Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

³Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.

⁴For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

⁵But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.

⁶They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,

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

⁸But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.

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

¹⁰And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.

¹¹But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

¹²And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

¹⁴Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

¹⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, 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, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’

¹⁷Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

¹⁸And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’

¹⁹Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

²⁰Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.

²¹He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.

²²And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

²³“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

²⁴Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

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

²⁶Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

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

²⁸Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,

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

³¹“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

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

³³Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

³⁴Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,

³⁵that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

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

³⁷“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one 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 say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ”

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to Aaron and his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they do not profane My holy name by what they dedicate to Me: I am the LORD.

³Say to them: ‘Whoever of all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to the LORD, while he has uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from My presence: I am the LORD.

⁴‘Whatever man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a leper or has a discharge, shall not eat the holy offerings until he is clean. And whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or a man who has had an emission of semen,

⁵or whoever touches any creeping thing by which he would be made unclean, or any person by whom he would become unclean, whatever his uncleanness may be—

⁶the person who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat the holy offerings unless he washes his body with water.

⁷And when the sun goes down he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat the holy offerings, because it is his food.

⁸Whatever dies naturally or is torn by beasts he shall not eat, to defile himself with it: I am the LORD.

⁹‘They shall therefore keep My ordinance, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby, if they profane it: I the LORD sanctify them.

¹⁰‘No outsider shall eat the holy offering; one who dwells with the priest, or a hired servant, shall not eat the holy thing.

¹¹But if the priest buys a person with his money, he may eat it; and one who is born in his house may eat his food.

¹²If the priest’s daughter is married to an outsider, she may not eat of the holy offerings.

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

¹⁴‘And if a man eats the holy offering unintentionally, then he shall restore a holy offering to the priest, and add one-fifth to it.

¹⁵They shall not profane the holy offerings of the children of Israel, which they offer to the LORD,

¹⁶or allow them to bear the guilt of trespass when they eat their holy offerings; for I the LORD sanctify them.’ ”

¹⁷And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁸“Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who offers his sacrifice for any of his vows or for any of his freewill offerings, which they offer to the LORD as a burnt offering—

¹⁹you shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats.

²⁰Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf.

²¹And whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, to fulfill his vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.

²²Those that are blind or broken or maimed, or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to the LORD.

²³Either a bull or a lamb that has any limb too long or too short you may offer as a freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted.

²⁴‘You shall not offer to the LORD what is bruised or crushed, or torn or cut; nor shall you make any offering of them in your land.

²⁵Nor from a foreigner’s hand shall you offer any of these as the bread of your God, because their corruption is in them, and defects are in them. They shall not be accepted on your behalf.’ ”

²⁶And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

²⁷“When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to the LORD.

²⁸Whether it is a cow or ewe, do not kill both her and her young on the same day.

²⁹And when you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, offer it of your own free will.

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

³¹“Therefore you shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am the LORD.

³²You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you,

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

¹But I determined this within myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow.

²For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me?

³And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all.

⁴For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.

⁵But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe.

⁶This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man,

⁷so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.

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

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

¹⁰Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ,

¹¹lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

¹²Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord,

¹³I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia.

¹⁴Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

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

¹⁶To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?

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

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

²Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.

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

⁴Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.

⁵And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

⁶Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.

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

⁸The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

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

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

¹¹“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”

¹Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, And the sternness of his face is changed.

²I say, “Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God.

³Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”

⁴Where the word of a king is, there is power; And who may say to him, “What are you doing?”

⁵He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment,

⁶Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly.

⁷For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur?

⁸No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.

⁹All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.

¹⁰Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity.

¹¹Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

¹²Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him.

¹³But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

¹⁴There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

¹⁵So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

¹⁶When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night,

¹⁷then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.

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

²His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed.

³Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever.

⁴Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

⁵A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion.

⁶Surely he will never be shaken; The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.

⁷He will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

⁸His heart is established; He will not be afraid, Until he sees his desire upon his enemies.

⁹He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted with honor.

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

¹Better is the poor who walks in his integrity Than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

²Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, And he sins who hastens with his feet.

³The foolishness of a man twists his way, And his heart frets against the LORD.

⁴Wealth makes many friends, But the poor is separated from his friend.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies will not escape.

⁶Many entreat the favor of the nobility, And every man is a friend to one who gives gifts.

⁷All the brothers of the poor hate him; How much more do his friends go far from him! He may pursue them with words, yet they abandon him.

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

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies shall perish.

¹⁰Luxury is not fitting for a fool, Much less for a servant to rule over princes.

¹¹The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.

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

¹³A foolish son is the ruin of his father, And the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping.

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

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

¹⁶He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But he who is careless of his ways will die.

¹⁷He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.

¹⁸Chasten your son while there is hope, And do not set your heart on his destruction.

¹⁹A man of great wrath will suffer punishment; For if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.

²⁰Listen to counsel and receive instruction, That you may be wise in your latter days.

²¹There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the LORD’s counsel—that will stand.

²²What is desired in a man is kindness, And a poor man is better than a liar.

²³The fear of the LORD leads to life, And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.

²⁴A lazy man buries his hand in the bowl, And will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

²⁵Strike a scoffer, and the simple will become wary; Rebuke one who has understanding, and he will discern knowledge.

