Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.

²He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light.

³Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.

⁴Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good for us to be here. I will set up three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!”

⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown and were terrified.

⁷Jesus came up, touched them, and said, “Get up; don’t be afraid.”

⁸When they looked up they saw no one except Jesus alone.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

¹⁰So the disciples asked him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹“Elijah is coming and will restore everything,” he replied.

¹²“But I tell you: Elijah has already come, and they didn’t recognize him. On the contrary, they did whatever they pleased to him. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

¹³Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

¹⁴When they reached the crowd, a man approached and knelt down before him.

¹⁵“Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water.

¹⁶I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”

¹⁷Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.”

¹⁸Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed.

¹⁹Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰“Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

²¹

²²As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.

²³They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up.” And they were deeply distressed.

²⁴When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

²⁵“Yes,” he said. When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers?”

²⁶“From strangers,” he said. “Then the sons are free,” Jesus told him.

²⁷“But, so we won’t offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you.”

¹The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence of the LORD and died.

²The LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place behind the curtain in front of the mercy seat on the ark or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

³“Aaron is to enter the most holy place in this way: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

⁴He is to wear a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments are to be on his body. He is to tie a linen sash around him and wrap his head with a linen turban. These are holy garments; he must bathe his body with water before he wears them.

⁵He is to take from the Israelite community two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

⁶“Aaron will present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household.

⁷Next he will take the two goats and place them before the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

⁸After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other for an uninhabitable place,

⁹he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and sacrifice it as a sin offering.

¹⁰But the goat chosen by lot for an uninhabitable place is to be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement with it by sending it into the wilderness for an uninhabitable place.

¹¹“When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he will slaughter the bull for his sin offering.

¹²Then he is to take a firepan full of blazing coals from the altar before the LORD and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring them inside the curtain.

¹³He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, so that the cloud of incense covers the mercy seat that is over the testimony, or else he will die.

¹⁴He is to take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger against the east side of the mercy seat; then he will sprinkle some of the blood with his finger before the mercy seat seven times.

¹⁵“When he slaughters the male goat for the people’s sin offering and brings its blood inside the curtain, he will do the same with its blood as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it.

¹⁶He will make atonement for the most holy place in this way for all their sins because of the Israelites’ impurities and rebellious acts. He will do the same for the tent of meeting that remains among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities.

¹⁷No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the most holy place until he leaves after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel.

¹⁸Then he will go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on the horns on all sides of the altar.

¹⁹He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse and set it apart from the Israelites’ impurities.

²⁰“When he has finished making atonement for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live male goat.

²¹Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the Israelites’ iniquities and rebellious acts — all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the man appointed for the task.

²²The goat will carry all their iniquities into a desolate land, and the man will release it there.

²³“Then Aaron is to enter the tent of meeting, take off the linen garments he wore when he entered the most holy place, and leave them there.

²⁴He will bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes. Then he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering; he will make atonement for himself and for the people.

²⁵He is to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶The man who released the goat for an uninhabitable place is to wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.

²⁷The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the most holy place to make atonement, must be brought outside the camp and their hide, flesh, and waste burned.

²⁸The one who burns them is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.

²⁹“This is to be a permanent statute for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month you are to practice self-denial and do no work, both the native and the alien who resides among you.

³⁰Atonement will be made for you on this day to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

³¹It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must practice self-denial; it is a permanent statute.

³²The priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as high priest in place of his father will make atonement. He will put on the linen garments, the holy garments,

³³and make atonement for the most holy place. He will make atonement for the tent of meeting and the altar and will make atonement for the priests and all the people of the assembly.

³⁴This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement for the Israelites once a year because of all their sins.” And all this was done as the LORD commanded Moses.

¹Now concerning spiritual gifts: brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be unaware.

²You know that when you were pagans, you used to be enticed and led astray by mute idols.

³Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit.

⁵There are different ministries, but the same Lord.

⁶And there are different activities, but the same God produces each gift in each person.

⁷A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good:

⁸to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit,

⁹to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

¹⁰to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues.

¹¹One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.

¹²For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body — so also is Christ.

¹³For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

¹⁴Indeed, the body is not one part but many.

¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.

¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.

¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

¹⁸But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted.

¹⁹And if they were all the same part, where would the body be?

²⁰As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”

²²On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable.

²³And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect,

²⁴which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable,

²⁵so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.

²⁶So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.

²⁸And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, various kinds of tongues.

²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles?

³⁰Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in other tongues? Do all interpret?

