Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.

²Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

³And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”

⁴But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large.

⁵And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

⁶But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.

⁷But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”

⁸So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

⁹Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.

¹⁰She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.

¹¹And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

¹²After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.

¹³And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

¹⁴Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

¹⁵And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

¹⁶He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁷And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

¹⁸they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

²⁰And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

¹Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men;

²and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown.

³They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

⁴So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face;

⁵and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him.

⁶Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company;

⁷put fire in them and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the LORD chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

⁸Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi:

⁹Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to serve them;

¹⁰and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also?

¹¹Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD. And what is Aaron that you complain against him?”

¹²And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up!

¹³Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should keep acting like a prince over us?

¹⁴Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”

¹⁵Then Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”

¹⁶And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company be present before the LORD—you and they, as well as Aaron.

¹⁷Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.”

¹⁸So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron.

¹⁹And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

²¹“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”

²²Then they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?”

²³So the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁴“Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’ ”

²⁵Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.

²⁶And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.”

²⁷So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little children.

²⁸And Moses said: “By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will.

²⁹If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.

³⁰But if the LORD creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the LORD.”

³¹Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them,

³²and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods.

³³So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.

³⁴Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also!”

³⁵And a fire came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.

³⁶Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

³⁷“Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, to pick up the censers out of the blaze, for they are holy, and scatter the fire some distance away.

³⁸The censers of these men who sinned against their own souls, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar. Because they presented them before the LORD, therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel.”

³⁹So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned up had presented, and they were hammered out as a covering on the altar,

⁴⁰to be a memorial to the children of Israel that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the LORD, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, just as the LORD had said to him through Moses.

⁴¹On the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.”

⁴²Now it happened, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting; and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.

⁴³Then Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting.

⁴⁴And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁵“Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.

⁴⁶So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the LORD. The plague has begun.”

⁴⁷Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people.

⁴⁸And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.

⁴⁹Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the Korah incident.

⁵⁰So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, for the plague had stopped.

¹I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,

²with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,

³endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;

⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

⁶one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

⁷But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

⁸Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”

⁹(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?

¹⁰He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,

¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

¹⁷This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,

¹⁸having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;

¹⁹who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

²⁰But you have not so learned Christ,

²¹if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:

²²that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,

²³and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

²⁴and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.

²⁶“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

²⁷nor give place to the devil.

²⁸Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.

²⁹Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

³¹Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

³²And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Truly I know it is so, But how can a man be righteous before God?

³If one wished to contend with Him, He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

⁴God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?

⁵He removes the mountains, and they do not know When He overturns them in His anger;

⁶He shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble;

⁷He commands the sun, and it does not rise; He seals off the stars;

⁸He alone spreads out the heavens, And treads on the waves of the sea;

⁹He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south;

¹⁰He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number.

¹¹If He goes by me, I do not see Him; If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;

¹²If He takes away, who can hinder Him? Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

¹³God will not withdraw His anger, The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.

¹⁴“How then can I answer Him, And choose my words to reason with Him?

¹⁵For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge.

¹⁶If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.

¹⁷For He crushes me with a tempest, And multiplies my wounds without cause.

¹⁸He will not allow me to catch my breath, But fills me with bitterness.

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong; And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?

²⁰Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.

²¹“I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life.

²²It is all one thing; Therefore I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’

²³If the scourge slays suddenly, He laughs at the plight of the innocent.

²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, who else could it be?

²⁵“Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good.

²⁶They pass by like swift ships, Like an eagle swooping on its prey.

²⁷If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’

²⁸I am afraid of all my sufferings; I know that You will not hold me innocent.

²⁹If I am condemned, Why then do I labor in vain?

³⁰If I wash myself with snow water, And cleanse my hands with soap,

³¹Yet You will plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes will abhor me.

³²“For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together.

³³Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both.

³⁴Let Him take His rod away from me, And do not let dread of Him terrify me.

³⁵Then I would speak and not fear Him, But it is not so with me.

¹A Song of Ascents. Of David. [1] Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

²It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments.

³It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing— Life forevermore.

¹Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars;

²She has slaughtered her meat, She has mixed her wine, She has also furnished her table.

³She has sent out her maidens, She cries out from the highest places of the city,

⁴“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,

⁵“Come, eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed.

⁶Forsake foolishness and live, And go in the way of understanding.

⁷“He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.

⁸Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

⁹Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

¹⁰“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you will bear it alone.”

¹³A foolish woman is clamorous; She is simple, and knows nothing.

¹⁴For she sits at the door of her house, On a seat by the highest places of the city,

¹⁵To call to those who pass by, Who go straight on their way:

¹⁶“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”; And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,

¹⁷“Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

¹⁸But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell.

¹Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD: ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’ ”

²So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

³Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die?

⁴If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.”

⁵And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there.

⁶For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!”

⁷Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact—their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—and they fled for their lives.

⁸And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.

⁹Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.”

¹⁰So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound—only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.”

¹¹And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside.

¹²So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.’ ”

¹³And one of his servants answered and said, “Please, let several men take five of the remaining horses which are left in the city. Look, they may either become like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; or indeed, I say, they may become like all the multitude of Israel left from those who are consumed; so let us send them and see.”

¹⁴Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them in the direction of the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.”

¹⁵And they went after them to the Jordan; and indeed all the road was full of garments and weapons which the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and told the king.

¹⁶Then the people went out and plundered the tents of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.

¹⁷Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

¹⁸So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria.”

¹⁹Then that officer had answered the man of God, and said, “Now look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he had said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

²⁰And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.

¹And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

²Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, “Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in as I watched.

³Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.

⁴Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’s glory.

⁵And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks.

⁶Then it happened, when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” that he went in and stood beside the wheels.

⁷And the cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim to the fire that was among the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed with linen, who took it and went out.

⁸The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

⁹And when I looked, there were four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub and another wheel by each other cherub; the wheels appeared to have the color of a beryl stone.

¹⁰As for their appearance, all four looked alike—as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

¹¹When they went, they went toward any of their four directions; they did not turn aside when they went, but followed in the direction the head was facing. They did not turn aside when they went.

¹²And their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels that the four had, were full of eyes all around.

¹³As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, “Wheel.”

¹⁴Each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

¹⁵And the cherubim were lifted up. This was the living creature I saw by the River Chebar.

¹⁶When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside them.

¹⁷When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when one was lifted up, the other lifted itself up, for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

¹⁸Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.

¹⁹And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

²⁰This is the living creature I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar, and I knew they were cherubim.

²¹Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.

²²And the likeness of their faces was the same as the faces which I had seen by the River Chebar, their appearance and their persons. They each went straight forward.

¹Now it came to pass, that when we had departed from them and set sail, running a straight course we came to Cos, the following day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

²And finding a ship sailing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

³When we had sighted Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo.

⁴And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.

⁵When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed.

⁶When we had taken our leave of one another, we boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, greeted the brethren, and stayed with them one day.

⁸On the next day we who were Paul’s companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.

⁹Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ”

¹²Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”

¹⁵And after those days we packed and went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Also some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and brought with them a certain Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to lodge.

¹⁷And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.

¹⁸On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

¹⁹When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law;

²¹but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

²²What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come.

²³Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow.

²⁴Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.

²⁵But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them.

²⁷Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him,

²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

²⁹(For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)

³⁰And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut.

³¹Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

³²He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done.

³⁴And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another. So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks.

³⁵When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob.

³⁶For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, “Away with him!”

³⁷Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I speak to you?” He replied, “Can you speak Greek?

³⁸Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹But Paul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying,