Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach and to preach in their [Galilean] cities.

²Now when John [the Baptist] in prison heard about the activities of Christ, he sent word by his disciples

³and asked Him, "Are You the Expected One (the Messiah), or should we look for someone else [who will be the promised One]?"

⁴Jesus answered, "Go and report to John what you hear and see:

⁵the blind receive [their] sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed [by healing] and the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

⁶And blessed [joyful, favored by God] is he who does not take offense at Me [accepting Me as the Messiah and trusting confidently in My message of salvation]."

⁷As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind [which is commonplace]?

⁸What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing [entirely unsuited for the harsh desert]? Those who wear soft clothing are in the palaces of kings!

⁹But what did you [really] go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one [more eminent, more remarkable, and] far more than a prophet [who foretells the future].

¹⁰This is the one of whom it is written [by the prophet Malachi], 'Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.'

¹¹I assure you and most solemnly say to you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater [in privilege] than he.

¹²From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize].

¹³For all the prophets and the Law prophesied up until John.

¹⁴And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is [the fulfillment of] Elijah [as the messenger] who was to come [before the kingdom].

¹⁵He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.

¹⁶"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like little children sitting in the market places, who call to the others,

¹⁷and say 'We piped the flute for you [playing wedding], and you did not dance; we wailed sad dirges [playing funeral], and you did not mourn and cry aloud.'

¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking [with others], and they say, 'He has a demon!'

¹⁹The Son of Man came eating and drinking [with others], and they say, 'Look! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews]!' Yet wisdom is justified and vindicated by her deeds [in the lives of those who respond to Me]."

²⁰Then He began to denounce [the people in] the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent [and change their hearts and lives].

²¹"Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon [cities of the Gentiles], they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes [their hearts would have been changed and they would have expressed sorrow for their sin and rebellion against God].

²²Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for [the pagan cities of] Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

²³And you, Capernaum, are you to be exalted to heaven [for your apathy and unresponsiveness]? You will descend to Hades (the realm of the dead); for if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

²⁴But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment, than for you."

²⁵At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [I openly and joyfully acknowledge Your great wisdom], that You have hidden these things [these spiritual truths] from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants [to new believers, to those seeking God's will and purpose].

²⁶Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

²⁷All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Son except the Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son [deliberately] wills to reveal Him.

²⁸"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation].

²⁹Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls.

³⁰For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light."

¹Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective [ceremonial] censers, put fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange (unauthorized, unacceptable) fire before the LORD, [an act] which He had not commanded them to do.

²And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

³Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD said: 'I will be treated as holy by those who approach Me, And before all the people I will be honored.'" So Aaron, therefore, said nothing.

⁴Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel who was Aaron's uncle, and said to them, "Come here, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary and take them outside the camp."

⁵So they came forward and carried them, still in their undertunics, outside the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶Then Moses said to Aaron and to his [younger] sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not uncover your heads nor let your hair hang loose nor tear your clothes [as expressions of mourning], so that you will not die [also] and so that He will not express His wrath and anger toward all the congregation. But your relatives, the whole house of Israel, may mourn the burning which the LORD has brought about.

⁷You shall not even go out of the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, or you will die; for the Lord's anointing oil is upon you." So they did [everything] according to the word of Moses.

⁸Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying,

⁹" Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the Tent of Meeting, so that you will not die—it is a permanent statute throughout your generations—

¹⁰and to make a distinction and recognize a difference between the holy (sacred) and the common (profane), and between the [ceremonially] unclean and the clean;

¹¹and you are to teach the Israelites all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses."

¹²Then Moses said to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, "Take the grain offering that is left over from the offerings by fire to the LORD, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy.

¹³You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your portion and your sons' portion, from the offerings by fire to the LORD; for so I have been commanded.

¹⁴But the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and daughters with you; for the breast and the thigh are your portion and your sons' portion, given out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the Israelites.

¹⁵They shall bring the thigh presented by lifting up and the breast presented by waving, along with the offerings by fire of the fat, to present as a wave offering before the LORD. This shall be yours and your sons' with you, as your perpetual portion, just as the LORD has commanded."

¹⁶But Moses diligently tried to find the goat [that had been offered] as the sin offering, and discovered that it had been burned up [as waste, not eaten]! So he was angry with Aaron's surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying,

¹⁷"Why did you not eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; and God gave it to you to remove the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD.

¹⁸Behold, its blood was not brought into the Holy Place; you certainly should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary, just as I commanded."

¹⁹Then Aaron said to Moses, "This very day they have [obediently] presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, but [such terrible things] as these have happened to me [and to them]; if I [and my sons] had eaten a sin offering today would it have been acceptable and pleasing in the sight of the LORD?"

²⁰When Moses heard that, he was satisfied.

¹Does any one of you, when he has a complaint (civil dispute) with another [believer], dare to go to law before unrighteous men (non-believers) instead of [placing the issue] before the saints (God's people)?

²Do you not know that the saints (God's people) will [one day] judge the world? If the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to try trivial (insignificant, petty) cases?

³Do you not know that we [believers] will judge angels? How much more then [as to] matters of this life?

⁴So if you have lawsuits dealing with matters of this life, are you appointing those as judges [to hear disputes] who are of no account in the church?

⁵I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is not one wise man among you who [is governed by integrity and] will be able and competent to decide [private disputes] between his fellow believers,

⁶but instead, brother goes to law against brother, and that before [judges who are] unbelievers?

⁷Why, the very fact that you have lawsuits with one another is already a defeat. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?

⁸On the contrary, it is you who wrong and defraud, and you do this even to your brothers and sisters.

⁹Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [by perversion], nor those who participate in homosexuality,

¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers [whose words are used as weapons to abuse, insult, humiliate, intimidate, or slander], nor swindlers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God.

¹¹And such were some of you [before you believed]. But you were washed [by the atoning sacrifice of Christ], you were sanctified [set apart for God, and made holy], you were justified [declared free of guilt] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God [the source of the believer's new life and changed behavior].

¹²Everything is permissible for me, but not all things are beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything [and brought under its power, allowing it to control me].

¹³Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will do away with both of them. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body [to save, sanctify, and raise it again because of the sacrifice of the cross].

¹⁴And God has not only raised the Lord [to life], but will also raise us up by His power.

¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Am I therefore to take the members of Christ and make them part of a prostitute? Certainly not!

¹⁶Do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, "The two shall be one flesh."

¹⁷But the one who is united and joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

¹⁸Run away from sexual immorality [in any form, whether thought or behavior, whether visual or written]. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the one who is sexually immoral sins against his own body.

¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]?

²⁰You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.

¹Beloved, I am now writing you this second letter. In this [as in the first one], I am stirring up your untainted mind to remind you,

²that you should remember the words spoken in the past [about the future] by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior given by your apostles [His personally chosen representatives].

³First of all, know [without any doubt] that mockers will come in the last days with their mocking, following after their own human desires

⁴and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming [what has become of it]? For ever since the fathers fell asleep [in death], all things have continued [exactly] as they did from the beginning of creation."

⁵For they willingly forget [the fact] that the heavens existed long ago by the word of God, and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

⁶through which the world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water.

⁷But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly people.

⁸Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day.

⁹The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish with a [mighty and thunderous] roar, and the [material] elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and the works that are on it will be burned up.

¹¹Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be [in the meantime] in holy behavior [that is, in a pattern of daily life that sets you apart as a believer] and in godliness [displaying profound reverence toward our awesome God],

¹²[while you earnestly] look for and await the coming of the day of God. For on this day the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the [material] elements will melt with intense heat!

¹³But in accordance with His promise we expectantly await new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴So, beloved, since you are looking forward to these things, be diligent and make every effort to be found by Him [at His return] spotless and blameless, in peace [that is, inwardly calm with a sense of spiritual well-being and confidence, having lived a life of obedience to Him].

¹⁵And consider the patience of our Lord [His delay in judging and avenging wrongs] as salvation [that is, allowing time for more to be saved]; just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him [by God],

¹⁶speaking about these things as he does in all of his letters. In which there are some things that are difficult to understand, which the untaught and unstable [who have fallen into error] twist and misinterpret, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁷Therefore, [let me warn you] beloved, knowing these things beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men [who distort doctrine] and fall from your own steadfastness [of mind, knowledge, truth, and faith],

¹⁸but grow [spiritually mature] in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory (honor, majesty, splendor), both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

¹Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

²"Who is this that darkens counsel [questioning my authority and wisdom] By words without knowledge?

³"Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

⁴"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you know and have understanding.

⁵"Who determined the measurements [of the earth], if you know? Or who stretched the [measuring] line on it?

⁶"On what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,

⁷When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God (angels) shouted for joy?

⁸"Or who enclosed the sea with doors When it burst forth and went out of the womb;

⁹When I made the clouds its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band,

¹⁰And marked for it My [appointed] boundary And set bars and doors [defining the shorelines],

¹¹And said, 'This far you shall come, but no farther; And here your proud waves shall stop'?

¹²"Since your days began, have you ever commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,

¹³So that light may take hold of the corners of the earth And shake the wickedness out of it?

¹⁴"The earth is changed like clay into which a seal is pressed; And the things [of the earth] stand out like a [multi-colored] garment.

¹⁵"Their light is withheld from the wicked, And the uplifted arm is broken.

¹⁶"Have you entered and explored the springs of the sea Or [have you] walked in the recesses of the deep?

¹⁷"Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

¹⁸"Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

¹⁹"Where is the way where light dwells? And as for darkness, where is its place,

²⁰That you may take it to its territory And that you may know the paths to its house?

²¹"You [must] know, since you were born then, And because you are so extremely old!

²²"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

²³Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war?

²⁴"Where is the way that the light is distributed, Or the east wind scattered over the earth?

²⁵"Who has prepared a channel for the torrents of rain and for the flood, Or a path for the thunderbolt,

²⁶To bring rain on the uninhabited land, And on the desert where no man lives,

²⁷To satisfy the barren and desolate ground And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

²⁸"Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

²⁹"Out of whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

³⁰"Water becomes like stone [and hides itself], And the surface of the deep is frozen and imprisoned.

³¹"Can you bind the chains of [the cluster of stars called] Pleiades, Or loose the cords of [the constellation] Orion?

³²"Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide [the stars of] the Bear with her sons?

³³"Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or [can you] establish their rule over the earth?

³⁴"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you?

³⁵"Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'?

³⁶"Who has put wisdom in the innermost being [of man, or in the layers of clouds] Or given understanding to the mind [of man, or to the heavenly display]?

³⁷"Who can count the clouds by [earthly] wisdom, Or pour out the water jars of the heavens,

³⁸When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together [because of the heat]?

³⁹"Can you [Job] hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions

⁴⁰When they crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair?

⁴¹"Who provides prey for the raven When its young cry to God And wander about without food?

¹A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

²Serve the LORD with gladness and delight; Come before His presence with joyful singing.

³Know and fully recognize with gratitude that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

⁴Enter His gates with a song of thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, bless and praise His name.

⁵For the LORD is good; His mercy and lovingkindness are everlasting, His faithfulness [endures] to all generations.

¹My son, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you [so they are readily available to guide you].

²Keep my commandments and live, And keep my teaching and law as the apple of your eye.

³Bind them [securely] on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to [skillful and godly] wisdom, "You are my sister," And regard understanding and intelligent insight as your intimate friends;

⁵That they may keep you from the immoral woman, From the foreigner [who does not observe God's laws and] who flatters with her [smooth] words.

⁶For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice.

⁷And among the naive [the inexperienced and gullible], I saw among the youths A young man lacking [good] sense,

⁸Passing through the street near her corner; And he took the path to her house

⁹In the twilight, in the evening; In the black and dark night.

¹⁰And there a woman met him, Dressed as a prostitute and sly and cunning of heart.

¹¹She was boisterous and rebellious; She would not stay at home.

¹²At times she was in the streets, at times in the market places, Lurking and setting her ambush at every corner.

¹³So she caught him and kissed him And with a brazen and impudent face she said to him:

¹⁴"I have peace offerings with me; Today I have paid my vows.

¹⁵"So I came out to meet you [that you might share with me the feast of my offering], Diligently I sought your face and I have found you.

¹⁶"I have spread my couch with coverings and cushions of tapestry, With colored fine linen of Egypt.

¹⁷"I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸"Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning; Let us console and delight ourselves with love.

¹⁹"For my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey;

²⁰He has taken a bag of money with him, And he will come home on the appointed day."

²¹With her many persuasions she caused him to yield; With her flattering lips she seduced him.

²²Suddenly he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter [not knowing the outcome], Or as one in stocks going to the correction [to be given] to a fool,

²³Until an arrow pierced his liver [with a mortal wound]; Like a bird fluttering straight into the net, He did not know that it would cost him his life.

²⁴Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her [evil, immoral] paths.

²⁶For she has cast down many [mortally] wounded; Indeed, all who were killed by her were strong.

²⁷Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death.

¹There happened to be there a worthless and wicked man named Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. He blew a trumpet [to call Israel to revolt] and said, "We have no portion in David And no inheritance in the son of Jesse, Every man to his tents, O Israel!"

²So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah stayed faithfully with their king, from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

³Then David came to his house (palace) at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to take care of the house, and placed them under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were confined, and lived as widows until the day of their death.

⁴Now the king said to Amasa [the commander of his army], "Summon the [fighting] men of Judah to me within three days, and be present here yourself."

⁵So Amasa went to summon [the fighting men of] Judah, but he delayed longer than the time which David had set for him.

⁶And David said to Abishai [his nephew], "Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your lord's servants and pursue him, so that he does not find fortified cities for himself and escape from our sight."

⁷So Joab's men went after him, along with [David's bodyguards] the Cherethites and Pelethites and all the warriors; they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

⁸When they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing his military uniform, and over it he had a belt with a sheathed sword strapped around his hips; and as he went forward, it fell out.

⁹Joab said to Amasa, "Is it going well with you, my brother?" And with his right hand Joab took hold of Amasa by the beard [as if] to kiss him [in greeting].

¹⁰But Amasa [who had replaced Joab as David's commander] was off guard and not attentive to the sword in Joab's hand. So Joab struck Amasa in the abdomen with the sword, spilling his intestines to the ground. Without another blow Amasa died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.

¹¹Now one of Joab's young men stood by him and said, "Whoever favors Joab and is for David, let him follow Joab!"

¹²But Amasa was wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people who came by stopped [to look], he moved Amasa from the highway into the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by Amasa stopped.

¹³When [the body of] Amasa was removed from the highway, everyone followed after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

¹⁴Now Joab went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, even Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they assembled and also went after Sheba.

¹⁵And the army of Joab came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth-maacah, and they built up an assault ramp against the city, and it stood against the outer rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction to make the wall fall.

¹⁶Then a wise woman cried out from the city, "Hear, hear! Tell Joab, 'Come here so that I may speak to you.'"

¹⁷So when he approached her, the woman asked, "Are you Joab?" He answered, "I am." Then she said to him, "Listen to the words of your maidservant." He answered, "I am listening."

¹⁸Then she said, "In the past people used to say, 'They will certainly ask advice at Abel,' and so they settled the dispute.

¹⁹I am one of the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You are seeking to destroy a city, and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up (devour) the inheritance of the LORD?"

²⁰Joab answered, "Far be it, far be it from me that I would swallow up or destroy!

²¹That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand [in rebellion] against King David. Only hand him over, and I will leave the city." And the woman said to Joab, "Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall."

²²Then the woman in her wisdom went to all the people [to inform them of the agreement]. And they beheaded Sheba the son of Bichri and threw his head [down] to Joab. So he blew the trumpet [signaling the end of the attack], and they dispersed from the city, every man to his own tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to [David] the king.

²³Now Joab was [commander] over the entire army of Israel; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was [commander] over the Cherethites and Pelethites [the king's bodyguards];

²⁴Adoram was over the forced labor; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;

²⁵Sheva was the scribe; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

²⁶also Ira the Jairite was a priest to David.

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his sovereignty and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all of its cities:

²"Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him: "Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will set it on fire and burn it down.

³You will not escape from his hand, for you will definitely be captured and handed over to him; you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face; and you will go to Babylon.'"'

⁴"Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the LORD concerning you, 'You will not die by the sword.

⁵You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for [the memory and honor of] your fathers, the former kings who reigned before you, so shall a [ceremonial] burning be made for you; and people will lament (grieve) for you, saying, "Alas, lord (master)!"' For I have spoken the word," says the LORD.

⁶Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem

⁷when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah, against Lachish and Azekah, for these were the [only] fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

⁸The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant (solemn pledge) with all the [Hebrew] people who were [slaves] in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them:

⁹that every man should let his Hebrew slaves, male and female, go free, so that no one should make a slave of a Jew, his brother.

¹⁰So all the princes and all the people who had entered into the covenant agreed that everyone would let his male servant and his female servant go free, and that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free.

¹¹But afterward they backed out [of the covenant] and made the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free return [to them], and brought the male servants and the female servants again into servitude.

¹²Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

¹³"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'I made a covenant (solemn pledge) with your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,

¹⁴"At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself [into servitude] or who has been sold to you and has served you six years, you shall release him from [serving] you; but your forefathers did not listen [submissively] to Me or obey Me.

