Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone.

²As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.

³Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus.

⁴Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials — one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.”

⁶The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground.

⁷Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”

⁸And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus.

⁹As they went back down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

¹⁰Then his disciples asked him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes? ”

¹¹Jesus replied, “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready.

¹²But I tell you, Elijah has already come, but he wasn’t recognized, and they chose to abuse him. And in the same way they will also make the Son of Man suffer.”

¹³Then the disciples realized he was talking about John the Baptist.

¹⁴At the foot of the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said,

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

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

¹⁷Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”

¹⁸Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.

¹⁹Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?”

²⁰“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. ”

²¹

²²After they gathered again in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies.

²³He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

²⁴On their arrival in Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?”

²⁵“Yes, he does,” Peter replied. Then he went into the house. But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered? ”

²⁶“They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied. “Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free!

²⁷However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”

¹The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the LORD’s presence and burned the wrong kind of fire before him.

²The LORD said to Moses, “Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover — the place of atonement — is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.

³“When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

⁴He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on.

⁵Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

⁶“Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the LORD.

⁷Then he must take the two male goats and present them to the LORD at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

⁸He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the LORD and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel.

⁹Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the LORD.

¹⁰The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the LORD. When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the LORD.

¹¹“Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the LORD. After he has slaughtered the bull as a sin offering,

¹²he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the LORD. Then he will take two handfuls of fragrant powdered incense and will carry the burner and the incense behind the inner curtain.

¹³There in the LORD’s presence he will put the incense on the burning coals so that a cloud of incense will rise over the Ark’s cover — the place of atonement — that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. If he follows these instructions, he will not die.

¹⁴Then he must take some of the blood of the bull, dip his finger in it, and sprinkle it on the east side of the atonement cover. He must sprinkle blood seven times with his finger in front of the atonement cover.

¹⁵“Then Aaron must slaughter the first goat as a sin offering for the people and carry its blood behind the inner curtain. There he will sprinkle the goat’s blood over the atonement cover and in front of it, just as he did with the bull’s blood.

¹⁶Through this process, he will purify the Most Holy Place, and he will do the same for the entire Tabernacle, because of the defiling sin and rebellion of the Israelites.

¹⁷No one else is allowed inside the Tabernacle when Aaron enters it for the purification ceremony in the Most Holy Place. No one may enter until he comes out again after purifying himself, his family, and all the congregation of Israel, making them right with the LORD.

¹⁸“Then Aaron will come out to purify the altar that stands before the LORD. He will do this by taking some of the blood from the bull and the goat and putting it on each of the horns of the altar.

¹⁹Then he must sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times over the altar. In this way, he will cleanse it from Israel’s defilement and make it holy.

²⁰“When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat.

²¹He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness.

²²As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.

²³“When Aaron goes back into the Tabernacle, he must take off the linen garments he was wearing when he entered the Most Holy Place, and he must leave the garments there.

²⁴Then he must bathe himself with water in a sacred place, put on his regular garments, and go out to sacrifice a burnt offering for himself and a burnt offering for the people. Through this process, he will purify himself and the people, making them right with the LORD.

²⁵He must then burn all the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶“The man chosen to drive the scapegoat into the wilderness of Azazel must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. Then he may return to the camp.

²⁷“The bull and the goat presented as sin offerings, whose blood Aaron takes into the Most Holy Place for the purification ceremony, will be carried outside the camp. The animals’ hides, internal organs, and dung are all to be burned.

²⁸The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water before returning to the camp.

²⁹“On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn, you must deny yourselves. Neither native-born Israelites nor foreigners living among you may do any kind of work. This is a permanent law for you.

³⁰On that day offerings of purification will be made for you, and you will be purified in the LORD’s presence from all your sins.

³¹It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you.

³²In future generations, the purification ceremony will be performed by the priest who has been anointed and ordained to serve as high priest in place of his ancestor Aaron. He will put on the holy linen garments

³³and purify the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the entire congregation.

³⁴This is a permanent law for you, to purify the people of Israel from their sins, making them right with the LORD once each year.” Moses followed all these instructions exactly as the LORD had commanded him.

¹Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this.

²You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols.

³So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.

⁵There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.

⁶God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

⁷A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

⁸To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice ; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.

⁹The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.

¹⁰He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.

¹¹It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

¹²The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.

¹³Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

¹⁴Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.

¹⁵If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body.

¹⁶And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body?

¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

¹⁸But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.

