Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum.

²And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.

³So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant.

⁴And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving,

⁵“for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.”

⁶Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof.

⁷Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁸For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

⁹When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”

¹⁰And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.

¹¹Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.

¹²And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her.

¹³When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

¹⁴Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

¹⁵So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.

¹⁶Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.”

¹⁷And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

¹⁸Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things.

¹⁹And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

²⁰When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ ”

²¹And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.

²²Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.

²³And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

²⁴When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

²⁵But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts.

²⁶But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

²⁷This is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’

²⁸For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

²⁹And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.

³⁰But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

³¹And the Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?

³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not weep.’

³³For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’

³⁴The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

³⁵But wisdom is justified by all her children.”

³⁶Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat.

³⁷And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil,

³⁸and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.

³⁹Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

⁴¹“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

⁴²And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”

⁴³Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”

⁴⁴Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.

⁴⁵You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.

⁴⁶You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.

⁴⁷Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

⁴⁸Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

¹Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

²And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

³Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a desolate height.

⁴And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

⁵Then the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

⁶So he returned to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

⁷And he took up his oracle and said: “Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, From the mountains of the east. ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!’

⁸“How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?

⁹For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations.

¹⁰“Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my end be like his!”

¹¹Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!”

¹²So he answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?”

¹³Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there.”

¹⁴So he brought him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

¹⁵And he said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.”

¹⁶Then the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

¹⁷So he came to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?”

¹⁸Then he took up his oracle and said: “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, son of Zippor!

¹⁹“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

²⁰Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

²¹“He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him, And the shout of a King is among them.

²²God brings them out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox.

²³“For there is no sorcery against Jacob, Nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob And of Israel, ‘Oh, what God has done!’

²⁴Look, a people rises like a lioness, And lifts itself up like a lion; It shall not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain.”

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!”

²⁶So Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do’?”

²⁷Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”

²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks the wasteland.

²⁹Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

³⁰And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.

¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

²To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

⁴since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;

⁵because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,

⁶which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;

⁷as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,

⁸who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

¹⁰that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

¹¹strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

¹²giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

¹³He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

¹⁴in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

¹⁶For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

¹⁷And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

¹⁸And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

¹⁹For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,

²⁰and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

²¹And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled

²²in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—

²³if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

²⁴I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,

²⁵of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,

²⁶the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.

²⁷To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²⁸Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

²⁹To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

¹Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,

²for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

³For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

⁴who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

⁵For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

⁶who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

⁷for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying— a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;

⁹in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,

¹⁰but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.

¹¹Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.

¹²And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.

¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

¹⁴And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.

¹⁵Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“I have heard many such things; Miserable comforters are you all!

³Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?

⁴I also could speak as you do, If your soul were in my soul’s place. I could heap up words against you, And shake my head at you;

⁵But I would strengthen you with my mouth, And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.

⁶“Though I speak, my grief is not relieved; And if I remain silent, how am I eased?

⁷But now He has worn me out; You have made desolate all my company.

⁸You have shriveled me up, And it is a witness against me; My leanness rises up against me And bears witness to my face.

⁹He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me.

¹⁰They gape at me with their mouth, They strike me reproachfully on the cheek, They gather together against me.

¹¹God has delivered me to the ungodly, And turned me over to the hands of the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, but He has shattered me; He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target,

¹³His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground.

¹⁴He breaks me with wound upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior.

¹⁵“I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, And laid my head in the dust.

¹⁶My face is flushed from weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;

¹⁷Although no violence is in my hands, And my prayer is pure.

¹⁸“O earth, do not cover my blood, And let my cry have no resting place!

¹⁹Surely even now my witness is in heaven, And my evidence is on high.

²⁰My friends scorn me; My eyes pour out tears to God.

²¹Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor!

²²For when a few years are finished, I shall go the way of no return.

¹To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. [1] Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men; Preserve me from violent men,

²Who plan evil things in their hearts; They continually gather together for war.

³They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah

⁴Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent men, Who have purposed to make my steps stumble.

⁵The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set traps for me. Selah

⁶I said to the LORD: “You are my God; Hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD.

⁷O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle.

⁸Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; Do not further his wicked scheme, Lest they be exalted. Selah

⁹“As for the head of those who surround me, Let the evil of their lips cover them;

¹⁰Let burning coals fall upon them; Let them be cast into the fire, Into deep pits, that they rise not up again.

¹¹Let not a slanderer be established in the earth; Let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him.”

¹²I know that the LORD will maintain The cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor.

¹³Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence.

¹The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

²All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the spirits.

³Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established.

⁴The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.

⁵Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.

⁶In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil.

⁷When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

⁸Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice.

