Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared.

²They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

³They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

⁴While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes.

⁵So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men.

⁶“He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee,

⁷saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?”

⁸And they remembered his words.

⁹Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest.

¹⁰Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things.

¹¹But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women.

¹²Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went away, amazed at what had happened.

¹³Now that same day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.

¹⁴Together they were discussing everything that had taken place.

¹⁵And while they were discussing and arguing, Jesus himself came near and began to walk along with them.

¹⁶But they were prevented from recognizing him.

¹⁷Then he asked them, “What is this dispute that you’re having with each other as you are walking?” And they stopped walking and looked discouraged.

¹⁸The one named Cleopas answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that happened there in these days?”

¹⁹“What things?” he asked them. So they said to him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet powerful in action and speech before God and all the people,

²⁰and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him.

²¹But we were hoping that he was the one who was about to redeem Israel. Besides all this, it’s the third day since these things happened.

²²Moreover, some women from our group astounded us. They arrived early at the tomb,

²³and when they didn’t find his body, they came and reported that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive.

²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”

²⁵He said to them, “How foolish and slow you are to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

²⁶Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.

²⁸They came near the village where they were going, and he gave the impression that he was going farther.

²⁹But they urged him, “Stay with us, because it’s almost evening, and now the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰It was as he reclined at the table with them that he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.

³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight.

³²They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?”

³³That very hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those with them gathered together,

³⁴who said, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”

³⁵Then they began to describe what had happened on the road and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

³⁶As they were saying these things, he himself stood in their midst. He said to them, “Peace to you!”

³⁷But they were startled and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost.

³⁸“Why are you troubled?” he asked them. “And why do doubts arise in your hearts?

³⁹Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”

⁴⁰Having said this, he showed them his hands and feet.

⁴¹But while they still were amazed and in disbelief because of their joy, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

⁴²So they gave him a piece of a broiled fish,

⁴³and he took it and ate in their presence.

⁴⁴He told them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you — that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

⁴⁶He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day,

⁴⁷and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things.

⁴⁹And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”

⁵⁰Then he led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.

⁵¹And while he was blessing them, he left them and was carried up into heaven.

⁵²After worshiping him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

⁵³And they were continually in the temple praising God.

¹“Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

²You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the LORD your God I am giving you.

³Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Peor.

⁴But you who have remained faithful to the LORD your God are all alive today.

⁵Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess.

⁶Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’

⁷For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call to him?

⁸And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

⁹“Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don’t forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don’t slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

¹⁰The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Assemble the people before me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children.’

¹¹You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire into the heavens and enveloped in a totally black cloud.

¹²Then the LORD spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice.

¹³He declared his covenant to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two stone tablets.

¹⁴At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.

¹⁵“Diligently watch yourselves — because you did not see any form on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb —

¹⁶so you don’t act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form,

¹⁷or the form of any animal on the earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky,

¹⁸any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters under the earth.

¹⁹When you look to the heavens and see the sun, moon, and stars — all the stars in the sky — do not be led astray to bow in worship to them and serve them. The LORD your God has provided them for all people everywhere under heaven.

²⁰But the LORD selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace to be a people for his inheritance, as you are today.

²¹“The LORD was angry with me on your account. He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

²²I won’t be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land. But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land.

²³Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything he has forbidden you.

²⁴For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

²⁵“When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, angering him,

²⁶I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed.

²⁷The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where the LORD your God will drive you.

²⁸There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.

²⁹But from there, you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.

³⁰When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, in the future you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.

³¹He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them by oath, because the LORD your God is a compassionate God.

³²“Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created mankind on the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other: Has anything like this great event ever happened, or has anything like it been heard of?

³³Has a people heard God’s voice speaking from the fire as you have, and lived?

³⁴Or has a god attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

³⁵You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.

³⁶He let you hear his voice from heaven to instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard his words from the fire.

³⁷Because he loved your fathers, he chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and great power,

³⁸to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is now taking place.

³⁹Today, recognize and keep in mind that the LORD is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other.

