Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then the entire assembly of them set out and brought Him before Pilate.

²And they began to bring charges against Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.”

³Now Pilate asked Him, saying, “So You are the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “It is as you say.”

⁴But Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no grounds for charges in the case of this man.”

⁵But they kept on insisting, saying, “He is stirring up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee, as far as this place!”

⁶Now when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.

⁷And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, since he also was in Jerusalem at this time.

⁸Now Herod was overjoyed when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him.

⁹And he questioned Him at some length; but He offered him no answer at all.

¹⁰Now the chief priests and the scribes stood there, vehemently charging Him.

¹¹And Herod, together with his soldiers, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, dressing Him in a brightly shining robe, and sent Him back to Pilate.

¹²And so Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for previously, they had been enemies toward each other.

¹³Now Pilate summoned to himself the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,

¹⁴and he said to them, “You brought this man to me on the ground that he is inciting the people to revolt; and behold, after examining Him before you, I have found no basis at all in the case of this man for the charges which you are bringing against Him.

¹⁵No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him.

¹⁶Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.”

¹⁷[Now he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner.]

¹⁸But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!”

¹⁹(He was one who had been thrown into prison for a revolt that took place in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰But Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again,

²¹but they kept on crying out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!”

²²And he said to them a third time, “Why, what has this man done wrong? I have found in His case no grounds for a sentence of death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.”

²³But they were insistent, with loud voices, demanding that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail.

²⁴And so Pilate decided to have their demand carried out.

²⁵And he released the man for whom they were asking, who had been thrown into prison for a revolt and murder; but he handed Jesus over to their will.

²⁶And when they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷Now following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and grieving for Him.

²⁸But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

²⁹For behold, days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are those who cannot bear, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have not nursed.’

³⁰Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, ‘FALL ON US,’ AND TO THE HILLS, ‘COVER US.’

³¹For if they do these thingswhen the tree is green, what will happenwhen it is dry?”

³²Now two others, who were criminals, were also being led away to be put to death with Him.

³³And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.

³⁴[But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”] And they cast lots, dividing His garments among themselves.

³⁵And the people stood by, watching. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.”

³⁶The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine,

³⁷and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!”

³⁸Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁹One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”

⁴⁰But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

⁴¹And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our crimes; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

⁴²And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”

⁴³And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

⁴⁴It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the entire land until the ninth hour,

⁴⁵because the sun stopped shining; and the veil of the temple was torn in two.

⁴⁶And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I ENTRUST MY SPIRIT.” And having said this, He died.

⁴⁷Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “This man was in fact innocent.”

⁴⁸And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, after watching what had happened, began to return home, beating their chests.

⁴⁹And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.

⁵⁰And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man

⁵¹(he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God—

⁵²this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

⁵³And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.

⁵⁴It was a preparation day, and a Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵Now the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was laid.

⁵⁶And then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

¹“Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og, king of Bashan, came out with all his people to meet us in battle at Edrei.

²But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have handed him and all his people and his land over to you; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.’

³So the LORD our God also handed over to us Og, king of Bashan, with all his people, and we struck them until no survivor was left.

⁴We captured all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

⁵All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many unwalled towns.

⁶We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city.

⁷But all the animals and the spoils of the cities we took as our plunder.

⁸“So at that time we took the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of Arnon to Mount Hermon

⁹(Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir):

¹⁰all the cities of the plateau, all Gilead, and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

¹¹(For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits, and its width four cubits by the usual cubit.)

¹²“So we took possession of this land at that time. From Aroer, which is by the Valley of Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead and its cities I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites.

¹³The rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh, all the region of Argob. (As to all Bashan, it is called the land of Rephaim.

¹⁴Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, that is, Bashan, and named it after his own name: Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.)

¹⁵To Machir I gave Gilead.

¹⁶To the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave from Gilead even as far as the Valley of Arnon, the middle of the valley as a border, and as far as the river Jabbok, the border of the sons of Ammon;

¹⁷the Arabah also, with the Jordan as a border, from Chinnereth even as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah on the east.

¹⁸“Then I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The LORD your God has given you this land to possess it; all you valiant men shall cross over armed ahead of your brothers, the sons of Israel.

¹⁹However, your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in your cities which I have given you,

²⁰until the LORD gives rest to your fellow countrymen as to you, and they also take possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving them beyond the Jordan. Then you may return, each man to his possession which I have given you.’

²¹And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen everything that the LORD your God has done to these two kings; the LORD will do the same to all the kingdoms into which you are about to cross.

²²Do not fear them, for the LORD your God is the One fighting for you.’

²³“I also pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying,

²⁴‘Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?

²⁵Please let me cross over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country, and Lebanon.’

²⁶But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; instead, the LORD said to me, ‘Enough! Do not speak to Me any more about this matter.

