Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus also told them other parables. He said,

²“The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son.

³When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!

⁴“So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’

⁵But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business.

⁶Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.

⁷“The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town.

⁸And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor.

⁹Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’

¹⁰So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding.

¹²‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply.

¹³Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

¹⁵Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested.

¹⁶They sent some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites.

¹⁷Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me?

¹⁹Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When they handed him a Roman coin,

²⁰he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”

²¹“Caesar’s,” they replied. “Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

²²His reply amazed them, and they went away.

²³That same day Jesus was approached by some Sadducees — religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question:

²⁴“Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.’

²⁵Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children, so his brother married the widow.

²⁶But the second brother also died, and the third brother married her. This continued with all seven of them.

²⁷Last of all, the woman also died.

²⁸So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.”

²⁹Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.

³⁰For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.

³¹“But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead — haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said,

³²‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead.”

³³When the crowds heard him, they were astounded at his teaching.

³⁴But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again.

³⁵One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question:

³⁶“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

³⁷Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’

³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment.

³⁹A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

⁴⁰The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

⁴¹Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question:

⁴²“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “He is the son of David.”

⁴³Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said,

⁴⁴‘The LORD said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’

⁴⁵Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”

⁴⁶No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

¹The LORD said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the priests, the descendants of Aaron. “A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean by touching the dead body of a relative.

²The only exceptions are his closest relatives — his mother or father, son or daughter, brother,

³or his virgin sister who depends on him because she has no husband.

⁴But a priest must not defile himself and make himself unclean for someone who is related to him only by marriage.

⁵“The priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or cut their bodies.

⁶They must be set apart as holy to their God and must never bring shame on the name of God. They must be holy, for they are the ones who present the special gifts to the LORD, gifts of food for their God.

⁷“Priests may not marry a woman defiled by prostitution, and they may not marry a woman who is divorced from her husband, for the priests are set apart as holy to their God.

⁸You must treat them as holy because they offer up food to your God. You must consider them holy because I, the LORD, am holy, and I make you holy.

⁹“If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father’s holiness, and she must be burned to death.

¹⁰“The high priest has the highest rank of all the priests. The anointing oil has been poured on his head, and he has been ordained to wear the priestly garments. He must never leave his hair uncombed or tear his clothing.

¹¹He must not defile himself by going near a dead body. He may not make himself ceremonially unclean even for his father or mother.

¹²He must not defile the sanctuary of his God by leaving it to attend to a dead person, for he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his God. I am the LORD.

¹³“The high priest may marry only a virgin.

¹⁴He may not marry a widow, a woman who is divorced, or a woman who has defiled herself by prostitution. She must be a virgin from his own clan,

¹⁵so that he will not dishonor his descendants among his clan, for I am the LORD who makes him holy.”

¹⁶Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹⁷“Give the following instructions to Aaron: In all future generations, none of your descendants who has any defect will qualify to offer food to his God.

¹⁸No one who has a defect qualifies, whether he is blind, lame, disfigured, deformed,

¹⁹or has a broken foot or arm,

²⁰or is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or has a defective eye, or skin sores or scabs, or damaged testicles.

²¹No descendant of Aaron who has a defect may approach the altar to present special gifts to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he may not approach the altar to offer food to his God.

²²However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings.

²³Yet because of his physical defect, he may not enter the room behind the inner curtain or approach the altar, for this would defile my holy places. I am the LORD who makes them holy.”

²⁴So Moses gave these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

¹This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. I am writing to God’s church in Corinth and to all of his holy people throughout Greece.

²May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

³All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.

⁴He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

⁵For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.

⁶Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.

⁷We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.

⁸We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.

⁹In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.

¹⁰And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.

¹¹And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety.

¹²We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you.

¹³Our letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us,

¹⁴even if you don’t understand us now. Then on the day when the Lord Jesus returns, you will be proud of us in the same way we are proud of you.

¹⁵Since I was so sure of your understanding and trust, I wanted to give you a double blessing by visiting you twice —

¹⁶first on my way to Macedonia and again when I returned from Macedonia. Then you could send me on my way to Judea.

¹⁷You may be asking why I changed my plan. Do you think I make my plans carelessly? Do you think I am like people of the world who say “Yes” when they really mean “No”?

¹⁸As surely as God is faithful, our word to you does not waver between “Yes” and “No.”

¹⁹For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says.

²⁰For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.

²¹It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us,

²²and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.

