Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²Now while in prison, John heard about the works of Christ, and he sent word by his disciples,

³and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or are we to look for someone else?”

⁴Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:

⁵those who are BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and those who limp walk, those with leprosy are cleansed and those who are deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the POOR HAVE THEGOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.

⁶And blessed isany person who does nottake offense at Me.”

⁷As these disciples of John were going away, Jesus began speaking to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

⁸But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’palaces!

⁹But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet.

¹⁰This is the one about whom itis written: ‘BEHOLD, I AM SENDING MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’

¹¹Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

¹²And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been treated violently, and violent men take it by force.

¹³For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.

¹⁴And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah whowas to come.

¹⁵The one who has ears to hear,let him hear.

¹⁶“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call out to the other children,

¹⁷and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a song of mourning, and you did notmourn.’

¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’

¹⁹The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and aheavy drinker, a friend of tax collectors andsinners!’ And yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

²⁰Then He began to reprimand the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent.

²¹“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if themiracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago insackcloth and ashes.

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

²³And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades! For if themiracles that occurred in you had occurred in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.

²⁴Nevertheless I say to you that 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, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to infants.

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 knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son determines to reveal Him.

²⁸“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

²⁹Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FINDREST FOR YOUR SOULS.

³⁰For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”

¹Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on the fire and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.

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

³Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.’ ” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

⁴Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to an area outside of the camp.”

⁵So they came forward and carried them, still in their tunics, to an area outside the camp, just as Moses had said.

⁶Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you do not die and He does not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the entire house of Israel, shall weep for the burning which the LORD has brought about.

⁷You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for the LORD’S anointing oil is upon you.” So they did according to the word of Moses.

⁸The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying,

⁹“Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you do not die—it is a permanent statute throughout your generations—

¹⁰and to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean,

¹¹and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses.”

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

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

¹⁴The breast of the wave offering, however, and the thigh of the offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you; for they have been given as your allotted portion and your sons’ allotted portion from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the sons of Israel.

¹⁵They shall bring the thigh offered by lifting up and the breast offered by waving, along with the offerings by fire of the portions of fat, to present as a wave offering before the LORD; so it shall be a thing perpetually due you and your sons with you, just as the LORD has commanded.”

¹⁶But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying,

¹⁷“Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to take away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD.

¹⁸Behold, since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you certainly should have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded!”

¹⁹But Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, this very day they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD. When things like these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of the LORD?”

²⁰When Moses heard that, it was good in his sight.

¹Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints?

²Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to form the smallest law courts?

³Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?

⁴So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church?

⁵I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you anyone wise who will be able to decide between his brothers and sisters,

⁶but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?

⁷Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather suffer the wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?

⁸On the contrary, you yourselves do wrong and defraud. And this to your brothers and sisters!

⁹Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,

¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

¹¹Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

¹²All things are permitted for me, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.

¹³Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, however God will do away with both of them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.

¹⁴Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.

¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are parts of Christ? Shall I then take away the parts of Christ and make them parts of a prostitute? Far from it!

¹⁶Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”

¹⁷But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

¹⁸Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

²⁰For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

¹Beloved, this is now the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of a reminder,

²to remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.

³Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,

⁴and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue just as they were from the beginning of creation.”

⁵For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago 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, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.

⁸But 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 like one day.

⁹The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be discovered.

¹¹Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

¹²looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

¹³But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace,

¹⁵and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,

¹⁶as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁷You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unscrupulous people and lose your own firm commitment,

¹⁸but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

¹Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind and said,

²“Who is this who darkens the divine plan By words without knowledge?

³Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man, And I shall ask you, and you inform Me!

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

⁵Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the measuring line over it?

⁶On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,

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

⁸“Or who enclosed the sea with doors When it went out from the womb, bursting forth;

⁹When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling bands,

¹⁰And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,

¹¹And I said, ‘As far as this point you shall come, but no farther; And here your proud waves shall stop’?

¹²“Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And made the dawn know its place,

¹³So that it would take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked would be shaken off from it?

¹⁴It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand out like a garment.

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

¹⁶“Have you entered the springs of the sea, And walked in the depth of the ocean?

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

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

¹⁹“Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,

²⁰That you would take it to its territory, And discern the paths to its home?

²¹You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!

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

²³Which I have reserved for a time of distress, For a day of war and battle?

²⁴Where is the way that the light is divided, And the east wind scattered on the earth?

²⁵“Who has split open a channel for the flood, And a way for the thunderbolt,

²⁶To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a person in it,

²⁷To satisfy the waste and desolate land, And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

²⁸Does the rain have a father? Or who has fathered the drops of dew?

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

³⁰Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

³¹“Can you tie up the chains of the Pleiades, Or untie the cords of Orion?

³²Can you bring out a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?

³³Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or do you establish their rule over the earth?

³⁴“Can you raise your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you?

³⁵Can you send flashes of lightning, so that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’?

³⁶Who has put wisdom in the innermost being, Or given understanding to the mind?

³⁷Who can count the clouds by wisdom, And pour out the water jars of the heavens,

³⁸When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?

³⁹“Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of young lions,

⁴⁰When they crouch in their hiding places, And lie in wait in their lair?

⁴¹Who prepares feed for the raven When its young cry to God, And wander about without food?

¹Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

²Serve the LORD with jubilation; Come before Him with rejoicing.

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

⁴Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And His courtyards with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

⁵For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting And His faithfulness is to all generations.