⁴⁰Keep his statutes and commands, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

⁴¹Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east.

⁴²Someone could flee there who committed manslaughter, killing his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him. He could flee to one of these cities and stay alive:

⁴³Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau land, belonging to the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; or Golan in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites.

⁴⁴This is the law Moses gave the Israelites.

⁴⁵These are the decrees, statutes, and ordinances Moses proclaimed to them after they came out of Egypt,

⁴⁶across the Jordan in the valley facing Beth-peor in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites. He lived in Heshbon, and Moses and the Israelites defeated him after they came out of Egypt.

⁴⁷They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings who were across the Jordan to the east,

⁴⁸from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon)

⁴⁹and all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Dead Sea below the slopes of Pisgah.

¹Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God  —

²which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures —

³concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh

⁴and was appointed to be the powerful Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead.

⁵Through him we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles,

⁶including you who are also called by Jesus Christ.

⁷To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world.

⁹God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his Son — that I constantly mention you,

¹⁰always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

¹¹For I want very much to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,

¹²that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

¹³Now I don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now ) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles.

¹⁴I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish.

¹⁵So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

¹⁷For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

¹⁸For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,

¹⁹since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.

²⁰For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

²¹For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools

²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.

²⁴Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.

²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.

²⁶For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.

²⁷The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error.

²⁸And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right.

²⁹They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,

³⁰slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

³¹senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.

³²Although they know God’s just sentence — that those who practice such things deserve to die  — they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.

¹Come now, you rich people, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you.

²Your wealth has rotted and your clothes are moth-eaten.

³Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days.

⁴Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who mowed your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

⁵You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

⁶You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous, who does not resist you.

⁷Therefore, brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.

⁸You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.

⁹Brothers and sisters, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!

¹⁰Brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience.

¹¹See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about — the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹²Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “yes” mean “yes,” and your “no” mean “no,” so that you won’t fall under judgment.

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

¹⁵The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

¹⁷Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.

¹⁸Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.

¹⁹My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back,

²⁰let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

¹But now, Job, pay attention to my speech, and listen to all my words.

²I am going to open my mouth; my tongue will form words on my palate.

³My words come from my upright heart, and my lips speak with sincerity what they know.

⁴The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

⁵Refute me if you can. Prepare your case against me; take your stand.

⁶I am just like you before God; I was also pinched off from a piece of clay.

⁷Fear of me should not terrify you; no pressure from me should weigh you down.

⁸Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard these very words:

⁹“I am pure, without transgression; I am clean and have no iniquity.

¹⁰But he finds reasons to oppose me; he regards me as his enemy.

¹¹He puts my feet in the stocks; he stands watch over all my paths.”

¹²But I tell you that you are wrong in this matter, since God is greater than man.

¹³Why do you take him to court for not answering anything a person asks?

¹⁴For God speaks time and again, but a person may not notice it.

¹⁵In a dream, a vision in the night, when deep sleep comes over people as they slumber on their beds,

¹⁶he uncovers their ears and terrifies them with warnings,

¹⁷in order to turn a person from his actions and suppress the pride of a person.

¹⁸God spares his soul from the Pit, his life from crossing the river of death.

¹⁹A person may be disciplined on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,

²⁰so that he detests bread, and his soul despises his favorite food.

²¹His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his unseen bones stick out.

²²He draws near to the Pit, and his life to the executioners.

²³If there is an angel on his side, one mediator out of a thousand, to tell a person what is right for him

²⁴and to be gracious to him and say, “Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom,”

²⁵then his flesh will be healthier than in his youth, and he will return to the days of his youthful vigor.

²⁶He will pray to God, and God will delight in him. That person will see his face with a shout of joy, and God will restore his righteousness to him.

²⁷He will look at men and say, “I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.

²⁸He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will continue to see the light.”

²⁹God certainly does all these things two or three times to a person

³⁰in order to turn him back from the Pit, so he may shine with the light of life.

³¹Pay attention, Job, and listen to me. Be quiet, and I will speak.

³²But if you have something to say, answer me; speak, for I would like to justify you.

