Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

²“The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.

³So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.

⁴They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

⁵“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.

⁶And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues.

⁷They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’

⁸“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.

⁹And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father.

¹⁰And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.

¹¹The greatest among you must be a servant.

¹²But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

¹³“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.

¹⁴

¹⁵“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!

¹⁶“Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’

¹⁷Blind fools! Which is more important — the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?

¹⁸And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding.

¹⁹How blind! For which is more important — the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

²⁰When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it.

²¹And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it.

²²And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.

²³“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law — justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

²⁴Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!

²⁵“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy — full of greed and self-indulgence!

²⁶You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.

²⁷“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs — beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.

²⁸Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed.

³⁰Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’

³¹“But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

³²Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started.

³³Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?

³⁴“Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.

³⁵As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time — from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar.

³⁶I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation.

³⁷“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.

³⁸And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate.

³⁹For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ”

¹The LORD said to Moses,

²“Tell Aaron and his sons to be very careful with the sacred gifts that the Israelites set apart for me, so they do not bring shame on my holy name. I am the LORD.

³Give them the following instructions. “In all future generations, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean when he approaches the sacred offerings that the people of Israel consecrate to the LORD, he must be cut off from my presence. I am the LORD.

⁴“If any of Aaron’s descendants has a skin disease or any kind of discharge that makes him ceremonially unclean, he may not eat from the sacred offerings until he has been pronounced clean. He also becomes unclean by touching a corpse, or by having an emission of semen,

⁵or by touching a small animal that is unclean, or by touching someone who is ceremonially unclean for any reason.

⁶The man who is defiled in any of these ways will remain unclean until evening. He may not eat from the sacred offerings until he has bathed himself in water.

⁷When the sun goes down, he will be ceremonially clean again and may eat from the sacred offerings, for this is his food.

⁸He may not eat an animal that has died a natural death or has been torn apart by wild animals, for this would defile him. I am the LORD.

⁹“The priests must follow my instructions carefully. Otherwise they will be punished for their sin and will die for violating my instructions. I am the LORD who makes them holy.

¹⁰“No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offerings. Even guests and hired workers in a priest’s home are not allowed to eat them.

¹¹However, if the priest buys a slave for himself, the slave may eat from the sacred offerings. And if his slaves have children, they also may share his food.

¹²If a priest’s daughter marries someone outside the priestly family, she may no longer eat the sacred offerings.

¹³But if she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no children to support her, and she returns to live in her father’s home as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food again. Otherwise, no one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offerings.

¹⁴“Any such person who eats the sacred offerings without realizing it must pay the priest for the amount eaten, plus an additional 20 percent.

¹⁵The priests must not let the Israelites defile the sacred offerings brought to the LORD

¹⁶by allowing unauthorized people to eat them. This would bring guilt upon them and require them to pay compensation. I am the LORD who makes them holy.”

¹⁷And the LORD said to Moses,

¹⁸“Give Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites these instructions, which apply both to native Israelites and to the foreigners living among you. “If you present a gift as a burnt offering to the LORD, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering,

¹⁹you will be accepted only if your offering is a male animal with no defects. It may be a bull, a ram, or a male goat.

²⁰Do not present an animal with defects, because the LORD will not accept it on your behalf.

²¹“If you present a peace offering to the LORD from the herd or the flock, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, you must offer a perfect animal. It may have no defect of any kind.

²²You must not offer an animal that is blind, crippled, or injured, or that has a wart, a skin sore, or scabs. Such animals must never be offered on the altar as special gifts to the LORD.

²³If a bull or lamb has a leg that is too long or too short, it may be offered as a voluntary offering, but it may not be offered to fulfill a vow.

²⁴If an animal has damaged testicles or is castrated, you may not offer it to the LORD. You must never do this in your own land,

²⁵and you must not accept such an animal from foreigners and then offer it as a sacrifice to your God. Such animals will not be accepted on your behalf, for they are mutilated or defective.”

²⁶And the LORD said to Moses,

²⁷“When a calf or lamb or goat is born, it must be left with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a special gift to the LORD.

²⁸But you must not slaughter a mother animal and her offspring on the same day, whether from the herd or the flock.

²⁹When you bring a thanksgiving offering to the LORD, sacrifice it properly so you will be accepted.

