Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,

²saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.

³Therefore, whatever they tell you, do andcomply with it all, but do not doas they do; for they say things and do not do them.

⁴And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger.

⁵And they do all their deeds to be noticed by other people; for they broaden theirphylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.

⁶And they love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues,

⁷and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being calledRabbi by the people.

⁸But as for you, do not be calledRabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.

⁹And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in heaven.

¹⁰And do not be calledleaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ.

¹¹But the greatest of you shall be your servant.

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

¹³“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

¹⁴

¹⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

¹⁶“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’

¹⁷You fools and blind men! Which ismore important, the gold or thetemple that sanctified the gold?

¹⁸And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by theoffering that is on it is obligated.’

¹⁹You blind men, which ismore important, theoffering or the altar that sanctifies theoffering?

²⁰Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both bythe altar and by everything on it.

²¹And the one who swears by thetemple, swears both bythe temple and by Him who dwells in it.

²²And the one who swears byheaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

²³“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

²⁴You blind guides, whostrain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

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

²⁶You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that theoutside of it may also become clean.

²⁷“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

²⁸So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,

³⁰and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

³¹So you testify against yourselves, that you aresons of those who murdered the prophets.

³²Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

³³You snakes, youoffspring of vipers, howwill you escape thesentence ofhell?

³⁴“Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,

³⁵so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between thetemple and the altar.

³⁶Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

³⁷“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

³⁸Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!

³⁹For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’ ”

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to Me, so as not to profane My holy name; I am the LORD.

³Say to them, ‘Any man among all your descendants throughout your generations who approaches the holy gifts which the sons of Israel consecrate to the LORD, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from My presence; I am the LORD.

⁴No man of the descendants of Aaron, who has leprosy or has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. And one who touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or a man who has a seminal emission,

⁵or a man who touches any swarming things by which he is made unclean, or touches any person by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness;

⁶a person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his body in water.

⁷But when the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy gifts, for it is his food.

⁸He shall not eat an animal which dies or is torn by animals, becoming unclean by it; I am the LORD.

⁹They shall therefore perform their duty to Me, so that they do not bear sin because of it and die by it because they profane it; I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

¹⁰‘No layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a foreign resident with the priest or a hired worker shall not eat the holy gift.

¹¹But if a priest buys a slave as his property with his money, that person may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his food.

¹²If a priest’s daughter is married to a layman, she shall not eat of the offering of the holy gifts.

¹³But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no child and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; but no layman shall eat of it.

¹⁴If, however, someone eats a holy food unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy food to the priest.

¹⁵And they shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the LORD,

¹⁶and thereby bring upon them punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’ ”

¹⁷Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁸“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘Anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their vows or any of their voluntary offerings, which they present to the LORD as a burnt offering—

¹⁹for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats.

²⁰Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you.

²¹When someone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a special vow or for a voluntary offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be without defect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.

²²Those that are blind, fractured, maimed, or have a wart, a festering rash, or scabs, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the LORD.

²³Now as for an ox or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member, you may present it as a voluntary offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted.

²⁴Also anything with its testicles squashed, crushed, torn off, or cut off, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor sacrifice in your land,

²⁵nor shall you offer any of these animals taken from the hand of a foreigner as the food of your God; for their deformity is in them, they have an impairment. They will not be accepted for you.’ ”

²⁶Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

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

²⁸But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young in one day.

²⁹When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.

³⁰It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning. I am the LORD.

³¹So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am the LORD.

³²“And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the LORD who sanctifies you,

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

¹But I decided this for my own sake, that I would not come to you in sorrow again.

²For if I cause you sorrow, who then will be the one making me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me?

³This is the very thing I wrote you, so that when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy was the joy of you all.

⁴For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.

⁵But if anyone has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not for me, but in some degree—not to say too much—for all of you.

⁶Sufficient for such a person is this punishment which was imposed by the majority,

⁷so that on the other hand, you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a person might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

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

⁹For to this end I also wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.

