Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.

²When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

³He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

⁴He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.

⁵Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

⁶I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.

⁷If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

⁸For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁹Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue,

¹⁰and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

¹¹He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?

¹²How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.

¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

¹⁵Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.

¹⁶He warned them not to tell others about him.

¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁸“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

¹⁹He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.

²¹In his name the nations will put their hope.”

²²Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.

²³All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

²⁴But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

²⁵Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

²⁶If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

²⁷And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

²⁸But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²⁹“Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

³⁰“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

³¹And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

³²Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

³³“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.

³⁴You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

³⁵A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

³⁶But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.

³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

³⁸Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

³⁹He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

⁴⁰For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

⁴¹The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.

⁴²The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.

⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.

⁴⁵Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

⁴⁶While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.

⁴⁷Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

⁴⁸He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

⁴⁹Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.

⁵⁰For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

¹The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

²“Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat:

³You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.

⁴“ ‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you.

⁵The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

⁶The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.

⁷And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.

⁸You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

⁹“ ‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales.

¹⁰But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean.

¹¹And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean.

¹²Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.

¹³“ ‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture,

¹⁴the red kite, any kind of black kite,

¹⁵any kind of raven,

¹⁶the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

¹⁷the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,

¹⁸the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,

¹⁹the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

²⁰“ ‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you.

²¹There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground.

²²Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper.

²³But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean.

²⁴“ ‘You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening.

²⁵Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.

²⁶“ ‘Every animal that does not have a divided hoof or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean.

²⁷Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening.

²⁸Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. These animals are unclean for you.

²⁹“ ‘Of the animals that move along the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard,

³⁰the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon.

³¹Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening.

³²When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean.

³³If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot.

³⁴Any food you are allowed to eat that has come into contact with water from any such pot is unclean, and any liquid that is drunk from such a pot is unclean.

³⁵Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean.

³⁶A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean.

³⁷If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean.

³⁸But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

³⁹“ ‘If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass will be unclean till evening.

⁴⁰Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.

⁴¹“ ‘Every creature that moves along the ground is to be regarded as unclean; it is not to be eaten.

⁴²You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is unclean.

⁴³Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them.

⁴⁴I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground.

⁴⁵I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

⁴⁶“ ‘These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground.

⁴⁷You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.’ ”

¹Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”

²But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.

³The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.

⁴The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.

⁵Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

⁶I say this as a concession, not as a command.

⁷I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

⁸Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.

⁹But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.

¹¹But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

¹²To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.

¹³And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.

¹⁴For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

¹⁵But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.

¹⁶How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

¹⁷Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.

¹⁸Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.

¹⁹Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts.

²⁰Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

²¹Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so.

²²For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave.

²³You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.

²⁴Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

²⁵Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.

²⁶Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.

²⁷Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife.

²⁸But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

²⁹What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not;

³⁰those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep;

³¹those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

³²I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord.

³³But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—

³⁴and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband.

³⁵I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

³⁶If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married.

³⁷But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing.

³⁸So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does better.

³⁹A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.

⁴⁰In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

¹That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

²The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

³We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

⁴We write this to make our joy complete.

⁵This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.

⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

¹⁰If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

¹“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

²Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?

³They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended.

⁴Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.

⁵“Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes?

⁶I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat.

⁷It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout.

⁸It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing.

⁹“Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it stay by your manger at night?

¹⁰Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness? Will it till the valleys behind you?

¹¹Will you rely on it for its great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to it?

¹²Can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?

¹³“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.

¹⁴She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand,

¹⁵unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.

¹⁶She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain,

¹⁷for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.

¹⁸Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.

¹⁹“Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?

²⁰Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting?

²¹It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray.

²²It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword.

²³The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance.

²⁴In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

²⁵At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’ It catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

²⁶“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?

²⁷Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?

²⁸It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold.

²⁹From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar.

³⁰Its young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there it is.”

¹Of David. A psalm. I will sing of your love and justice; to you, LORD, I will sing praise.

²I will be careful to lead a blameless life— when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.

³I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.

⁴The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil.

⁵Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.

⁶My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; the one whose walk is blameless will minister to me.

⁷No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.

⁸Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.

¹Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?

²At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

³beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud:

⁴“To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind.

⁵You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.

⁶Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.

⁷My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness.

⁸All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse.

⁹To the discerning all of them are right; they are upright to those who have found knowledge.

¹⁰Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold,

¹¹for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

¹²“I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.

¹³To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

¹⁴Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power.

¹⁵By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just;

¹⁶by me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth.

¹⁷I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

¹⁸With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.

¹⁹My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver.

²⁰I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,

²¹bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full.

²²“The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old;

²³I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be.

²⁴When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water;

²⁵before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth,

²⁶before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth.

²⁷I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,

²⁸when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,

²⁹when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

³⁰Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence,

³¹rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.

³²“Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.

³³Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it.

³⁴Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.

³⁵For those who find me find life and receive favor from the LORD.

³⁶But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.”

¹During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

²The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.)

³David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the LORD’s inheritance?”

⁴The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.” “What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.

⁵They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel,

⁶let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul—the LORD’s chosen one.” So the king said, “I will give them to you.”

⁷The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul.

⁸But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

⁹He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the LORD. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.

¹⁰Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night.

¹¹When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done,

¹²he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.)

¹³David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.

¹⁴They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.

¹⁵Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted.

¹⁶And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David.

¹⁷But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.”

¹⁸In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.

¹⁹In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.

²⁰In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha.

²¹When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him.

²²These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:

²“Go to the Rekabite family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the LORD and give them wine to drink.”

³So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons—the whole family of the Rekabites.

⁴I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God. It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper.

⁵Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.”

⁶But they replied, “We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jehonadab son of Rekab gave us this command: ‘Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine.

⁷Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads.’

⁸We have obeyed everything our forefather Jehonadab son of Rekab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine

⁹or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops.

¹⁰We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jehonadab commanded us.

¹¹But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded this land, we said, ‘Come, we must go to Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian and Aramean armies.’ So we have remained in Jerusalem.”

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

¹³“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?’ declares the LORD.

¹⁴‘Jehonadab son of Rekab ordered his descendants not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed me.

¹⁵Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, “Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not paid attention or listened to me.

¹⁶The descendants of Jehonadab son of Rekab have carried out the command their forefather gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.’

¹⁷“Therefore this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.’ ”

¹⁸Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jehonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.’

¹⁹Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab will never fail to have a descendant to serve me.’ ”

¹When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

²As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.

⁴Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

⁵But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.

⁶But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,

⁷and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”

⁸When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.

⁹Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

¹⁰As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

¹¹Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

¹²As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

¹³But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.

¹⁴The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.

¹⁵Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

¹⁶While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.

¹⁷So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.

¹⁸A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

²⁰You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”

²¹(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

²²Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.

²³For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

²⁴“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.

²⁵And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

²⁶From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.

²⁷God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

²⁸‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

²⁹“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.

³⁰In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

³¹For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

³²When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”

³³At that, Paul left the Council.

³⁴Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.