³¹But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.

¹The elder: To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth — and not only I, but also all who know the truth  —

²because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever.

³Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

⁴I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father.

⁵So now I ask you, dear lady — not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning — that we love one another.

⁶This is love: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in love.

⁷Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

⁸Watch yourselves so you don’t lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.

⁹Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.

¹⁰If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home, and don’t greet him;

¹¹for the one who greets him shares in his evil works.

¹²Though I have many things to write to you, I don’t want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete.

¹³The children of your elect sister send you greetings.

¹I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.

²I said about laughter, “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”

³I explored with my mind the pull of wine on my body — my mind still guiding me with wisdom — and how to grasp folly, until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

⁴I increased my achievements. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

⁵I made gardens and parks for myself and planted every kind of fruit tree in them.

⁶I constructed reservoirs for myself from which to irrigate a grove of flourishing trees.

⁷I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned livestock — large herds and flocks — more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.

⁸I also amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered male and female singers for myself, and many concubines, the delights of men.

⁹So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom also remained with me.

¹⁰All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles.

¹¹When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

¹²Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the king’s successor be like? He will do what has already been done.

¹³And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.

¹⁴The wise person has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both.

¹⁵So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise?” And I said to myself that this is also futile.

¹⁶For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise person dies just like the fool?

¹⁷Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁸I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun because I must leave it to the one who comes after me.

¹⁹And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

²⁰So I began to give myself over to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun.

²¹When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong.

²²For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?

²³For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

²⁴There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,

²⁵because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from him?

²⁶For to the person who is pleasing in his sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹Hallelujah! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.

²Who can declare the LORD’s mighty acts or proclaim all the praise due him?

³How happy are those who uphold justice, who practice righteousness at all times.

⁴Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people. Come to me with your salvation

⁵so that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, rejoice in the joy of your nation, and boast about your heritage.

⁶Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have done wrong and have acted wickedly.

⁷Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp the significance of your wondrous works or remember your many acts of faithful love; instead, they rebelled by the sea — the Red Sea.

⁸Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his power known.

⁹He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert.

¹⁰He saved them from the power of the adversary; he redeemed them from the power of the enemy.

¹¹Water covered their foes; not one of them remained.

¹²Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.

¹³They soon forgot his works and would not wait for his counsel.

¹⁴They were seized with craving in the wilderness and tested God in the desert.

¹⁵He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them.

¹⁶In the camp they were envious of Moses and of Aaron, the LORD’s holy one.

¹⁷The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it covered the assembly of Abiram.

¹⁸Fire blazed throughout their assembly; flames consumed the wicked.

¹⁹At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped the cast metal image.

²⁰They exchanged their glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.

²¹They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt,

²²wondrous works in the land of Ham, awe-inspiring acts at the Red Sea.

²³So he said he would have destroyed them — if Moses his chosen one had not stood before him in the breach to turn his wrath away from destroying them.

²⁴They despised the pleasant land and did not believe his promise.

²⁵They grumbled in their tents and did not listen to the LORD.

²⁶So he raised his hand against them with an oath that he would make them fall in the desert

²⁷and would disperse their descendants among the nations, scattering them throughout the lands.

²⁸They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.

²⁹They angered the LORD with their deeds, and a plague broke out against them.

³⁰But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stopped.

³¹It was credited to him as righteousness throughout all generations to come.

³²They angered the LORD at the Waters of Meribah, and Moses suffered because of them;

³³for they embittered his spirit, and he spoke rashly with his lips.

³⁴They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them

³⁵but mingled with the nations and adopted their ways.

³⁶They served their idols, which became a snare to them.

³⁷They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.

³⁸They shed innocent blood — the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; so the land became polluted with blood.

³⁹They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.

⁴⁰Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own inheritance.

⁴¹He handed them over to the nations; those who hated them ruled over them.

⁴²Their enemies oppressed them, and they were subdued under their power.

⁴³He rescued them many times, but they continued to rebel deliberately and were beaten down by their iniquity.

⁴⁴When he heard their cry, he took note of their distress,

⁴⁵remembered his covenant with them, and relented according to the abundance of his faithful love.

⁴⁶He caused them to be pitied before all their captors.

⁴⁷Save us, LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, so that we may give thanks to your holy name and rejoice in your praise.

⁴⁸Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Hallelujah!

¹A wise son responds to his father’s discipline, but a mocker doesn’t listen to rebuke.

²From the fruit of his mouth, a person will enjoy good things, but treacherous people have an appetite for violence.