¹⁹How strange a body would be if it had only one part!

²⁰Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.

²¹The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

²²In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.

²³And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen,

²⁴while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity.

²⁵This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.

²⁶If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

²⁷All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

²⁸Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages.

²⁹Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles?

³⁰Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not!

³¹So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

¹This letter is from John, the elder. I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in the truth — as does everyone else who knows the truth —

²because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.

³Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ — the Son of the Father — will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.

⁴How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded.

⁵I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning.

⁶Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

⁷I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist.

⁸Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward.

⁹Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

¹⁰If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement.

¹¹Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.

¹²I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to do it with paper and ink. For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.

¹³Greetings from the children of your sister, chosen by God.

¹I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.

²So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?”

³After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.

⁴I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards.

⁵I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees.

⁶I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves.

⁷I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me.

⁸I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!

⁹So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me.

¹⁰Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors.

¹¹But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless — like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.

¹²So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and madness (for who can do this better than I, the king? ).

¹³I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.

¹⁴For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate.

¹⁵Both will die. So I said to myself, “Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!”

¹⁶For the wise and the foolish both die. The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will be forgotten.

¹⁷So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless — like chasing the wind.

¹⁸I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned.

¹⁹And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless!

²⁰So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.

²¹Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy.

²²So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?

²³Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.

²⁴So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.

²⁵For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?

²⁶God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless — like chasing the wind.

¹Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

²Who can list the glorious miracles of the LORD? Who can ever praise him enough?

³There is joy for those who deal justly with others and always do what is right.

⁴Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people; come near and rescue me.

⁵Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones. Let me rejoice in the joy of your people; let me praise you with those who are your heritage.

⁶Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!

⁷Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the LORD’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.

⁸Even so, he saved them — to defend the honor of his name and to demonstrate his mighty power.

⁹He commanded the Red Sea to dry up. He led Israel across the sea as if it were a desert.

¹⁰So he rescued them from their enemies and redeemed them from their foes.

¹¹Then the water returned and covered their enemies; not one of them survived.

¹²Then his people believed his promises. Then they sang his praise.

¹³Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done! They wouldn’t wait for his counsel!

¹⁴In the wilderness their desires ran wild, testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland.

¹⁵So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it.

¹⁶The people in the camp were jealous of Moses and envious of Aaron, the LORD’s holy priest.

¹⁷Because of this, the earth opened up; it swallowed Dathan and buried Abiram and the other rebels.

¹⁸Fire fell upon their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.

¹⁹The people made a calf at Mount Sinai ; they bowed before an image made of gold.

²⁰They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull.

²¹They forgot God, their savior, who had done such great things in Egypt —

²²such wonderful things in the land of Ham, such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.

²³So he declared he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the LORD and the people. He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.

²⁴The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.

²⁵Instead, they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the LORD.

²⁶Therefore, he solemnly swore that he would kill them in the wilderness,

²⁷that he would scatter their descendants among the nations, exiling them to distant lands.

²⁸Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor; they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!

²⁹They angered the LORD with all these things, so a plague broke out among them.

³⁰But Phinehas had the courage to intervene, and the plague was stopped.

³¹So he has been regarded as a righteous man ever since that time.

³²At Meribah, too, they angered the LORD, causing Moses serious trouble.

³³They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.

³⁴Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the LORD had commanded them.

³⁵Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.

³⁶They worshiped their idols, which led to their downfall.

³⁷They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons.

³⁸They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder.

³⁹They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the LORD’s sight.

⁴⁰That is why the LORD’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession.

⁴¹He handed them over to pagan nations, and they were ruled by those who hated them.

⁴²Their enemies crushed them and brought them under their cruel power.

⁴³Again and again he rescued them, but they chose to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin.

⁴⁴Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries.

⁴⁵He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love.

⁴⁶He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness.

⁴⁷Save us, O LORD our God! Gather us back from among the nations, so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you.

⁴⁸Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD!

¹A wise child accepts a parent’s discipline; a mocker refuses to listen to correction.

²Wise words will win you a good meal, but treacherous people have an appetite for violence.

³Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.

⁴Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.

⁵The godly hate lies; the wicked cause shame and disgrace.

⁶Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin.

⁷Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor.

⁸The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened.

⁹The life of the godly is full of light and joy, but the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.

¹⁰Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.

¹¹Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed.

¹⁴The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death.

¹⁵A person with good sense is respected; a treacherous person is headed for destruction.

