Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹One sabbath while Jesus was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them.

²But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?”

³Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

⁴He entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?”

⁵Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

⁶On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.

⁷The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him.

⁸Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” He got up and stood there.

⁹Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?”

¹⁰After looking around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored.

¹¹But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

¹²Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God.

¹³And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles:

¹⁴Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew,

¹⁵and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot,

¹⁶and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

¹⁷He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.

¹⁸They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.

¹⁹And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

²⁰Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

²²“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.

²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

²⁴“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

²⁵“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

²⁶“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

²⁷“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.

³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.

³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

³²“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

³³If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

³⁴If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

³⁵But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;

³⁸give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

³⁹He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?

⁴⁰A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.

⁴¹Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?

⁴²Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

⁴³“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;

⁴⁴for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

⁴⁵The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.

⁴⁶“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?

⁴⁷I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them.

⁴⁸That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.

⁴⁹But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.”

¹The Israelites set out, and camped in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho.

²Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

³Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were so numerous; Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel.

⁴And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.

⁵He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is on the Euphrates, in the land of Amaw, to summon him, saying, “A people has come out of Egypt; they have spread over the face of the earth, and they have settled next to me.

⁶Come now, curse this people for me, since they are stronger than I; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land; for I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.”

⁷So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam, and gave him Balak’s message.

⁸He said to them, “Stay here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, just as the LORD speaks to me”; so the officials of Moab stayed with Balaam.

⁹God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”

¹⁰Balaam said to God, “King Balak son of Zippor of Moab, has sent me this message:

¹¹‘A people has come out of Egypt and has spread over the face of the earth; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’”

¹²God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

¹³So Balaam rose in the morning, and said to the officials of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”

¹⁴So the officials of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

¹⁵Once again Balak sent officials, more numerous and more distinguished than these.

¹⁶They came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak son of Zippor: ‘Do not let anything hinder you from coming to me;

¹⁷for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do; come, curse this people for me.’”

¹⁸But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “Although Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God, to do less or more.

¹⁹You remain here, as the others did, so that I may learn what more the LORD may say to me.”

²⁰That night God came to Balaam and said to him, “If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you to do.”

²¹So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab.

²²God’s anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the road as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him.

²³The donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand; so the donkey turned off the road, and went into the field; and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn it back onto the road.

²⁴Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side.

²⁵When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it scraped against the wall, and scraped Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck it again.

²⁶Then the angel of the LORD went ahead, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.

²⁷When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it lay down under Balaam; and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff.

²⁸Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

²⁹Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!”

³⁰But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way?” And he said, “No.”

³¹Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed down, falling on his face.

³²The angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me.

³³The donkey saw me, and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let it live.”

³⁴Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now therefore, if it is displeasing to you, I will return home.”

³⁵The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but speak only what I tell you to speak.” So Balaam went on with the officials of Balak.

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at Ir-moab, on the boundary formed by the Arnon, at the farthest point of the boundary.

³⁷Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?”

³⁸Balaam said to Balak, “I have come to you now, but do I have power to say just anything? The word God puts in my mouth, that is what I must say.”

³⁹Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.

⁴⁰Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent them to Balaam and to the officials who were with him.

⁴¹On the next day Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal; and from there he could see part of the people of Israel.

¹Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

²I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.

³Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.

⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

⁹Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁰I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it.

¹¹Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have.

¹²I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.

¹³I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

¹⁴In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress.

¹⁵You Philippians indeed know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone.

¹⁶For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once.

¹⁷Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that accumulates to your account.

¹⁸I have been paid in full and have more than enough; I am fully satisfied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

¹⁹And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

²⁰To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²¹Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The friends who are with me greet you.

²²All the saints greet you, especially those of the emperor’s household.

²³The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

²To Timothy, my loyal child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach any different doctrine,

⁴and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training that is known by faith.

⁵But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.

⁶Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk,

⁷desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions.

⁸Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately.

⁹This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers,

¹⁰fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching

¹¹that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

¹²I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,

¹³even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,

¹⁴and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the foremost.

¹⁶But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.

¹⁷To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸I am giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight,

¹⁹having faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith;

²⁰among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have turned over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

²“Should the wise answer with windy knowledge, and fill themselves with the east wind?

