Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

²When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.”

³He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

⁴He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests.

⁵Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless?

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

⁷But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

⁸For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

⁹He left that place and entered their synagogue;

¹⁰a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?” so that they might accuse him.

¹¹He said to them, “Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out?

¹²How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.”

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

¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

¹⁵When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them,

¹⁶and he ordered them not to make him known.

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

¹⁸“Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

¹⁹He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory.

²¹And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

²²Then they brought to him a demoniac who was blind and mute; and he cured him, so that the one who had been mute could speak and see.

²³All the crowds were amazed and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”

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

²⁵He knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

²⁶If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?

²⁷If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.

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

²⁹Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property, without first tying up the strong man? Then indeed the house can be plundered.

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

³¹Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

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

³³“Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.

³⁴You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

³⁵The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.

³⁶I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter;

³⁷for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

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

³⁹But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

⁴⁰For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.

⁴¹The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!

⁴²The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!

⁴³“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none.

⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order.

⁴⁵Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.”

⁴⁶While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him.

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

⁴⁸But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

⁴⁹And pointing 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 spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them:

²Speak to the people of Israel, saying: From among all the land animals, these are the creatures that you may eat.

³Any animal that has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed and chews the cud — such you may eat.

⁴But among those that chew the cud or have divided hoofs, you shall not eat the following: the camel, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you.

⁵The rock badger, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you.

⁶The hare, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you.

⁷The pig, for even though it has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed, it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.

⁸Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean for you.

⁹These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams — such you may eat.

¹⁰But anything in the seas or the streams that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and among all the other living creatures that are in the waters — they are detestable to you

¹¹and detestable they shall remain. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall regard as detestable.

¹²Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

¹³These you shall regard as detestable among the birds. They shall not be eaten; they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey,

¹⁴the buzzard, the kite of any kind;

¹⁵every raven of any kind;

¹⁶the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind;

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

¹⁸the water hen, the desert owl, the carrion vulture,

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

²⁰All winged insects that walk upon all fours are detestable to you.

²¹But among the winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to leap on the ground.

²²Of them you may eat: the locust according to its kind, the bald locust according to its kind, the cricket according to its kind, and the grasshopper according to its kind.

²³But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.

²⁴By these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until the evening,

²⁵and whoever carries any part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

²⁶Every animal that has divided hoofs but is not cleft-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean for you; everyone who touches one of them shall be unclean.

²⁷All that walk on their paws, among the animals that walk on all fours, are unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until the evening,

²⁸and the one who carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean for you.

²⁹These are unclean for you among the creatures that swarm upon the earth: the weasel, the mouse, the great lizard according to its kind,

³⁰the gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.

³¹These are unclean for you among all that swarm; whoever touches one of them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.

³²And anything upon which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether an article of wood or cloth or skin or sacking, any article that is used for any purpose; it shall be dipped into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening, and then it shall be clean.

³³And if any of them falls into any earthen vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break the vessel.

³⁴Any food that could be eaten shall be unclean if water from any such vessel comes upon it; and any liquid that could be drunk shall be unclean if it was in any such vessel.

³⁵Everything on which any part of the carcass falls shall be unclean; whether an oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces; they are unclean, and shall remain unclean for you.

³⁶But a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, while whatever touches the carcass in it shall be unclean.

³⁷If any part of their carcass falls upon any seed set aside for sowing, it is clean;

³⁸but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

³⁹If an animal of which you may eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening.

⁴⁰Those who eat of its carcass shall wash their clothes and be unclean until the evening; and those who carry the carcass shall wash their clothes and be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹All creatures that swarm upon the earth are detestable; they shall not be eaten.

⁴²Whatever moves on its belly, and whatever moves on all fours, or whatever has many feet, all the creatures that swarm upon the earth, you shall not eat; for they are detestable.

⁴³You shall not make yourselves detestable with any creature that swarms; you shall not defile yourselves with them, and so become unclean.

⁴⁴For I am the LORD your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming creature that moves on the earth.

⁴⁵For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall be holy, for I am holy.