¹⁶Wise people think before they act; fools don’t — and even brag about their foolishness.

¹⁷An unreliable messenger stumbles into trouble, but a reliable messenger brings healing.

¹⁸If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored.

¹⁹It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them.

²⁰Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

²¹Trouble chases sinners, while blessings reward the righteous.

²²Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly.

²³A poor person’s farm may produce much food, but injustice sweeps it all away.

²⁴Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.

²⁵The godly eat to their hearts’ content, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.

¹As the time of King David’s death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon:

²“I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man.

³Observe the requirements of the LORD your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go.

⁴If you do this, then the LORD will keep the promise he made to me. He told me, ‘If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’

⁵“And there is something else. You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me when he murdered my two army commanders, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He pretended that it was an act of war, but it was done in a time of peace, staining his belt and sandals with innocent blood.

⁶Do with him what you think best, but don’t let him grow old and go to his grave in peace.

⁷“Be kind to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead. Make them permanent guests at your table, for they took care of me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

⁸“And remember Shimei son of Gera, the man from Bahurim in Benjamin. He cursed me with a terrible curse as I was fleeing to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, I swore by the LORD that I would not kill him.

⁹But that oath does not make him innocent. You are a wise man, and you will know how to arrange a bloody death for him. ”

¹⁰Then David died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.

¹¹David had reigned over Israel for forty years, seven of them in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.

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

¹³One day Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, came to see Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. “Have you come with peaceful intentions?” she asked him. “Yes,” he said, “I come in peace.

¹⁴In fact, I have a favor to ask of you.” “What is it?” she asked.

¹⁵He replied, “As you know, the kingdom was rightfully mine; all Israel wanted me to be the next king. But the tables were turned, and the kingdom went to my brother instead; for that is the way the LORD wanted it.

¹⁶So now I have just one favor to ask of you. Please don’t turn me down.” “What is it?” she asked.

¹⁷He replied, “Speak to King Solomon on my behalf, for I know he will do anything you request. Ask him to let me marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem.”

¹⁸“All right,” Bathsheba replied. “I will speak to the king for you.”

¹⁹So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak on Adonijah’s behalf. The king rose from his throne to meet her, and he bowed down before her. When he sat down on his throne again, the king ordered that a throne be brought for his mother, and she sat at his right hand.

²⁰“I have one small request to make of you,” she said. “I hope you won’t turn me down.” “What is it, my mother?” he asked. “You know I won’t refuse you.”

²¹“Then let your brother Adonijah marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem,” she replied.

²²“How can you possibly ask me to give Abishag to Adonijah?” King Solomon demanded. “You might as well ask me to give him the kingdom! You know that he is my older brother, and that he has Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah on his side.”

²³Then King Solomon made a vow before the LORD: “May God strike me and even kill me if Adonijah has not sealed his fate with this request.

²⁴The LORD has confirmed me and placed me on the throne of my father, David; he has established my dynasty as he promised. So as surely as the LORD lives, Adonijah will die this very day!”

²⁵So King Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada to execute him, and Adonijah was put to death.

²⁶Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your home in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not kill you now, because you carried the Ark of the Sovereign LORD for David my father and you shared all his hardships.”

²⁷So Solomon deposed Abiathar from his position as priest of the LORD, thereby fulfilling the prophecy the LORD had given at Shiloh concerning the descendants of Eli.

²⁸Joab had not joined Absalom’s earlier rebellion, but he had joined Adonijah’s rebellion. So when Joab heard about Adonijah’s death, he ran to the sacred tent of the LORD and grabbed on to the horns of the altar.

²⁹When this was reported to King Solomon, he sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada to execute him.

³⁰Benaiah went to the sacred tent of the LORD and said to Joab, “The king orders you to come out!” But Joab answered, “No, I will die here.” So Benaiah returned to the king and told him what Joab had said.

³¹“Do as he said,” the king replied. “Kill him there beside the altar and bury him. This will remove the guilt of Joab’s senseless murders from me and from my father’s family.

³²The LORD will repay him for the murders of two men who were more righteous and better than he. For my father knew nothing about the deaths of Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and of Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.

³³May their blood be on Joab and his descendants forever, and may the LORD grant peace forever to David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne.”

³⁴So Benaiah son of Jehoiada returned to the sacred tent and killed Joab, and he was buried at his home in the wilderness.

³⁵Then the king appointed Benaiah to command the army in place of Joab, and he installed Zadok the priest to take the place of Abiathar.