²⁷Go up to the top of Pisgah and raise your eyes to the west, the north, the south, and the east, and see it with your eyes; for you shall not cross over this Jordan.

²⁸But commission Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him, for he shall go across leading this people, and he will give to them, as an inheritance, the land which you will see.’

²⁹So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

¹Let love of the brothers and sisters continue.

²Do not neglect hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

³Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are badly treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.

⁴Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

⁵Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER ABANDON YOU,”

⁶so that we confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?”

⁷Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their way of life, imitate their faith.

⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.

⁹Do not be misled by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

¹⁰We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.

¹¹For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the Holy Place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp.

¹²Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood.

¹³So then, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

¹⁴For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

¹⁵Through Him then, let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips praising His name.

¹⁶And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them—for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account—so that they may do this with joy, not groaning; for this would be unhelpful for you.

¹⁸Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.

¹⁹And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you more quickly.

²⁰Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, that is, Jesus our Lord,

²¹equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

²²But I urge you, brothers and sisters, listen patiently to this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

²³Know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.

²⁴Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

²⁵Grace be with you all.

¹What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is the source not your pleasures that wage war in your body’s parts?

²You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.

³You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures.

⁴You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

⁵Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to dwell in us”?

⁶But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

⁷Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸Come close to God and He will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

⁹Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom.

¹⁰Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

¹¹Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or judges his brother or sister, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.

¹²There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you, judging your neighbor?

¹³Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.”

¹⁴Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away.

¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

¹⁶But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

¹⁷So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.

¹Then these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

²But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned against Job; his anger burned because he justified himself before God.

³And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, yet they had condemned Job.

⁴Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he.

⁵But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, his anger burned.

⁶So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out and said, “I am young in years and you are old; Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think.

⁷I thought age should speak, And increased years should teach wisdom.

⁸But it is a spirit that is in mankind, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.

⁹The abundant in years may not be wise, Nor may elders understand justice.

¹⁰So I say, ‘Listen to me, I too will tell what I think.’

¹¹“Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your skillful speech, While you pondered what to say.

¹²I also paid close attention to you; But indeed, there was no one who refuted Job, Not one of you who answered his words.

¹³So do not say, ‘We have found wisdom: God will defeat him, not man.’

¹⁴But he has not presented his words against me, Nor will I reply to him with your arguments.

¹⁵“They are dismayed, they no longer answer; Words have failed them.

¹⁶Should I wait, because they are not speaking, Because they have stopped and no longer answer?

¹⁷I too will give my share of answers; I also will tell my opinion.

¹⁸For I am full of words; The spirit within me compels me.

¹⁹Behold, my belly is like unvented wine; Like new wineskins, it is about to burst.

²⁰Let me speak so that I may get relief; Let me open my lips and answer.

²¹Let me be partial to no one, Nor flatter any man.

²²For I do not know how to flatter, Otherwise my Maker would quickly take me away.

¹LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor discipline me in Your wrath.

²Be gracious to me, LORD, for I am frail; Heal me, LORD, for my bones are horrified.

³And my soul is greatly horrified; But You, LORD—how long?

⁴Return, LORD, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your mercy.

⁵For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol, who will praise You?

⁶I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I flood my couch with my tears.

⁷My eye has wasted away with grief; It has grown old because of all my enemies.

⁸Leave me, all you who practice injustice, For the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.

⁹The LORD has heard my pleading, The LORD receives my prayer.

¹⁰All my enemies will be put to shame and greatly horrified; They shall turn back, they will suddenly be put to shame.

¹The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

²To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding,

³To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice, and integrity;

⁴To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion,

⁵A wise person will hear and increase in learning, And a person of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

⁶To understand a proverb and a saying, The words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, And do not ignore your mother’s teaching;

⁹For they are a graceful wreath for your head And necklaces for your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.

¹¹If they say, “Come with us, Let’s lie in wait for blood, Let’s ambush the innocent without cause;

¹²Let’s swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, like those who go down to the pit;

¹³We will find all kinds of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with plunder;

¹⁴Throw in your lot with us; We will all have one money bag,”

¹⁵My son, do not walk on the way with them. Keep your feet from their path,

¹⁶For their feet run to evil, And they are quick to shed blood.

¹⁷Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net In the sight of any bird;

¹⁸But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives.

¹⁹Such are the ways of everyone who makes unjust gain; It takes away the life of its possessors.

²⁰Wisdom shouts in the street, She raises her voice in the public square;

²¹At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she declares her sayings:

²²“How long, you naive ones, will you love simplistic thinking? And how long will scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?

²³Turn to my rebuke, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.

²⁴Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;

²⁵And you neglected all my advice And did not want my rebuke;

²⁶I will also laugh at your disaster; I will mock when your dread comes,

²⁷When your dread comes like a storm And your disaster comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but will not find me,

²⁹Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD.