³Should they argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which they can do no good?

⁴But you are doing away with the fear of God, and hindering meditation before God.

⁵For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.

⁶Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you.

⁷“Are you the firstborn of the human race? Were you brought forth before the hills?

⁸Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

⁹What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us?

¹⁰The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, those older than your father.

¹¹Are the consolations of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?

¹²Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash,

¹³so that you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go out of your mouth?

¹⁴What are mortals, that they can be clean? Or those born of woman, that they can be righteous?

¹⁵God puts no trust even in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his sight;

¹⁶how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, one who drinks iniquity like water!

¹⁷“I will show you; listen to me; what I have seen I will declare —

¹⁸what sages have told, and their ancestors have not hidden,

¹⁹to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them.

²⁰The wicked writhe in pain all their days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.

²¹Terrifying sounds are in their ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon them.

²²They despair of returning from darkness, and they are destined for the sword.

²³They wander abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ They know that a day of darkness is ready at hand;

²⁴distress and anguish terrify them; they prevail against them, like a king prepared for battle.

²⁵Because they stretched out their hands against God, and bid defiance to the Almighty,

²⁶running stubbornly against him with a thick-bossed shield;

²⁷because they have covered their faces with their fat, and gathered fat upon their loins,

²⁸they will live in desolate cities, in houses that no one should inhabit, houses destined to become heaps of ruins;

²⁹they will not be rich, and their wealth will not endure, nor will they strike root in the earth;

³⁰they will not escape from darkness; the flame will dry up their shoots, and their blossom will be swept away by the wind.

³¹Let them not trust in emptiness, deceiving themselves; for emptiness will be their recompense.

³²It will be paid in full before their time, and their branch will not be green.

³³They will shake off their unripe grape, like the vine, and cast off their blossoms, like the olive tree.

³⁴For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.

³⁵They conceive mischief and bring forth evil and their heart prepares deceit.”

¹O LORD, you have searched me and known me.

²You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.

³You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely.

⁵You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.

⁷Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?

⁸If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

⁹If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

¹⁰even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.

¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,”

¹²even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.

¹³For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.

¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.

¹⁷How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸I try to count them — they are more than the sand; I come to the end — I am still with you.

¹⁹O that you would kill the wicked, O God, and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me —

²⁰those who speak of you maliciously, and lift themselves up against you for evil!

²¹Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

²²I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.

²⁴See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

¹A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

²The tongue of the wise dispenses knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

³The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

⁴A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

⁵A fool despises a parent’s instruction, but the one who heeds admonition is prudent.

⁶In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked.

⁷The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the minds of fools.

⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

⁹The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but he loves the one who pursues righteousness.

¹⁰There is severe discipline for one who forsakes the way, but one who hates a rebuke will die.

¹¹Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD, how much more human hearts!

¹²Scoffers do not like to be rebuked; they will not go to the wise.

¹³A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.

¹⁴The mind of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

¹⁵All the days of the poor are hard, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

¹⁶Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it.

¹⁷Better is a dinner of vegetables where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it.

¹⁸Those who are hot-tempered stir up strife, but those who are slow to anger calm contention.

¹⁹The way of the lazy is overgrown with thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.

²⁰A wise child makes a glad father, but the foolish despise their mothers.

²¹Folly is a joy to one who has no sense, but a person of understanding walks straight ahead.

²²Without counsel, plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed.

²³To make an apt answer is a joy to anyone, and a word in season, how good it is!

²⁴For the wise the path of life leads upward, in order to avoid Sheol below.

²⁵The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but maintains the widow’s boundaries.

²⁶Evil plans are an abomination to the LORD, but gracious words are pure.

²⁷Those who are greedy for unjust gain make trouble for their households, but those who hate bribes will live.

²⁸The mind of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil.

²⁹The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

³⁰The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the body.

³¹The ear that heeds wholesome admonition will lodge among the wise.

³²Those who ignore instruction despise themselves, but those who heed admonition gain understanding.

³³The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor.

¹In the twenty-third year of King Joash son of Ahaziah of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria; he reigned seventeen years.

²He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to sin; he did not depart from them.

