Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And as they *approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He *sent two of His disciples,

²and *said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.

³And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately hewill send it back here.”

⁴They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they *untied it.

⁵And some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”

⁶And they told them just as Jesus had said, and they gave them permission.

⁷They *brought the colt to Jesus and *put their cloaks on it; and He sat on it.

⁸And many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields.

⁹And those who went in front and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;

¹⁰Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!”

¹¹And Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple area; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.

¹²On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry.

¹³Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

¹⁴And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.

¹⁵Then they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves;

¹⁶and He would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple grounds.

¹⁷And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written: ‘MY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS’? But you have made it a DEN OF ROBBERS.”

¹⁸And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and they began seeking how to put Him to death; for they were afraid of Him, because all the crowd was astonished at His teaching.

¹⁹And whenever evening came, they would leave the city.

²⁰As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.

²¹And being reminded, Peter *said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree that You cursed has withered.”

²²And Jesus answered and *said to them, “Have faith in God.

²³Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him.

²⁴Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.

²⁵And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for youroffenses.

²⁶[But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive youroffenses.”]

²⁷And they *came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders *came to Him,

²⁸and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?”

²⁹But Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

³⁰Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.”

³¹And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’

³²But should we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet.

³³Answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

¹Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the ears of the LORD; and the LORD heard them and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some at the outskirts of the camp.

²The people then cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire died out.

³So that place was named Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them.

⁴Now the rabble who were among them had greedy cravings; and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?

⁵We remember the fish which we used to eat for free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;

⁶but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna!”

⁷Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium.

⁸The people would roam about and gather it and grind it between two millstones, or pound it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make loaves with it; and its taste was like the taste of cake baked with oil.

⁹When the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna would come down with it.

¹⁰Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each one at the entrance of his tent; and the anger of the LORD became very hot, and Moses was displeased.

¹¹So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have put the burden of all this people on me?

¹²Was it I who conceived all this people? Or did I give birth to them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’?

¹³Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat so that we may eat!’

¹⁴I am not able to carry all this people by myself, because it is too burdensome for me.

¹⁵So if You are going to deal with me this way, please kill me now, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my misery.”

¹⁶The LORD therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their stand there with you.

¹⁷Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take away some of the Spirit who is upon you, and put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it by yourself.

¹⁸And you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, “Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat and you shall eat.

¹⁹You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,

²⁰but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nose and makes you nauseated; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ”

²¹But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am included, are six hundred thousand on foot! Yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’

²²Are flocks and herds to be slaughtered for them, so that it will be sufficient for them? Or are all the fish of the sea to be caught for them, so that it will be sufficient for them?”

²³Then the LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’S power too little? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.”

²⁴So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD. He also gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and positioned them around the tent.

²⁵Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took away some of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. Yet they did not do it again.

²⁶But two men had remained in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other, Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (and they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp.

²⁷So a young man ran and informed Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

²⁸Then Joshua the son of Nun, the personal servant of Moses from his youth, responded and said, “My lord Moses, restrain them!”

²⁹But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the LORD’S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!”

³⁰Then Moses returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.

³¹Now a wind burst forth from the LORD and it brought quail from the sea, and dropped them beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side all around the camp, and about two cubits deep on the surface of the ground.

³²And the people spent all that day, all night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quail (the one who gathered least gathered ten homers) and spread them out for themselves all around the camp.

³³While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very severe plague.

³⁴So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy.

³⁵From Kibroth-hattaavah the people set out for Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth.

¹It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

²Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

³And I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law.

⁴You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace.

⁵For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.

⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

⁷You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?

⁸This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.

⁹A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

¹⁰I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear the punishment, whoever he is.

¹¹But as for me, brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated.

¹²I wish that those who are troubling you would even emasculate themselves.

¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.

¹⁴For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

¹⁵But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

¹⁷For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.

¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

¹⁹Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior,

²⁰idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions,

²¹envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

²⁴Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well.

²⁶Let’s not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

¹Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

²And he took hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

³and he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

⁴Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

⁵The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

⁶Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

⁷When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,

⁸and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.

⁹And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

¹⁰And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them.

¹²And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

¹³And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds.

¹⁴Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

¹⁵And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

²“If one ventures a word with you, will you become impatient? But who can refrain from speaking?

³Behold, you have taught many, And you have strengthened weak hands.

⁴Your words have helped the stumbling to stand, And you have strengthened feeble knees.

⁵But now it comes to you, and you are impatient; It touches you, and you are horrified.

⁶Is your fear of God not your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed?

⁸According to what I have seen, those who plow wrongdoing And those who sow trouble harvest it.

⁹By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they come to an end.

¹⁰The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, And the teeth of the young lions are broken out.

¹¹The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹²“Now a word was brought to me secretly, And my ear received a whisper of it.

¹³Amid disquieting thoughts from visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on people,

¹⁴Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake.

