Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples,

²telling them, “Go into the village ahead of you. At once you will find a donkey tied there with her foal. Untie them and bring them to me.

³If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.”

⁴This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:

⁵Tell Daughter Zion, “See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

⁶The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them.

⁷They brought the donkey and its foal; then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them.

⁸A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road.

⁹Then the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!

¹⁰When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar, saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

¹²Jesus went into the temple and threw out all those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.

¹³He said to them, “It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves!”

¹⁴The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.

¹⁵When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that he did and the children shouting in the temple,” Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant

¹⁶and said to him, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” Jesus replied, “Yes, have you never read: You have prepared praise from the mouths of infants and nursing babies?”

¹⁷Then he left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

¹⁸Early in the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry.

¹⁹Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” At once the fig tree withered.

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

²¹Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.

²²And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

²³When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁵Did John’s baptism come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him? ’

²⁶But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we’re afraid of the crowd, because everyone considers John to be a prophet.”

²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁸“What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘My son, go work in the vineyard today.’

²⁹“He answered, ‘I don’t want to’ but later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he answered, but he didn’t go.

³¹Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.

³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him.

³³“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it to tenant farmers and went away.

³⁴When the time came to harvest fruit, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect his fruit.

³⁵The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.

³⁶Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group, and they did the same to them.

³⁷Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸“But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’

³⁹So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

⁴¹“He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is what the Lord has done and it is wonderful in our eyes?

⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit.

⁴⁴Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.”

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew he was speaking about them.

⁴⁶Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because the people regarded him as a prophet.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“Say to the Israelites: Any Israelite or alien residing in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death; the people of the country are to stone him.

³I will turn against that man and cut him off from his people, because he gave his offspring to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name.

⁴But if the people of the country look the other way when that man gives any of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death,

⁵then I will turn against that man and his family, and cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.

⁶“Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists and prostitutes himself with them, I will turn against that person and cut him off from his people.

⁷Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.

⁸Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sets you apart.

⁹“If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his death is his own fault.

¹⁰“If a man commits adultery with a married woman — if he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife — both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

¹¹If a man sleeps with his father’s wife, he has violated the intimacy that belongs to his father. Both of them must be put to death; their death is their own fault.

¹²If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have acted perversely; their death is their own fault.

¹³If a man sleeps with a man as with a woman, they have both committed a detestable act. They must be put to death; their death is their own fault.

¹⁴If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is depraved. Both he and they must be burned, so that there will be no depravity among you.

¹⁵If a man has sexual intercourse with an animal, he must be put to death; you are also to kill the animal.

¹⁶If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you are to kill the woman and the animal. They must be put to death; their death is their own fault.

¹⁷If a man marries his sister, whether his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be cut off publicly from their people. He has had sexual intercourse with his sister; he will bear his iniquity.

¹⁸If a man sleeps with a menstruating woman and has sexual intercourse with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them are to be cut off from their people.

¹⁹You must not have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for it is exposing one’s own blood relative; both people will bear their iniquity.

²⁰If a man sleeps with his aunt, he has violated the intimacy that belongs to his uncle; they will bear their guilt and die childless.

²¹If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has violated the intimacy that belongs to his brother; they will be childless.

²²“You are to keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.

²³You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them.

²⁴And I promised you: You will inherit their land, since I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God who set you apart from the peoples.

²⁵Therefore you are to distinguish the clean animal from the unclean one, and the unclean bird from the clean one. Do not become contaminated by any land animal, bird, or whatever crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.

²⁶You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be mine.

²⁷“A man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist must be put to death. They are to be stoned; their death is their own fault.”

¹Now about the collection for the saints: Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches.

²On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering, so that no collections will need to be made when I come.

³When I arrive, I will send with letters those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

⁴If it is suitable for me to go as well, they will travel with me.

⁵I will come to you after I pass through Macedonia  — for I will be traveling through Macedonia —

⁶and perhaps I will remain with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go.

⁷I don’t want to see you now just in passing, since I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows.

⁸But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,

⁹because a wide door for effective ministry has opened for me  — yet many oppose me.

¹⁰If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear while with you, because he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.

¹¹So let no one look down on him. Send him on his way in peace so that he can come to me, because I am expecting him with the brothers.

¹²Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. However, he will come when he has an opportunity.

¹³Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong.

¹⁴Do everything in love.

¹⁵Brothers and sisters, you know the household of Stephanas: They are the firstfruits of Achaia and have devoted themselves to serving the saints. I urge you

¹⁶also to submit to such people, and to everyone who works and labors with them.

¹⁷I am delighted to have Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus present, because these men have made up for your absence.

¹⁸For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore recognize such people.

¹⁹The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla send you greetings warmly in the Lord, along with the church that meets in their home.

²⁰All the brothers and sisters send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

²¹This greeting is in my own hand  — Paul.

²²If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse be on him. Our Lord, come!

²³The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

²⁴My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.

¹“Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus: Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands:

²I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.

³I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and have not grown weary.

⁴But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.

⁵Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

⁶Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

⁸“Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: Thus says the First and the Last, the one who was dead and came to life:

⁹I know your affliction and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

¹⁰Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will experience affliction for ten days. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

¹¹“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.

¹²“Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum: Thus says the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword:

¹³I know where you live — where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding on to my name and did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was put to death among you, where Satan lives.

¹⁴But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.

¹⁵In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

¹⁶So repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

¹⁷“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.

¹⁸“Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira: Thus says the Son of God, the one whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze:

¹⁹I know your works — your love, faithfulness, service, and endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first.

²⁰But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols.

²¹I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality.

²²Look, I will throw her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction. Unless they repent of her works,

²³I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

²⁴I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who haven’t known “the so-called secrets of Satan” — as they say — I am not putting any other burden on you.

²⁵Only hold on to what you have until I come.

²⁶The one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations —

²⁷ and he will rule them with an iron scepter; he will shatter them like pottery —

²⁸just as I have received this from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.

²⁹“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

¹Here is a tragedy I have observed under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity:

²God gives a person riches, wealth, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all he desires for himself, but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a sickening tragedy.

³A man may father a hundred children and live many years. No matter how long he lives, if he is not satisfied by good things and does not even have a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

⁴For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness.

⁵Though a stillborn child does not see the sun and is not conscious, it has more rest than he.

⁶And if a person lives a thousand years twice, but does not experience happiness, do not both go to the same place?

⁷All of a person’s labor is for his stomach, yet the appetite is never satisfied.

⁸What advantage then does the wise person have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others?

⁹Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁰Whatever exists was given its name long ago, and it is known what mankind is. But he is not able to contend with the one stronger than he.

¹¹For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for mankind?

¹²For who knows what is good for anyone in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell anyone what will happen after him under the sun?

¹A psalm of David. [1] This is the declaration of the LORD to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

²The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion. Rule over your surrounding enemies.

³Your people will volunteer on your day of battle. In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, the dew of your youth belongs to you.

⁴The LORD has sworn an oath and will not take it back: “You are a priest forever according to the pattern of Melchizedek.”

⁵The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his anger.

⁶He will judge the nations, heaping up corpses; he will crush leaders over the entire world.

⁷He will drink from the brook by the road; therefore, he will lift up his head.

¹Better a dry crust with peace than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and share an inheritance among brothers.

³A crucible for silver, and a smelter for gold, and the LORD is the tester of hearts.

⁴A wicked person listens to malicious talk; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

⁵The one who mocks the poor insults his Maker, and one who rejoices over calamity will not go unpunished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly, and the pride of children is their fathers.

⁷Eloquent words are not appropriate on a fool’s lips; how much worse are lies for a ruler.

⁸A bribe seems like a magic stone to its owner; wherever he turns, he succeeds.

⁹Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but whoever gossips about it separates friends.

¹⁰A rebuke cuts into a perceptive person more than a hundred lashes into a fool.

¹¹An evil person desires only rebellion; a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹²Better for a person to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his foolishness.

¹³If anyone returns evil for good, evil will never depart from his house.

¹⁴To start a conflict is to release a flood; stop the dispute before it breaks out.

¹⁵Acquitting the guilty and condemning the just  — both are detestable to the LORD.

¹⁶Why does a fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.

¹⁸One without sense enters an agreement and puts up security for his friend.

¹⁹One who loves to offend loves strife; one who builds a high threshold invites injury.

²⁰One with a twisted mind will not succeed, and one with deceitful speech will fall into ruin.

²¹A man fathers a fool to his own sorrow; the father of a fool has no joy.

²²A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

²³A wicked person secretly takes a bribe to subvert the course of justice.

²⁴Wisdom is the focus of the perceptive, but a fool’s eyes roam to the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son is grief to his father and bitterness to the one who bore him.

²⁶It is certainly not good to fine an innocent person or to beat a noble for his honesty.

²⁷The one who has knowledge restrains his words, and one who keeps a cool head is a person of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent — discerning, when he seals his lips.