³³If not, then listen to me; be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.

¹A of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite. [1] LORD my God, I seek refuge in you; save me from all my pursuers and rescue me

²or they will tear me like a lion, ripping me apart with no one to rescue me.

³LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice on my hands,

⁴if I have done harm to one at peace with me or have plundered my adversary without cause,

⁵may an enemy pursue and overtake me; may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust. Selah

⁶Rise up, LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my adversaries; awake for me; you have ordained a judgment.

⁷Let the assembly of peoples gather around you; take your seat on high over it.

⁸The LORD judges the peoples; vindicate me, LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity.

⁹Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous. The one who examines the thoughts and emotions is a righteous God.

¹⁰My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.

¹¹God is a righteous judge and a God who shows his wrath every day.

¹²If anyone does not repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has strung his bow and made it ready.

¹³He has prepared his deadly weapons; he tips his arrows with fire.

¹⁴See, the wicked one is pregnant with evil, conceives trouble, and gives birth to deceit.

¹⁵He dug a pit and hollowed it out but fell into the hole he had made.

¹⁶His trouble comes back on his own head; his own violence comes down on top of his head.

¹⁷I will thank the LORD for his righteousness; I will sing about the name of the LORD Most High.

¹My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,

²listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding;

³furthermore, if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,

⁴if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure,

⁵then you will understand the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.

⁶For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He stores up success for the upright; He is a shield for those who live with integrity

⁸so that he may guard the paths of justice and protect the way of his faithful followers.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness, justice, and integrity — every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight you.

¹¹Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you.

¹²It will rescue you from the way of evil — from anyone who says perverse things,

¹³from those who abandon the right paths to walk in ways of darkness,

¹⁴from those who enjoy doing evil and celebrate perversion,

¹⁵whose paths are crooked, and whose ways are devious.

¹⁶It will rescue you from a forbidden woman, from a wayward woman with her flattering talk,

¹⁷who abandons the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;

¹⁸for her house sinks down to death and her ways to the land of the departed spirits.

¹⁹None return who go to her; none reach the paths of life.

²⁰So follow the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will inhabit the land, and those of integrity will remain in it;

²²but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous ripped out of it.

¹Levi’s sons: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

²Kohath’s sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

³Amram’s children: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

⁴Eleazar fathered Phinehas; Phinehas fathered Abishua;

⁵Abishua fathered Bukki; Bukki fathered Uzzi;

⁶Uzzi fathered Zerahiah; Zerahiah fathered Meraioth;

⁷Meraioth fathered Amariah; Amariah fathered Ahitub;

⁸Ahitub fathered Zadok; Zadok fathered Ahimaaz;

⁹Ahimaaz fathered Azariah; Azariah fathered Johanan;

¹⁰Johanan fathered Azariah, who served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem;

¹¹Azariah fathered Amariah; Amariah fathered Ahitub;

¹²Ahitub fathered Zadok; Zadok fathered Shallum;

¹³Shallum fathered Hilkiah; Hilkiah fathered Azariah;

¹⁴Azariah fathered Seraiah; and Seraiah fathered Jehozadak.

¹⁵Jehozadak went into exile when the LORD sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.

¹⁶Levi’s sons: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁷These are the names of Gershom’s sons: Libni and Shimei.

¹⁸Kohath’s sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

¹⁹Merari’s sons: Mahli and Mushi. These are the Levites’ families according to their fathers:

²⁰Of Gershom: his son Libni, his son Jahath, his son Zimmah,

²¹his son Joah, his son Iddo, his son Zerah, and his son Jeatherai.

²²Kohath’s sons: his son Amminadab, his son Korah, his son Assir,

²³his son Elkanah, his son Ebiasaph, his son Assir,

²⁴his son Tahath, his son Uriel, his son Uzziah, and his son Shaul.

²⁵Elkanah’s sons: Amasai and Ahimoth,

²⁶his son Elkanah, his son Zophai, his son Nahath,

²⁷his son Eliab, his son Jeroham, and his son Elkanah.

²⁸Samuel’s sons: his firstborn Joel, and his second son Abijah.

