Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

²He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’

³And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

⁴An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.

⁵When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread.

⁶Jesus said to them, “Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷They said to one another, “It is because we have brought no bread.”

⁸And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread?

⁹Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?

¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?

¹¹How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

¹²Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.

¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

²⁰Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

²¹From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

²²And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.”

²³But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

²⁴Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

²⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

²⁶For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

²⁷“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.

²⁸Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

¹The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

²Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When any man has a discharge from his member, his discharge makes him ceremonially unclean.

³The uncleanness of his discharge is this: whether his member flows with his discharge, or his member is stopped from discharging, it is uncleanness for him.

⁴Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.

⁵Anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁶All who sit on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁷All who touch the body of the one with the discharge shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁸If the one with the discharge spits on persons who are clean, then they shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

⁹Any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean.

¹⁰All who touch anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening, and all who carry such a thing shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹¹All those whom the one with the discharge touches without his having rinsed his hands in water shall wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹²Any earthen vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

¹³When the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, he shall count seven days for his cleansing; he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in fresh water, and he shall be clean.

¹⁴On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the LORD to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest.

¹⁵The priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the LORD for his discharge.

¹⁶If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁷Everything made of cloth or of skin on which the semen falls shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁸If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

¹⁹When a woman has a discharge of blood that is her regular discharge from her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁰Everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean; everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean.

²¹Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

²²Whoever touches anything upon which she sits shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening;

²³whether it is the bed or anything upon which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening.

²⁴If any man lies with her, and her impurity falls on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

²⁵If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness; as in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean.

²⁶Every bed on which she lies during all the days of her discharge shall be treated as the bed of her impurity; and everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her impurity.

²⁷Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening.

²⁸If she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count seven days, and after that she shall be clean.

²⁹On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

³⁰The priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before the LORD for her unclean discharge.

³¹Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.

³²This is the ritual for those who have a discharge: for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby,

³³for her who is in the infirmity of her period, for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge, and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean.

¹Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

²I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I handed them on to you.

³But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of Christ.

⁴Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head,

⁵but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head — it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved.

⁶For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil.

⁷For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man.

⁸Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man.

⁹Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man.

¹⁰For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

¹¹Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man or man independent of woman.

¹²For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman; but all things come from God.

¹³Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled?

¹⁴Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him,

¹⁵but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.

¹⁶But if anyone is disposed to be contentious — we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.

¹⁷Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.

¹⁸For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it.

¹⁹Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine.

²⁰When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper.

²¹For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk.

²²What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!

²³For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,

²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁵In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

²⁷Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord.

²⁸Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

²⁹For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.

³⁰For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

³¹But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged.

³²But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

³³So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

³⁴If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. About the other things I will give instructions when I come.

¹Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.

²By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.

³For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,

⁴for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.

⁵Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

⁶This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.

⁷There are three that testify:

⁸the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree.

⁹If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son.

¹⁰Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.

¹¹And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

¹²Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

¹⁴And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

¹⁵And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.

¹⁶If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one — to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that.

¹⁷All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.

¹⁸We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them.

¹⁹We know that we are God’s children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one.

²⁰And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

²¹Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

¹The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

²Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

³What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun?

⁴A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

⁵The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hurries to the place where it rises.

⁶The wind blows to the south, and goes around to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.

⁷All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow.

⁸All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing.

⁹What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has already been, in the ages before us.

¹¹The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.

¹²I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem,

¹³applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with.

¹⁴I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said to myself, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a chasing after wind.

¹⁸For in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.

¹O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples.

²Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works.

³Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

⁴Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually.

⁵Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered,

⁶O offspring of his servant Abraham, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

⁷He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He is mindful of his covenant forever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

⁹the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,

¹⁰which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

¹¹saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹²When they were few in number, of little account, and strangers in it,

¹³wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,

¹⁴he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account,

¹⁵saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”

¹⁶When he summoned famine against the land, and broke every staff of bread,

¹⁷he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

¹⁸His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of iron;

¹⁹until what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD kept testing him.