³The anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, so that he gave them repeatedly into the hand of King Hazael of Aram, then into the hand of Ben-hadad son of Hazael.

⁴But Jehoahaz entreated the LORD, and the LORD heeded him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them.

⁵Therefore the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Arameans; and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly.

⁶Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he caused Israel to sin, but walked in them; the sacred pole also remained in Samaria.

⁷So Jehoahaz was left with an army of not more than fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.

⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did, including his might, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?

⁹So Jehoahaz slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in Samaria; then his son Joash succeeded him.

¹⁰In the thirty-seventh year of King Joash of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria; he reigned sixteen years.

¹¹He also did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to sin, but he walked in them.

¹²Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, as well as the might with which he fought against King Amaziah of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?

¹³So Joash slept with his ancestors, and Jeroboam sat upon his throne; Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

¹⁴Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, King Joash of Israel went down to him, and wept before him, crying, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

¹⁵Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows”; so he took a bow and arrows.

¹⁶Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow”; and he drew it. Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands.

¹⁷Then he said, “Open the window eastward”; and he opened it. Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. Then he said, “The LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram! For you shall fight the Arameans in Aphek until you have made an end of them.”

¹⁸He continued, “Take the arrows”; and he took them. He said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them”; he struck three times, and stopped.

¹⁹Then the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Aram until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Aram only three times.”

²⁰So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year.

²¹As a man was being buried, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha; as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life and stood on his feet.

²²Now King Hazael of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.

²³But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them; he turned toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them; nor has he banished them from his presence until now.

²⁴When King Hazael of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad succeeded him.

²⁵Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz took again from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the towns that he had taken from his father Jehoahaz in war. Three times Joash defeated him and recovered the towns of Israel.

¹The word of the LORD came to me:

²Mortal, make known to Jerusalem her abominations,

³and say, Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite.

⁴As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in cloths.

⁵No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you out of compassion for you; but you were thrown out in the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.

⁶I passed by you, and saw you flailing about in your blood. As you lay in your blood, I said to you, “Live!

⁷and grow up like a plant of the field.” You grew up and became tall and arrived at full womanhood; your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.

⁸I passed by you again and looked on you; you were at the age for love. I spread the edge of my cloak over you, and covered your nakedness: I pledged myself to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord GOD, and you became mine.

⁹Then I bathed you with water and washed off the blood from you, and anointed you with oil.

¹⁰I clothed you with embroidered cloth and with sandals of fine leather; I bound you in fine linen and covered you with rich fabric.

¹¹I adorned you with ornaments: I put bracelets on your arms, a chain on your neck,

¹²a ring on your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.

¹³You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, rich fabric, and embroidered cloth. You had choice flour and honey and oil for food. You grew exceedingly beautiful, fit to be a queen.

¹⁴Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my splendor that I had bestowed on you, says the Lord GOD.

¹⁵But you trusted in your beauty, and played the whore because of your fame, and lavished your whorings on any passer-by.

¹⁶You took some of your garments, and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore; nothing like this has ever been or ever shall be.

¹⁷You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and my silver that I had given you, and made for yourself male images, and with them played the whore;

¹⁸and you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them.

¹⁹Also my bread that I gave you — I fed you with choice flour and oil and honey — you set it before them as a pleasing odor; and so it was, says the Lord GOD.

²⁰You took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. As if your whorings were not enough!

²¹You slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering to them.

²²And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, flailing about in your blood.

²³After all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! says the Lord GOD),

²⁴you built yourself a platform and made yourself a lofty place in every square;

²⁵at the head of every street you built your lofty place and prostituted your beauty, offering yourself to every passer-by, and multiplying your whoring.

²⁶You played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger.

²⁷Therefore I stretched out my hand against you, reduced your rations, and gave you up to the will of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior.

²⁸You played the whore with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied.

²⁹You multiplied your whoring with Chaldea, the land of merchants; and even with this you were not satisfied.

³⁰How sick is your heart, says the Lord GOD, that you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen whore;

³¹building your platform at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square! Yet you were not like a whore, because you scorned payment.

³²Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!

³³Gifts are given to all whores; but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from all around for your whorings.

