Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples:

²“The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses.

³Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do, because they don’t practice what they teach.

⁴They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁵They do everything to be seen by others: They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.

⁶They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues,

⁷greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.

⁸“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ because you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.

⁹Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven.

¹⁰You are not to be called instructors either, because you have one Instructor, the Messiah.

¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant.

¹²Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in.

¹⁴

¹⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are!

¹⁶“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the temple, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.’

¹⁷Blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?

¹⁸Also, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it means nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.’

¹⁹Blind people! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

²⁰Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it.

²¹The one who takes an oath by the temple takes an oath by it and by him who dwells in it.

²²And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne and by him who sits on it.

²³“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.

²⁴Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, but gulp down a camel!

²⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

²⁶Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside of it may also become clean.

²⁷“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity.

²⁸In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous,

³⁰and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we wouldn’t have taken part with them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’

³¹So you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

³²Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors’ sins!

³³“Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell?

³⁴This is why I am sending you prophets, sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.

³⁵So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

³⁶Truly I tell you, all these things will come on this generation.

³⁷“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

³⁸See, your house is left to you desolate.

³⁹For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say,’ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’!”

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“Tell Aaron and his sons to deal respectfully with the holy offerings of the Israelites that they have consecrated to me, so they do not profane my holy name; I am the LORD.

³Say to them: If any man from any of your descendants throughout your generations is in a state of uncleanness yet approaches the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person will be cut off from my presence; I am the LORD.

⁴No man of Aaron’s descendants who has a skin disease or a discharge is to eat from the holy offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything made unclean by a dead person or by a man who has an emission of semen,

⁵or whoever touches any swarming creature that makes him unclean or any person who makes him unclean — whatever his uncleanness —

⁶the man who touches any of these will remain unclean until evening and is not to eat from the holy offerings unless he has bathed his body with water.

⁷When the sun has set, he will become clean, and then he may eat from the holy offerings, for that is his food.

⁸He must not eat an animal that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts, making himself unclean by it; I am the LORD.

⁹They must keep my instruction, or they will be guilty and die because they profane it; I am the LORD who sets them apart.

¹⁰“No one outside a priest’s family is to eat the holy offering. A foreigner staying with a priest or a hired worker is not to eat the holy offering.

¹¹But if a priest purchases someone with his own silver, that person may eat it, and those born in his house may eat his food.

¹²If the priest’s daughter is married to a man outside a priest’s family, she is not to eat from the holy contributions.

¹³But if the priest’s daughter becomes widowed or divorced, has no children, and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she may share her father’s food. But no outsider may share it.

¹⁴If anyone eats a holy offering in error, he is to add a fifth to its value and give the holy offering to the priest.

¹⁵The priests must not profane the holy offerings the Israelites give to the LORD

¹⁶by letting the people eat their holy offerings and having them bear the penalty of restitution. For I am the LORD who sets them apart.”

¹⁷The LORD spoke to Moses:

¹⁸“Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: Any man of the house of Israel or of the resident aliens in Israel who presents his offering  — whether they present payment of vows or freewill gifts to the LORD as burnt offerings —

¹⁹must offer an unblemished male from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for you to be accepted.

²⁰You are not to present anything that has a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.

²¹“When a man presents a fellowship sacrifice to the LORD to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or flock, it has to be unblemished to be acceptable; there must be no defect in it.

²²You are not to present any animal to the LORD that is blind, injured, maimed, or has a running sore, festering rash, or scabs; you may not put any of them on the altar as a fire offering to the LORD.

²³You may sacrifice as a freewill offering any animal from the herd or flock that has an elongated or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable as a vow offering.

²⁴You are not to present to the LORD anything that has bruised, crushed, torn, or severed testicles; you must not sacrifice them in your land.

²⁵Neither you nor a foreigner are to present food to your God from any of these animals. They will not be accepted for you because they are deformed and have a defect.”

²⁶The LORD spoke to Moses:

²⁷“When an ox, sheep, or goat is born, it is to remain with its mother for seven days; from the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as an offering, a fire offering to the LORD.

