Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,

²“The kingdom of heavenis likea king whoheld a wedding feast for his son.

³And he sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.

⁴Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!” ’

⁵But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his ownfarm, another to his business,

⁶and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them.

⁷Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

⁸Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

⁹So go to the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’

¹⁰Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled withdinner guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,

¹²and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.

¹³Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’

¹⁴For many arecalled, but few are chosen.”

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said.

¹⁶And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and do not care what anyone thinks; for You are not partial to anyone.

¹⁷Tell us then, what do You think? Is it permissible to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?

¹⁹Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius.

²⁰And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

²¹They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”

²²And hearing this, they were amazed; and they left Him and went away.

²³On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him,

²⁴saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’

²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us; and the first married and died, and having no children, he left his wife to his brother.

²⁶It was the same also with the second brother, and the third, down to the seventh.

²⁷Last of all, the woman died.

²⁸In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her in marriage.”

²⁹But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, since you do notunderstand the Scriptures nor the power of God.

³⁰For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

³¹But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God:

³²‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

³³When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

³⁴But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

³⁵And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him:

³⁶“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

³⁷And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

³⁸This is the great andforemost commandment.

³⁹The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

⁴⁰Upon these two commandmentshang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

⁴¹Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question:

⁴²“What do you think about theChrist? Whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “The son of David.”

⁴³He *said to them, “Thenhow does Davidin the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁴‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET” ’?

⁴⁵Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”

⁴⁶No one was able to offer Him a word in answer, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him any more questions.

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people,

²except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother,

³also for his virgin sister who is near to him because she has not had a husband; for her, he may defile himself.

⁴He shall not defile himself as a relative by marriage among his people, so as to profane himself.

⁵They shall not shave any area on their heads bald, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh.

⁶They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, because they present the offerings by fire to the LORD, the food of their God; so they shall be holy.

⁷They shall not take a woman who is a prostitute and profaned, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.

⁸You shall consecrate him, therefore, because he offers the food of your God. He shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy.

⁹Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰‘The priest who is highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes;

¹¹nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother;

¹²nor shall he leave the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the LORD.

¹³He shall take a wife in her virginity.

¹⁴A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by prostitution, these he shall not take; but rather he is to marry a virgin of his own people,

¹⁵so that he will not profane his children among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.’ ”

¹⁶Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁷“Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘None of your descendants throughout their generations who has an impairment shall approach to offer the food of his God.

¹⁸For no one who has an impairment shall approach: a man who is blind, or one who limps, or one who has a slit nose, or one with any conspicuous feature,

¹⁹or someone who has a broken foot or broken hand,

²⁰or a contorted back, or one who is a dwarf, or has a spot in his eye, or a festering rash or scabs, or crushed testicles.

²¹No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has an impairment is to come forward to offer the LORD’S offerings by fire; since he has an impairment, he shall not come forward to offer the food of his God.

²²He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy,

²³only he shall not come up to the veil or approach the altar, since he has an impairment, so that he does not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’ ”

²⁴So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Timothy, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

⁴who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

⁵For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

⁶But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;

⁷and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are partners in our sufferings, so also you are in our comfort.

⁸For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction which occurred in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.

⁹Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,

¹⁰who rescued us from so great a danger of death, and will rescue us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,

¹¹if you also join in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons in our behalf for the favor granted to us through the prayers of many.

¹²For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.

¹³For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end;

¹⁴just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, on the day of our Lord Jesus.

¹⁵In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might twice receive a blessing;

¹⁶that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea.

¹⁷Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I decide, do I decide according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time?

¹⁸But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no.

¹⁹For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but has been yes in Him.

²⁰For as many as the promises of God are, in Him they are yes; therefore through Him also is our Amen to the glory of God through us.

²¹Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,

²²who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

²³But I call God as witness to my soul, that it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth.

²⁴Not that we domineer over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.

¹“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, and yet you are dead.

²Be constantly alert, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.