⁴⁶This is the law pertaining to land animal and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms upon the earth,

⁴⁷to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

¹Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is well for a man not to touch a woman.”

²But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

³The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.

⁴For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

⁵Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

⁶This I say by way of concession, not of command.

⁷I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind.

⁸To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am.

⁹But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.

¹⁰To the married I give this command — not I but the Lord — that the wife should not separate from her husband

¹¹(but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

¹²To the rest I say — I and not the Lord — that if any believer has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.

¹³And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.

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

¹⁵But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. It is to peace that God has called you.

¹⁶Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.

¹⁷However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches.

¹⁸Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.

¹⁹Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything.

²⁰Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.

²¹Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make use of your present condition now more than ever.

²²For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ.

²³You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters.

²⁴In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters, there remain with God.

²⁵Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.

²⁶I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are.

²⁷Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

²⁸But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life, and I would spare you that.

²⁹I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,

³⁰and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions,

³¹and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

³²I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord;

³³but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife,

³⁴and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband.

³⁵I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.

³⁶If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his fiancée, if his passions are strong, and so it has to be, let him marry as he wishes; it is no sin. Let them marry.

³⁷But if someone stands firm in his resolve, being under no necessity but having his own desire under control, and has determined in his own mind to keep her as his fiancée, he will do well.

³⁸So then, he who marries his fiancée does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better.

³⁹A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord.

⁴⁰But in my judgment she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

¹We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life —

²this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us —

³we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

⁴We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

⁵This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true;

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

⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

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

¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

¹“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer?

²Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth,

³when they crouch to give birth to their offspring, and are delivered of their young?

⁴Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open; they go forth, and do not return to them.

⁵“Who has let the wild ass go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,

⁶to which I have given the steppe for its home, the salt land for its dwelling place?

⁷It scorns the tumult of the city; it does not hear the shouts of the driver.

⁸It ranges the mountains as its pasture, and it searches after every green thing.

⁹“Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your crib?

¹⁰Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes, or will it harrow the valleys after you?

¹¹Will you depend on it because its strength is great, and will you hand over your labor to it?

¹²Do you have faith in it that it will return, and bring your grain to your threshing floor?

¹³“The ostrich’s wings flap wildly, though its pinions lack plumage.

¹⁴For it leaves its eggs to the earth, and lets them be warmed on the ground,

¹⁵forgetting that a foot may crush them, and that a wild animal may trample them.

¹⁶It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own; though its labor should be in vain, yet it has no fear;

¹⁷because God has made it forget wisdom, and given it no share in understanding.

¹⁸When it spreads its plumes aloft, it laughs at the horse and its rider.

¹⁹“Do you give the horse its might? Do you clothe its neck with mane?

²⁰Do you make it leap like the locust? Its majestic snorting is terrible.

²¹It paws violently, exults mightily; it goes out to meet the weapons.

²²It laughs at fear, and is not dismayed; it does not turn back from the sword.

²³Upon it rattle the quiver, the flashing spear, and the javelin.

²⁴With fierceness and rage it swallows the ground; it cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.

²⁵When the trumpet sounds, it says ‘Aha!’ From a distance it smells the battle, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

²⁶“Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south?

²⁷Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes its nest on high?

²⁸It lives on the rock and makes its home in the fastness of the rocky crag.

²⁹From there it spies the prey; its eyes see it from far away.

³⁰Its young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there it is.”

¹I will sing of loyalty and of justice; to you, O LORD, I will sing.

²I will study the way that is blameless. When shall I attain it? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;

³I will not set before my eyes anything that is base. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.

⁴Perverseness of heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.

⁵One who secretly slanders a neighbor I will destroy. A haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not tolerate.

⁶I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, so that they may live with me; whoever walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me.

⁷No one who practices deceit shall remain in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue in my presence.

⁸Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all evildoers from the city of the LORD.

¹Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?

²On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand;

³beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out:

⁴“To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live.

⁵O simple ones, learn prudence; acquire intelligence, you who lack it.

⁶Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right;

⁷for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

⁸All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.