²³Now I call upon God as my witness that I am telling the truth. The reason I didn’t return to Corinth was to spare you from a severe rebuke.

²⁴But that does not mean we want to dominate you by telling you how to put your faith into practice. We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy, for it is by your own faith that you stand firm.

¹“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: “I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive — but you are dead.

²Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.

³Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.

⁴“Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

⁵All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.

⁶“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

⁷“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open:

⁸“I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.

⁹Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue — those liars who say they are Jews but are not — to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love.

¹⁰“Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.

¹¹I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown.

¹²All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God — the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.

¹³“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

¹⁴“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen — the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:

¹⁵“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other!

¹⁶But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!

¹⁷You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

¹⁸So I advise you to buy gold from me — gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.

¹⁹I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

²⁰“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

²¹Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.

²²“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”

¹A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume. And the day you die is better than the day you are born.

²Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies — so the living should take this to heart.

³Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.

⁴A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.

⁵Better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool.

⁶A fool’s laughter is quickly gone, like thorns crackling in a fire. This also is meaningless.

⁷Extortion turns wise people into fools, and bribes corrupt the heart.

⁸Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride.

⁹Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.

¹⁰Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise.

¹¹Wisdom is even better when you have money. Both are a benefit as you go through life.

¹²Wisdom and money can get you almost anything, but only wisdom can save your life.

¹³Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what he has made crooked?

¹⁴Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

¹⁵I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people.

¹⁶So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself?

¹⁷On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time?

¹⁸Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes.

¹⁹One wise person is stronger than ten leading citizens of a town!

²⁰Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.

²¹Don’t eavesdrop on others — you may hear your servant curse you.

²²For you know how often you yourself have cursed others.

²³I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work.

²⁴Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find.

²⁵I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness.

²⁶I discovered that a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare.

²⁷“This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle.

²⁸Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman!

²⁹But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”

¹Praise the LORD! I will thank the LORD with all my heart as I meet with his godly people.

²How amazing are the deeds of the LORD! All who delight in him should ponder them.

³Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails.

⁴He causes us to remember his wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our LORD!

⁵He gives food to those who fear him; he always remembers his covenant.

⁶He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the lands of other nations.

⁷All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy.

⁸They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.

⁹He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!

¹⁰Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!

¹Unfriendly people care only about themselves; they lash out at common sense.

²Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.

³Doing wrong leads to disgrace, and scandalous behavior brings contempt.

⁴Wise words are like deep waters; wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook.

⁵It is not right to acquit the guilty or deny justice to the innocent.

⁶Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating.

⁷The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips.

⁸Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart.

⁹A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things.

¹⁰The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.

¹¹The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety.

¹²Haughtiness goes before destruction; humility precedes honor.

¹³Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish.

¹⁴The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit?

¹⁵Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge.

¹⁶Giving a gift can open doors; it gives access to important people!

¹⁷The first to speak in court sounds right — until the cross-examination begins.

¹⁸Flipping a coin can end arguments; it settles disputes between powerful opponents.

¹⁹An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars.

²⁰Wise words satisfy like a good meal; the right words bring satisfaction.

²¹The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

²²The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the LORD.

²³The poor plead for mercy; the rich answer with insults.

²⁴There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.

¹Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years to complete the construction.

²One of Solomon’s buildings was called the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. It was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. There were four rows of cedar pillars, and great cedar beams rested on the pillars.

³The hall had a cedar roof. Above the beams on the pillars were forty-five side rooms, arranged in three tiers of fifteen each.

⁴On each end of the long hall were three rows of windows facing each other.

⁵All the doorways and doorposts had rectangular frames and were arranged in sets of three, facing each other.

⁶Solomon also built the Hall of Pillars, which was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch in front, along with a canopy supported by pillars.

⁷Solomon also built the throne room, known as the Hall of Justice, where he sat to hear legal matters. It was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.

⁸Solomon’s living quarters surrounded a courtyard behind this hall, and they were constructed the same way. He also built similar living quarters for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

⁹From foundation to eaves, all these buildings were built from huge blocks of high-quality stone, cut with saws and trimmed to exact measure on all sides.

¹⁰Some of the huge foundation stones were 15 feet long, and some were 12 feet long.

¹¹The blocks of high-quality stone used in the walls were also cut to measure, and cedar beams were also used.

¹²The walls of the great courtyard were built so that there was one layer of cedar beams between every three layers of finished stone, just like the walls of the inner courtyard of the LORD’s Temple with its entry room.