³So rememberwhat you have received and heard; andkeep it, and repent. Then if you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

⁴But you have a fewpeople in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

⁵The one who overcomes will be clothed the same way, in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

⁶The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

⁷“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:

⁸‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have followed My word, and have not denied My name.

⁹Behold, Iwill make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.

¹⁰Because you have kept Myword of perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of thetesting, that hour which is about to come upon the wholeworld, totest those who live on the earth.

¹¹I am coming quickly; hold firmly to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

¹²The one who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.

¹³The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

¹⁴“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Origin of the creation of God, says this:

¹⁵‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.

¹⁶So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

¹⁷Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have no need of anything,” and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked,

¹⁸I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to apply to your eyes so that you may see.

¹⁹Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.

²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

²¹The one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne.

²²The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”

¹A good name is better than good oil, And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.

²It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every person, And the living takes it to heart.

³Sorrow is better than laughter, For when a face is sad a heart may be happy.

⁴The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, While the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.

⁵It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise person Than for one to listen to the song of fools.

⁶For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool; And this too is futility.

⁷For oppression makes a wise person look foolish, And a bribe corrupts the heart.

⁸The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than arrogance of spirit.

⁹Do not be eager in your spirit to be angry, For anger resides in the heart of fools.

¹⁰Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

¹¹Wisdom along with an inheritance is good, And an advantage to those who see the sun.

¹²For wisdom is protection just as money is protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom keeps its possessors alive.

¹³Consider the work of God, For who is able to straighten what He has bent?

¹⁴On the day of prosperity be happy, But on the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other So that a person will not discover anything that will come after him.

¹⁵I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked person who prolongs his life in his wickedness.

¹⁶Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?

¹⁷Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

¹⁸It is good that you grasp one thing while not letting go of the other; for one who fears God comes out with both of them.

¹⁹Wisdom strengthens a wise person more than ten rulers who are in a city.

²⁰Indeed, there is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin.

²¹Also, do not take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant cursing you,

²²for you know that even you have cursed others many times as well.

²³I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” but wisdom was far from me.

²⁴What has been is remote and very mysterious. Who can discover it?

²⁵I directed my mind to know and to investigate, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of foolishness and the foolishness of insanity.

²⁶And I discovered as more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

²⁷“Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “by adding one thing to another to find an explanation,

²⁸which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these.

²⁹Behold, I have found only this, that God made people upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

¹Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart, In the company of the upright and in the assembly.

²Great are the works of the LORD; They are studied by all who delight in them.

³Splendid and majestic is His work, And His righteousness endures forever.

⁴He has caused His wonders to be remembered; The LORD is gracious and compassionate.

⁵He has given food to those who fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever.

⁶He has made known to His people the power of His works, In giving them the inheritance of the nations.

⁷The works of His hands are truth and justice; All His precepts are trustworthy.

⁸They are upheld forever and ever; They are performed in truth and uprightness.

⁹He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name.

¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; All those who follow His commandments have a good understanding; His praise endures forever.

¹One who separates himself seeks his own desire; He quarrels against all sound wisdom.

²A fool does not delight in understanding, But in revealing his own mind.

³When a wicked person comes, contempt also comes, And with dishonor comes taunting.

⁴The words of a person’s mouth are deep waters; The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

⁵To show partiality to the wicked is not good, Nor to suppress the righteous in judgment.

⁶A fool’s lips bring strife, And his mouth invites beatings.

⁷A fool’s mouth is his ruin, And his lips are the snare of his soul.

⁸The words of a gossiper are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

⁹He also who is lax in his work Is a brother to him who destroys.

¹⁰The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.

¹¹A rich person’s wealth is his strong city, And like a high wall in his own imagination.

¹²Before destruction the heart of a person is haughty, But humility goes before honor.

¹³One who gives an answer before he hears, It is foolishness and shame to him.

¹⁴The spirit of a person can endure his sickness, But as for a broken spirit, who can endure it?

¹⁵The mind of the discerning acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

¹⁶A person’s gift makes room for him And brings him before great people.

¹⁷The first to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and examines him.