³⁶The king then sent for Shimei and told him, “Build a house here in Jerusalem and live there. But don’t step outside the city to go anywhere else.

³⁷On the day you so much as cross the Kidron Valley, you will surely die; and your blood will be on your own head.”

³⁸Shimei replied, “Your sentence is fair; I will do whatever my lord the king commands.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.

³⁹But three years later two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. When Shimei learned where they were,

⁴⁰he saddled his donkey and went to Gath to search for them. When he found them, he brought them back to Jerusalem.

⁴¹Solomon heard that Shimei had left Jerusalem and had gone to Gath and returned.

⁴²So the king sent for Shimei and demanded, “Didn’t I make you swear by the LORD and warn you not to go anywhere else or you would surely die? And you replied, ‘The sentence is fair; I will do as you say.’

⁴³Then why haven’t you kept your oath to the LORD and obeyed my command?”

⁴⁴The king also said to Shimei, “You certainly remember all the wicked things you did to my father, David. May the LORD now bring that evil on your own head.

⁴⁵But may I, King Solomon, receive the LORD’s blessings, and may one of David’s descendants always sit on this throne in the presence of the LORD.”

⁴⁶Then, at the king’s command, Benaiah son of Jehoiada took Shimei outside and killed him. So the kingdom was now firmly in Solomon’s grip.

¹The LORD gave a message to Jeremiah after Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the other captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being sent to exile in Babylon.

²The captain of the guard called for Jeremiah and said, “The LORD your God has brought this disaster on this land,

³just as he said he would. For these people have sinned against the LORD and disobeyed him. That is why it happened.

⁴But I am going to take off your chains and let you go. If you want to come with me to Babylon, you are welcome. I will see that you are well cared for. But if you don’t want to come, you may stay here. The whole land is before you — go wherever you like.

⁵If you decide to stay, then return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. He has been appointed governor of Judah by the king of Babylon. Stay there with the people he rules. But it’s up to you; go wherever you like.” Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, gave Jeremiah some food and money and let him go.

⁶So Jeremiah returned to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and he lived in Judah with the few who were still left in the land.

⁷The leaders of the Judean military groups in the countryside heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the poor people who were left behind in Judah — the men, women, and children who hadn’t been exiled to Babylon.

⁸So they went to see Gedaliah at Mizpah. These included: Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, Jezaniah son of the Maacathite, and all their men.

⁹Gedaliah vowed to them that the Babylonians meant them no harm. “Don’t be afraid to serve them. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well for you,” he promised.

¹⁰“As for me, I will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to meet with us. Settle in the towns you have taken, and live off the land. Harvest the grapes and summer fruits and olives, and store them away.”

¹¹When the Judeans in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and the other nearby countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a few people in Judah and that Gedaliah was the governor,

¹²they began to return to Judah from the places to which they had fled. They stopped at Mizpah to meet with Gedaliah and then went into the Judean countryside to gather a great harvest of grapes and other crops.

¹³Soon after this, Johanan son of Kareah and the other military leaders came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.

¹⁴They said to him, “Did you know that Baalis, king of Ammon, has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to assassinate you?” But Gedaliah refused to believe them.

¹⁵Later Johanan had a private conference with Gedaliah and volunteered to kill Ishmael secretly. “Why should we let him come and murder you?” Johanan asked. “What will happen then to the Judeans who have returned? Why should the few of us who are still left be scattered and lost?”

¹⁶But Gedaliah said to Johanan, “I forbid you to do any such thing, for you are lying about Ishmael.”

¹“Brothers and esteemed fathers,” Paul said, “listen to me as I offer my defense.”

²When they heard him speaking in their own language, the silence was even greater.

³Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today.

⁴And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison.

⁵The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the followers of the Way from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.

⁶“As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me.

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

⁸“‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.’

⁹The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me.

¹⁰“I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.’

¹¹“I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions.

¹²A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus.

¹³He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him!

¹⁴“Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak.

¹⁵For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’

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

¹⁸I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹“‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.

²⁰And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.’

²¹“But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”

²²The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!”

²³They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air.

²⁴The commander brought Paul inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious.

²⁵When they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?”

²⁶When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied.

²⁸“I am, too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!” Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!”

²⁹The soldiers who were about to interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped.

³⁰The next day the commander ordered the leading priests into session with the Jewish high council. He wanted to find out what the trouble was all about, so he released Paul to have him stand before them.