²⁸But you are not to slaughter an animal from the herd or flock on the same day as its young.

²⁹When you sacrifice a thank offering to the LORD, sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.

³⁰It is to be eaten on the same day. Do not let any of it remain until morning; I am the LORD.

³¹“You are to keep my commands and do them; I am the LORD.

³²You must not profane my holy name; I must be treated as holy among the Israelites. I am the LORD who sets you apart,

³³the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the LORD.”

¹In fact, I made up my mind about this: I would not come to you on another painful visit.

²For if I cause you pain, then who will cheer me other than the one being hurt by me?

³I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn’t have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confident about all of you that my joy will also be yours.

⁴For I wrote to you with many tears out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart — not to cause you pain, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.

⁵If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me but to some degree — not to exaggerate  — to all of you.

⁶This punishment by the majority is sufficient for that person.

⁷As a result, you should instead forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overwhelmed by excessive grief.

⁸Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.

⁹I wrote for this purpose: to test your character to see if you are obedient in everything.

¹⁰Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven — if I have forgiven anything — it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ,

¹¹so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.

¹²When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though the Lord opened a door for me,

¹³I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus. Instead, I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia.

¹⁴But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.

¹⁵For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

¹⁶To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. Who is adequate for these things?

¹⁷For we do not market the word of God for profit like so many. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.

¹After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door. The first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

²Immediately I was in the Spirit, and there was a throne in heaven and someone was seated on it.

³The one seated there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian stone. A rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald surrounded the throne.

⁴Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothes, with golden crowns on their heads.

⁵Flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder came from the throne. Seven fiery torches were burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.

⁶Something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal, was also before the throne. Four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back were around the throne on each side.

⁷The first living creature was like a lion; the second living creature was like an ox; the third living creature had a face like a man; and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.

⁸Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.

⁹Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one seated on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever,

¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down before the one seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne and say,

¹¹Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.

¹Who is like the wise person, and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A person’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.

²Keep the king’s command because of your oath made before God.

³Do not be in a hurry; leave his presence, and don’t persist in a bad cause, since he will do whatever he wants.

⁴For the king’s word is authoritative, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

⁵The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.

⁶For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though a person’s troubles are heavy on him.

⁷Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen?

⁸No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; no one is discharged during battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape.

⁹All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.

¹⁰In such circumstances, I saw the wicked buried. They came and went from the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they did those things. This too is futile.

¹¹Because the sentence against an evil act is not carried out quickly, the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit evil.

¹²Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, for they are reverent before him.

¹³However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God.

¹⁴There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

¹⁵So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

¹⁶When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one’s eyes do not close in sleep day or night),

¹⁷I observed all the work of God and concluded that a person is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a person labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if a wise person claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.

¹Hallelujah! Happy is the person who fears the LORD, taking great delight in his commands.

²His descendants will be powerful in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

³Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.

⁴Light shines in the darkness for the upright. He is gracious, compassionate, and righteous.

⁵Good will come to the one who lends generously and conducts his business fairly.

⁶He will never be shaken. The righteous one will be remembered forever.

⁷He will not fear bad news; his heart is confident, trusting in the LORD.

⁸His heart is assured; he will not fear. In the end he will look in triumph on his foes.

⁹He distributes freely to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted in honor.

¹⁰The wicked one will see it and be angry; he will gnash his teeth in despair. The desire of the wicked leads to ruin.

¹Better a poor person who lives with integrity than someone who has deceitful lips and is a fool.

²Even zeal is not good without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily sins.

³A person’s own foolishness leads him astray, yet his heart rages against the LORD.

⁴Wealth attracts many friends, but a poor person is separated from his friend.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.

⁶Many seek a ruler’s favor, and everyone is a friend of one who gives gifts.

⁷All the brothers of a poor person hate him; how much more do his friends keep their distance from him! He may pursue them with words, but they are not there.

⁸The one who acquires good sense loves himself; one who safeguards understanding finds success.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies perishes.