¹⁸The cast lot puts an end to quarrels, And decides between the mighty ones.

¹⁹A brother who is offended is harder to be won than a strong city, And quarrels are like the bars of a citadel.

²⁰With the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.

²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

²²He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the LORD.

²³A poor person utters pleadings, But a rich person answers defiantly.

²⁴A person of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

¹Now Solomon built his own house over the course of thirteen years, and he finished all of his house.

²He built the house of the timber from Lebanon; its length was a hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams on the pillars.

³And it was paneled with cedar above the side chambers which were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row.

⁴There were artistic window frames in three rows, and window was opposite window at three intervals.

⁵And all the doorways and doorposts had squared artistic frames, and window was opposite window at three intervals.

⁶Then he made the hall of pillars; its length was fifty cubits and its width thirty cubits, and a porch was in front of them and pillars and a threshold in front of them.

⁷And he made the hall of the throne where he was to judge, the hall of judgment, and it was paneled with cedar from floor to floor.

⁸And his house where he was to live, the other courtyard inward from the hall, was of this same workmanship. He also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom Solomon had married.

⁹All of these were made of valuable stones, of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside; even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the large courtyard.

¹⁰And the foundation was of valuable stones, large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.

¹¹And above were valuable stones, cut according to measure, and cedar.

¹²So the large courtyard all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams as well as the inner courtyard of the house of the LORD, and the porch of the house.

¹³Now King Solomon sent word and had Hiram brought from Tyre.

¹⁴He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, an artisan in bronze; and he was filled with wisdom, skill, and knowledge for doing any work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and performed all his work.

¹⁵He fashioned the two pillars of bronze; eighteen cubits was the height of each pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of both.

¹⁶He also made two capitals of cast bronze to put on the tops of the pillars; the height of the one capital was five cubits and the height of the other capital was five cubits.

¹⁷There were lattices of latticework and wreaths of chainwork for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital and seven for the other capital.

¹⁸So he made the pillars, and two rows around on the one lattice to cover the capitals which were on the top of the pomegranates; and so he did for the other capital.

¹⁹The capitals which were on the tops of the pillars in the porch were of lily design, four cubits.

²⁰So there were capitals on the two pillars, also above and close to the rounded projection which was beside the lattice; and the pomegranates totaled two hundred in rows around both capitals.

²¹And he set up the pillars at the porch of the main room: he set up the right pillar and named it Jachin, and he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz.

²²On the top of the pillars was the lily design. So the work of the pillars was finished.

²³He also he made the Sea of cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in shape, and its height was five cubits, and it was thirty cubits in circumference.

²⁴Under its brim gourds went around encircling it ten to a cubit, completely surrounding the Sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast with the rest.

²⁵It was standing on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the Sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts turned inward.

²⁶And it was a hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom; it could hold two thousand baths.

²⁷Then he made the ten stands of bronze; the length of each stand was four cubits, its width four cubits, and its height was three cubits.

²⁸This was the design of the stands: they had borders, that is, borders between the crossbars,

²⁹and on the borders which were between the crossbars were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the crossbars there was a pedestal above, and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.

³⁰Now each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and its four feet had supports; beneath the basin were cast supports with wreaths at each side.

³¹And its opening inside the crown at the top was a cubit, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and on its opening also there were engravings, and their borders were square, not round.

³²The four wheels were underneath the borders, and the axles of the wheels were on the stand. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.

³³The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel. Their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast.

³⁴Now there were four supports at the four corners of each stand; its supports were part of the stand itself.

³⁵And on the top of the stand there was a circular form half a cubit high, and on the top of the stand its stays and its borders were part of it.

³⁶And he engraved on the plates of its stays and on its borders cherubim, lions, and palm trees, as there was clear space on each, with wreaths all around.

³⁷He made the ten stands like this: all of them had the same casting, same measure, and same form.

³⁸And he made ten basins of bronze, each holding forty baths; each basin was four cubits, and on each of the ten stands was one basin.