²⁹Merari’s sons: Mahli, his son Libni, his son Shimei, his son Uzzah,

³⁰his son Shimea, his son Haggiah, and his son Asaiah.

³¹These are the men David put in charge of the music in the LORD’s temple after the ark came to rest there.

³²They ministered with song in front of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, until Solomon built the LORD’s temple in Jerusalem, and they performed their task according to the regulations given to them.

³³These are the men who served with their sons. From the Kohathites: Heman the singer, son of Joel, son of Samuel,

³⁴son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah,

³⁵son of Zuph, son of Elkanah, son of Mahath, son of Amasai,

³⁶son of Elkanah, son of Joel, son of Azariah, son of Zephaniah,

³⁷son of Tahath, son of Assir, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah,

³⁸son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Israel.

³⁹Heman’s relative was Asaph, who stood at his right hand: Asaph son of Berechiah, son of Shimea,

⁴⁰son of Michael, son of Baaseiah, son of Malchijah,

⁴¹son of Ethni, son of Zerah, son of Adaiah,

⁴²son of Ethan, son of Zimmah, son of Shimei,

⁴³son of Jahath, son of Gershom, son of Levi.

⁴⁴On the left, their relatives were Merari’s sons: Ethan son of Kishi, son of Abdi, son of Malluch,

⁴⁵son of Hashabiah, son of Amaziah, son of Hilkiah,

⁴⁶son of Amzi, son of Bani, son of Shemer,

⁴⁷son of Mahli, son of Mushi, son of Merari, son of Levi.

⁴⁸Their relatives, the Levites, were assigned to all the service of the tabernacle, God’s temple.

⁴⁹But Aaron and his sons did all the work of the most holy place. They presented the offerings on the altar of burnt offerings and on the altar of incense to make atonement for Israel according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

⁵⁰These are Aaron’s sons: his son Eleazar, his son Phinehas, his son Abishua,

⁵¹his son Bukki, his son Uzzi, his son Zerahiah,

⁵²his son Meraioth, his son Amariah, his son Ahitub,

⁵³his son Zadok, and his son Ahimaaz.

⁵⁴These were the places assigned to Aaron’s descendants from the Kohathite family for their settlements in their territory, because the first lot was for them.

⁵⁵They were given Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands,

⁵⁶but the fields and settlements around the city were given to Caleb son of Jephunneh.

⁵⁷Aaron’s descendants were given: Hebron (a city of refuge), Libnah and its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoa and its pasturelands,

⁵⁸Hilen and its pasturelands, Debir and its pasturelands,

⁵⁹Ashan and its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh and its pasturelands.

⁶⁰From the tribe of Benjamin they were given Geba and its pasturelands, Alemeth and its pasturelands, and Anathoth and its pasturelands. They had thirteen towns in all among their families.

⁶¹To the rest of the Kohathites, ten towns from half the tribe of Manasseh were assigned by lot.

⁶²The Gershomites were assigned thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh in Bashan according to their families.

⁶³The Merarites were assigned by lot twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun according to their families.

⁶⁴So the Israelites gave these towns and their pasturelands to the Levites.

⁶⁵They assigned by lot the towns named above from the tribes of the descendants of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

⁶⁶Some of the families of the Kohathites were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim for their territory:

⁶⁷Shechem (a city of refuge) with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer and its pasturelands,

⁶⁸Jokmeam and its pasturelands, Beth-horon and its pasturelands,

⁶⁹Aijalon and its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon and its pasturelands.

⁷⁰From half the tribe of Manasseh, Aner and its pasturelands, and Bileam and its pasturelands were given to the rest of the families of the Kohathites.

⁷¹The Gershomites received: Golan in Bashan and its pasturelands, and Ashtaroth and its pasturelands from the families of half the tribe of Manasseh.

⁷²From the tribe of Issachar they received Kedesh and its pasturelands, Daberath and its pasturelands,

⁷³Ramoth and its pasturelands, and Anem and its pasturelands.

⁷⁴From the tribe of Asher they received Mashal and its pasturelands, Abdon and its pasturelands,

⁷⁵Hukok and its pasturelands, and Rehob and its pasturelands.

⁷⁶From the tribe of Naphtali they received Kedesh in Galilee and its pasturelands, Hammon and its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim and its pasturelands.

⁷⁷The rest of the Merarites received: From the tribe of Zebulun they received Rimmono and its pasturelands and Tabor and its pasturelands.

⁷⁸From the tribe of Reuben across the Jordan at Jericho, to the east of the Jordan, they received Bezer in the desert and its pasturelands, Jahzah and its pasturelands,

⁷⁹Kedemoth and its pasturelands, and Mephaath and its pasturelands.

⁸⁰From the tribe of Gad they received Ramoth in Gilead and its pasturelands, Mahanaim and its pasturelands,

⁸¹Heshbon and its pasturelands, and Jazer and its pasturelands.

¹The word of the LORD came to me:

²“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?

³You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened animals, but you do not tend the flock.

⁴You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.

⁵They were scattered for lack of a shepherd; they became food for all the wild animals when they were scattered.

⁶My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and there was no one searching or seeking for them.

⁷“‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD.

⁸As I live — this is the declaration of the Lord GOD  — because my flock, lacking a shepherd, has become prey and food for every wild animal, and because my shepherds do not search for my flock, and because the shepherds feed themselves rather than my flock,

⁹therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD!

¹⁰“‘This is what the Lord GOD says: Look, I am against the shepherds. I will demand my flock from them and prevent them from shepherding the flock. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves, for I will rescue my flock from their mouths so that they will not be food for them.

¹¹“‘For this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I myself will search for my flock and look for them.

¹²As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and total darkness.

¹³I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them to their own soil. I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the land.

¹⁴I will tend them in good pasture, and their grazing place will be on Israel’s lofty mountains. There they will lie down in a good grazing place; they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁵I will tend my flock and let them lie down. This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.

¹⁶I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, and strengthen the weak, but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will shepherd them with justice.

¹⁷“‘As for you, my flock, the Lord GOD says this: Look, I am going to judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and goats.

¹⁸Isn’t it enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of the pasture with your feet? Or isn’t it enough that you drink the clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?

¹⁹Yet my flock has to feed on what your feet have trampled, and drink what your feet have muddied.

²⁰“‘Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

²¹Since you have pushed with flank and shoulder and butted all the weak ones with your horns until you scattered them all over,

²²I will save my flock. They will no longer be prey, and I will judge between one sheep and another.

²³I will establish over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will shepherd them. He will tend them himself and will be their shepherd.

²⁴I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among them. I, the LORD, have spoken.

²⁵“‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate dangerous creatures from the land, so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest.

²⁶I will make them and the area around my hill a blessing: I will send down showers in their season; they will be showers of blessing.

²⁷The trees of the field will yield their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; my flock will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the power of those who enslave them.

²⁸They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the wild creatures of the earth will not consume them. They will live securely, and no one will frighten them.

²⁹I will establish for them a place renowned for its agriculture, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land. They will no longer endure the insults of the nations.

³⁰Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people. This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.

³¹You are my flock, the human flock of my pasture, and I am your God. This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.’”

¹After they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

²As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”

⁴Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.

⁵But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.

⁶When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too,

⁷and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king — Jesus.”

⁸The crowd and city officials who heard these things were upset.

⁹After taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they released them.

¹⁰As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.

¹¹The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

¹²Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men.

¹³But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting the crowds.

¹⁴Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there.

¹⁵Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.

¹⁶While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of idols.

¹⁷So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities” — because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you are presenting?

²⁰Because what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these things mean.”

²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new.

²²Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect.

²³For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it  — he is Lord of heaven and earth  — does not live in shrines made by hands.

²⁵Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.

²⁶From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.

²⁷He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

²⁸For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’

²⁹Since we are God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.

³⁰“Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent,

³¹because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

³²When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him, but others said, “We’d like to hear from you again about this.”

³³So Paul left their presence.

³⁴However, some people joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.