Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.

²Here are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (also called Peter), then Andrew (Peter’s brother), James (son of Zebedee), John (James’s brother),

³Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew (the tax collector), James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus,

⁴Simon (the zealot ), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

⁵Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans,

⁶but only to the people of Israel — God’s lost sheep.

⁷Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!

⁹“Don’t take any money in your money belts — no gold, silver, or even copper coins.

¹⁰Don’t carry a traveler’s bag with a change of clothes and sandals or even a walking stick. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed.

¹¹“Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy person and stay in his home until you leave town.

¹²When you enter the home, give it your blessing.

¹³If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand; if it is not, take back the blessing.

¹⁴If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave.

¹⁵I tell you the truth, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off than such a town on the judgment day.

¹⁶“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.

¹⁷But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues.

¹⁸You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.

¹⁹When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time.

²⁰For it is not you who will be speaking — it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹“A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed.

²²And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved.

²³When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.

²⁴“Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master.

²⁵Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names!

²⁶“But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.

²⁷What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!

²⁸“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

²⁹What is the price of two sparrows — one copper coin ? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.

³⁰And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.

³¹So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

³²“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.

³³But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

³⁴“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

³⁶Your enemies will be right in your own household!’

³⁷“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.

³⁸If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.

³⁹If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

⁴⁰“Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me.

⁴¹If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs.

⁴²And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.”

¹After the ordination ceremony, on the eighth day, Moses called together Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.

²He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without defects, and present them to the LORD.

³Then tell the Israelites, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and take a calf and a lamb, both a year old and without defects, for a burnt offering.

⁴Also take a bull and a ram for a peace offering and flour moistened with olive oil for a grain offering. Present all these offerings to the LORD because the LORD will appear to you today.’”

⁵So the people presented all these things at the entrance of the Tabernacle, just as Moses had commanded. Then the whole community came forward and stood before the LORD.

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

⁷Then Moses said to Aaron, “Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering to purify yourself and the people. Then present the offerings of the people to purify them, making them right with the LORD, just as he has commanded.”

⁸So Aaron went to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself.

⁹His sons brought him the blood, and he dipped his finger in it and put it on the horns of the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

¹⁰Then he burned on the altar the fat, the kidneys, and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹¹The meat and the hide, however, he burned outside the camp.

¹²Next Aaron slaughtered the animal for the burnt offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it against all sides of the altar.

¹³Then they handed him each piece of the burnt offering, including the head, and he burned them on the altar.

¹⁴Then he washed the internal organs and the legs and burned them on the altar along with the rest of the burnt offering.

¹⁵Next Aaron presented the offerings of the people. He slaughtered the people’s goat and presented it as an offering for their sin, just as he had first done with the offering for his own sin.

¹⁶Then he presented the burnt offering and sacrificed it in the prescribed way.

¹⁷He also presented the grain offering, burning a handful of the flour mixture on the altar, in addition to the regular burnt offering for the morning.

¹⁸Then Aaron slaughtered the bull and the ram for the people’s peace offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it against all sides of the altar.

¹⁹Then he took the fat of the bull and the ram — the fat of the broad tail and from around the internal organs — along with the kidneys and the long lobes of the livers.

²⁰He placed these fat portions on top of the breasts of these animals and burned them on the altar.

²¹Aaron then lifted up the breasts and right thighs as a special offering to the LORD, just as Moses had commanded.

²²After that, Aaron raised his hands toward the people and blessed them. Then, after presenting the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down from the altar.

²³Then Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came back out, they blessed the people again, and the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole community.

²⁴Fire blazed forth from the LORD’s presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When the people saw this, they shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground.

¹I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you — something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother.

²You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.

³Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man

⁴in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus.

⁵Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.

⁶Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?

⁷Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.

⁸So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.

¹⁰But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.

¹¹I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.

¹²It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.

¹³God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

¹But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.

²Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.

³In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.

⁴For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.

⁵And God did not spare the ancient world — except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood.

⁶Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.

⁷But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him.

⁸Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.

⁹So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.

¹⁰He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings without so much as trembling.

¹¹But the angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from the Lord a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings.

¹²These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed.

¹³Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals.

¹⁴They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse.

¹⁵They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong.

¹⁶But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.

¹⁷These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness.

¹⁸They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.

¹⁹They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.

²⁰And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.

²¹It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.

²²They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”

¹“My heart pounds as I think of this. It trembles within me.

²Listen carefully to the thunder of God’s voice as it rolls from his mouth.

³It rolls across the heavens, and his lightning flashes in every direction.

⁴Then comes the roaring of the thunder — the tremendous voice of his majesty. He does not restrain it when he speaks.

⁵God’s voice is glorious in the thunder. We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power.

⁶“He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down.

⁷Then everyone stops working so they can watch his power.

⁸The wild animals take cover and stay inside their dens.

⁹The stormy wind comes from its chamber, and the driving winds bring the cold.

¹⁰God’s breath sends the ice, freezing wide expanses of water.

¹¹He loads the clouds with moisture, and they flash with his lightning.

¹²The clouds churn about at his direction. They do whatever he commands throughout the earth.

¹³He makes these things happen either to punish people or to show his unfailing love.

¹⁴“Pay attention to this, Job. Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God!

¹⁵Do you know how God controls the storm and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds?

¹⁶Do you understand how he moves the clouds with wonderful perfection and skill?

¹⁷When you are sweltering in your clothes and the south wind dies down and everything is still,

¹⁸he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror. Can you do that?

¹⁹“So teach the rest of us what to say to God. We are too ignorant to make our own arguments.

²⁰Should God be notified that I want to speak? Can people even speak when they are confused?

²¹We cannot look at the sun, for it shines brightly in the sky when the wind clears away the clouds.

²²So also, golden splendor comes from the mountain of God. He is clothed in dazzling splendor.

²³We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty; but even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us.

²⁴No wonder people everywhere fear him. All who are wise show him reverence. ”

¹The LORD is king! Let the nations tremble! He sits on his throne between the cherubim. Let the whole earth quake!

²The LORD sits in majesty in Jerusalem, exalted above all the nations.

³Let them praise your great and awesome name. Your name is holy!

⁴Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established fairness. You have acted with justice and righteousness throughout Israel.

⁵Exalt the LORD our God! Bow low before his feet, for he is holy!

⁶Moses and Aaron were among his priests; Samuel also called on his name. They cried to the LORD for help, and he answered them.

⁷He spoke to Israel from the pillar of cloud, and they followed the laws and decrees he gave them.

⁸O LORD our God, you answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, but you punished them when they went wrong.

⁹Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain in Jerusalem, for the LORD our God is holy!

¹My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger —

²if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said —

³follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased.

⁴Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.

⁵Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.

⁶Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!

⁷Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work,

⁸they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.

⁹But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?

¹⁰A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest —

¹¹then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

¹²What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars,

¹³signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.

¹⁴Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble.

¹⁵But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.

¹⁶There are six things the LORD hates — no, seven things he detests:

¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent,

¹⁸a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong,

¹⁹a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

²⁰My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

²¹Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck.

²²When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you.

²³For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.

²⁴It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.

²⁵Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.

²⁶For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.

²⁷Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire?

²⁸Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?

²⁹So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.

³⁰Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving.

³¹But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house.

³²But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself.

³³He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased.

³⁴For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

³⁵He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.

¹Word soon reached Joab that the king was weeping and mourning for Absalom.

²As all the people heard of the king’s deep grief for his son, the joy of that day’s victory was turned into deep sadness.

³They crept back into the town that day as though they were ashamed and had deserted in battle.

⁴The king covered his face with his hands and kept on crying, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁵Then Joab went to the king’s room and said to him, “We saved your life today and the lives of your sons, your daughters, and your wives and concubines. Yet you act like this, making us feel ashamed of ourselves.

⁶You seem to love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that your commanders and troops mean nothing to you. It seems that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died, you would be pleased.

⁷Now go out there and congratulate your troops, for I swear by the LORD that if you don’t go out, not a single one of them will remain here tonight. Then you will be worse off than ever before.”

⁸So the king went out and took his seat at the town gate, and as the news spread throughout the town that he was there, everyone went to him. Meanwhile, the Israelites who had supported Absalom fled to their homes.