²⁰The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free.

²¹He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions,

²²to instruct his officials at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.

²⁴And the LORD made his people very fruitful, and made them stronger than their foes,

²⁵whose hearts he then turned to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.

²⁶He sent his servant Moses, and Aaron whom he had chosen.

²⁷They performed his signs among them, and miracles in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness, and made the land dark; they rebelled against his words.

²⁹He turned their waters into blood, and caused their fish to die.

³⁰Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings.

³¹He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.

³²He gave them hail for rain, and lightning that flashed through their land.

³³He struck their vines and fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came, and young locusts without number;

³⁵they devoured all the vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground.

³⁶He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the first issue of all their strength.

³⁷Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.

³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it.

³⁹He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night.

⁴⁰They asked, and he brought quails, and gave them food from heaven in abundance.

⁴¹He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.

⁴²For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.

⁴³So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.

⁴⁴He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,

⁴⁵that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the LORD!

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but those who hate to be rebuked are stupid.

²The good obtain favor from the LORD, but those who devise evil he condemns.

³No one finds security by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved.

⁴A good wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just; the advice of the wicked is treacherous.

⁶The words of the wicked are a deadly ambush, but the speech of the upright delivers them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.

⁸One is commended for good sense, but a perverse mind is despised.

⁹Better to be despised and have a servant, than to be self-important and lack food.

¹⁰The righteous know the needs of their animals, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

¹¹Those who till their land will have plenty of food, but those who follow worthless pursuits have no sense.

¹²The wicked covet the proceeds of wickedness, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.

¹³The evil are ensnared by the transgression of their lips, but the righteous escape from trouble.

¹⁴From the fruit of the mouth one is filled with good things, and manual labor has its reward.

¹⁵Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to advice.

¹⁶Fools show their anger at once, but the prudent ignore an insult.

¹⁷Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness speaks deceitfully.

¹⁸Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

²⁰Deceit is in the mind of those who plan evil, but those who counsel peace have joy.

²¹No harm happens to the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

²³One who is clever conceals knowledge, but the mind of a fool broadcasts folly.

²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, while the lazy will be put to forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up.

²⁶The righteous gives good advice to friends, but the way of the wicked leads astray.

²⁷The lazy do not roast their game, but the diligent obtain precious wealth.

²⁸In the path of righteousness there is life, in walking its path there is no death.

¹King David was old and advanced in years; and although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.

²So his servants said to him, “Let a young virgin be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king, and be his attendant; let her lie in your bosom, so that my lord the king may be warm.”

³So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.

⁴The girl was very beautiful. She became the king’s attendant and served him, but the king did not know her sexually.

⁵Now Adonijah son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

⁶His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom.

⁷He conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with the priest Abiathar, and they supported Adonijah.

⁸But the priest Zadok, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the prophet Nathan, and Shimei, and Rei, and David’s own warriors did not side with Adonijah.

⁹Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fatted cattle by the stone Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah,

¹⁰but he did not invite the prophet Nathan or Benaiah or the warriors or his brother Solomon.

¹¹Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king and our lord David does not know it?

¹²Now therefore come, let me give you advice, so that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.

¹³Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying: Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then is Adonijah king?’

¹⁴Then while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”

¹⁵So Bathsheba went to the king in his room. The king was very old; Abishag the Shunammite was attending the king.

¹⁶Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance to the king, and the king said, “What do you wish?”

¹⁷She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the LORD your God, saying: Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne.

¹⁸But now suddenly Adonijah has become king, though you, my lord the king, do not know it.

¹⁹He has sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the children of the king, the priest Abiathar, and Joab the commander of the army; but your servant Solomon he has not invited.

²⁰But you, my lord the king — the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

²¹Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his ancestors, that my son Solomon and I will be counted offenders.”

²²While she was still speaking with the king, the prophet Nathan came in.

²³The king was told, “Here is the prophet Nathan.” When he came in before the king, he did obeisance to the king, with his face to the ground.