⁹They are all straight to one who understands and right to those who find knowledge.

¹⁰Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold;

¹¹for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

¹²I, wisdom, live with prudence, and I attain knowledge and discretion.

¹³The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

¹⁴I have good advice and sound wisdom; I have insight, I have strength.

¹⁵By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just;

¹⁶by me rulers rule, and nobles, all who govern rightly.

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

¹⁸Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and prosperity.

¹⁹My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.

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

²¹endowing with wealth those who love me, and filling their treasuries.

²²The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago.

²³Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

²⁴When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.

²⁵Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth —

²⁶when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil.

²⁷When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

²⁸when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,

²⁹when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

³⁰then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,

³¹rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.

³²“And now, my children, listen to me: happy are those who keep my ways.

³³Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.

³⁴Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.

³⁵For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD;

³⁶but those who miss me injure themselves; all who hate me love death.”

¹Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. The LORD said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

²So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had tried to wipe them out in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)

³David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make expiation, that you may bless the heritage of the LORD?”

⁴The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel.” He said, “What do you say that I should do for you?”

⁵They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel —

⁶let seven of his sons be handed over to us, and we will impale them before the LORD at Gibeon on the mountain of the LORD.” The king said, “I will hand them over.”

⁷But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the LORD that was between them, between David and Jonathan son of Saul.

⁸The king took the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite;

⁹he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they impaled them on the mountain before the LORD. The seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.

¹⁰Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it on a rock for herself, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell on them from the heavens; she did not allow the birds of the air to come on the bodies by day, or the wild animals by night.

¹¹When David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,

¹²David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the people of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them up, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.

¹³He brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who had been impaled.

¹⁴They buried the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of his father Kish; they did all that the king commanded. After that, God heeded supplications for the land.

¹⁵The Philistines went to war again with Israel, and David went down together with his servants. They fought against the Philistines, and David grew weary.

¹⁶Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was fitted out with new weapons, said he would kill David.

¹⁷But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall not go out with us to battle any longer, so that you do not quench the lamp of Israel.”

¹⁸After this a battle took place with the Philistines, at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants.

¹⁹Then there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

²⁰There was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great size, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he too was descended from the giants.

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

²²These four were descended from the giants in Gath; they fell by the hands of David and his servants.

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah:

²Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.

³So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites.

⁴I brought them to the house of the LORD into the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold.

⁵Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Have some wine.”

⁶But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us, ‘You shall never drink wine, neither you nor your children;

⁷nor shall you ever build a house, or sow seed; nor shall you plant a vineyard, or even own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you reside.’

⁸We have obeyed the charge of our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters,

⁹and not to build houses to live in. We have no vineyard or field or seed;

¹⁰but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed and done all that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.

¹¹But when King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.’ That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”

¹²Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

¹³Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Can you not learn a lesson and obey my words? says the LORD.

¹⁴The command has been carried out that Jonadab son of Rechab gave to his descendants to drink no wine; and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I myself have spoken to you persistently, and you have not obeyed me.

¹⁵I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, “Turn now every one of you from your evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not incline your ear or obey me.

¹⁶The descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the command that their ancestor gave them, but this people has not obeyed me.

¹⁷Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.

¹⁸But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab, and kept all his precepts, and done all that he commanded you,

¹⁹therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab son of Rechab shall not lack a descendant to stand before me for all time.

¹After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

²And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures,

³explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.”

⁴Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

⁵But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house.

⁶When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also,

⁷and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.”

⁸The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this,

⁹and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.

¹⁰That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

¹¹These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so.

¹²Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing.

¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds.

¹⁴Then the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind.

¹⁵Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.

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

¹⁷So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

¹⁸Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)

¹⁹So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

²⁰It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.”

²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.

²²Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way.

²³For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands,

²⁵nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.

²⁶From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live,

²⁷so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him — though indeed he is not far from each one of us.

²⁸For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’

²⁹Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.

³⁰While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

³¹because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

³²When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, “We will hear you again about this.”

³³At that point Paul left them.

³⁴But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.