⁹And throughout all the tribes of Israel there was much discussion and argument going on. The people were saying, “The king rescued us from our enemies and saved us from the Philistines, but Absalom chased him out of the country.

¹⁰Now Absalom, whom we anointed to rule over us, is dead. Why not ask David to come back and be our king again?”

¹¹Then King David sent Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, to say to the elders of Judah, “Why are you the last ones to welcome back the king into his palace? For I have heard that all Israel is ready.

¹²You are my relatives, my own tribe, my own flesh and blood! So why are you the last ones to welcome back the king?”

¹³And David told them to tell Amasa, “Since you are my own flesh and blood, like Joab, may God strike me and even kill me if I do not appoint you as commander of my army in his place.”

¹⁴Then Amasa convinced all the men of Judah, and they responded unanimously. They sent word to the king, “Return to us, and bring back all who are with you.”

¹⁵So the king started back to Jerusalem. And when he arrived at the Jordan River, the people of Judah came to Gilgal to meet him and escort him across the river.

¹⁶Shimei son of Gera, the man from Bahurim in Benjamin, hurried across with the men of Judah to welcome King David.

¹⁷A thousand other men from the tribe of Benjamin were with him, including Ziba, the chief servant of the house of Saul, and Ziba’s fifteen sons and twenty servants. They rushed down to the Jordan to meet the king.

¹⁸They crossed the shallows of the Jordan to bring the king’s household across the river, helping him in every way they could. David’s Mercy to Shimei As the king was about to cross the river, Shimei fell down before him.

¹⁹“My lord the king, please forgive me,” he pleaded. “Forget the terrible thing your servant did when you left Jerusalem. May the king put it out of his mind.

²⁰I know how much I sinned. That is why I have come here today, the very first person in all Israel to greet my lord the king.”

²¹Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said, “Shimei should die, for he cursed the LORD’s anointed king!”

²²“Who asked your opinion, you sons of Zeruiah!” David exclaimed. “Why have you become my adversary today? This is not a day for execution, for today I am once again the king of Israel!”

²³Then, turning to Shimei, David vowed, “Your life will be spared.”

²⁴Now Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, came down from Jerusalem to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet, trimmed his beard, or washed his clothes since the day the king left Jerusalem.

²⁵“Why didn’t you come with me, Mephibosheth?” the king asked him.

²⁶Mephibosheth replied, “My lord the king, my servant Ziba deceived me. I told him, ‘Saddle my donkey so I can go with the king.’ For as you know I am crippled.

²⁷Ziba has slandered me by saying that I refused to come. But I know that my lord the king is like an angel of God, so do what you think is best.

²⁸All my relatives and I could expect only death from you, my lord, but instead you have honored me by allowing me to eat at your own table! What more can I ask?”

²⁹“You’ve said enough,” David replied. “I’ve decided that you and Ziba will divide your land equally between you.”

³⁰“Give him all of it,” Mephibosheth said. “I am content just to have you safely back again, my lord the king!”

³¹Barzillai of Gilead had come down from Rogelim to escort the king across the Jordan.

³²He was very old — eighty years of age — and very wealthy. He was the one who had provided food for the king during his stay in Mahanaim.

³³“Come across with me and live in Jerusalem,” the king said to Barzillai. “I will take care of you there.”

³⁴“No,” he replied, “I am far too old to go with the king to Jerusalem.

³⁵I am eighty years old today, and I can no longer enjoy anything. Food and wine are no longer tasty, and I cannot hear the singers as they sing. I would only be a burden to my lord the king.

³⁶Just to go across the Jordan River with the king is all the honor I need!

³⁷Then let me return again to die in my own town, where my father and mother are buried. But here is your servant, my son Kimham. Let him go with my lord the king and receive whatever you want to give him.”

³⁸“Good,” the king agreed. “Kimham will go with me, and I will help him in any way you would like. And I will do for you anything you want.”

³⁹So all the people crossed the Jordan with the king. After David had blessed Barzillai and kissed him, Barzillai returned to his own home.

⁴⁰The king then crossed over to Gilgal, taking Kimham with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel escorted the king on his way.

⁴¹But all the men of Israel complained to the king, “The men of Judah stole the king and didn’t give us the honor of helping take you, your household, and all your men across the Jordan.”