¹³King Solomon then asked for a man named Huram to come from Tyre.

¹⁴He was half Israelite, since his mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. Huram was extremely skillful and talented in any work in bronze, and he came to do all the metal work for King Solomon.

¹⁵Huram cast two bronze pillars, each 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference.

¹⁶For the tops of the pillars he cast bronze capitals, each 7 1⁄2 feet tall.

¹⁷Each capital was decorated with seven sets of latticework and interwoven chains.

¹⁸He also encircled the latticework with two rows of pomegranates to decorate the capitals over the pillars.

¹⁹The capitals on the columns inside the entry room were shaped like water lilies, and they were six feet tall.

²⁰The capitals on the two pillars had 200 pomegranates in two rows around them, beside the rounded surface next to the latticework.

²¹Huram set the pillars at the entrance of the Temple, one toward the south and one toward the north. He named the one on the south Jakin, and the one on the north Boaz.

²²The capitals on the pillars were shaped like water lilies. And so the work on the pillars was finished.

²³Then Huram cast a great round basin, 15 feet across from rim to rim, called the Sea. It was 7 1⁄2 feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference.

²⁴It was encircled just below its rim by two rows of decorative gourds. There were about six gourds per foot all the way around, and they were cast as part of the basin.

²⁵The Sea was placed on a base of twelve bronze oxen, all facing outward. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east, and the Sea rested on them.

²⁶The walls of the Sea were about three inches thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a water lily blossom. It could hold about 11,000 gallons of water.

²⁷Huram also made ten bronze water carts, each 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4 1⁄2 feet tall.

²⁸They were constructed with side panels braced with crossbars.

²⁹Both the panels and the crossbars were decorated with carved lions, oxen, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and oxen were wreath decorations.

³⁰Each of these carts had four bronze wheels and bronze axles. There were supporting posts for the bronze basins at the corners of the carts; these supports were decorated on each side with carvings of wreaths.

³¹The top of each cart had a rounded frame for the basin. It projected 1 1⁄2 feet above the cart’s top like a round pedestal, and its opening was 2 1⁄4 feet across; it was decorated on the outside with carvings of wreaths. The panels of the carts were square, not round.

³²Under the panels were four wheels that were connected to axles that had been cast as one unit with the cart. The wheels were 2 1⁄4 feet in diameter

³³and were similar to chariot wheels. The axles, spokes, rims, and hubs were all cast from molten bronze.

³⁴There were handles at each of the four corners of the carts, and these, too, were cast as one unit with the cart.

³⁵Around the top of each cart was a rim nine inches wide. The corner supports and side panels were cast as one unit with the cart.

³⁶Carvings of cherubim, lions, and palm trees decorated the panels and corner supports wherever there was room, and there were wreaths all around.

³⁷All ten water carts were the same size and were made alike, for each was cast from the same mold.

³⁸Huram also made ten smaller bronze basins, one for each cart. Each basin was six feet across and could hold 220 gallons of water.

³⁹He set five water carts on the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. The great bronze basin called the Sea was placed near the southeast corner of the Temple.

⁴⁰He also made the necessary washbasins, shovels, and bowls. So at last Huram completed everything King Solomon had assigned him to make for the Temple of the LORD:

⁴¹the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the two networks of interwoven chains that decorated the capitals;

⁴²the 400 pomegranates that hung from the chains on the capitals (two rows of pomegranates for each of the chain networks that decorated the capitals on top of the pillars);

⁴³the ten water carts holding the ten basins;

⁴⁴the Sea and the twelve oxen under it;

⁴⁵the ash buckets, the shovels, and the bowls. Huram made all these things of burnished bronze for the Temple of the LORD, just as King Solomon had directed.

⁴⁶The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan.

⁴⁷Solomon did not weigh all these things because there were so many; the weight of the bronze could not be measured.

⁴⁸Solomon also made all the furnishings of the Temple of the LORD: the gold altar; the gold table for the Bread of the Presence;

⁴⁹the lampstands of solid gold, five on the south and five on the north, in front of the Most Holy Place; the flower decorations, lamps, and tongs — all of gold;

⁵⁰the small bowls, lamp snuffers, bowls, ladles, and incense burners — all of solid gold; the doors for the entrances to the Most Holy Place and the main room of the Temple, with their fronts overlaid with gold.

⁵¹So King Solomon finished all his work on the Temple of the LORD. Then he brought all the gifts his father, David, had dedicated — the silver, the gold, and the various articles — and he stored them in the treasuries of the LORD’s Temple.