³⁹Then he placed the stands, five on the right side of the house and five on the left side of the house; and he set the Sea of cast metal on the right side of the house eastward toward the south.

⁴⁰Now Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished doing all the work which he performed for King Solomon in the house of the LORD:

⁴¹the two pillars and the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two lattices to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars;

⁴²and the four hundred pomegranates for the two lattices, two rows of pomegranates for each lattice to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the tops of the pillars;

⁴³and the ten stands with the ten basins on the stands;

⁴⁴and the one Sea and the twelve oxen under the Sea;

⁴⁵and the buckets, the shovels, and the bowls; indeed, all these utensils which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the LORD were of polished bronze.

⁴⁶The king had them cast in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.

⁴⁷However, Solomon left all the utensils unweighed, because they were too many; the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

⁴⁸Solomon also made all the furniture that was in the house of the LORD: the golden altar and the golden table on which was set the bread of the Presence;

⁴⁹and the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary; and the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold;

⁵⁰also the cups, the shears, the bowls, the ladles, and the firepans, of pure gold; and the hinges both for the doors of the inner house, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the house, that is, for the main room, of gold.

⁵¹So all the work that King Solomon performed in the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the offerings vowed by his father David, the silver and the gold and the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.

¹This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying:

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says to you, Baruch:

³‘You said, “Oh, woe to me! For the LORD has added grief to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and have found no rest.” ’

⁴This is what you are to say to him: ‘This is what the LORD says: “Behold, what I have built I am going to tear down, and what I have planted I am going to uproot, that is, all the people of the land.”

⁵But as for you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the LORD, ‘but I will give your life to you as plunder in all the places where you may go.’ ”

¹Now when it was decided that we would sail for Italy, they proceeded to turn Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the Augustan cohort, named Julius.

²And we boarded an Adramyttian ship that was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, and put out to sea accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica.

³The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care.

⁴From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.

⁵When we had sailed through the sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it.

⁷When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone;

⁸and with difficulty sailing past it, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

⁹When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Paul started admonishing them,

¹⁰saying to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

¹¹But the centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul.

¹²The harbor was not suitable for wintering, so the majority reached a decision to put out to sea from there, if somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

¹³When a moderate south wind came up, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along Crete, closer to shore.

¹⁴But before very long a violent wind, called Euraquilo, rushed down from the land;

¹⁵and when the ship was caught in it and could not head up into the wind, we gave up and let ourselves be driven by the wind.

¹⁶Running under the shelter of a small island called Cauda, we were able to get the ship’s boat under control only with difficulty.

¹⁷After they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor and let themselves be driven along in this way.

¹⁸The next day as we were being violently tossed by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo;

¹⁹and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

²⁰Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was slowly abandoned.

²¹When many had lost their appetites, Paul then stood among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice and not have set sail from Crete, and thereby spared yourselves this damage and loss.

²²And yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

²³For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong, whom I also serve, came to me,

²⁴saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has graciously granted you all those who are sailing with you.’

²⁵Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.

²⁶But we must run aground on a certain island.”

²⁷But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were approaching some land.

²⁸And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms.

²⁹Fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and prayed for daybreak.

³⁰But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow,

³¹Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain on the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”

³²Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.

³³Until the day was about to dawn, Paul kept encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken in nothing.

³⁴Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your survival, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.”

³⁵Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all, and he broke it and began to eat.

³⁶All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food.

³⁷We were 276 people on the ship in all.

³⁸When they had eaten enough, they began lightening the ship by throwing the wheat out into the sea.

³⁹Now when day came, they could not recognize the land; but they did notice a bay with a beach, and they resolved to run the ship onto it if they could.

⁴⁰And casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders; and they hoisted the foresail to the wind and were heading for the beach.

⁴¹But they struck a reef where two seas met and ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck firmly and remained immovable, while the stern started to break up due to the force of the waves.

⁴²The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape;

⁴³but the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from accomplishing their intention, and commanded that those who could swim were to jump overboard first and get to land,

⁴⁴and the rest were to follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that they all were brought safely to land.