¹Solomon began to build the temple for the LORD in the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of his reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month.

²The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high.

³The portico in front of the temple sanctuary was thirty feet long extending across the temple’s width, and fifteen feet deep in front of the temple.

⁴He also made windows with beveled frames for the temple.

⁵He then built a chambered structure along the temple wall, encircling the walls of the temple, that is, the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around.

⁶The lowest chamber was 7½ feet wide, the middle was 9 feet wide, and the third was 10½ feet wide. He also provided offset ledges for the temple all around the outside so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

⁷The temple’s construction used finished stones cut at the quarry so that no hammer, chisel, or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

⁸The door for the lowest side chamber was on the right side of the temple. They went up a stairway to the middle chamber, and from the middle to the third.

⁹When he finished building the temple, he paneled it with boards and planks of cedar.

¹⁰He built the chambers along the entire temple, joined to the temple with cedar beams; each story was 7½ feet high.

¹¹The word of the LORD came to Solomon:

¹²“As for this temple you are building — if you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep all my commands by walking in them, I will fulfill my promise to you, which I made to your father David.

¹³I will dwell among the Israelites and not abandon my people Israel.”

¹⁴When Solomon finished building the temple,

¹⁵he paneled the interior temple walls with cedar boards; from the temple floor to the surface of the ceiling he overlaid the interior with wood. He also overlaid the floor with cypress boards.

¹⁶Then he lined thirty feet of the rear of the temple with cedar boards from the floor to the surface of the ceiling, and he built the interior as an inner sanctuary, the most holy place.

¹⁷The temple, that is, the sanctuary in front of the most holy place, was sixty feet long.

¹⁸The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with ornamental gourds and flower blossoms. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen.

¹⁹He prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple to put the ark of the LORD’s covenant there.

²⁰The interior of the sanctuary was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high; he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the cedar altar.

²¹Next, Solomon overlaid the interior of the temple with pure gold, and he hung gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary and overlaid it with gold.

²²So he added the gold overlay to the entire temple until everything was completely finished, including the entire altar that belongs to the inner sanctuary.

²³In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim 15 feet high out of olive wood.

²⁴One wing of the first cherub was 7½ feet long, and the other wing was 7½ feet long. The wingspan was 15 feet from tip to tip.

²⁵The second cherub also was 15 feet; both cherubim had the same size and shape.

²⁶The first cherub’s height was 15 feet and so was the second cherub’s.

²⁷Then he put the cherubim inside the inner temple. Since their wings were spread out, the first one’s wing touched one wall while the second cherub’s wing touched the other wall, and in the middle of the temple their wings were touching wing to wing.

²⁸He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹He carved all the surrounding temple walls with carved engravings — cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms — in the inner and outer sanctuaries.

³⁰He overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and the outer sanctuaries.

³¹For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made olive wood doors. The pillars of the doorposts were five-sided.

³²The two doors were made of olive wood. He carved cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on them and overlaid them with gold, hammering gold over the cherubim and palm trees.

³³In the same way, he made four-sided olive wood doorposts for the sanctuary entrance.

³⁴The two doors were made of cypress wood; the first door had two folding sides, and the second door had two folding panels.

³⁵He carved cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on them and overlaid them with gold applied evenly over the carving.

³⁶He built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams.

³⁷The foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid in Solomon’s fourth year in the month of Ziv.

³⁸In his eleventh year in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the temple was completed in every detail and according to every specification. So he built it in seven years.

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt — at Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the land of Pathros:

²“This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster I brought against Jerusalem and all Judah’s cities. Look, they are a ruin today without an inhabitant in them

³because of the evil they committed to anger me, by going and burning incense to serve other gods that they, you, and your fathers did not know.

⁴So I sent you all my servants the prophets time and time again, saying, ‘Don’t commit this detestable action that I hate.’

⁵But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their evil or stop burning incense to other gods.

⁶So my fierce wrath poured out and burned in Judah’s cities and Jerusalem’s streets so that they became the desolate ruin they are today.

⁷“So now, this is what the LORD, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such terrible harm to yourselves? You are cutting off man and woman, infant and nursing baby from Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant.

⁸You are angering me by the work of your hands. You are burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to stay for a while. As a result, you will be cut off and become an example for cursing and insult among all the nations of earth.

⁹Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, the evils of Judah’s kings, the evils of their wives, your own evils, and the evils of your wives that were committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁰They have not become humble to this day, and they have not feared or followed my instruction or my statutes that I set before you and your ancestors.