³⁴So you were different from other women in your whorings: no one solicited you to play the whore; and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; you were different.

³⁵Therefore, O whore, hear the word of the LORD:

³⁶Thus says the Lord GOD, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whoring with your lovers, and because of all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them,

³⁷therefore, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated; I will gather them against you from all around, and will uncover your nakedness to them, so that they may see all your nakedness.

³⁸I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring blood upon you in wrath and jealousy.

³⁹I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall throw down your platform and break down your lofty places; they shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful objects and leave you naked and bare.

⁴⁰They shall bring up a mob against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.

⁴¹They shall burn your houses and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; I will stop you from playing the whore, and you shall also make no more payments.

⁴²So I will satisfy my fury on you, and my jealousy shall turn away from you; I will be calm, and will be angry no longer.

⁴³Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things; therefore, I have returned your deeds upon your head, says the Lord GOD. Have you not committed lewdness beyond all your abominations?

⁴⁴See, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you, “Like mother, like daughter.”

⁴⁵You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

⁴⁶Your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters.

⁴⁷You not only followed their ways, and acted according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

⁴⁸As I live, says the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.

⁴⁹This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

⁵⁰They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.

⁵¹Samaria has not committed half your sins; you have committed more abominations than they, and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed.

⁵²Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have brought about for your sisters a more favorable judgment; because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

⁵³I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes along with theirs,

⁵⁴in order that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them.

⁵⁵As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your daughters shall return to your former state.

⁵⁶Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride,

⁵⁷before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you are a mockery to the daughters of Aram and all her neighbors, and to the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you.

⁵⁸You must bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, says the LORD.

⁵⁹Yes, thus says the Lord GOD: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath, breaking the covenant;

⁶⁰yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.

⁶¹Then you will remember your ways, and be ashamed when I take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you.

⁶²I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD,

⁶³in order that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I forgive you all that you have done, says the Lord GOD.

¹When it was decided that we were to sail for Italy, they transferred Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort, named Julius.

²Embarking on a ship of Adramyttium that was about to set sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

³The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul kindly, and allowed him to go to his friends to be cared for.

⁴Putting out to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us.

⁵After we had sailed across the sea that is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy and put us on board.

⁷We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind was against us, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone.

⁸Sailing past it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

⁹Since much time had been lost and sailing was now dangerous, because even the Fast had already gone by, Paul advised them,

¹⁰saying, “Sirs, I can see that the voyage will be with danger and much heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

¹¹But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.

¹²Since the harbor was not suitable for spending the winter, the majority was in favor of putting to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, where they could spend the winter. It was a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest.

¹³When a moderate south wind began to blow, they thought they could achieve their purpose; so they weighed anchor and began to sail past Crete, close to the shore.

¹⁴But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from Crete.

¹⁵Since the ship was caught and could not be turned head-on into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven.

¹⁶By running under the lee of a small island called Cauda we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control.

¹⁷After hoisting it up they took measures to undergird the ship; then, fearing that they would run on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and so were driven.

¹⁸We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard,

¹⁹and on the third day with their own hands they threw the ship’s tackle overboard.

²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

²¹Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and thereby avoided this damage and loss.

²²I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

²³For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,

²⁴and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.’

²⁵So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

²⁶But we will have to run aground on some island.”

²⁷When the fourteenth night had come, as we were drifting across the sea of Adria, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.

²⁸So they took soundings and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they took soundings again and found fifteen fathoms.

²⁹Fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.

³⁰But when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea, on the pretext of putting out anchors from the bow,

³¹Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”

³²Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and set it adrift.

³³Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and remaining without food, having eaten nothing.

³⁴Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive; for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.”

³⁵After he had said this, he took bread; and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat.

³⁶Then all of them were encouraged and took food for themselves.

³⁷(We were in all two hundred seventy-six persons in the ship.)

³⁸After they had satisfied their hunger, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.

³⁹In the morning they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if they could.

⁴⁰So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes that tied the steering-oars; then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.

⁴¹But striking a reef, they ran the ship aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves.

⁴²The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none might swim away and escape;

⁴³but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land,

⁴⁴and the rest to follow, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.