¹⁰Luxury is not appropriate for a fool —  how much less for a slave to rule over princes!

¹¹A person’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.

¹²A king’s rage is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a wife’s nagging is an endless dripping.

¹⁴A house and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁵Laziness induces deep sleep, and a lazy person will go hungry.

¹⁶The one who keeps commands preserves himself; one who disregards his ways will die.

¹⁷Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and he will give a reward to the lender.

¹⁸Discipline your son while there is hope; don’t set your heart on being the cause of his death.

¹⁹A person with intense anger bears the penalty; if you rescue him, you’ll have to do it again.

²⁰Listen to counsel and receive instruction so that you may be wise later in life.

²¹Many plans are in a person’s heart, but the LORD’s decree will prevail.

²²What is desirable in a person is his fidelity; better to be a poor person than a liar.

²³The fear of the LORD leads to life; one will sleep at night without danger.

²⁴The slacker buries his hand in the bowl; he doesn’t even bring it back to his mouth!

²⁵Strike a mocker, and the inexperienced learn a lesson; rebuke the discerning, and he gains knowledge.

²⁶The one who plunders his father and evicts his mother is a disgraceful and shameful son.

²⁷If you stop listening to correction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸A worthless witness mocks justice, and a wicked mouth swallows iniquity.

²⁹Judgments are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.

¹At that time Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the tribal heads and the ancestral leaders of the Israelites before him at Jerusalem in order to bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant from the city of David, that is Zion.

²So all the men of Israel were assembled in the presence of King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month, at the festival.

³All the elders of Israel came, and the priests picked up the ark.

⁴The priests and the Levites brought the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent.

⁵King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel, who had gathered around him and were with him in front of the ark, were sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered, because there were so many.

⁶The priests brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place beneath the wings of the cherubim.

⁷For the cherubim were spreading their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim covered the ark and its poles from above.

⁸The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside the sanctuary; they are still there today.

⁹Nothing was in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰When the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the LORD’s temple,

¹¹and because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

¹²Then Solomon said: The LORD said that he would dwell in total darkness.

¹³I have indeed built an exalted temple for you, a place for your dwelling forever.

¹⁴The king turned around and blessed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing.

¹⁵He said: Blessed be the LORD God of Israel! He spoke directly to my father David, and he has fulfilled the promise by his power. He said,

¹⁶“Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city to build a temple in among any of the tribes of Israel, so that my name would be there. But I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.”

¹⁷My father David had his heart set on building a temple for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹⁸But the LORD said to my father David, “Since your heart was set on building a temple for my name, you have done well to have this desire.

¹⁹Yet you are not the one to build it; instead, your son, your own offspring, will build it for my name.”

²⁰The LORD has fulfilled what he promised. I have taken the place of my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the temple for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

²¹I have provided a place there for the ark, where the LORD’s covenant is that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

²²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

²³He said: LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below, who keeps the gracious covenant with your servants who walk before you with all their heart.

²⁴You have kept what you promised to your servant, my father David. You spoke directly to him and you fulfilled your promise by your power as it is today.

²⁵Therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep what you promised to your servant, my father David: You will never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take care to walk before me as you have walked before me.

²⁶Now LORD God of Israel, please confirm what you promised to your servant, my father David.

²⁷But will God indeed live on earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you, much less this temple I have built.

²⁸Listen to your servant’s prayer and his petition, LORD my God, so that you may hear the cry and the prayer that your servant prays before you today,

²⁹so that your eyes may watch over this temple night and day, toward the place where you said, “My name will be there,” and so that you may hear the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.

³⁰Hear the petition of your servant and your people Israel, which they pray toward this place. May you hear in your dwelling place in heaven. May you hear and forgive.

³¹When a man sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before your altar in this temple,

³²may you hear in heaven and act. May you judge your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing what he has done on his own head and providing justice for the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

³³When your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against you, and they return to you and praise your name, and they pray and plead with you for mercy in this temple,

³⁴may you hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel. May you restore them to the land you gave their ancestors.