³⁰Eat the entire sacrificial animal on the day it is presented. Do not leave any of it until the next morning. I am the LORD.

³¹“You must faithfully keep all my commands by putting them into practice, for I am the LORD.

³²Do not bring shame on my holy name, for I will display my holiness among the people of Israel. I am the LORD who makes you holy.

³³It was I who rescued you from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. I am the LORD.”

¹So I decided that I would not bring you grief with another painful visit.

²For if I cause you grief, who will make me glad? Certainly not someone I have grieved.

³That is why I wrote to you as I did, so that when I do come, I won’t be grieved by the very ones who ought to give me the greatest joy. Surely you all know that my joy comes from your being joyful.

⁴I wrote that letter in great anguish, with a troubled heart and many tears. I didn’t want to grieve you, but I wanted to let you know how much love I have for you.

⁵I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me.

⁶Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough.

⁷Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement.

⁸So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.

⁹I wrote to you as I did to test you and see if you would fully comply with my instructions.

¹⁰When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit,

¹¹so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.

¹²When I came to the city of Troas to preach the Good News of Christ, the Lord opened a door of opportunity for me.

¹³But I had no peace of mind because my dear brother Titus hadn’t yet arrived with a report from you. So I said good-bye and went on to Macedonia to find him.

¹⁴But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.

¹⁵Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.

¹⁶To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?

¹⁷You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.

¹Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.”

²And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it.

³The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones — like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.

⁴Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads.

⁵From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God.

⁶In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back.

⁷The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.

⁸Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty — the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”

⁹Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever),

¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,

¹¹“You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

¹How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness.

²Obey the king since you vowed to God that you would.

³Don’t try to avoid doing your duty, and don’t stand with those who plot evil, for the king can do whatever he wants.

⁴His command is backed by great power. No one can resist or question it.

⁵Those who obey him will not be punished. Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right,

⁶for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble.

⁷Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen?

⁸None of us can hold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death. There is no escaping that obligation, that dark battle. And in the face of death, wickedness will certainly not rescue the wicked.

⁹I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other.

¹⁰I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless.

¹¹When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.

¹²But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off.

¹³The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.

¹⁴And this is not all that is meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless!

¹⁵So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.

¹⁶In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night.

¹⁷I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.

¹Praise the LORD! How joyful are those who fear the LORD and delight in obeying his commands.

²Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.

³They themselves will be wealthy, and their good deeds will last forever.

⁴Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.

⁵Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly.

⁶Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will be long remembered.

⁷They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them.

⁸They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.

⁹They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honor.

¹⁰The wicked will see this and be infuriated. They will grind their teeth in anger; they will slink away, their hopes thwarted.

¹Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool.

²Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.

³People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.

⁴Wealth makes many “friends”; poverty drives them all away.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, nor will a liar escape.

⁶Many seek favors from a ruler; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!

⁷The relatives of the poor despise them; how much more will their friends avoid them! Though the poor plead with them, their friends are gone.

⁸To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will be destroyed.

¹⁰It isn’t right for a fool to live in luxury or for a slave to rule over princes!

¹¹Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

¹²The king’s anger is like a lion’s roar, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish child is a calamity to a father; a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.

¹⁴Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the LORD can give an understanding wife.

¹⁵Lazy people sleep soundly, but idleness leaves them hungry.

¹⁶Keep the commandments and keep your life; despising them leads to death.

¹⁷If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD — and he will repay you!

¹⁸Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives.

¹⁹Hot-tempered people must pay the penalty. If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again.

²⁰Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.

²¹You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.

²²Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest.

²³Fear of the LORD leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm.

²⁴Lazy people take food in their hand but don’t even lift it to their mouth.

²⁵If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded will learn a lesson; if you correct the wise, they will be all the wiser.

²⁶Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother are an embarrassment and a public disgrace.

²⁷If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge.

²⁸A corrupt witness makes a mockery of justice; the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.

²⁹Punishment is made for mockers, and the backs of fools are made to be beaten.

¹Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes — the leaders of the ancestral families of the Israelites. They were to bring the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant to the Temple from its location in the City of David, also known as Zion.

²So all the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the annual Festival of Shelters, which is held in early autumn in the month of Ethanim.

³When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark.

⁴The priests and Levites brought up the Ark of the LORD along with the special tent and all the sacred items that had been in it.

⁵There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count!

⁶Then the priests carried the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple — the Most Holy Place — and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim.

⁷The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles.

⁸These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day.

⁹Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left the land of Egypt.

¹⁰When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the LORD.

¹¹The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple of the LORD.

¹²Then Solomon prayed, “O LORD, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness.

¹³Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever! ”

¹⁴Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing:

¹⁵“Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father,

¹⁶‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. But I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’”

¹⁷Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹⁸But the LORD told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good,

¹⁹but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’

²⁰“And now the LORD has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

²¹And I have prepared a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant that the LORD made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”

²²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire community of Israel. He lifted his hands toward heaven,

²³and he prayed, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven above or on the earth below. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion.

²⁴You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today.

²⁵“And now, O LORD, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow me as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’

²⁶Now, O God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David, my father.

²⁷“But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!

²⁸Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you today.

²⁹May you watch over this Temple night and day, this place where you have said, ‘My name will be there.’ May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place.

³⁰May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.

³¹“If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple,

³²then hear from heaven and judge between your servants — the accuser and the accused. Punish the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.

³³“If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple,

³⁴then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors.

³⁵“If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them,

³⁶then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession.

³⁷“If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns — whatever disaster or disease there is —

³⁸and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this Temple,

³⁹then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart.

⁴⁰Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.

⁴¹“In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name,

⁴²for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple,

⁴³then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name.

⁴⁴“If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to the LORD by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name,

⁴⁵then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause.

⁴⁶“If they sin against you — and who has never sinned? — you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to their land far away or near.

⁴⁷But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’

⁴⁸If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their enemies and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors — toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name —

⁴⁹then hear their prayers and their petition from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause.

⁵⁰Forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all the offenses they have committed against you. Make their captors merciful to them,

⁵¹for they are your people — your special possession — whom you brought out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt.

⁵²“May your eyes be open to my requests and to the requests of your people Israel. May you hear and answer them whenever they cry out to you.

⁵³For when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Sovereign LORD, you told your servant Moses that you had set Israel apart from all the nations of the earth to be your own special possession.”

⁵⁴When Solomon finished making these prayers and petitions to the LORD, he stood up in front of the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands raised toward heaven.

⁵⁵He stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire congregation of Israel:

⁵⁶“Praise the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises he gave through his servant Moses.

⁵⁷May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us.

⁵⁸May he give us the desire to do his will in everything and to obey all the commands, decrees, and regulations that he gave our ancestors.

⁵⁹And may these words that I have prayed in the presence of the LORD be before him constantly, day and night, so that the LORD our God may give justice to me and to his people Israel, according to each day’s needs.

⁶⁰Then people all over the earth will know that the LORD alone is God and there is no other.

⁶¹And may you be completely faithful to the LORD our God. May you always obey his decrees and commands, just as you are doing today.”

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

⁶³Solomon offered to the LORD a peace offering of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. And so the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the Temple of the LORD.

⁶⁴That same day the king consecrated the central area of the courtyard in front of the LORD’s Temple. He offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of peace offerings there, because the bronze altar in the LORD’s presence was too small to hold all the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵Then Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters in the presence of the LORD our God. A large congregation had gathered from as far away as Lebo-hamath in the north and the Brook of Egypt in the south. The celebration went on for fourteen days in all — seven days for the dedication of the altar and seven days for the Festival of Shelters.

⁶⁶After the festival was over, Solomon sent the people home. They blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad because the LORD had been good to his servant David and to his people Israel.

¹The following messages were given to Jeremiah the prophet from the LORD concerning foreign nations.

²This message concerning Egypt was given in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, the king of Judah, on the occasion of the battle of Carchemish when Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, and his army were defeated beside the Euphrates River by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

³“Prepare your shields, and advance into battle!

⁴Harness the horses, and mount the stallions. Take your positions. Put on your helmets. Sharpen your spears, and prepare your armor.

⁵But what do I see? The Egyptian army flees in terror. The bravest of its fighting men run without a backward glance. They are terrorized at every turn,” says the LORD.

⁶“The swiftest runners cannot flee; the mightiest warriors cannot escape. By the Euphrates River to the north, they stumble and fall.

⁷“Who is this, rising like the Nile at floodtime, overflowing all the land?

