the altar and slaughtered the calf of the sin offering which was for himself.

⁹Aaron’s sons then presented the blood to him; and he dipped his finger in the blood and put some on the horns of the altar, and poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

¹⁰The fat and the kidneys and the lobe of the liver of the sin offering he then offered up in smoke on the altar, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹¹The flesh and the hide, however, he burned with fire outside the camp.

¹²Then he slaughtered the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar.

¹³They brought the burnt offering to him in pieces, with the head, and he offered them up in smoke on the altar.

¹⁴He also washed the entrails and the legs, and offered them up in smoke with the burnt offering on the altar.

¹⁵Then he presented the people’s offering, and took the goat of the sin offering which was for the people, and slaughtered it and offered it for sin, like the first.

¹⁶He also presented the burnt offering, and offered it according to the ordinance.

¹⁷Next he presented the grain offering, and filled his hand with some of it and offered it up in smoke on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning.

¹⁸Then he slaughtered the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings which was for the people; and Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar.

¹⁹As for the portions of fat from the ox and from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver,

²⁰they now placed the portions of fat on the breasts; and he offered them up in smoke on the altar.

²¹But the breasts and the right thigh Aaron presented as a wave offering before the LORD, just as Moses had commanded.

²²Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he stepped down after making the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.

²³And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.

²⁴Then fire went out from the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell face downward.

¹It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has his father’s wife.

²You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

³For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.

⁴In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,

⁵I have decided to turn such a person over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

⁶Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?

⁷Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.

⁸Therefore let’s celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people;

¹⁰I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world.

¹¹But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person.

¹²For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?

¹³But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE EVIL PERSON FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.

¹But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

²Many will follow their indecent behavior, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;

³and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

⁴For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment;

⁵and did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

⁶and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example of what is coming for the ungodly;

⁷and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the perverted conduct of unscrupulous people

⁸(for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),

⁹then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

¹⁰and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt passion, and despise authority. Reckless, self-centered, they speak abusively of angelic majesties without trembling,

¹¹whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a demeaning judgment against them before the Lord.

¹²But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, using abusive speech where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,

¹³suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions as they feast with you,

¹⁴having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having hearts trained in greed, accursed children;

¹⁵abandoning the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the reward of unrighteousness;

¹⁶but he received a rebuke for his own offense, for a mute donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the insanity of the prophet.

¹⁷These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.

¹⁸For, while speaking out arrogant words of no value they entice by fleshly desires, by indecent behavior, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,

¹⁹promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what anyone is overcome, by this he is enslaved.

²⁰For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

²¹For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.

²²It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

¹“At this also my heart trembles, And leaps from its place.

²Listen closely to the thunder of His voice, And the rumbling that goes out from His mouth.

³Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning travels to the ends of the earth.

⁴After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain the lightning when His voice is heard.

⁵God thunders wondrously with His voice, Doing great things which we do not comprehend.

⁶For to the snow He says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ And to the downpour and the rain, ‘Be strong.’

⁷He seals the hand of every person, So that all people may know His work.

⁸Then the animal goes into its lair And remains in its den.

⁹From the south comes the storm, And from the north wind the cold.

¹⁰From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.

¹¹He also loads the clouds with moisture; He disperses the cloud of His lightning.

¹²It changes direction, turning around by His guidance, That it may do whatever He commands it On the face of the inhabited earth.

¹³Whether for correction, or for His earth, Or for goodness, He causes it to happen.

¹⁴“Listen to this, Job; Stand and consider the wonders of God.

¹⁵Do you know how God establishes them, And makes the lightning of His clouds to shine?

¹⁶Do you know about the hovering of the clouds, The wonders of One who is perfect in knowledge,

¹⁷You whose garments are hot When the land is still because of the south wind?

¹⁸Can you, with Him, spread out the skies, Strong as a cast metal mirror?

¹⁹Teach us what we are to say to Him; We cannot present our case because of darkness.

²⁰Shall it be told Him that I would speak? Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up?

²¹“Now people do not see the light which is bright in the skies; But the wind has passed and cleared them.

²²From the north comes golden splendor; Around God is awesome majesty.

²³The Almighty—we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power And He will not violate justice and abundant righteousness.

²⁴Therefore people fear Him; He does not regard any who are wise of heart.”

¹The LORD reigns, the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned above the cherubim, the earth quakes!

²The LORD is great in Zion, And He is exalted above all the peoples.

³May they praise Your great and awesome name; Holy is He.

⁴The strength of the King loves justice; You have established order; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

⁵Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His footstool; Holy is He.

⁶Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called on His name; They called upon the LORD and He answered them.

⁷He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; They kept His testimonies And the statute that He gave them.

⁸LORD our God, You answered them; You were a forgiving God to them, And yet an avenger of their evil deeds.

⁹Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His holy hill, For the LORD our God is holy.