³⁵When the skies are shut and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you, and they pray toward this place and praise your name, and they turn from their sins because you are afflicting them,

³⁶may you hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, so that you may teach them the good way they should walk in. May you send rain on your land that you gave your people for an inheritance.

³⁷When there is famine in the land, when there is pestilence, when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, when their enemy besieges them in the land and its cities, when there is any plague or illness,

³⁸every prayer or petition that any person or that all your people Israel may have — they each know their own affliction  — as they spread out their hands toward this temple,

³⁹may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and may you forgive, act, and give to everyone according to all their ways, since you know each heart, for you alone know every human heart,

⁴⁰so that they may fear you all the days they live on the land you gave our ancestors.

⁴¹Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name —

⁴²for they will hear of your great name, strong hand, and outstretched arm, and will come and pray toward this temple —

⁴³may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all the foreigner asks. Then all peoples of earth will know your name, to fear you as your people Israel do and to know that this temple I have built bears your name.

⁴⁴When your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your name,

⁴⁵may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven and uphold their cause.

⁴⁶When they sin against you — for there is no one who does not sin  — and you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, and their captors deport them to the enemy’s country  — whether distant or nearby —

⁴⁷and when they come to their senses in the land where they were deported and repent and petition you in their captors’ land: “We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked,”

⁴⁸and when they return to you with all their heart and all their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and when they pray to you in the direction of their land that you gave their ancestors, the city you have chosen, and the temple I have built for your name,

⁴⁹may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place, their prayer and petition and uphold their cause.

⁵⁰May you forgive your people who sinned against you and all their rebellions against you, and may you grant them compassion before their captors, so that they may treat them compassionately.

⁵¹For they are your people and your inheritance; you brought them out of Egypt, out of the middle of an iron furnace.

⁵²May your eyes be open to your servant’s petition and to the petition of your people Israel, listening to them whenever they call to you.

⁵³For you, Lord GOD, have set them apart as your inheritance from all peoples of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.

⁵⁴When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the LORD, he got up from kneeling before the altar of the LORD, with his hands spread out toward heaven,

⁵⁵and he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel with a loud voice:

⁵⁶“Blessed be the LORD! He has given rest to his people Israel according to all he has said. Not one of all the good promises he made through his servant Moses has failed.

⁵⁷May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us

⁵⁸so that he causes us to be devoted to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, which he commanded our ancestors.

⁵⁹May my words with which I have made my petition before the LORD be near the LORD our God day and night. May he uphold his servant’s cause and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires.

⁶⁰May all the peoples of the earth know that the LORD is God. There is no other!

⁶¹Be wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD our God to walk in his statutes and to keep his commands, as it is today.”

⁶²The king and all Israel with him were offering sacrifices in the LORD’s presence.

⁶³Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the LORD: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep and goats. In this manner the king and all the Israelites dedicated the LORD’s temple.

⁶⁴On the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the LORD’s temple because that was where he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings since the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to accommodate the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.

⁶⁵Solomon and all Israel with him — a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt  — observed the festival at that time in the presence of the LORD our God, seven days, and seven more days — fourteen days.

⁶⁶On the fifteenth day he sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went to their homes rejoicing and with happy hearts for all the goodness that the LORD had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.

¹This is the word of the LORD that came to the prophet Jeremiah about the nations:

²About Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco, Egypt’s king, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in the fourth year of Judah’s King Jehoiakim son of Josiah:

³Deploy small shields and large; approach for battle!

⁴Harness the horses; mount the steeds; take your positions with helmets on! Polish the lances; put on armor!

⁵Why have I seen this? They are terrified, they are retreating, their warriors are crushed, they flee headlong, they never look back, terror is on every side! This is the LORD’s declaration.

⁶The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the bank of the Euphrates River, they stumble and fall.

⁷Who is this, rising like the Nile, with waters that churn like rivers?

⁸Egypt rises like the Nile, and its waters churn like rivers. He boasts, “I will go up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities with their residents.”