¹¹“Therefore, this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to set my face against you to bring disaster, to cut off all Judah.

¹²And I will take away the remnant of Judah, those who have set their face to go to the land of Egypt to stay there. All of them will meet their end in the land of Egypt. They will fall by the sword; they will meet their end by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by the sword and by famine. Then they will become an example for cursing, scorn, execration, and disgrace.

¹³I will punish those living in the land of Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem by sword, famine, and plague.

¹⁴Then the remnant of Judah — those going to live for a while there in the land of Egypt — will have no fugitive or survivor to return to the land of Judah where they are longing to return to stay, for they will not return except for a few fugitives.”

¹⁵However, all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, all the women standing by — a great assembly — and all the people who were living in the land of Egypt at Pathros answered Jeremiah,

¹⁶“As for the word you spoke to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you!

¹⁷Instead, we will do everything we promised: we will burn incense to the queen of heaven and offer drink offerings to her just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in Judah’s cities and in Jerusalem’s streets. Then we had enough food, we were well off, and we saw no disaster,

¹⁸but from the time we ceased to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to offer her drink offerings, we have lacked everything, and through sword and famine we have met our end.”

¹⁹And the women said, “When we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it apart from our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

²⁰But Jeremiah responded to all the people — the men, women, and all the people who were answering him:

²¹“As for the incense you burned in Judah’s cities and in Jerusalem’s streets — you, your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land — did the LORD not remember them? He brought this to mind.

²²The LORD can no longer bear your evil deeds and the detestable acts you have committed, so your land has become a waste, a desolation, and an example for cursing, without inhabitant, as you see today.

²³Because you burned incense and sinned against the LORD and didn’t obey the LORD and didn’t follow his instruction, his statutes, and his testimonies, this disaster has come to you, as you see today.”

²⁴Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt.

²⁵This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘As for you and your wives, you women have spoken with your mouths, and you men fulfilled it by your deeds, saying, “We will keep our vows that we have made to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings for her.” Go ahead, confirm your vows! Keep your vows!’

²⁶“Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, all you Judeans who live in the land of Egypt: ‘I have sworn by my great name, says the LORD, that my name will never again be invoked by anyone of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord GOD lives.”

²⁷I am watching over them for disaster and not for good, and everyone from Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine until they are finished off.

²⁸Those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah only few in number, and the whole remnant of Judah, the ones going to the land of Egypt to stay there for a while, will know whose word stands, mine or theirs!

²⁹This will be a sign to you’ — this is the LORD’s declaration — ‘that I will punish you in this place, so you may know that my words of disaster concerning you will certainly come to pass.

³⁰This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand over Pharaoh Hophra, Egypt’s king, to his enemies, to those who intend to take his life, just as I handed over Judah’s King Zedekiah to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, who was his enemy, the one who intended to take his life.’”

¹Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:

²“I consider myself fortunate, that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,

³especially since you are very knowledgeable about all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.

⁵They have known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.

⁶And now I stand on trial because of the hope in what God promised to our ancestors,

⁷the promise our twelve tribes hope to reach as they earnestly serve him night and day. King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews because of this hope.

⁸Why do any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

⁹In fact, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I was in agreement against them.

¹¹In all the synagogues I often punished them and tried to make them blaspheme. Since I was terribly enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

¹²“I was traveling to Damascus under these circumstances with authority and a commission from the chief priests.

¹³King Agrippa, while on the road at midday, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me.

¹⁴We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵“I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “And the Lord replied: ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.

¹⁶But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.

¹⁷I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them

¹⁸to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁹“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

²⁰Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.

²¹For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and were trying to kill me.

²²To this very day, I have had help from God, and I stand and testify to both small and great, saying nothing other than what the prophets and Moses said would take place  —

²³that the Messiah must suffer, and that, as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴As he was saying these things in his defense, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You’re out of your mind, Paul! Too much study is driving you mad.”

²⁵But Paul replied, “I’m not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. On the contrary, I’m speaking words of truth and good judgment.

²⁶For the king knows about these matters, and I can speak boldly to him. For I am convinced that none of these things has escaped his notice, since this was not done in a corner.

²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you believe.”

²⁸Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you going to persuade me to become a Christian so easily?”

²⁹“I wish before God,” replied Paul, “that whether easily or with difficulty, not only you but all who listen to me today might become as I am — except for these chains.”

³⁰The king, the governor, Bernice, and those sitting with them got up,

³¹and when they had left they talked with each other and said, “This man is not doing anything to deserve death or imprisonment.”

³²Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”