¹My son, if you have become a guarantor for your neighbor, Or have given a handshake for a stranger,

²If you have been ensnared by the words of your mouth, Or caught by the words of your mouth,

³Then do this, my son, and save yourself: Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor, Go, humble yourself, and be urgent with your neighbor to free yourself.

⁴Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids;

⁵Save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand, And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶Go to the ant, you lazy one, Observe its ways and be wise,

⁷Which, having no chief, Officer, or ruler,

⁸Prepares its food in the summer And gathers its provision in the harvest.

⁹How long will you lie down, you lazy one? When will you arise from your sleep?

¹⁰“A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,”

¹¹Then your poverty will come in like a drifter, And your need like an armed man.

¹²A worthless person, a wicked man, Is one who walks with a perverse mouth,

¹³Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers;

¹⁴Who, with perversion in his heart, continually devises evil, Who spreads strife.

¹⁵Therefore his disaster will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.

¹⁶There are six things that the LORD hates, Seven that are an abomination to Him:

¹⁷Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,

¹⁹A false witness who declares lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

²⁰My son, comply with the commandment of your father, And do not ignore the teaching of your mother;

²¹Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck.

²²When you walk, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you.

²³For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And rebukes for discipline are the way of life

²⁴To keep you from the evil woman, From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.

²⁵Do not desire her beauty in your heart, Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.

²⁶For the price of a prostitute reduces one to a loaf of bread, And an adulteress hunts for a precious life.

²⁷Can anyone take fire in his lap And his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Or can a person walk on hot coals And his feet not be scorched?

²⁹So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished.

³⁰People do not despise a thief if he steals To satisfy himself when he is hungry;

³¹But when he is found, he must repay seven times as much; He must give up all the property of his house.

³²One who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; He who would destroy himself commits it.

³³He will find wounds and disgrace, And his shame will not be removed.

³⁴For jealousy enrages a man, And he will not have compassion on the day of vengeance.

³⁵He will not accept any settlement, Nor will he be satisfied though you make it a large gift.

¹Then it was reported to Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and he mourns for Absalom.”

²So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, because the people heard it said that day, “The king is in mourning over his son.”

³And the people entered the city surreptitiously that day, just as people who are humiliated surreptitiously flee in battle.

⁴And the king covered his face and cried out with a loud voice, “My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁵Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have shamed all your servants, who have saved your life today and the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines,

⁶by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have revealed today that commanders and servants are nothing to you; for I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then it would be right as far as you are concerned.

⁷Now therefore arise, go out and speak kindly to your servants, for I swear by the LORD, if you do not go out, no man will stay the night with you, and this will be worse for you than all the misfortune that has happened to you from your youth until now!”

⁸So the king got up and sat at the gate. When they told all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is sitting at the gate,” then all the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled, each to his tent.

⁹And all the people were quarreling throughout the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king rescued us from the hands of our enemies and saved us from the hands of the Philistines, but now he has fled out of the land from Absalom.

¹⁰However, Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now then, why are you silent about bringing the king back?”

¹¹Then King David sent word to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the word of all Israel has come to the king, even to his house?

¹²You are my brothers; you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’

¹³And say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God do so to me, and more so, if you will not be commander of the army for me continually, in place of Joab.’ ”

¹⁴So he turned the hearts of all the men of Judah as one man, so that they sent word to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants.”

¹⁵The king then returned and came as far as the Jordan. And the men of Judah came to Gilgal in order to go to meet the king, to escort the king across the Jordan.

¹⁶Then Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David.

¹⁷And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.

¹⁸Then they crossed the shallow places repeatedly to bring over the king’s household, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan.

¹⁹And he said to the king, “May my lord not consider me guilty, nor call to mind what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, so that the king would take it to heart.

²⁰For your servant knows that I have sinned; so behold, I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”

²¹But Abishai the son of Zeruiah responded, “Should Shimei not be put to death for this, the fact that he cursed the LORD’S anointed?”

²²David then said, “What is there between you and me, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary to me today? Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?”

²³So the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” The king also swore to him.

²⁴Then Mephibosheth the grandson of Saul came down to meet the king; but he had neither tended to his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes since the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace.

²⁵And it was when he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”

²⁶So he said, “My lord the king, my servant betrayed me; for your servant said, ‘I will saddle the donkey for myself so that I may ride on it and go with the king,’ since your servant cannot walk.

²⁷Furthermore, he has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is like the angel of God, therefore do what is good in your sight.

²⁸For all my father’s household was only people worthy of death to my lord the king; yet you placed your servant among those who ate at your own table. So what right do I still have, that I should complain anymore to the king?”

²⁹So the king said to him, “Why do you still speak of your affairs? I have decided, ‘You and Ziba shall divide the land.’ ”

³⁰And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him even take it all, since my lord the king has come safely to his own house.”

³¹Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim; and he went on to the Jordan with the king to escort him over the Jordan.

³²Barzillai was very old: eighty years old; and he had provided the king food while he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.

