Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

²Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.”

³Then the chief priests accused him of many things.

⁴Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.”

⁵But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

⁶Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked.

⁷Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection.

⁸So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom.

⁹Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”

¹⁰For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over.

¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead.

¹²Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?”

¹³They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

¹⁴Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

¹⁶Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort.

¹⁷And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him.

¹⁸And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

¹⁹They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him.

²⁰After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

²¹They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.

²²Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).

²³And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.

²⁴And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.

²⁵It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.

²⁶The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”

²⁷And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left.

²⁸

²⁹Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days,

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

³¹In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.

³²Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

³³When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

³⁴At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

³⁵When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.”

³⁶And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”

³⁷Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

³⁸And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

³⁹Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

⁴⁰There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.

⁴¹These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

⁴²When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,

⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

⁴⁴Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time.

⁴⁵When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph.

⁴⁶Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.

⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

²Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you,

³and you make an offering by fire to the LORD from the herd or from the flock — whether a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed festivals — to make a pleasing odor for the LORD,

⁴then whoever presents such an offering to the LORD shall present also a grain offering, one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour, mixed with one-fourth of a hin of oil.

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

⁶For a ram, you shall offer a grain offering, two-tenths of an ephah of choice 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, a pleasing odor to the LORD.

⁸When you offer a bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as an offering of well-being to the LORD,

⁹then you shall present with the bull a grain offering, three-tenths of an ephah of choice flour, mixed with half a hin of oil,

¹⁰and you shall present as a drink offering half a hin of wine, as an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD.

¹¹Thus it shall be done for each ox or ram, or for each of the male lambs or the kids.

¹²According to the number that you offer, so you shall do with each and every one.

¹³Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way, in presenting an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD.

¹⁴An alien who lives with you, or who takes up permanent residence among you, and wishes to offer an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD, shall do as you do.

¹⁵As for the assembly, there shall be for both you and the resident alien a single statute, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you and the alien shall be alike before the LORD.

¹⁶You and the alien who resides with you shall have the same law and the same ordinance.

¹⁷The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

¹⁸Speak to the Israelites and say to them: After you come into the land to which I am bringing you,

¹⁹whenever you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a donation to the LORD.

²⁰From your first batch of dough you shall present a loaf as a donation; you shall present it just as you present a donation from the threshing floor.

²¹Throughout your generations you shall give to the LORD a donation from the first of your batch of dough.

²²But if you unintentionally fail to observe all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses —

²³everything that the LORD has commanded you by Moses, from the day the LORD gave commandment and thereafter, throughout your generations —

²⁴then if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, the whole congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the LORD, together with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.

²⁵The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the Israelites, and they shall be forgiven; it was unintentional, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their error.

²⁶All the congregation of the Israelites shall be forgiven, as well as the aliens residing among them, because the whole people was involved in the error.

²⁷An individual who sins unintentionally shall present a female goat a year old for a sin offering.

²⁸And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the one who commits an error, when it is unintentional, to make atonement for the person, who then shall be forgiven.

²⁹For both the native among the Israelites and the alien residing among them — you shall have the same law for anyone who acts in error.

³⁰But whoever acts high-handedly, whether a native or an alien, affronts the LORD, and shall be cut off from among the people.

³¹Because of having despised the word of the LORD and broken his commandment, such a person shall be utterly cut off and bear the guilt.

³²When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day.

³³Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses, Aaron, and to the whole congregation.

³⁴They put him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him.

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

³⁶The whole congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³⁷The LORD said to Moses:

³⁸Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner.

³⁹You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes.

⁴⁰So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you shall be holy to 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.

¹This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles —

²for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you,

³and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words,

⁴a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.

⁵In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:

⁶that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

⁷Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power.

⁸Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ,

⁹and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things;

¹⁰so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

¹¹This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

¹²in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

¹³I pray therefore that you may not lose heart over my sufferings for you; they are your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.

¹⁶I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit,

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

¹⁸I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,

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

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:

²“How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind?

³Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?

⁴If your children sinned against him, he delivered them into the power of their transgression.

⁵If you will seek God and make supplication to the Almighty,

⁶if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore to you your rightful place.

⁷Though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great.

⁸“For inquire now of bygone generations, and consider what their ancestors have found;

⁹for we are but of yesterday, and we know nothing, for our days on earth are but a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you and utter words out of their understanding?

¹¹“Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water?

¹²While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant.

¹³Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish.

¹⁴Their confidence is gossamer, a spider’s house their trust.

¹⁵If one leans against its house, it will not stand; if one lays hold of it, it will not endure.

¹⁶The wicked thrive before the sun, and their shoots spread over the garden.

¹⁷Their roots twine around the stoneheap; they live among the rocks.

¹⁸If they are destroyed from their place, then it will deny them, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’

¹⁹See, these are their happy ways, and out of the earth still others will spring.

²⁰“See, God will not reject a blameless person, nor take the hand of evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouts of joy.

²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

¹O LORD, remember in David’s favor all the hardships he endured;

²how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,

³“I will not enter my house or get into 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.”

⁶We heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar.

⁷“Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool.”

⁸Rise up, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.

⁹Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your faithful shout for joy.

¹⁰For your servant David’s sake do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

¹¹The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.

¹²If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne.”

¹³For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation:

¹⁴“This is my resting place forever; here I will reside, for I have desired it.

¹⁵I will abundantly bless its provisions; I will satisfy its poor with bread.

¹⁶Its priests I will clothe with salvation, and its faithful will shout for joy.

¹⁷There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.

¹⁸His enemies I will clothe with disgrace, but on him, his crown will gleam.”

¹Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?

²On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand;

³beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out:

⁴“To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live.

