Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.

²Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

³And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”

⁴But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?

⁵For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?

⁶But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

⁷And he arose and departed to his house.

⁸Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

⁹As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

¹⁰Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.

¹¹And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹²When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

¹³But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

¹⁴Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.

¹⁷Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

¹⁸While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.”

¹⁹So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.

²⁰And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.

²¹For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.”

²²But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

²³When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing,

²⁴He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him.

²⁵But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.

²⁶And the report of this went out into all that land.

²⁷When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”

²⁸And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”

³⁰And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.”

³¹But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.

³²As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.

³³And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”

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

³⁵Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

³⁶But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.

³⁷Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

³⁸Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

¹So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

²And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.

³Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.

⁴But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

⁵Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.

⁶“Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.

⁷And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”

⁸Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying:

⁹“And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you,

¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.

¹¹Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

¹²And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

¹³I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

¹⁴It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;

¹⁵and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

¹⁶The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

¹⁷And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

¹⁸Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan.

¹⁹These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

²⁰And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.

²¹Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.

²²And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.

²³But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

²⁴So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him.

²⁵Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.”

²⁶And he said: “Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant.

²⁷May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.”

²⁸And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

²⁹So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

¹I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,

²that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.

³For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,

⁴who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;

⁵of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

⁶But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,

⁷nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”

⁸That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

⁹For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”

¹⁰And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac

¹¹(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),

¹²it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”

¹³As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!

¹⁵For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”

¹⁶So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

¹⁷For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”

¹⁸Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

¹⁹You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”

²⁰But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”

²¹Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

²²What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

²³and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,

²⁴even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

²⁵As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.”

²⁶“And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

²⁷Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved.

²⁸For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.”

²⁹And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the LORD of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”

³⁰What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith;

³¹but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.

³²Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.

³³As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,

²To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

³As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,

⁴nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.

⁵Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,

⁶from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk,

⁷desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

⁸But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,

⁹knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

¹⁰for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,

¹¹according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

¹²And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,

¹³although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

¹⁴And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

¹⁶However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

¹⁷Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,

¹⁹having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck,

²⁰of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Truly I know it is so, But how can a man be righteous before God?

³If one wished to contend with Him, He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

⁴God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?

⁵He removes the mountains, and they do not know When He overturns them in His anger;

⁶He shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble;

⁷He commands the sun, and it does not rise; He seals off the stars;

⁸He alone spreads out the heavens, And treads on the waves of the sea;

⁹He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south;

¹⁰He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number.

¹¹If He goes by me, I do not see Him; If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;

¹²If He takes away, who can hinder Him? Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

¹³God will not withdraw His anger, The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.

¹⁴“How then can I answer Him, And choose my words to reason with Him?

¹⁵For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge.

¹⁶If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.

¹⁷For He crushes me with a tempest, And multiplies my wounds without cause.

¹⁸He will not allow me to catch my breath, But fills me with bitterness.

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong; And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?

²⁰Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.

²¹“I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life.

²²It is all one thing; Therefore I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’

²³If the scourge slays suddenly, He laughs at the plight of the innocent.

²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, who else could it be?

²⁵“Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good.

²⁶They pass by like swift ships, Like an eagle swooping on its prey.

²⁷If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’

²⁸I am afraid of all my sufferings; I know that You will not hold me innocent.

²⁹If I am condemned, Why then do I labor in vain?

³⁰If I wash myself with snow water, And cleanse my hands with soap,

³¹Yet You will plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes will abhor me.

³²“For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together.

³³Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both.

³⁴Let Him take His rod away from me, And do not let dread of Him terrify me.

³⁵Then I would speak and not fear Him, But it is not so with me.

¹To the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David. [1] I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.

²I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

³When my enemies turn back, They shall fall and perish at Your presence.

⁴For You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.

⁵You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

⁶O enemy, destructions are finished forever! And you have destroyed cities; Even their memory has perished.

⁷But the LORD shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment.

⁸He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.

⁹The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble.

¹⁰And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

¹¹Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people.

¹²When He avenges blood, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble.

¹³Have mercy on me, O LORD! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴That I may tell of all Your praise In the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation.

¹⁵The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.

¹⁶The LORD is known by the judgment He executes; The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah

¹⁷The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.

¹⁸For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.

¹⁹Arise, O LORD, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight.

²⁰Put them in fear, O LORD, That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah

¹Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars;

²She has slaughtered her meat, She has mixed her wine, She has also furnished her table.

³She has sent out her maidens, She cries out from the highest places of the city,

⁴“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,

⁵“Come, eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed.

⁶Forsake foolishness and live, And go in the way of understanding.

⁷“He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.

⁸Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

⁹Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

¹⁰“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you will bear it alone.”

¹³A foolish woman is clamorous; She is simple, and knows nothing.

¹⁴For she sits at the door of her house, On a seat by the highest places of the city,

¹⁵To call to those who pass by, Who go straight on their way:

¹⁶“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”; And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,

¹⁷“Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

¹⁸But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell.

¹And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon— the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—heard about it,

²that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord.

³But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,

⁴they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended,

⁵old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy.

⁶And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us.”

⁷Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you?”

⁸But they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”

⁹So they said to him: “From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt,

¹⁰and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth.

¹¹Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.” ’

¹²This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy.

¹³And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.”

¹⁴Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD.

¹⁵So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.

¹⁶And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them.

¹⁷Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim.

¹⁸But the children of Israel did not attack them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers.

¹⁹Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them.

²⁰This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.”

²¹And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them.”

²²Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell near us?

²³Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

²⁴So they answered Joshua and said, “Because your servants were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were very much afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing.

²⁵And now, here we are, in your hands; do with us as it seems good and right to do to us.”

²⁶So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them.

²⁷And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, in the place which He would choose, even to this day.

¹Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles.

²The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.

³You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

⁴For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian.

⁵For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.

⁶For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

⁸The Lord sent a word against Jacob, And it has fallen on Israel.

⁹All the people will know— Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria— Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:

¹⁰“The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.”

¹¹Therefore the LORD shall set up The adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies on,

¹²The Syrians before and the Philistines behind; And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

¹³For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.

¹⁴Therefore the LORD will cut off head and tail from Israel, Palm branch and bulrush in one day.

¹⁵The elder and honorable, he is the head; The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.

¹⁶For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed.

¹⁷Therefore the Lord will have no joy in their young men, Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows; For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, And every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

¹⁸For wickedness burns as the fire; It shall devour the briers and thorns, And kindle in the thickets of the forest; They shall mount up like rising smoke.

¹⁹Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts The land is burned up, And the people shall be as fuel for the fire; No man shall spare his brother.

²⁰And he shall snatch on the right hand And be hungry; He shall devour on the left hand And not be satisfied; Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.

²¹Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; Together they shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

¹Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

²and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

³As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

⁴Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

⁵And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

⁶So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.

⁸Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

⁹And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.

¹²And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”

¹³Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.

¹⁴And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.

¹⁶For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

¹⁷And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁸Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

¹⁹So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

²⁰Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

²¹Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”

²²But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

²³Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him.

²⁴But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him.

²⁵Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket.

²⁶And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.

²⁷But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

²⁸So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out.

²⁹And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him.

³⁰When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.

³¹Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

³²Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda.

³³There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed.

³⁴And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed.” Then he arose immediately.

³⁵So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

³⁶At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did.

³⁷But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.

³⁸And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them.

³⁹Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

⁴⁰But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

⁴¹Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

⁴²And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.

⁴³So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.