¹⁰But one whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did so for your sakes in the presence of Christ,

¹¹so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

¹²Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord,

¹³I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother; but saying goodbye to them, I went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place.

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

¹⁶to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?

¹⁷For we are not like the many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

¹After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

²Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and someone was sitting on the throne.

³And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.

⁴Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.

⁵Out from the throne *came flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God;

⁶and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

⁷The first living creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.

⁸And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, who was and who is and who is to come.”

⁹And when the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,

¹⁰the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and they will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

¹¹“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

¹Who is like the wise person and who knows the meaning of a matter? A person’s wisdom illuminates his face and makes his stern face brighten up.

²I say, “Keep the command of the king because of the oath before God.

³Do not be in a hurry to leave him. Do not join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases.”

⁴Since the word of the king is authoritative, who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

⁵One who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure.

⁶For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a person’s trouble is heavy upon him.

⁷If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?

⁸No one has authority over the wind to restrain the wind, nor authority over the day of death; and there is no military discharge in the time of war, and evil will not save those who practice it.

⁹All this I have seen, and have applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun at a time when one person has exercised authority over another person to his detriment.

¹⁰So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did such things. This too is futility.

¹¹Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of mankind among them are fully given to do evil.

¹²Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will go well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly.

¹³But it will not go well for the evil person and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

¹⁴There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.

¹⁵So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a person under the sun except to eat, drink, and be joyful, and this will stand by him in his labor throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

¹⁶When I devoted my mind to know wisdom and to see the business which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night),

¹⁷and I saw every work of God, I concluded that one cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though a person laboriously seeks, he will not discover; and even if the wise person claims to know, he cannot discover.

¹Praise the LORD! Blessed is a person who fears the LORD, Who greatly delights in His commandments.

²His descendants will be mighty on the earth; 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.

⁵It goes well for a person who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment.

⁶For he will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered forever.

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

⁸His heart is firm, he will not fear, But will look with satisfaction on his enemies.

⁹He has given freely to the poor, His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor.

¹⁰The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.

¹Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity Than a person who is perverse in speech and is a fool.

²Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And one who hurries his footsteps errs.

³The foolishness of a person ruins his way, And his heart rages against the LORD.

⁴Wealth adds many friends, But a poor person is separated from his friend.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, And one who declares lies will not escape.

⁶Many will seek the favor of a generous person, And every person is a friend to him who gives gifts.

⁷All the brothers of a poor person hate him; How much more do his friends abandon him! He pursues them with words, but they are gone.

⁸One who gets wisdom loves his own soul; One who keeps understanding will find good.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, And one who declares lies will perish.

¹⁰Luxury is not fitting for a fool; Much less for a slave to rule over princes.

¹¹A person’s discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook an offense.

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

¹³A foolish son is destruction to his father, And the quarrels of a wife are a constant dripping.

¹⁴House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁵Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And a lazy person will suffer hunger.

¹⁶One who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But one who is careless of conduct will die.

¹⁷One who is gracious to a poor person lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed.

¹⁸Discipline your son while there is hope, And do not desire his death.

¹⁹A person of great anger will suffer the penalty, For if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again.

²⁰Listen to advice and accept discipline, So that you may be wise the rest of your days.

²¹Many plans are in a person’s heart, But the advice of the LORD will stand.

²²What is desirable in a person is his kindness, And it is better to be a poor person than a liar.

²³The fear of the LORD leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.

²⁴The lazy one buries his hand in the dish, But will not even bring it back to his mouth.

²⁵Strike a scoffer and the naive may become clever, But rebuke one who has understanding, and he will gain knowledge.

²⁶He who assaults his father and drives his mother away Is a shameful and disgraceful son.

²⁷Stop listening, my son, to discipline, And you will stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸A worthless witness makes a mockery of justice, And the mouth of the wicked swallows wrongdoing.

²⁹Judgments are prepared for scoffers, And beatings for the backs of fools.

¹Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, that is, Zion.

²So all the men of Israel assembled themselves before King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, that is, the seventh month.

³Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

⁴And they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.

⁵And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were gathered together to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

⁶Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.

⁷For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its carrying poles from above.

⁸But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day.

⁹There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰And it happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD,

¹¹so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

¹²Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.

¹³I have truly built You a lofty house, A place for Your dwelling forever.”

¹⁴Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

¹⁵He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying,

¹⁶‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My name would be there, but I chose David to be over My people Israel.’

¹⁷Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹⁸But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

¹⁹Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he will build the house for My name.’

²⁰Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

²¹And there I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

²²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and he spread out his hands toward heaven.

²³And he said, “LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping the covenant and showing faithfulness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart,

²⁴You who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You promised him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

²⁵Now then, LORD, God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that which You have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not be deprived of a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful about their way, to walk before Me as you have walked.’

²⁶Now then, God of Israel, let Your words, please, be confirmed, which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.

²⁷“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!

²⁸Nevertheless, turn Your attention to the prayer of Your servant and to his plea, LORD, my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today,

²⁹so that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ to listen to the prayer which Your servant will pray toward this place.

³⁰And listen to the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; hear in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and forgive!

³¹“If a person sins against his neighbor and is compelled to take an oath of innocence, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house,

³²then hear in heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and acquitting the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

³³“When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and implore Your favor in this house,

³⁴then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave their fathers.

³⁵“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them,

³⁶then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel; indeed, teach them the good way in which they are to walk. And provide rain on Your land, which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

³⁷“If there is a famine in the land, if there is a plague, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy harasses them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

³⁸whatever prayer or plea is offered by any person or by all Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands toward this house;

³⁹then hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive and act, and give to each in accordance with all his ways, whose heart You know—for You alone know the hearts of all mankind—

⁴⁰so that they will fear You all the days that they live on the land which You have given to our fathers.

⁴¹“Also regarding the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country on account of Your name

⁴²(for they will hear of Your great name and Your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house,

⁴³hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and act in accordance with all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

⁴⁴“When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name,

⁴⁵then hear in heaven their prayer and their pleading, and maintain their cause.

⁴⁶“When they sin against You (for there is no person who does not sin) and You are angry with them and turn them over to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy, distant or near;

⁴⁷if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and implore Your favor in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;

⁴⁸if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and pray to You toward their land which You have given to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name;

⁴⁹then hear their prayer and their pleading in heaven, Your dwelling place, and maintain their cause,

⁵⁰and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their wrongdoings which they have committed against You, and make them objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive, so that they will have compassion on them

⁵¹(for they are Your people and Your inheritance which You have brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace),

⁵²so that Your eyes may be open to the pleading of Your servant and to the pleading of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You.

⁵³For You have singled them out from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, just as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord GOD.”

⁵⁴When Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and plea to the LORD, he stood up from the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven.

⁵⁵And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:

⁵⁶“Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel in accordance with everything that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant.

⁵⁷May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us nor forsake us,

⁵⁸so that He may guide our hearts toward Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers.

⁵⁹And may these words of mine, with which I have implored the favor of the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, so that He will maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires,

⁶⁰so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no one else.

⁶¹Your hearts therefore shall be wholly devoted to the LORD our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”

⁶²Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifice before the LORD.

⁶³And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the LORD, twenty-two thousand oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

⁶⁴On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the house of the LORD, because there he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings; for the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to hold the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, for seven days and seven more days, that is, fourteen days.

⁶⁶On the eighth day he dismissed the people, and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and with happy hearts for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David His servant, and to Israel His people.

¹That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

²To Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³“Set up the buckler and shield, And advance to the battle!

⁴Harness the horses, And mount the steeds, Take your stand with helmets on! Polish the spears, Put on the coats of armor!

⁵Why have I seen it? They are terrified, They are retreating, And their warriors are defeated And have taken refuge in flight, Without facing back. Terror is on every side!” Declares the LORD.

⁶Let not the swift man flee, Nor the warrior escape. In the north beside the river Euphrates They have stumbled and fallen.