⁹A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

¹⁰Divination is on the lips of the king; His mouth must not transgress in judgment.

¹¹Honest weights and scales are the LORD’s; All the weights in the bag are His work.

¹²It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness, For a throne is established by righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are the delight of kings, And they love him who speaks what is right.

¹⁴As messengers of death is the king’s wrath, But a wise man will appease it.

¹⁵In the light of the king’s face is life, And his favor is like a cloud of the latter rain.

¹⁶How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who keeps his way preserves his soul.

¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹⁹Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

²⁰He who heeds the word wisely will find good, And whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he.

²¹The wise in heart will be called prudent, And sweetness of the lips increases learning.

²²Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it. But the correction of fools is folly.

²³The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, And adds learning to his lips.

²⁴Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.

²⁵There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

²⁶The person who labors, labors for himself, For his hungry mouth drives him on.

²⁷An ungodly man digs up evil, And it is on his lips like a burning fire.

²⁸A perverse man sows strife, And a whisperer separates the best of friends.

²⁹A violent man entices his neighbor, And leads him in a way that is not good.

³⁰He winks his eye to devise perverse things; He purses his lips and brings about evil.

³¹The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, If it is found in the way of righteousness.

³²He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the LORD.

¹In the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, became king.

²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

³And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like his father David; he did everything as his father Joash had done.

⁴However the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁵Now it happened, as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, that he executed his servants who had murdered his father the king.

⁶But the children of the murderers he did not execute, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the LORD commanded, saying, “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall be put to death for his own sin.”

⁷He killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel to this day.

⁸Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face one another in battle.”

⁹And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife’; and a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle.

¹⁰You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Glory in that, and stay at home; for why should you meddle with trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”

¹¹But Amaziah would not heed. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went out; so he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.

¹²And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent.

¹³Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh; and he went to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—four hundred cubits.

¹⁴And he took all the gold and silver, all the articles that were found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.

¹⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did—his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

¹⁶So Jehoash rested with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Then Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.

¹⁷Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.

¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

¹⁹And they formed a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.

²⁰Then they brought him on horses, and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.

²¹And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.

²²He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king rested with his fathers.

²³In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years.

²⁴And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.

²⁵He restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher.

²⁶For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; and whether bond or free, there was no helper for Israel.

²⁷And the LORD did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did—his might, how he made war, and how he recaptured for Israel, from Damascus and Hamath, what had belonged to Judah—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²⁹So Jeroboam rested with his fathers, the kings of Israel. Then Zechariah his son reigned in his place.

¹And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

³and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “A great eagle with large wings and long pinions, Full of feathers of various colors, Came to Lebanon And took from the cedar the highest branch.

⁴He cropped off its topmost young twig And carried it to a land of trade; He set it in a city of merchants.

⁵Then he took some of the seed of the land And planted it in a fertile field; He placed it by abundant waters And set it like a willow tree.

⁶And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature; Its branches turned toward him, But its roots were under it. So it became a vine, Brought forth branches, And put forth shoots.

⁷“But there was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers; And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, And stretched its branches toward him, From the garden terrace where it had been planted, That he might water it.

⁸It was planted in good soil by many waters, To bring forth branches, bear fruit, And become a majestic vine.” ’

⁹“Say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots, Cut off its fruit, And leave it to wither? All of its spring leaves will wither, And no great power or many people Will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.

¹⁰Behold, it is planted, Will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew.” ’ ”

¹¹Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹²“Say now to the rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Indeed the king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and took its king and princes, and led them with him to Babylon.

¹³And he took the king’s offspring, made a covenant with him, and put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land,

¹⁴that the kingdom might be brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.

¹⁵But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?

¹⁶‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke—with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

¹⁷Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, when they heap up a siege mound and build a wall to cut off many persons.

¹⁸Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and in fact gave his hand and still did all these things, he shall not escape.’ ”

¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head.

²⁰I will spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and try him there for the treason which he committed against Me.

²¹All his fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered to every wind; and you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken.”

²²Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain.

²³On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell.

²⁴And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it.”

¹Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta.

²And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.

³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

⁴So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”

⁵But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

⁷In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.

¹⁰They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.

¹¹After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island.

¹²And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days.

¹³From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli,

¹⁴where we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome.

¹⁵And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,

¹⁸who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death.

¹⁹But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation.

²⁰For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”

²¹Then they said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

²⁴And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

²⁵So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,

²⁶saying, ‘Go to this people and say: “Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you will see, and not perceive;

²⁷For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” ’

²⁸“Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!”

²⁹And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

³⁰Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

³¹preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.