⁹Rise up, you cavalry! Race furiously, you chariots! Let the warriors march out — Cush and Put, who are able to handle shields, and the men of Lud, who are able to handle and string the bow.

¹⁰That day belongs to the Lord, the GOD of Armies, a day of vengeance to avenge himself against his adversaries. The sword will devour and be satisfied; it will drink its fill of their blood, because it will be a sacrifice to the Lord, the GOD of Armies, in the northern land by the Euphrates River.

¹¹Go up to Gilead and get balm, Virgin Daughter Egypt! You have multiplied remedies in vain; there is no healing for you.

¹²The nations have heard of your dishonor, and your cries fill the earth, because warrior stumbles against warrior and together both of them have fallen.

¹³This is the word the LORD spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the coming of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to defeat the land of Egypt:

¹⁴Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol! Proclaim it in Memphis and in Tahpanhes! Say, “Take positions! Prepare yourself, for the sword devours all around you.”

¹⁵Why have your strong ones been swept away? Each has not stood, for the LORD has thrust him down.

¹⁶He continues to stumble. Indeed, each falls over the other. They say, “Get up! Let’s return to our people and to our native land, away from the oppressor’s sword.”

¹⁷There they will cry out, “Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise; he let the opportune moment pass.”

¹⁸As I live — this is the King’s declaration; the LORD of Armies is his name — the king of Babylon will come like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.

¹⁹Get your bags ready for exile, inhabitant of Daughter Egypt! For Memphis will become a desolation, uninhabited ruins.

²⁰Egypt is a beautiful young cow, but a horsefly from the north is coming against her.

²¹Even her mercenaries among her are like stall-fed calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee; they will not take their stand, for the day of their calamity is coming on them, the time of their punishment.

²²Egypt will hiss like a slithering snake, for the enemy will come with an army; with axes they will come against her like those who cut trees.

²³They will cut down her forest — this is the LORD’s declaration — though it is dense, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted.

²⁴Daughter Egypt will be put to shame, handed over to a northern people.

²⁵The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, “I am about to punish Amon, god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt, her gods, and her kings — Pharaoh and those trusting in him.

²⁶I will hand them over to those who intend to take their lives  — to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his officers. But after this, Egypt will be inhabited again as in ancient times.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

²⁷But you, my servant Jacob, do not be afraid, and do not be discouraged, Israel, for without fail I will save you from far away, and your descendants from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return and have calm and quiet with no one to frighten him.

²⁸And you, my servant Jacob, do not be afraid — this is the LORD’s declaration — for I will be with you. I will bring destruction on all the nations where I have banished you, but I will not bring destruction on you. I will discipline you with justice, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

¹Once safely ashore, we then learned that the island was called Malta.

²The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold.

³As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

⁷Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

⁸Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.

⁹After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.

¹⁰So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.

¹¹After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island, with the Twin Gods as its figurehead.

¹²Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed three days.

¹³From there, after making a circuit along the coast, we reached Rhegium. After one day a south wind sprang up, and the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found brothers and sisters and were invited to stay a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵Now the brothers and sisters from there had heard the news about us and had come to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷After three days he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered he said to them: “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

¹⁸After they examined me, they wanted to release me, since there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.

¹⁹Because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar; even though I had no charge to bring against my people.

²⁰For this reason I’ve asked to see you and speak to you. In fact, it is for the hope of Israel that I’m wearing this chain.”

²¹Then they said to him, “We haven’t received any letters about you from Judea. None of the brothers has come and reported or spoken anything evil about you.

²²But we want to hear what your views are, since we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”

²³After arranging a day with him, many came to him at his lodging. From dawn to dusk he expounded and testified about the kingdom of God. He tried to persuade them about Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

²⁴Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe.

²⁵Disagreeing among themselves, they began to leave after Paul made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah

²⁶when he said, Go to these people and say: You will always be listening, but never understanding; and you will always be looking, but never perceiving.

²⁷For the hearts of these people have grown callous, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.

²⁸Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

²⁹

³⁰Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him,

³¹proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.