³The one who guards his mouth protects his life; the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.

⁴The slacker craves, yet has nothing, but the diligent is fully satisfied.

⁵The righteous hate lying, but the wicked bring disgust and shame.

⁶Righteousness guards people of integrity, but wickedness undermines the sinner.

⁷One person pretends to be rich but has nothing; another pretends to be poor but has abundant wealth.

⁸Riches are a ransom for a person’s life, but a poor person hears no threat.

⁹The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is put out.

¹⁰Arrogance leads to nothing but strife, but wisdom is gained by those who take advice.

¹¹Wealth obtained by fraud will dwindle, but whoever earns it through labor will multiply it.

¹²Hope delayed makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³The one who has contempt for instruction will pay the penalty, but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.

¹⁴A wise person’s instruction is a fountain of life, turning people away from the snares of death.

¹⁵Good sense wins favor, but the way of the treacherous never changes.

¹⁶Every sensible person acts knowledgeably, but a fool displays his stupidity.

¹⁷A wicked envoy falls into trouble, but a trustworthy courier brings healing.

¹⁸Poverty and disgrace come to those who ignore discipline, but the one who accepts correction will be honored.

¹⁹Desire fulfilled is sweet to the taste, but to turn from evil is detestable to fools.

²⁰The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm.

²¹Disaster pursues sinners, but good rewards the righteous.

²²A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

²³The uncultivated field of the poor yields abundant food, but without justice, it is swept away.

²⁴The one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently.

²⁵A righteous person eats until he is satisfied, but the stomach of the wicked is empty.

¹As the time approached for David to die, he ordered his son Solomon,

²“As for me, I am going the way of all of the earth. Be strong and be a man,

³and keep your obligation to the LORD your God to walk in his ways and to keep his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees. This is written in the law of Moses, so that you will have success in everything you do and wherever you turn,

⁴and so that the LORD will fulfill his promise that he made to me: ‘If your sons guard their way to walk faithfully before me with all their heart and all their soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁵“You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s army, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He murdered them in a time of peace to avenge blood shed in war. He spilled that blood on his own waistband and on the sandals of his feet.

⁶Act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head descend to Sheol in peace.

⁷“Show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite and let them be among those who eat at your table because they supported me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

⁸“Keep an eye on Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim who is with you. He uttered malicious curses against me the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, and I swore to him by the LORD: ‘I will never kill you with the sword.’

⁹So don’t let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man. You know how to deal with him to bring his gray head down to Sheol with blood.”

¹⁰Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.

¹¹The length of time David reigned over Israel was forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

¹²Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingship was firmly established.

¹³Now Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She asked, “Do you come peacefully?” “Peacefully,” he replied,

¹⁴and then asked, “May I talk with you?” “Go ahead,” she answered.

¹⁵“You know the kingship was mine,” he said. “All Israel expected me to be king, but then the kingship was turned over to my brother, for the LORD gave it to him.

¹⁶So now I have just one request of you; don’t turn me down.” She said to him, “Go on.”

¹⁷He replied, “Please speak to King Solomon since he won’t turn you down. Let him give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.”

¹⁸“Very well,” Bathsheba replied. “I will speak to the king for you.”

¹⁹So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, sat down on his throne, and had a throne placed for the king’s mother. So she sat down at his right hand.

²⁰Then she said, “I have just one small request of you. Don’t turn me down.” “Go ahead and ask, mother,” the king replied, “for I won’t turn you down.”

²¹So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.”

²²King Solomon answered his mother, “Why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my elder brother, you might as well ask the kingship for him, for the priest Abiathar, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.”

²³Then King Solomon took an oath by the LORD: “May God punish me and do so severely if Adonijah has not made this request at the cost of his life.

²⁴And now, as the LORD lives — the one who established me, seated me on the throne of my father David, and made me a dynasty as he promised  — I swear Adonijah will be put to death today!”

²⁵Then King Solomon dispatched Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck down Adonijah, and he died.

²⁶The king said to the priest Abiathar, “Go to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death today, since you carried the ark of the Lord GOD in the presence of my father David and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”

²⁷So Solomon banished Abiathar from being the LORD’s priest, and it fulfilled the LORD’s prophecy he had spoken at Shiloh against Eli’s family.

²⁸The news reached Joab. Since he had supported Adonijah but not Absalom, Joab fled to the LORD’s tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar.