²⁶He who mistreats his father and chases away his mother Is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.

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

²⁸A disreputable witness scorns justice, And the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.

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

¹Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the City of David, which is Zion.

²Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

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

⁴Then they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up.

⁵Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.

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

⁷For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.

⁸The poles extended so 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 from outside. And they are there to this day.

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

¹⁰And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,

¹¹so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

¹²Then Solomon spoke: “The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud.

¹³I have surely built You an exalted house, And a place for You to dwell in forever.”

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

¹⁵And he said: “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying,

¹⁶‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might 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 temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

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

¹⁹Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’

²⁰So the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; and I have filled the position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised; and I have built a temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

²¹And there I have made 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 spread out his hands toward heaven;

²³and he said: “LORD God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.

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

²⁵Therefore, LORD God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’

²⁶And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David my father.

²⁷“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!

²⁸Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today:

²⁹that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.

³⁰And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.

³¹“When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple,

³²then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying 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, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple,

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

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

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

³⁷“When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;

³⁸whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple:

³⁹then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men),

⁴⁰that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.

⁴¹“Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake

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

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

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

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

⁴⁶“When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near;

⁴⁷yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’;

⁴⁸and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name:

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

⁵⁰and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them

⁵¹(for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the iron furnace),

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

⁵³For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.”

⁵⁴And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, that he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.

⁵⁵Then 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, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.

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

⁵⁸that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers.

⁵⁹And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near the LORD our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require,

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

⁶¹Let your heart therefore be loyal to the LORD our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.”

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

⁶³And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the LORD, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

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

⁶⁵At that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven more days—fourteen days.

⁶⁶On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the LORD had done for His servant David, and for Israel His people.

¹The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations.

²Against Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, which was by the River Euphrates in Carchemish, and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

³“Order the buckler and shield, And draw near to battle!

⁴Harness the horses, And mount up, you horsemen! Stand forth with your helmets, Polish the spears, Put on the armor!

⁵Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back? Their mighty ones are beaten down; They have speedily fled, And did not look back, For fear was all around,” says the LORD.

⁶“Do not let the swift flee away, Nor the mighty man escape; They will stumble and fall Toward the north, by the River Euphrates.

⁷“Who is this coming up like a flood, Whose waters move like the rivers?

⁸Egypt rises up like a flood, And its waters move like the rivers; And he says, ‘I will go up and cover the earth, I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.’

⁹Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots! And let the mighty men come forth: The Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield, And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.

¹⁰For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, A day of vengeance, That He may avenge Himself on His adversaries. The sword shall devour; It shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood; For the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice In the north country by the River Euphrates.

¹¹“Go up to Gilead and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt; In vain you will use many medicines; You shall not be cured.

¹²The nations have heard of your shame, And your cry has filled the land; For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty; They both have fallen together.”

¹³The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon would come and strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴“Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol; Proclaim in Noph and in Tahpanhes; Say, ‘Stand fast and prepare yourselves, For the sword devours all around you.’

¹⁵Why are your valiant men swept away? They did not stand Because the LORD drove them away.

¹⁶He made many fall; Yes, one fell upon another. And they said, ‘Arise! Let us go back to our own people And to the land of our nativity From the oppressing sword.’

¹⁷They cried there, ‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise. He has passed by the appointed time!’

¹⁸“As I live,” says the King, Whose name is the LORD of hosts, “Surely as Tabor is among the mountains And as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.

¹⁹O you daughter dwelling in Egypt, Prepare yourself to go into captivity! For Noph shall be waste and desolate, without inhabitant.

²⁰“Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But destruction comes, it comes from the north.

²¹Also her mercenaries are in her midst like fat bulls, For they also are turned back, They have fled away together. They did not stand, For the day of their calamity had come upon them, The time of their punishment.

²²Her noise shall go like a serpent, For they shall march with an army And come against her with axes, Like those who chop wood.

²³“They shall cut down her forest,” says the LORD, “Though it cannot be searched, Because they are innumerable, And more numerous than grasshoppers.

²⁴The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed; She shall be delivered into the hand Of the people of the north.”

²⁵The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will bring punishment on Amon of No, and Pharaoh and Egypt, with their gods and their kings—Pharaoh and those who trust in him.

²⁶And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of his servants. Afterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old,” says the LORD.

²⁷“But do not fear, O My servant Jacob, And do not be dismayed, O Israel! For behold, I will save you from afar, And your offspring from the land of their captivity; Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease; No one shall make him afraid.

²⁸Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the LORD, “For I am with you; For I will make a complete end of all the nations To which I have driven you, But I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you, For I will not leave you wholly unpunished.”

¹Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta.

²And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling 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 on his hand.

⁴So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”

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

⁶However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

⁷In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.

¹⁰They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.

¹¹After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island.

¹²And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days.

¹³From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli,

¹⁴where we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome.

¹⁵And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,

¹⁸who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death.

¹⁹But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation.

²⁰For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”

²¹Then they said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

²⁴And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

²⁵So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,

²⁶saying, ‘Go to this people and say: “Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you will see, and not perceive;

²⁷For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” ’

²⁸“Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!”

²⁹And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

³⁰Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

³¹preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.