¹⁵So then you recently turned and repented, doing what was right in My sight, each man proclaiming release [from servitude] to his countryman [who was his bond servant]; and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My Name.

¹⁶Yet you backed out [of the covenant] and profaned My Name, and each man took back his servants, male and female, whom had been set free in accordance with their desire, and you brought them into servitude [again] to be your male servants and your female servants."'

¹⁷"Therefore says the LORD, 'You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed liberty to your brother and your countryman. Behold (listen very carefully), I am proclaiming liberty to you—[liberty to be put] to the sword, [liberty] to [be ravaged by] the virulent disease, and [liberty] to [be decimated by] famine,' says the LORD; 'and I will make you a horror and a warning to all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁸The men who have violated My covenant, who have not kept the terms of the solemn pledge which they made before Me when they split the [sacrificial] calf in half, and then afterwards walked between its separated pieces [sealing their pledge to Me by placing a curse on themselves should they violate the covenant—those men I will make like the calf]!

¹⁹The princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the high officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf,

²⁰I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. And [like the body of the calf] their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

²¹Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will place into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you.

²²Behold, I am going to command [the Chaldeans who rule Babylon],' says the LORD, 'and I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and take it and set it on fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.'"

¹Now Paul traveled to Derbe and also to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer [in Christ], however, his father was a Greek.

²Timothy was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium.

³Paul wanted Timothy to go with him [as a missionary]; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decrees decided on by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for the churches to observe.

⁵So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they continually increased in number day after day.

⁶Now they passed through the territory of Phrygia and Galatia, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor];

⁷and after they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them;

⁸so passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

⁹Then a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man from [the Roman province of] Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"

¹⁰And when he had seen the vision, we (including Luke) tried to go on into Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹So setting sail from Troas, we ran a direct course to Samothrace, and the next day [went on] to Neapolis;

¹²and from there [we came] to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. We stayed on in this city for several days;

¹³and on the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the bank of the [Gangites] river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had come there.

¹⁴A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple fabrics who was [already] a worshiper of God, listened to us; and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention and to respond to the things said by Paul.

¹⁵And when she was baptized, along with her household, she pleaded with us, saying, "If you have judged me and decided that I am faithful to the Lord [a true believer], come to my house and stay." And she persuaded us.

¹⁶It happened that as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination [that is, a demonic spirit claiming to foretell the future and discover hidden knowledge], and she brought her owners a good profit by fortune-telling.

¹⁷She followed after Paul and us and kept screaming and shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God! They are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!"

¹⁸She continued doing this for several days. Then Paul, being greatly annoyed and worn out, turned and said to the spirit [inside her], "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ [as His representative] to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment.

¹⁹But when her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the market place [where trials were held],

²⁰and when they had brought them before the chief magistrates, they said, "These men, who are Jews, are throwing our city into confusion and causing trouble.

²¹They are publicly teaching customs which are unlawful for us, as Romans, to accept or observe."

²²The crowd also joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and ordered that Paul and Silas be beaten with rods.

²³After striking them many times [with the rods], they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely.

²⁴He, having received such a [strict] command, threw them into the inner prison (dungeon) and fastened their feet in the stocks [in an agonizing position].

²⁵But about midnight when Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

²⁶suddenly there was a great earthquake, so [powerful] that the very foundations of the prison were shaken and at once all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened.

²⁷When the jailer, shaken out of sleep, saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul shouted, saying, "Do not hurt yourself, we are all here!"

²⁹Then the jailer called for torches and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas,

³⁰and after he brought them out [of the inner prison], he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

³¹And they answered, "Believe in the Lord Jesus [as your personal Savior and entrust yourself to Him] and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe]."

³²And they spoke the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] to him and to all who were in his house.

³³And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their bloody wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

³⁴Then he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, since he had believed in God with his entire family [accepting with joy what had been made known to them about the Christ].

³⁵Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, "Release those men."

³⁶And the jailer repeated the words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent word to release you; so come out now and go in peace."

³⁷But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us in public without a trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now they are sending us out secretly? No! Let them come here themselves and bring us out!"

³⁸The officers reported this message to the chief magistrates, and when they heard that the prisoners were Romans, they were frightened;

³⁹so they came [to the prison] and appealed to them [with apologies], and when they brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city.

⁴⁰So they left the prison and went to Lydia's house; and when they had seen the brothers and sisters, they encouraged and comforted them, and left.