²⁹It was reported to King Solomon: “Joab has fled to the LORD’s tabernacle and is now beside the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada and told him, “Go and strike him down!”

³⁰So Benaiah went to the tabernacle and said to Joab, “This is what the king says: ‘Come out!’” But Joab said, “No, for I will die here.” So Benaiah took a message back to the king, “This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me.”

³¹The king said to him, “Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him in order to remove from me and from my father’s family the blood that Joab shed without just cause.

³²The LORD will bring back his own blood on his head because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, without my father David’s knowledge. With his sword, Joab murdered Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.

³³The responsibility for their deaths will come back to Joab and to his descendants forever, but for David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne, there will be peace from the LORD forever.”

³⁴Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and put him to death. He was buried at his house in the wilderness.

³⁵Then the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and he appointed the priest Zadok in Abiathar’s place.

³⁶Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but don’t leave there and go anywhere else.

³⁷On the day you do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die. Your blood will be on your own head.”

³⁸Shimei said to the king, “The sentence is fair; your servant will do as my lord the king has spoken.” And Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.

³⁹But then, at the end of three years, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei was informed, “Look, your slaves are in Gath.”

⁴⁰So Shimei saddled his donkey and set out to Achish at Gath to search for his slaves. He went and brought them back from Gath.

⁴¹It was reported to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned.

⁴²So the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Didn’t I make you swear by the LORD and warn you, saying, ‘On the day you leave and go anywhere else, know for sure that you will certainly die’? And you said to me, ‘The sentence is fair; I will obey.’

⁴³So why have you not kept the LORD’s oath and the command that I gave you?”

⁴⁴The king also said, “You yourself know all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore, the LORD has brought back your evil on your head,

⁴⁵but King Solomon will be blessed, and David’s throne will remain established before the LORD forever.”

⁴⁶Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. So the kingdom was established in Solomon’s hand.

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan, captain of the guards, released him at Ramah. When he found him, he was bound in chains with all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.

²The captain of the guards took Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God decreed this disaster on this place,

³and the LORD has fulfilled it. He has done just what he decreed. Because you people have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him, this thing has happened.

⁴Now pay attention: Today I am setting you free from the chains that were on your hands. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look — the whole land is in front of you. Wherever it seems good and right for you to go, go there.”

⁵When Jeremiah had not yet turned to go, Nebuzaradan said to him, “Return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people or go wherever it seems right for you to go.” So the captain of the guards gave him a ration and a gift and released him.

⁶Jeremiah therefore went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and he stayed with him among the people who remained in the land.

⁷All the commanders of the armies that were in the countryside — they and their men — heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land. He had been put in charge of the men, women, and children from among the poorest of the land, who had not been deported to Babylon.

⁸So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The commanders included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maacathite — they and their men.

⁹Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.

¹⁰As for me, I am going to live in Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil, place them in your storage jars, and live in the cities you have captured.”

¹¹When all the Judeans in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom and in all the other lands also heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over them,

¹²they all returned from all the places where they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and harvested a great amount of wine and summer fruit.

¹³Meanwhile, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies in the countryside came to Gedaliah at Mizpah

¹⁴and warned him, “Don’t you realize that Baalis, king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them.

¹⁵Then Johanan son of Kareah suggested to Gedaliah in private at Mizpah, “Let me go kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will know it. Why should he kill you and allow all of Judah that has gathered around you to scatter and the remnant of Judah to perish?”

¹⁶But Gedaliah son of Ahikam responded to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do that! What you’re saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

¹“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”

²When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.

³He continued, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

⁴I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail,

⁵as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to arrest those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶“As I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.

⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸“I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.’

⁹Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

¹⁰“I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.’

¹¹“Since I couldn’t see because of the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus.

¹²Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, who had a good reputation with all the Jews living there,

¹³came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And in that very hour I looked up and saw him.

¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the words from his mouth,

¹⁵since you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

¹⁷“After I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance

¹⁸and saw him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹“But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in you imprisoned and beaten.

²⁰And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood there giving approval and guarding the clothes of those who killed him.’

²¹“He said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’  ”

²²They listened to him up to this point. Then they raised their voices, shouting, “Wipe this man off the face of the earth! He should not be allowed to live!”

²³As they were yelling and flinging aside their garments and throwing dust into the air,

²⁴the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be interrogated with the scourge to discover the reason they were shouting against him like this.

²⁵As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he said.

²⁸The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul said.

²⁹So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.

³⁰The next day, since he wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and instructed the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to convene. He brought Paul down and placed him before them.