⁷Who is this that rises like the Nile, Like the rivers whose waters surge?

⁸Egypt rises like the Nile, And like the rivers whose waters surge; And He has said, “I will rise and cover that land; I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.”

⁹Go up, you horses, and drive wildly, you chariots, So that the warriors may march forward: Cush and Put, who handle the shield, And the Lydians, who handle and bend the bow.

¹⁰For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of armies, A day of vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes; And the sword will devour and be satisfied, And drink its fill of their blood; For there will be a slaughter for the Lord GOD of armies, In the land of the north at the river Euphrates.

¹¹Go up to Gilead and obtain balm, Virgin daughter of Egypt! You have used many remedies in vain; There is no healing for you.

¹²The nations have heard of your shame, And the earth is full of your cry of distress; For one warrior has stumbled over another, And both of them have fallen down together.

¹³This is the message which the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt and proclaim in Migdol, Proclaim also in Memphis and Tahpanhes; Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready, For the sword has devoured those around you.’

¹⁵Why have your powerful ones been cut down? They do not stand because the LORD has thrust them away.

¹⁶They have repeatedly stumbled; Indeed, they have fallen, one against another. Then they said, ‘Get up, and let’s go back To our own people and our native land, Away from the sword of the oppressor!’

¹⁷They shouted there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is nothing but a big noise; He has let the appointed time pass by!’

¹⁸As I live,” declares the King, Whose name is the LORD of armies, “One certainly shall come who is like Tabor among the mountains, Or like Carmel by the sea.

¹⁹Make your baggage ready for exile, Daughter living in Egypt, For Memphis will become a desolation; It will be destroyed and deprived of inhabitants.

²⁰Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!

²¹Also her mercenaries in her midst Are like fattened calves, For they too have turned away and have fled together; They did not stand their ground. For the day of their disaster has come upon them, The time of their punishment.

²²Its sound moves along like a serpent; For they move on like an army And come to her as woodcutters with axes.

²³They have cut down her forest,” declares the LORD; “Certainly it will no longer be found, Even though they are more numerous than locusts And are without number.

²⁴The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame, Turned over to the power of the people of the north.”

²⁵The LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings, indeed, Pharaoh and those who trust in him.

²⁶I shall hand them over to those who are seeking their lives, that is, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to his officers. Afterward, however, it will be inhabited as in the days of old,” declares the LORD.

²⁷“But as for you, Jacob My servant, do not fear, Nor be dismayed, Israel! For, see, I am going to save you from far away, And your descendants from the land of their captivity; And Jacob will return and be undisturbed And secure, with no one making him afraid.

²⁸Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares the LORD, “For I am with you. For I will make a complete destruction of all the nations Where I have driven you, Yet I will not make a complete destruction of you; But I will correct you properly And by no means leave you unpunished.”

¹When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta.

²The natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold.

³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

⁷Now in the neighboring parts of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us warmly for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after he prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being cured.

¹⁰They also showed us many honors, and when we were about to set sail, they supplied us with everything we needed.

¹¹After three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead.

¹²After we put in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.

¹³From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, and a day later a south wind came up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found some brothers and sisters, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and that is how we came to Rome.

¹⁵And from there the brothers and sisters, when they heard about us, came as far as the Market of Appius and the Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

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

¹⁷After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.

¹⁸And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there were no grounds for putting me to death.

¹⁹But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation.

²⁰For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, since I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.”

²¹They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor has any of the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for regarding this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³When they had set a day for Paul, people came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.

²⁴Some were being persuaded by the things said by Paul, but others would not believe.

²⁵And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul said one parting statement: “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers,

²⁶saying, ‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, “YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, AND WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, AND WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

²⁷FOR THE HEARTS OF THIS PEOPLE HAVE BECOME INSENSITIVE, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY HARDLY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES; OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, 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 also listen.”

²⁹

³⁰Now Paul stayed two full years in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him,

³¹preaching the kingdom of God and teaching things about the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.