³⁰They did not accept my advice, They disdainfully rejected every rebuke from me.

³¹So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own schemes.

³²For the faithlessness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

¹Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; so he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright.

²Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came the leader, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph),

³the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were Hanoch and Pallu, and Hezron and Carmi.

⁴The sons of Joel were Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,

⁵Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son,

⁶and Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria took into exile; he was leader of the Reubenites.

⁷His relatives by their families, in the genealogy of their generations, were Jeiel the chief, then Zechariah

⁸and Bela, the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who lived in Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-meon.

⁹Toward the east he settled as far as the entrance of the wilderness from the river Euphrates, because their livestock had increased in the land of Gilead.

¹⁰In the days of Saul they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand, so that they occupied their tents throughout the land east of Gilead.

¹¹Now the sons of Gad lived opposite them in the land of Bashan, as far as Salecah.

¹²Joel was the head and Shapham the second, then Janai and Shaphat in Bashan.

¹³Their relatives of their fathers’ households were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber, seven.

¹⁴These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz;

¹⁵Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was head of their fathers’ households.

¹⁶They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasture lands of Sharon, as far as their borders.

¹⁷All of these were enrolled in the genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.

¹⁸The sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, consisting of valiant men, men who carried shield and sword and shot with a bow and were skillful in battle, totaled 44,760 who went to war.

¹⁹They made war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab.

²⁰They were helped against them, and the Hagrites and all who were with them were handed over to them; for they cried out to God in the battle, and He answered their prayers because they trusted in Him.

²¹They took away their livestock: their fifty thousand camels, 250,000 sheep, and two thousand donkeys; and a hundred thousand people.

²²For many fell mortally wounded, because the war was of God. And they settled in their place until the exile.

²³Now the sons of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land; from Bashan to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon they were numerous.

²⁴These were the heads of their fathers’ households: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, valiant mighty men, famous men, heads of their fathers’ households.

²⁵But they were untrue to the God of their fathers and prostituted themselves with the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.

²⁶So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, that is, the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and to the river of Gozan, where they are to this day.

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

²“Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,

³and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the horn and warns the people,

⁴then someone who hears the sound of the horn but does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.

⁵He heard the sound of the horn but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have saved his life.

⁶But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away for his wrongdoing; but I will require his blood from the watchman’s hand.’

⁷“Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them a warning from Me.

⁸When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will certainly die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked about his way, that wicked person shall die for his wrongdoing, but I will require his blood from your hand.

⁹But if you on your part warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die for his wrongdoing, but you have saved your life.

¹⁰“Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you have said: “Surely our offenses and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?” ’

¹¹Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure at all in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then should you die, house of Israel?’

¹²And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, ‘The righteousness of a righteous one will not save him on the day of his offense, and as for the wickedness of a wicked one, he will not stumble because of it on the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous one will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’

¹³When I say to the righteous that he will certainly live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits injustice, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but for that same injustice of his which he has committed he will die.

¹⁴But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness,

¹⁵if a wicked person returns a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing injustice, he shall certainly live; he shall not die.

¹⁶None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall certainly live.

¹⁷“Yet your fellow citizens say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right.

¹⁸When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, then he shall die in it.

¹⁹But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them.

²⁰Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.”

²¹Now in the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been taken.”

²²Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before the survivors came. And He opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless.

²³Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²⁴“Son of man, they who live in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to us who are many the land has been given as a possession.’

²⁵Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “You eat meat with the blood in it, raise your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land?

²⁶You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?” ’

²⁷You shall say this to them: ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “As I live, those who are in the places of ruins certainly will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the animals to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of plague.

²⁸And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of her power will be brought to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be deserted so that no one will pass through.

²⁹Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.” ’

³⁰“But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk with one another about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak one with another, each with his brother, saying, ‘Come now and hear what the message is that comes from the LORD.’

³¹And they come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them; for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart follows their unlawful gain.

³²And behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.

³³So when it comes—as it certainly will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

¹Now Paul also came to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

²and he was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium.

³Paul wanted this man to leave with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the ordinances for them to follow which had been determined by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

⁵So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.

⁶They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;

⁷and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;

⁸and passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹So after setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis;

¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city.

¹³And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

¹⁴A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of Thyatira, and a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

¹⁵Now when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

¹⁶It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave woman who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling.

¹⁷She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.”

¹⁸Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

¹⁹But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was suddenly gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities,

²⁰and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble,

²¹and they are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are Romans.”

²²The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.

²³When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;

²⁴and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

²⁶and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

²⁷When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

²⁹And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas;

³⁰and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

³²And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house.

³³And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

³⁴And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.

³⁵Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.”

³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come in person and lead us out.”

³⁸The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans,

³⁹and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them to leave the city.

⁴⁰They left the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and departed.