⁵O simple ones, learn prudence; acquire intelligence, you who lack it.

⁶Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right;

⁷for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

⁸All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.

⁹They are all straight to one who understands and right to those who find knowledge.

¹⁰Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold;

¹¹for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

¹²I, wisdom, live with prudence, and I attain knowledge and discretion.

¹³The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

¹⁴I have good advice and sound wisdom; I have insight, I have strength.

¹⁵By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just;

¹⁶by me rulers rule, and nobles, all who govern rightly.

¹⁷I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

¹⁸Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and prosperity.

¹⁹My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.

²⁰I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,

²¹endowing with wealth those who love me, and filling their treasuries.

²²The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago.

²³Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

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

²⁵Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth —

²⁶when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil.

²⁷When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

²⁸when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,

²⁹when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

³⁰then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,

³¹rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.

³²“And now, my children, listen to me: happy are those who keep my ways.

³³Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.

³⁴Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.

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

³⁶but those who miss me injure themselves; all who hate me love death.”

¹Now the company of prophets said to Elisha, “As you see, the place where we live under your charge is too small for us.

²Let us go to the Jordan, and let us collect logs there, one for each of us, and build a place there for us to live.” He answered, “Do so.”

³Then one of them said, “Please come with your servants.” And he answered, “I will.”

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

⁵But as one was felling a log, his ax head fell into the water; he cried out, “Alas, master! It was borrowed.”

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

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

⁸Once when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he took counsel with his officers. He said, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.”

⁹But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Take care not to pass this place, because the Arameans are going down there.”

¹⁰The king of Israel sent word to the place of which the man of God spoke. More than once or twice he warned such a place so that it was on the alert.

¹¹The mind of the king of Aram was greatly perturbed because of this; he called his officers and said to them, “Now tell me who among us sides with the king of Israel?”

¹²Then one of his officers said, “No one, my lord king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.”

¹³He said, “Go and find where he is; I will send and seize him.” He was told, “He is in Dothan.”

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

¹⁵When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, “Alas, master! What shall we do?”

¹⁶He replied, “Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.”

¹⁷Then Elisha prayed: “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

¹⁸When the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, “Strike this people, please, with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked.

¹⁹Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.

²⁰As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men so that they may see.” The LORD opened their eyes, and they saw that they were inside Samaria.

²¹When the king of Israel saw them he said to Elisha, “Father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”

²²He answered, “No! Did you capture with your sword and your bow those whom you want to kill? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink; and let them go to their master.”

²³So he prepared for them a great feast; after they ate and drank, he sent them on their way, and they went to their master. And the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel.

²⁴Some time later King Ben-hadad of Aram mustered his entire army; he marched against Samaria and laid siege to it.

²⁵As the siege continued, famine in Samaria became so great that a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver.

²⁶Now as the king of Israel was walking on the city wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help, my lord king!”

²⁷He said, “No! Let the LORD help you. How can I help you? From the threshing floor or from the wine press?”

²⁸But then the king asked her, “What is your complaint?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son; we will eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’

²⁹So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son and we will eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.”

³⁰When the king heard the words of the woman he tore his clothes — now since he was walking on the city wall, the people could see that he had sackcloth on his body underneath —

³¹and he said, “So may God do to me, and more, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stays on his shoulders today.”

³²So he dispatched a man from his presence. Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Are you aware that this murderer has sent someone to take off my head? When the messenger comes, see that you shut the door and hold it closed against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

³³While he was still speaking with them, the king came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the LORD! Why should I hope in the LORD any longer?”

¹Then he cried in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, you executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.”

²And six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand; among them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case 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 on which it rested to the threshold of the house. The LORD called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his side;

⁴and said to him, “Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of those who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”

⁵To the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and kill; your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity.

⁶Cut down old men, young men and young women, little children and women, but touch no one who has the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the house.

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

⁸While they were killing, and I was left alone, I fell prostrate on my face and cried out, “Ah Lord GOD! will you destroy all who remain of Israel as you pour out your wrath upon Jerusalem?”

⁹He said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; 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.’

¹⁰As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity, but I will bring down their deeds upon their heads.”

¹¹Then the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his side, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.”

¹After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples; and after encouraging them and saying farewell, he left for Macedonia.

²When he had gone through those regions and had given the believers much encouragement, he came to Greece,

³where he stayed for three months. He was about to set sail for Syria when a plot was made against him by the Jews, and so he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Beroea, by Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, by Gaius from Derbe, and by Timothy, as well as by Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.

⁵They went ahead and were waiting for us in Troas;

⁶but we sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we joined them in Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were meeting.

⁹A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down, and bending over him took him in his arms, and said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.”

¹¹Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left.

¹²Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little comforted.

¹³We went ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for he had made this arrangement, intending to go by land himself.

¹⁴When he met us in Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene.

¹⁵We sailed from there, and on the following day we arrived opposite Chios. The next day we touched at Samos, and the day after that we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; he was eager to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷From Miletus he sent a message to Ephesus, asking the elders of the church to meet him.

¹⁸When they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day that I set foot in Asia,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, enduring the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.

²⁰I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house,

²¹as I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus.

²²And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me.

²⁴But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.

²⁵“And now I know that none of you, among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom, will ever see my face again.

²⁶Therefore I declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,

²⁷for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.

²⁹I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

³⁰Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them.

³¹Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with tears.

³²And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified.

³³I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing.

³⁴You know for yourselves that I worked with my own hands to support myself and my companions.

³⁵In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶When he had finished speaking, he knelt down with them all and prayed.

³⁷There was much weeping among them all; they embraced Paul and kissed him,

³⁸grieving especially because of what he had said, that they would not see him again. Then they brought him to the ship.