⁴²The men of Judah replied, “The king is one of our own kinsmen. Why should this make you angry? We haven’t eaten any of the king’s food or received any special favors!”

⁴³“But there are ten tribes in Israel,” the others replied. “So we have ten times as much right to the king as you do. What right do you have to treat us with such contempt? Weren’t we the first to speak of bringing him back to be our king again?” The argument continued back and forth, and the men of Judah spoke even more harshly than the men of Israel.

¹While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the LORD gave him this second message:

²“This is what the LORD says — the LORD who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the LORD:

³Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.

⁴For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: You have torn down the houses of this city and even the king’s palace to get materials to strengthen the walls against the siege ramps and swords of the enemy.

⁵You expect to fight the Babylonians, but the men of this city are already as good as dead, for I have determined to destroy them in my terrible anger. I have abandoned them because of all their wickedness.

⁶“Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace.

⁷I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild their towns.

⁸I will cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellion.

⁹Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see all the good I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them.

¹⁰“This is what the LORD says: You have said, ‘This is a desolate land where people and animals have all disappeared.’ Yet in the empty streets of Jerusalem and Judah’s other towns, there will be heard once more

¹¹the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the LORD. They will sing, ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, for the LORD is good. His faithful love endures forever!’ For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the LORD.

¹²“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: This land — though it is now desolate and has no people and animals — will once more have pastures where shepherds can lead their flocks.

¹³Once again shepherds will count their flocks in the towns of the hill country, the foothills of Judah, the Negev, the land of Benjamin, the vicinity of Jerusalem, and all the towns of Judah. I, the LORD, have spoken!

¹⁴“The day will come, says the LORD, when I will do for Israel and Judah all the good things I have promised them.

¹⁵“In those days and at that time I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will do what is just and right throughout the land.

¹⁶In that day Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this will be its name: ‘The LORD Is Our Righteousness.’

¹⁷For this is what the LORD says: David will have a descendant sitting on the throne of Israel forever.

¹⁸And there will always be Levitical priests to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings and sacrifices to me.”

¹⁹Then this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

²⁰“This is what the LORD says: If you can break my covenant with the day and the night so that one does not follow the other,

²¹only then will my covenant with my servant David be broken. Only then will he no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. The same is true for my covenant with the Levitical priests who minister before me.

²²And as the stars of the sky cannot be counted and the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.”

²³The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,

²⁴“Have you noticed what people are saying? — ‘The LORD chose Judah and Israel and then abandoned them!’ They are sneering and saying that Israel is not worthy to be counted as a nation.

²⁵But this is what the LORD says: I would no more reject my people than I would change my laws that govern night and day, earth and sky.

²⁶I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or David, my servant, or change the plan that David’s descendants will rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore them to their land and have mercy on them.”

¹While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers : “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

²Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question.

³The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them — much to everyone’s joy — that the Gentiles, too, were being converted.

⁴When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them.

⁵But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”

⁶So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue.

⁷At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe.

⁸God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.

⁹He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith.

¹⁰So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?

¹¹We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”

¹²Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

¹³When they had finished, James stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me.

¹⁴Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself.

¹⁵And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written:

¹⁶‘Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house of David. I will rebuild its ruins and restore it,

¹⁷so that the rest of humanity might seek the LORD, including the Gentiles — all those I have called to be mine. The LORD has spoken —

¹⁸he who made these things known so long ago.’

¹⁹“And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

²⁰Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood.

²¹For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.”

²²Then the apostles and elders together with the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders — Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas.

²³This is the letter they took with them: “This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!

²⁴“We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but we did not send them!

²⁵So we decided, having come to complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

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

²⁷We are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided concerning your question.

²⁸“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements:

²⁹You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰The messengers went at once to Antioch, where they called a general meeting of the believers and delivered the letter.

³¹And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message.

³²Then Judas and Silas, both being prophets, spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and strengthening their faith.

³³They stayed for a while, and then the believers sent them back to the church in Jerusalem with a blessing of peace.

³⁴

³⁵Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch. They and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord there.

³⁶After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.”

³⁷Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark.

³⁸But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work.

³⁹Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus.

⁴⁰Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care.

⁴¹Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.