Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

²As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way,

³the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”

⁴John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

⁵And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁶Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.

⁷And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

⁸I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

¹⁰And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

¹¹And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

¹²The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

¹³And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

¹⁴Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,

¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

¹⁶Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

¹⁷And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

¹⁸And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.

²⁰And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

²¹And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.

²²And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

²³And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,

²⁴“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God.”

²⁵But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

²⁶And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

²⁷And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

²⁸And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

²⁹And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

³⁰Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.

³¹And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

³²That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.

³³And the whole city was gathered together at the door.

³⁴And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

³⁵And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

³⁶And Simon and those who were with him searched for him,

³⁷and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”

³⁸And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”

³⁹And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

⁴⁰And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”

⁴¹Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”

⁴²And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

⁴³And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once,

⁴⁴and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

⁴⁵But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

²“Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head.

³From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company.

⁴And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.

⁵And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;

⁶from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;

⁷from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;

⁸from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;

⁹from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;

¹⁰from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;

¹¹from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni;

¹²from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;

¹³from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran;

¹⁴from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;

¹⁵from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.”

¹⁶These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

¹⁷Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named,

¹⁸and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head,

¹⁹as the LORD commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰The people of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:

²¹those listed of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

²²Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:

²³those listed of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

²⁴Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:

²⁵those listed of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

²⁶Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

²⁷those listed of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

²⁸Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

²⁹those listed of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

³⁰Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

³¹those listed of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

³²Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

³³those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

³⁴Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

³⁵those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

³⁶Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

³⁷those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

³⁸Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

³⁹those listed of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

⁴⁰Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

⁴¹those listed of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

⁴²Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war:

⁴³those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

⁴⁴These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers' house.

⁴⁵So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel —

⁴⁶all those listed were 603,550.

⁴⁷But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe.

⁴⁸For the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁹“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel.

⁵⁰But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle.

⁵¹When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.

⁵²The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard.

⁵³But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.”

⁵⁴Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

¹We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia,

²for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

³For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord,

⁴begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints —

⁵and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

⁶Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace.

⁷But as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you — see that you excel in this act of grace also.

⁸I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.

⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

¹⁰And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it.

¹¹So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.

¹²For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

¹³For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness

¹⁴your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.

¹⁵As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

¹⁶But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you.

¹⁷For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord.

¹⁸With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel.

¹⁹And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will.

²⁰We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us,

²¹for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man.

²²And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you.

²³As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.

²⁴So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.

¹Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.

²He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land,

³and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded.

⁴And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”

⁵And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven

⁶and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay,

⁷but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

⁸Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”

¹⁰And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.

¹¹And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

¹I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

²As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.

³As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

⁴He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

⁵Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love.

⁶His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!

⁷I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

⁸The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills.

⁹My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice.

¹⁰My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away,

¹¹for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.

¹²The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

¹³The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

¹⁴O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

¹⁵Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”

¹⁶My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies.

¹⁷Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.

¹Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

²Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

³Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

⁴Let those who fear the LORD say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

⁵Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free.

⁶The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

⁷The LORD is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

⁸It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.

⁹It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.

¹⁰All nations surrounded me; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!

¹¹They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!

¹²They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!

¹³I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me.

¹⁴The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

¹⁵Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,

¹⁶the right hand of the LORD exalts, the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”

¹⁷I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.

¹⁸The LORD has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

¹⁹Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.

²⁰This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.

²¹I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.

²²The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

²³This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

²⁴This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

²⁵Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success!

²⁶Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.

²⁷The LORD is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!

²⁸You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you.

²⁹Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.

²It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.

³As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.

⁴Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel;

⁵take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great,

⁷for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. What your eyes have seen

⁸do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?

⁹Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another's secret,

¹⁰lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.

¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

¹²Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

¹³Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.

¹⁴Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.

¹⁵With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.

¹⁶If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.

¹⁷Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.

¹⁸A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.

²⁰Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,

²²for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

²³The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.

²⁴It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.

²⁵Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

²⁶Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory.

²⁸A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

¹At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

²And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people.

³Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.”

⁴Jeroboam's wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.

⁵And the LORD said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.” When she came, she pretended to be another woman.

⁶But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you.

⁷Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel

⁸and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes,

⁹but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back,

¹⁰therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone.

¹¹Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the LORD has spoken it.”’

¹²Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die.

¹³And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the LORD, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

¹⁴Moreover, the LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth,

¹⁵the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the LORD to anger.

¹⁶And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.”

¹⁷Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. And as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.

¹⁸And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

¹⁹Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

²⁰And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

²¹Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.

²²And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done.

²³For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree,

²⁴and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

²⁵In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem.

²⁶He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made,

²⁷and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.

²⁸And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

³⁰And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

³¹And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his place.

¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

²And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

³For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

⁴And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it.

⁵So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

⁶On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

⁷Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled and went out from the city by night by the way of a gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah.

⁸But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.

⁹Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.

¹⁰The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah.

¹¹He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in chains, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

¹²In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month — that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon — Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.

¹³And he burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.

¹⁴And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.

¹⁵And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans.

¹⁶But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

¹⁷And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all the bronze to Babylon.

¹⁸And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the basins and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service;

¹⁹also the small bowls and the fire pans and the basins and the pots and the lampstands and the dishes for incense and the bowls for drink offerings. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver.

²⁰As for the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze bulls that were under the sea, and the stands, which Solomon the king had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these things was beyond weight.

²¹As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, its circumference was twelve cubits, and its thickness was four fingers, and it was hollow.

²²On it was a capital of bronze. The height of the one capital was five cubits. A network and pomegranates, all of bronze, were around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with pomegranates.

²³There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were a hundred upon the network all around.

²⁴And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold;

²⁵and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and seven men of the king's council, who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city.

²⁶And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

²⁷And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

²⁸This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans;

²⁹in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons;

³⁰in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Judeans 745 persons; all the persons were 4,600.

³¹And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.

³²And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

³³So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table,

³⁴and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, until the day of his death, as long as he lived.

¹Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

²And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.

³Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

⁴But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

⁵And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.

⁶These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

⁷And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

⁸And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

⁹Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen.

¹⁰But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

¹¹Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

¹²And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council,

¹³and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law,

¹⁴for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”

¹⁵And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.