¹⁵Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh stood up.

¹⁶Something was standing still, but I could not recognize its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, then I heard a voice:

¹⁷‘Can mankind be righteous before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?

¹⁸He puts no trust even in His servants; And He accuses His angels of error.

¹⁹How much more those who live in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!

²⁰Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces; Unregarded, they perish forever.

²¹Is their tent-cord not pulled out within them? They die, yet without wisdom.’

¹Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways.

²When you eat the fruit of the labor of your hands, You will be happy and it will go well for you.

³Your wife will be like a fruitful vine Within your house, Your children like olive plants Around your table.

⁴Behold, for so shall a man Who fears the LORD be blessed.

⁵The LORD bless you from Zion, And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.

⁶Indeed, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!

¹Listen, my sons, to the instruction of a father, And pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

²For I give you good teaching; Do not abandon my instruction.

³When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

⁴He taught me and said to me, “Let your heart take hold of my words; Keep my commandments and live;

⁵Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

⁶Do not abandon her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your possessions, acquire understanding.

⁸Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her.

⁹She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I have instructed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; And if you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil people.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹They are not to escape from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, And healing to all their body.

²³Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

²⁴Rid yourself of a deceitful mouth And keep devious speech far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

²⁶Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established.

²⁷Do not turn to the right or to the left; Turn your foot from evil.

¹Now it came about, when the LORD was about to bring Elijah up by a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah left Gilgal with Elisha.

²And Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here please, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

³Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel went out to Elisha and said to him, “Are you aware that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” And he said, “Yes, I am aware; say nothing about it.”

⁴And Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

⁵Then the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; say nothing about it.”

⁶And Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan.

⁸And Elijah took his coat, folded it, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

⁹When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask me what I should do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

¹⁰He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”

¹¹And as they were walking along and talking, behold, a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and they separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.

¹²And Elisha was watching it and he was crying out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” And he did not see Elijah again. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

¹³He also took up the coat of Elijah that had fallen from him, and he went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

¹⁴Then he took the coat of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters, and said, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

¹⁵Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah has settled on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.

¹⁶Then they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men; please let them go and search for your master, in case the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” But he said, “You shall not send anyone.”

¹⁷Yet when they urged him until he was ashamed to refuse, he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men; and they searched for three days, but did not find him.

¹⁸They returned to him while he was staying in Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

¹⁹Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the site of the city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.”

²⁰And he said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.

²¹Then he went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have purified these waters; there shall not come from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.’ ”

²²So the waters have been purified to this day, in accordance with the word of Elisha which he spoke.

²³Now he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the road, some young boys came out from the city and ridiculed him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!”

²⁴When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two of the boys.

²⁵He then went on from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

¹“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword; take and use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair.

²A third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city, and a third you shall scatter to the wind; for I will unsheathe a sword behind them.

³Take also a few hairs in number from them and bind them in the hems of your robes.

⁴Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.

⁵“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘This is Jerusalem; I have placed her at the center of the nations, with lands around her.

⁶But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against My statutes more than the lands which surround her; for they have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.’

⁷Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations that surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor executed My ordinances, nor acted in accordance with the ordinances of the nations around you,’

⁸therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.

⁹And because of all your abominations I will do among you what I have not done, and the like of which I will never do again.

¹⁰Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.

¹¹Therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘Because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, I definitely will also withdraw and My eye will have no pity, and I also will not spare.

¹²A third of you will die by plague or perish by famine among you, a third will fall by the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them.

¹³‘Then My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be appeased; then they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken in My zeal, when I have spent My wrath upon them.

¹⁴Moreover, I will make you a site of ruins and a disgrace among the nations that surround you, in the sight of everyone who passes by.

¹⁵So it will be a disgrace, an object of abuse, a warning, and an object of horror to the nations that surround you when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging reprimands. I, the LORD, have spoken.

¹⁶When I send against them the deadly arrows of famine which were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break off your provision of bread.

¹⁷I will send on you famine and vicious animals, and they will bereave you of children; plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the LORD, have spoken.’ ”

¹Now Paul also came to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

²and he was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium.

³Paul wanted this man to leave with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the ordinances for them to follow which had been determined by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

⁵So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.

⁶They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;

⁷and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;

⁸and passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹So after setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis;

¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city.

¹³And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

¹⁴A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of Thyatira, and a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

¹⁵Now when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

¹⁶It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave woman who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling.

¹⁷She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.”

¹⁸Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

¹⁹But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was suddenly gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities,

²⁰and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble,

²¹and they are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are Romans.”

²²The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.

²³When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;

²⁴and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

²⁶and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

²⁷When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

²⁹And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas;

³⁰and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

³²And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house.

³³And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

³⁴And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.

³⁵Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.”

³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come in person and lead us out.”

³⁸The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans,

³⁹and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them to leave the city.

⁴⁰They left the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and departed.