Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him,

²for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”

³And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.

⁴There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that?

⁵For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.

⁶But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.

⁷For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.

⁸ She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.

⁹And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.

¹¹And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

¹²And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”

¹³And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him,

¹⁴and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’

¹⁵And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”

¹⁶And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷And when it was evening, he came with the twelve.

¹⁸And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?”

²⁰He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.

²¹For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

²²And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.”

²³And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.

²⁴And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

²⁵Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

²⁷And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

²⁸But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”

²⁹Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”

³⁰And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

³¹But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

³²And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”

³³And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.

³⁴And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”

³⁵And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

³⁶And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

³⁷And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?

³⁸ Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.

⁴⁰And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him.

⁴¹And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴²Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

⁴³And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

⁴⁴Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.”

⁴⁵And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him.

⁴⁶And they laid hands on him and seized him.

⁴⁷But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

⁴⁸And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me?

⁴⁹ Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.”

⁵⁰And they all left him and fled.

⁵¹And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him,

⁵²but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

⁵³And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.

⁵⁴And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire.

⁵⁵Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none.

⁵⁶For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.

⁵⁷And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying,

⁵⁸“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’”

⁵⁹Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.

⁶⁰And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”

⁶¹But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”

⁶²And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

⁶³And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need?

⁶⁴You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.

⁶⁵And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.

⁶⁶And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came,

⁶⁷and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”

⁶⁸But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed.

⁶⁹And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.”

⁷⁰But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”

⁷¹But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.”

⁷²And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

¹Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.

²And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!

³Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”

⁴And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

⁵Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.

⁶And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes

⁷and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.

⁸If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.

⁹Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”

¹⁰Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

¹¹And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?

¹²I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

¹³But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them,

¹⁴and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

¹⁵Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say,

¹⁶‘It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’

¹⁷And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying,

¹⁸‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’

¹⁹Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

²⁰Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word.

²¹But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,

²²none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice,

²³shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.

²⁴But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

²⁵Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

²⁶And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

²⁷“How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me.

²⁸Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you:

²⁹your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me,

³⁰not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

³¹But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected.

³²But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.

³³And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.

³⁴According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’

³⁵I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”

³⁶And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land —

³⁷the men who brought up a bad report of the land — died by plague before the LORD.

³⁸Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

³⁹When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly.

⁴⁰And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned.”

⁴¹But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the LORD, when that will not succeed?

⁴²Do not go up, for the LORD is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies.

⁴³For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.”

⁴⁴But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp.

⁴⁵Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.

¹And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

²in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience —

³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved —

⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

¹¹Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands —

¹²remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

¹⁵by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,

¹⁶and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

¹⁷And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.

¹⁸For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

¹⁹So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

²¹in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

²²In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

¹“Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand?

²Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,

³so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me.

⁴When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn.

⁵My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.

⁶My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope.

⁷“Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good.

⁸The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.

⁹As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;

¹⁰he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore.

¹¹“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹²Am I the sea, or a sea monster, that you set a guard over me?

¹³When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,’

¹⁴then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions,

¹⁵so that I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones.

¹⁶I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.

¹⁷What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him,

¹⁸visit him every morning and test him every moment?

¹⁹How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?

²⁰If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you?

²¹Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be.”

¹O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.

²But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.

¹My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you;

²keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;

³bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend,

⁵to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.

⁶For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice,

⁷and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense,

⁸passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house

⁹in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness.

¹⁰And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.

¹¹She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home;

¹²now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait.

¹³She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to him,

¹⁴“I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows;

¹⁵so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.

¹⁶I have spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egyptian linen;

¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love.

¹⁹For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey;

²⁰he took a bag of money with him; at full moon he will come home.”

²¹With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.

²²All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast

²³till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths,

²⁶for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng.

²⁷Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.

¹Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

²Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife.

³She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

⁴So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.”

⁵And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

⁶And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

⁷And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”

⁸But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

⁹So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house.

¹⁰And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”

¹¹But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.

¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

¹³But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”

¹⁴So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

¹⁵Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.”

¹⁶But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

¹⁷Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the LORD.

¹⁸In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.”

¹⁹He said to him, “Go in peace.” But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance,

²⁰Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

²¹So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?”

²²And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’”

²³And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi.

²⁴And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed.

²⁵He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.”

²⁶But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants?

²⁷Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.

¹In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there.

²Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal.

³He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

⁴And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley.

⁵Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy.

⁶And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”

⁷And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall.

⁸Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance.

⁹And he said to me, “Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.”

¹⁰So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel.

¹¹And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up.

¹²Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

¹³He said also to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”

¹⁴Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

¹⁵Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.”

¹⁶And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east.

¹⁷Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations that they commit here, that they should fill the land with violence and provoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their nose.

¹⁸Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

¹And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.

²And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.”

⁴And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”

⁵On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

⁷There were about twelve men in all.

⁸And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

¹²so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

¹³Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”

¹⁴Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.

¹⁵But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”

¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.

¹⁸Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.

¹⁹And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

²¹Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

²²And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.

²⁴For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.

²⁵These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.

²⁶And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.

²⁷And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel.

³⁰But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him.

³¹And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater.

³²Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

³³Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd.

³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?

³⁶Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.

³⁷For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess.

³⁸If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

³⁹But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.

⁴⁰For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.”

⁴¹And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.