¹My son, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you.

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

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

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your intimate friend,

⁵So that they may keep you from an adulteress, From the foreigner who flatters with her words.

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

⁷And I saw among the naive, And discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense,

⁸Passing through the street near her corner; And he walks along the way to her house,

⁹In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and the darkness.

¹⁰And behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a prostitute and cunning of heart.

¹¹She is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not remain at home;

¹²She is now in the streets, now in the public squares, And lurks by every corner.

¹³So she seizes him and kisses him, And with a brazen face she says to him:

¹⁴“I was due to offer peace offerings; Today I have paid my vows.

¹⁵Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence diligently, and I have found you.

¹⁶I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt.

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

¹⁸Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning; Let’s delight ourselves with caresses.

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

²⁰He has taken a bag of money with him. At the full moon he will come home.”

²¹With her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him.

²²Suddenly he follows her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as one walks in ankle bracelets to the discipline of a fool,

²³Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a bird hurries to the snare, So he does not know that it will 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 paths.

²⁶For many are the victims she has brought to ruin, And numerous are all those slaughtered by her.

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

¹Now a worthless man happened to be there whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite; and he blew the trumpet and said, “We have no share in David, Nor do we have an inheritance in the son of Jesse; Every man to his tents, Israel!”

²So all the men of Israel withdrew from following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah remained loyal to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

³Then David came to his house in Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left behind to take care of the house, and put them in custody and provided them with food, but did not have relations with them. So they were locked up until the day of their death, living as widows.

⁴Now the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself.”

⁵So Amasa went to summon the men of Judah, but he was delayed longer than the set time which he had designated for him.

⁶And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; take your lord’s servants and pursue him, so that he does not find for himself fortified cities and escape from our sight.”

⁷So Joab’s men went out after him, along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors; and they left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

⁸When they were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was dressed in his military attire, and over it he had a belt with a sword in its sheath strapped on at his waist; and as he went forward, it fell out.

⁹And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it going well for you, my brother?” And Joab took hold of Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

¹⁰But Amasa was not on guard against the sword which was in Joab’s hand, so he struck him in the belly with it and spilled out his intestines on the ground, and did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.

¹¹Now one of Joab’s young men stood by him and said, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!”

¹²But Amasa was wallowing in his own blood in the middle of the road. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa from the road to the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.

¹³As soon as he was removed from the road, all the men went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

¹⁴Now he went on through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, that is, Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they assembled and went after him as well.

¹⁵And they came and besieged him 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 in order to topple the wall.

¹⁶Then a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen, listen! Please tell Joab, ‘Come here that I may speak with you.’ ”

¹⁷So he approached her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” And he answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your slave.” And he said, “I am listening.”

¹⁸Then she spoke, saying, “In the past they used to say, ‘They will undoubtedly ask advice at Abel,’ and that is how they ended a dispute.

¹⁹I am one of those who are ready for peace and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city, even a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?”

²⁰Joab replied, “Far be it, far be it from me that I would consume or destroy!

²¹Such is not the case. But a man from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has raised his hand against King David. Only turn him over, and I will depart from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”

²²Then the woman wisely came to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Joab also returned to the king at Jerusalem.

²³Now Joab was in command of the entire army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites;

²⁴and Adoram was over the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the secretary;

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

²⁶Ira the Jairite also 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 control and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying,

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.

³And as for you, you will not escape from his hand, for you will assuredly be caught and handed over to him; and 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.’ ” ’

⁴Yet hear the word of the LORD, Zedekiah king of Judah! This is what the LORD says concerning you: ‘You will not die by the sword.

⁵You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will burn spices for you; and they will mourn for you, crying, “Oh, my lord!” ’ For I have spoken the word,” declares 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 all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, Lachish and Azekah, for they alone remained as fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

⁸The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to proclaim release to them:

⁹that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that no one would keep them, his Jewish brother or sister, in bondage.

¹⁰And all the officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, so that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free.

¹¹But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male servants and as female servants.

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

¹³“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘I made a covenant with your forefathers on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying,

¹⁴“At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you and has served you for six years, and you shall send him out free from you.” But your forefathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear to Me.

¹⁵Although recently you had turned and done what is right in My sight, each one proclaiming release to his neighbor, and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name.

¹⁶Yet you turned and profaned My name, and each person took back his male servant and each his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male and female servants.’

¹⁷“Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release, each one to his brother and each to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,’ declares the LORD, ‘to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁸I will give the people who have violated My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts—

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

²⁰I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth.

²¹Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will also hand over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you.

²²Behold, I am going to give a command,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’ ”

¹Now Paul also came to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

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

³Paul wanted this man to leave with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the ordinances for them to follow which had been determined by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

⁵So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.

⁶They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;

⁷and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;

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

⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹So after setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis;

¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city.

¹³And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

¹⁴A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of Thyatira, and a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

¹⁵Now when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

¹⁶It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave woman who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling.

¹⁷She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.”

¹⁸Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

¹⁹But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was suddenly gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities,

²⁰and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble,

²¹and they are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are Romans.”

²²The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.

²³When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;

²⁴and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

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

²⁶and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

²⁷When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

²⁹And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas;

³⁰and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

³²And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house.

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

³⁴And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.

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

³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come in person and lead us out.”

³⁸The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans,

³⁹and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them to leave the city.

⁴⁰They left the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and departed.