²⁴Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne’?

²⁵For today he has gone down and has sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s children, Joab the commander of the army, and the priest Abiathar, who are now eating and drinking before him, and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’

²⁶But he did not invite me, your servant, and the priest Zadok, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon.

²⁷Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not let your servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

²⁸King David answered, “Summon Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king.

²⁹The king swore, saying, “As the LORD lives, who has saved my life from every adversity,

³⁰as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ so will I do this day.”

³¹Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and did obeisance to the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

³²King David said, “Summon to me the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king,

³³the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.

³⁴There let the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet, and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’

³⁵You shall go up following him. Let him enter and sit on my throne; he shall be king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.”

³⁶Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, so ordain.

³⁷As the LORD has been with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

³⁸So the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and led him to Gihon.

³⁹There the priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”

⁴⁰And all the people went up following him, playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth quaked at their noise.

⁴¹Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is the city in an uproar?”

⁴²While he was still speaking, Jonathan son of the priest Abiathar arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and surely you bring good news.”

⁴³Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king;

⁴⁴the king has sent with him the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they had him ride on the king’s mule;

⁴⁵the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you heard.

⁴⁶Solomon now sits on the royal throne.

⁴⁷Moreover the king’s servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ The king bowed in worship on the bed

⁴⁸and went on to pray thus, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who today has granted one of my offspring to sit on my throne and permitted me to witness it.’”

⁴⁹Then all the guests of Adonijah got up trembling and went their own ways.

⁵⁰Adonijah, fearing Solomon, got up and went to grasp the horns of the altar.

⁵¹Solomon was informed, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; see, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’”

⁵²So Solomon responded, “If he proves to be a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.”

⁵³Then King Solomon sent to have him brought down from the altar. He came to do obeisance to King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, “Go home.”

¹In the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it;

²in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city.

³When Jerusalem was taken, all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, with all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.

⁴When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward the Arabah.

⁵But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and when they had taken him, they brought him up to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, at Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and he passed sentence on him.

⁶The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes; also the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah.

⁷He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters to take him to Babylon.

⁸The Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the houses of the people, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard exiled to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained.

¹⁰Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

¹¹King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying,

¹²“Take him, look after him well and do him no harm, but deal with him as he may ask you.”

¹³So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon sent

¹⁴and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan to be brought home. So he stayed with his own people.

¹⁵The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guard:

¹⁶Go and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to fulfill my words against this city for evil and not for good, and they shall be accomplished in your presence on that day.

¹⁷But I will save you on that day, says the LORD, and you shall not be handed over to those whom you dread.

¹⁸For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have trusted in me, says the LORD.

¹When we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

²When we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, we went on board and set sail.

³We came in sight of Cyprus; and leaving it on our left, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, because the ship was to unload its cargo there.

⁴We looked up the disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

⁵When our days there were ended, we left and proceeded on our journey; and all of them, with wives and children, escorted us outside the city. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed

⁶and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais; and we greeted the believers and stayed with them for one day.

⁸The next day we left and came to Caesarea; and we went into the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven, and stayed with him.

⁹He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.

¹⁰While we were staying there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹He came to us and took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”

¹²When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴Since he would not be persuaded, we remained silent except to say, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After these days we got ready and started to go up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came along and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly.

¹⁸The next day Paul went with us to visit James; and all the elders were present.

¹⁹After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law.

²¹They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs.

²²What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

²³So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow.

²⁴Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law.

²⁵But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.”

²⁶Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.

²⁷When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, who had seen him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd. They seized him,

²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place; more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰Then all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.

³¹While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

³²Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the tribune came, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; he inquired who he was and what he had done.

³⁴Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another; and as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.

³⁵When Paul came to the steps, the violence of the mob was so great that he had to be carried by the soldiers.

³⁶The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”

³⁷Just as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” The tribune replied, “Do you know Greek?

³⁸Then you are not the Egyptian who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city; I beg you, let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰When he had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people for silence; and when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying: