Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.

²Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered and said to him, “It is as you say.”

³And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing.

⁴Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!”

⁵But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.

⁶Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.

⁷And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.

⁸Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.

⁹But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

¹⁰For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.

¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.

¹²Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”

¹³So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!”

¹⁴Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”

¹⁵So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

¹⁶Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.

¹⁷And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head,

¹⁸and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

¹⁹Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.

²⁰And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

²¹Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

²²And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.

²³Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.

²⁴And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.

²⁵Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.

²⁶And the inscription of His accusation was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

²⁷With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.

²⁸So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.”

²⁹And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days,

³⁰save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”

³¹Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.

³²Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

³³Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

³⁴And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

³⁵Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!”

³⁶Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”

³⁷And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.

³⁸Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

³⁹So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

⁴⁰There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome,

⁴¹who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

⁴²Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

⁴⁴Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time.

⁴⁵So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

⁴⁶Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.

⁴⁷And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.

¹And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving to you,

³and you make an offering by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or in your appointed feasts, to make a sweet aroma to the LORD, from the herd or the flock,

⁴then he who presents his offering to the LORD shall bring a grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil;

⁵and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering you shall prepare with the burnt offering or the sacrifice, for each lamb.

⁶Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil;

⁷and as a drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine as a sweet aroma to the LORD.

⁸And when you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering, or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, or as a peace offering to the LORD,

⁹then shall be offered with the young bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil;

¹⁰and you shall bring as the drink offering half a hin of wine as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

¹¹‘Thus it shall be done for each young bull, for each ram, or for each lamb or young goat.

¹²According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do with everyone according to their number.

¹³All who are native-born shall do these things in this manner, in presenting an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

¹⁴And if a stranger dwells with you, or whoever is among you throughout your generations, and would present an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD, just as you do, so shall he do.

¹⁵One ordinance shall be for you of the assembly and for the stranger who dwells with you, an ordinance forever throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD.

¹⁶One law and one custom shall be for you and for the stranger who dwells with you.’ ”

¹⁷Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁸“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land to which I bring you,

¹⁹then it will be, when you eat of the bread of the land, that you shall offer up a heave offering to the LORD.

²⁰You shall offer up a cake of the first of your ground meal as a heave offering; as a heave offering of the threshing floor, so shall you offer it up.

²¹Of the first of your ground meal you shall give to the LORD a heave offering throughout your generations.

²²‘If you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments which the LORD has spoken to Moses—

²³all that the LORD has commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day the LORD gave commandment and onward throughout your generations—

²⁴then it will be, if it is unintentionally committed, without the knowledge of the congregation, that the whole congregation shall offer one young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one kid of the goats as a sin offering.

²⁵So the priest shall make atonement for the whole congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them, for it was unintentional; they shall bring their offering, an offering made by fire to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their unintended sin.

²⁶It shall be forgiven the whole congregation of the children of Israel and the stranger who dwells among them, because all the people did it unintentionally.

²⁷‘And if a person sins unintentionally, then he shall bring a female goat in its first year as a sin offering.

²⁸So the priest shall make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally, when he sins unintentionally before the LORD, to make atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.

²⁹You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwells among them.

³⁰‘But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the LORD, and he shall be cut off from among his people.

³¹Because he has despised the word of the LORD, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.’ ”

³²Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.

³³And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.

³⁴They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him.

³⁵Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”

³⁶So, as the LORD commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.

³⁷Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

³⁸“Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.

³⁹And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined,

⁴⁰and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.

⁴¹I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.”

¹For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—

²if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,

³how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,

⁴by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),

⁵which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:

⁶that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,

⁷of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.

⁸To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

⁹and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;

¹⁰to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,

¹¹according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

¹²in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.

¹³Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁵from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

¹⁶that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,

¹⁷that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

¹⁸may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—

¹⁹to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

²¹to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

²“How long will you speak these things, And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

³Does God subvert judgment? Or does the Almighty pervert justice?

⁴If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression.

⁵If you would earnestly seek God And make your supplication to the Almighty,

⁶If you were pure and upright, Surely now He would awake for you, And prosper your rightful dwelling place.

⁷Though your beginning was small, Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.

⁸“For inquire, please, of the former age, And consider the things discovered by their fathers;

⁹For we were born yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days on earth are a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you, And utter words from their heart?

¹¹“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh? Can the reeds flourish without water?

¹²While it is yet green and not cut down, It withers before any other plant.

¹³So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the hypocrite shall perish,

¹⁴Whose confidence shall be cut off, And whose trust is a spider’s web.

¹⁵He leans on his house, but it does not stand. He holds it fast, but it does not endure.

¹⁶He grows green in the sun, And his branches spread out in his garden.

¹⁷His roots wrap around the rock heap, And look for a place in the stones.

¹⁸If he is destroyed from his place, Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’

¹⁹“Behold, this is the joy of His way, And out of the earth others will grow.

²⁰Behold, God will not cast away the blameless, Nor will He uphold the evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughing, And your lips with rejoicing.

²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, And the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.”

¹A Song of Ascents. [1] LORD, remember David And all his afflictions;

²How he swore to the LORD, And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:

³“Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, Or go up to the comfort of my bed;

⁴I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids,

⁵Until I find a place for the LORD, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

⁶Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; We found it in the fields of the woods.

⁷Let us go into His tabernacle; Let us worship at His footstool.

⁸Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.

⁹Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your saints shout for joy.

¹⁰For Your servant David’s sake, Do not turn away the face of Your Anointed.

¹¹The LORD has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from it: “I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body.

¹²If your sons will keep My covenant And My testimony which I shall teach them, Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.”

¹³For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place:

¹⁴“This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

¹⁵I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.

¹⁶I will also clothe her priests with salvation, And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

¹⁷There I will make the horn of David grow; I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed.

¹⁸His enemies I will clothe with shame, But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”

¹Does not wisdom cry out, And understanding lift up her voice?

²She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, Beside the way, where the paths meet.

³She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, At the entrance of the doors:

⁴“To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men.

⁵O you simple ones, understand prudence, And you fools, be of an understanding heart.

⁶Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, And from the opening of my lips will come right things;

⁷For my mouth will speak truth; Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

⁸All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.

⁹They are all plain to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge.

¹⁰Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold;

¹¹For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

¹²“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And find out knowledge and discretion.

¹³The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.

¹⁴Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength.

¹⁵By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice.

¹⁶By me princes rule, and nobles, All the judges of the earth.

¹⁷I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.

¹⁸Riches and honor are with me, Enduring riches and righteousness.

¹⁹My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, And my revenue than choice silver.

²⁰I traverse the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice,

²¹That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, That I may fill their treasuries.

²²“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old.

²³I have been established from everlasting, From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.

²⁴When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abounding with water.

²⁵Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, I was brought forth;

²⁶While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, Or the primal dust of the world.

²⁷When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,

²⁸When He established the clouds above, When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,

²⁹When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth,

³⁰Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him,

³¹Rejoicing in His inhabited world, And my delight was with the sons of men.

³²“Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who keep my ways.

³³Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it.

³⁴Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors.

³⁵For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the LORD;

³⁶But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death.”

¹And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us.

²Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.” So he answered, “Go.”

³Then one said, “Please consent to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.”

⁴So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.

⁵But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.”

⁶So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float.

⁷Therefore he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

⁸Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”

⁹And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.”

¹⁰Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice.

¹¹Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”

¹²And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” And it was told him, saying, “Surely he is in Dothan.”

¹⁴Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

¹⁶So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

¹⁷And Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

¹⁸So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

¹⁹Now Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” But he led them to Samaria.

²⁰So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, “LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria!

²¹Now when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”

²²But he answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.”

²³Then he prepared a great feast for them; and after they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of Israel.

²⁴And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.

²⁵And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.

²⁶Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

²⁷And he said, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?”

²⁸Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’

²⁹So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”

³⁰Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and as he passed by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his body.

³¹Then he said, “God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!”

³²But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent someone to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

³³And while he was still talking with them, there was the messenger, coming down to him; and then the king said, “Surely this calamity is from the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”

¹Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.”

²And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side;

⁴and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”

⁵To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity.

⁶Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

⁷Then He said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city.

⁸So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?”

⁹Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!’

¹⁰And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.”

¹¹Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, “I have done as You commanded me.”

¹After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia.

²Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece

³and stayed three months. And when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia—also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

⁵These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas.

⁶But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days.

⁷Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together.

⁹And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.”

¹¹Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed.

¹²And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.

¹³Then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, there intending to take Paul on board; for so he had given orders, intending himself to go on foot.

¹⁴And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.

¹⁵We sailed from there, and the next day came opposite Chios. The following day we arrived at Samos and stayed at Trogyllium. The next day we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost.

¹⁷From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.

¹⁸And when they had come to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews;

²⁰how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house,

²¹testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

²²And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.

²⁴But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

²⁵“And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more.

²⁶Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.

²⁷For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

²⁸Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

²⁹For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

³⁰Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

³¹Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

³²“So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

³³I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.

³⁴Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.

³⁵I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁶And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

³⁷Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him,

³⁸sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.