Deborah and Barak

1 ^xAnd the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. 2 And the Lord ^ysold them into the hand of ^zJabin king of Canaan, who reigned in ^zHazor. The commander of his army was ^aSisera, who lived in ^bHarosheth-hagoyim. 3 Then the people of Israel ^ccried out to the Lord for help, for he had ^d900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.

4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in ^ethe hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned ^fBarak the son of Abinoam from ^gKedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount ^hTabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by ⁱthe river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, ^jand I will give him into your hand’?” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will ^ksell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called out ^lZebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.

11 Now Heber ^mthe Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of ⁿHobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in ^oZaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

12 When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, ^p900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which ^qthe Lord has given Sisera into your hand. ^rDoes not the Lord go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 ^sAnd the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.

17 But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened ^ta skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

23 ^uSo on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Saul Ravages the Church

1 And ^bSaul ^capproved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and ^dthey were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But ^eSaul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he ^fdragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

4 Now ^gthose who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 ^hPhilip went down to the city¹ of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 ⁱAnd the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him ^jand saw the signs that he did. 7 For ^kunclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So ^lthere was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

9 But there was a man named Simon, ^mwho had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, ⁿsaying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ^o“This man is the power of God that is called ^pGreat.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had ^qamazed them with his magic. 12 But when ^rthey believed Philip as he preached good news ^sabout the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, ^rthey were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And ^tseeing signs and ^ugreat miracles² performed, ^vhe was amazed.

14 Now when ^wthe apostles at Jerusalem heard that ^xSamaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them ^ythat they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for ^zhe had not yet ^afallen on any of them, but ^bthey had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then ^cthey laid their hands on them and ^dthey received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, ^e“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God ^fwith money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for ^gyour heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^hif possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in ⁱthe gall³ of bitterness and in ^jthe bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, ^k“Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, ^lpreaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Now ^man angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south⁴ to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an ⁿEthiopian, a ^oeunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, ^pwho was in charge of all her treasure. ^qHe had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, ^r“How can I, unless someone ^sguides me?” And ^the invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and ^wbeginning with this Scripture ^xhe told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! ^yWhat prevents me from being baptized?”⁵ 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, ^zthe Spirit of the Lord ^acarried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

The Sin of Judah

1 “The sin of Judah is written with ^ra pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on ^sthe tablet of their heart, and on ^tthe horns of their altars, 2 while ^utheir children remember their altars and their ^vAsherim, ^wbeside every green tree and on the high hills, 3 ^xon the mountains in the open country. ^yYour wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. 4 You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, ^zand I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, ^afor in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance

Keep the Sabbath Holy

19 Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which ^bthe kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, ^byou kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and ^cdo not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22 And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath ^dor do any work, but ^ekeep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23 Yet ^fthey did not listen or incline their ear, ^gbut stiffened their neck, that they ^hmight not hear and receive instruction.

24 “‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and ^cbring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but ^ekeep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 then ⁱthere shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. 26 And people shall come from ^jthe cities of Judah ^kand the places around Jerusalem, ^jfrom the land of Benjamin, ^kfrom the Shephelah, from the hill country, ^kand from ^lthe Negeb, bringing ^mburnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and ^mbringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to me, to ^ekeep the Sabbath day holy, ^cand not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will ⁿkindle a fire in its gates, and it shall ^odevour the palaces of Jerusalem and ^pshall not be quenched.’”

A Man with a Withered Hand

1 ^cAgain ^dhe entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And ^ethey watched Jesus,¹ to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, ^f“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he ^glooked around at them with anger, grieved at ^htheir hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” ⁱHe stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 ^jThe Pharisees went out and immediately ^jheld counsel with ^kthe Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

7 ^lJesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and ^ma great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and ⁿIdumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around ^oTyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to ^phave a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they ^qcrush him, 10 for ^rhe had healed many, so that all who had ^sdiseases pressed around him ^tto touch him. 11 ^uAnd whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they ^vfell down before him and cried out, “You are ^wthe Son of God.” 12 And ^xhe strictly ordered them not to make him known.

The Twelve Apostles

13 ^yAnd he went up on the mountain and called to him those ^zwhom he desired, and they came to him. 14 ^yAnd he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 ^yand have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: ^aSimon (to whom ^bhe gave the name Peter); 17 ^cJames the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and ^dMatthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,² 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

20 Then he went ^ehome, and the crowd gathered again, ^fso that they could not even eat. 21 ^gAnd when ^hhis family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He ⁱis out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

22 And ^jthe scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^k“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 ^lAnd he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But ^mno one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ⁿThen indeed he may plunder his house.

28 ^o“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever ^pblasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

31 ^qAnd his mother and his ^rbrothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers³ are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And ^slooking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 ^tFor whoever ^udoes the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”