¹The prophet Jeremiah gave a message to Baruch son of Neriah in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, after Baruch had written down everything Jeremiah had dictated to him. He said,

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

³You have said, ‘I am overwhelmed with trouble! Haven’t I had enough pain already? And now the LORD has added more! I am worn out from sighing and can find no rest.’

⁴“Baruch, this is what the LORD says: ‘I will destroy this nation that I built. I will uproot what I planted.

⁵Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don’t do it! I will bring great disaster upon all these people; but I will give you your life as a reward wherever you go. I, the LORD, have spoken!’”

¹When the time came, we set sail for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of a Roman officer named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment.

²Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us. We left on a ship whose home port was Adramyttium on the northwest coast of the province of Asia; it was scheduled to make several stops at ports along the coast of the province.

³The next day when we docked at Sidon, Julius was very kind to Paul and let him go ashore to visit with friends so they could provide for his needs.

⁴Putting out to sea from there, we encountered strong headwinds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course, so we sailed north of Cyprus between the island and the mainland.

⁵Keeping to the open sea, we passed along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, landing at Myra, in the province of Lycia.

⁶There the commanding officer found an Egyptian ship from Alexandria that was bound for Italy, and he put us on board.

⁷We had several days of slow sailing, and after great difficulty we finally neared Cnidus. But the wind was against us, so we sailed across to Crete and along the sheltered coast of the island, past the cape of Salmone.

⁸We struggled along the coast with great difficulty and finally arrived at Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

⁹We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall, and Paul spoke to the ship’s officers about it.

¹⁰“Men,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on — shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.”

¹¹But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul.

¹²And since Fair Havens was an exposed harbor — a poor place to spend the winter — most of the crew wanted to go on to Phoenix, farther up the coast of Crete, and spend the winter there. Phoenix was a good harbor with only a southwest and northwest exposure.

¹³When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it. So they pulled up anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete.

¹⁴But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (called a “northeaster”) burst across the island and blew us out to sea.

¹⁵The sailors couldn’t turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run before the gale.

¹⁶We sailed along the sheltered side of a small island named Cauda, where with great difficulty we hoisted aboard the lifeboat being towed behind us.

¹⁷Then the sailors bound ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it. They were afraid of being driven across to the sandbars of Syrtis off the African coast, so they lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship and were driven before the wind.

¹⁸The next day, as gale-force winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing the cargo overboard.

¹⁹The following day they even took some of the ship’s gear and threw it overboard.

²⁰The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.

²¹No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss.

²²But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down.

²³For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me,

²⁴and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’

²⁵So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said.

²⁶But we will be shipwrecked on an island.”

²⁷About midnight on the fourteenth night of the storm, as we were being driven across the Sea of Adria, the sailors sensed land was near.

²⁸They dropped a weighted line and found that the water was 120 feet deep. But a little later they measured again and found it was only 90 feet deep.

²⁹At this rate they were afraid we would soon be driven against the rocks along the shore, so they threw out four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight.

³⁰Then the sailors tried to abandon the ship; they lowered the lifeboat as though they were going to put out anchors from the front of the ship.

³¹But Paul said to the commanding officer and the soldiers, “You will all die unless the sailors stay aboard.”

³²So the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat and let it drift away.

³³Just as day was dawning, Paul urged everyone to eat. “You have been so worried that you haven’t touched food for two weeks,” he said.

³⁴“Please eat something now for your own good. For not a hair of your heads will perish.”

³⁵Then he took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all, and broke off a piece and ate it.

³⁶Then everyone was encouraged and began to eat —

³⁷all 276 of us who were on board.

³⁸After eating, the crew lightened the ship further by throwing the cargo of wheat overboard.

³⁹When morning dawned, they didn’t recognize the coastline, but they saw a bay with a beach and wondered if they could get to shore by running the ship aground.

⁴⁰So they cut off the anchors and left them in the sea. Then they lowered the rudders, raised the foresail, and headed toward shore.

⁴¹But they hit a shoal and ran the ship aground too soon. The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the stern was repeatedly smashed by the force of the waves and began to break apart.

⁴²The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they didn’t swim ashore and escape.

⁴³But the commanding officer wanted to spare Paul, so he didn’t let them carry out their plan. Then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and make for land.

⁴⁴The others held on to planks or debris from the broken ship. So everyone escaped safely to shore.