³³So the king said to Barzillai, “You cross over with me, and I will provide you food in Jerusalem with me.”

³⁴But Barzillai said to the king, “How long do I still have to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

³⁵I am now eighty years old. Can I distinguish between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I still hear the voice of men and women singing? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?

³⁶Your servant would merely cross over the Jordan with the king. So why should the king compensate me with this reward?

³⁷Please let your servant return, so that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. However, here is your servant Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight.”

³⁸And the king answered, “Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your sight; and whatever you require of me, I will do for you.”

³⁹All the people crossed over the Jordan and the king crossed too. The king then kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his place.

⁴⁰Now the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him; and all the people of Judah and also half the people of Israel accompanied the king.

⁴¹And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, “Why have our brothers, the men of Judah, abducted you and brought the king and his household and all David’s men with him, over the Jordan?”

⁴²Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is a close relative to us. Why then are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king’s expense, or has anything been taken for us?”

⁴³But the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, “We have ten parts in the king, therefore we also have more claim on David than you. Why then did you treat us with contempt? Was it not our advice first to bring back our king?” Yet the words of the men of Judah were harsher than the words of the men of Israel.

¹Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, saying,

²“This is what the LORD says, He who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to create it, He whose name is the LORD:

³‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

⁴For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel says concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which have been torn down to make a defense against the assault ramps and the sword:

⁵‘While they are coming to fight the Chaldeans and to fill their houses with the bodies of people whom I have struck down in My anger and My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness:

⁶Behold, I am going to bring to it healing and a remedy, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth.

⁷And I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and will rebuild them as they were at first.

⁸And I will cleanse them from all their wrongdoing by which they have sinned against Me, and I will forgive all their wrongdoings by which they have sinned against Me and revolted against Me.

⁹It will be to Me a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will be frightened and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’

¹⁰“This is what the LORD says: ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, “It is a waste, without man and without animal,” that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,

¹¹the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the LORD of armies, For the LORD is good, For His mercy is everlasting,” as they bring a thanksgiving offering into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the LORD.

¹²“This is what the LORD of armies says: ‘There will again be in this place which is waste, without man or animal, and in all its cities, a pasture for shepherds who rest their flocks.

¹³In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them,’ says the LORD.

¹⁴‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

¹⁵In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch of David sprout; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.

¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety; and this is the name by which it will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’

¹⁷For this is what the LORD says: ‘David shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;

¹⁸and the Levitical priests shall not lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to prepare sacrifices continually.’ ”

¹⁹And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁰“This is what the LORD says: ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night do not occur at their proper time,

²¹then My covenant with David My servant may also be broken, so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers.

²²As the heavenly lights cannot be counted, and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who serve Me.’ ”

²³And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁴“Have you not observed what these people have asserted, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD chose, He has rejected them’? So they despise My people as no longer being a nation in their sight.

²⁵This is what the LORD says: ‘If My covenant for day and night does not continue, and I have not established the fixed patterns of heaven and earth,

²⁶then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and have mercy on them.’ ”

¹Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

²And after Paul and Barnabas had a heated argument and debate with them, the brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue.

³Therefore, after being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they were bringing great joy to all the brothers and sisters.

⁴When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.

⁵But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to keep the Law of Moses.”

⁶The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.

⁷After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.

⁸And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;

⁹and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.

¹⁰Since this is the case, why are you putting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear?

¹¹But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹²All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.

¹³After they stopped speaking, James responded, saying, “Brothers, listen to me.

¹⁴Simeon has described how God first concerned Himself about taking a people for His name from among the Gentiles.

¹⁵The words of the Prophets agree with this, just as it is written:

¹⁶‘AFTER THESE THINGS I will return, AND I WILL REBUILD THE FALLEN TABERNACLE OF DAVID, AND I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL RESTORE IT,

¹⁷SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD, AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME,’

¹⁸SAYS THE LORD, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS known from long ago.

¹⁹Therefore, it is my judgment that we do not cause trouble for those from the Gentiles who are turning to God,

²⁰but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols, from acts of sexual immorality, from what has been strangled, and from blood.

²¹For from ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²²Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

²³and they sent this letter with them: “The apostles and the brothers who are elders, to the brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles: Greetings.

²⁴Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have confused you by their teaching, upsetting your souls,

²⁵it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

²⁶men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁷Therefore, we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth.

²⁸For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:

²⁹that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from acts of sexual immorality; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰So when they were sent away, they went down to Antioch; and after gathering the congregation together, they delivered the letter.

³¹When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.

³²Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers and sisters with a lengthy message.

³³After they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers and sisters in peace to those who had sent them out.

³⁴

³⁵But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

³⁶After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the brothers and sisters in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”

³⁷Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also.

³⁸But Paul was of the opinion that they should not take along with them this man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.

³⁹Now it turned into such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

⁴⁰But Paul chose Silas, and left after being entrusted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

⁴¹And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.