⁸It is the Egyptian army, overflowing all the land, boasting that it will cover the earth like a flood, destroying cities and their people.

⁹Charge, you horses and chariots; attack, you mighty warriors of Egypt! Come, all you allies from Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia who are skilled with the shield and bow!

¹⁰For this is the day of the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, a day of vengeance on his enemies. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, yes, until it is drunk with your blood! The Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will receive a sacrifice today in the north country beside the Euphrates River.

¹¹“Go up to Gilead to get medicine, O virgin daughter of Egypt! But your many treatments will bring you no healing.

¹²The nations have heard of your shame. The earth is filled with your cries of despair. Your mightiest warriors will run into each other and fall down together.”

¹³Then the LORD gave the prophet Jeremiah this message about King Nebuchadnezzar’s plans to attack Egypt.

¹⁴“Shout it out in Egypt! Publish it in the cities of Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes! Mobilize for battle, for the sword will devour everyone around you.

¹⁵Why have your warriors fallen? They cannot stand, for the LORD has knocked them down.

¹⁶They stumble and fall over each other and say among themselves, ‘Come, let’s go back to our people, to the land of our birth. Let’s get away from the sword of the enemy!’

¹⁷There they will say, ‘Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is a loudmouth who missed his opportunity!’

¹⁸“As surely as I live,” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “one is coming against Egypt who is as tall as Mount Tabor, or as Mount Carmel by the sea!

¹⁹Pack up! Get ready to leave for exile, you citizens of Egypt! The city of Memphis will be destroyed, without a single inhabitant.

²⁰Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer, but a horsefly from the north is on its way!

²¹Egypt’s mercenaries have become like fattened calves. They, too, will turn and run, for it is a day of great disaster for Egypt, a time of great punishment.

²²Egypt flees, silent as a serpent gliding away. The invading army marches in; they come against her with axes like woodsmen.

²³They will cut down her people like trees,” says the LORD, “for they are more numerous than locusts.

²⁴Egypt will be humiliated; she will be handed over to people from the north.”

²⁵The LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes, and all the other gods of Egypt. I will punish its rulers and Pharaoh, too, and all who trust in him.

²⁶I will hand them over to those who want them killed — to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army. But afterward the land will recover from the ravages of war. I, the LORD, have spoken!

²⁷“But do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel. For I will bring you home again from distant lands, and your children will return from their exile. Israel will return to a life of peace and quiet, and no one will terrorize them.

²⁸Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, for I am with you,” says the LORD. “I will completely destroy the nations to which I have exiled you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you, but with justice; I cannot let you go unpunished.”

¹Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta.

²The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.

³As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand.

⁴The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.”

⁵But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed.

⁶The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.

⁷Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days.

⁸As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him.

⁹Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed.

¹⁰As a result we were showered with honors, and when the time came to sail, people supplied us with everything we would need for the trip.

¹¹It was three months after the shipwreck that we set sail on another ship that had wintered at the island — an Alexandrian ship with the twin gods as its figurehead.

¹²Our first stop was Syracuse, where we stayed three days.

¹³From there we sailed across to Rhegium. A day later a south wind began blowing, so the following day we sailed up the coast to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found some believers, who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵The brothers and sisters in Rome had heard we were coming, and they came to meet us at the Forum on the Appian Way. Others joined us at The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he was encouraged and thanked God.

¹⁶When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to have his own private lodging, though he was guarded by a soldier.

¹⁷Three days after Paul’s arrival, he called together the local Jewish leaders. He said to them, “Brothers, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Roman government, even though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors.

¹⁸The Romans tried me and wanted to release me, because they found no cause for the death sentence.

¹⁹But when the Jewish leaders protested the decision, I felt it necessary to appeal to Caesar, even though I had no desire to press charges against my own people.

²⁰I asked you to come here today so we could get acquainted and so I could explain to you that I am bound with this chain because I believe that the hope of Israel — the Messiah — has already come.”

²¹They replied, “We have had no letters from Judea or reports against you from anyone who has come here.

²²But we want to hear what you believe, for the only thing we know about this movement is that it is denounced everywhere.”

²³So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul’s lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening.

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

²⁵And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,

²⁶‘Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend.

²⁷For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes — so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’

²⁸So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.”

²⁹

³⁰For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him,

³¹boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.