Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

²They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

³So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.

⁴As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.

⁵The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?

⁶He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee,

⁷that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”

⁸Then they remembered that he had said this.

⁹So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples — and everyone else — what had happened.

¹⁰It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened.

¹¹But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.

¹²However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.

¹³That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem.

¹⁴As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened.

¹⁵As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them.

¹⁶But God kept them from recognizing him.

¹⁷He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?” They stopped short, sadness written across their faces.

¹⁸Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.”

¹⁹“What things?” Jesus asked. “The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people.

²⁰But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him.

²¹We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.

²²“Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report.

²³They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive!

²⁴Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said.”

²⁵Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures.

²⁶Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?”

²⁷Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

²⁸By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on,

²⁹but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them.

³⁰As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them.

³¹Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!

³²They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

³³And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them,

³⁴who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter. ”

³⁵Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread.

³⁶And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.

³⁷But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!

³⁸“Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt?

³⁹Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.”

⁴⁰As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet.

⁴¹Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish,

⁴³and he ate it as they watched.

⁴⁴Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

⁴⁶And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day.

⁴⁷It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’

⁴⁸You are witnesses of all these things.

⁴⁹“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

⁵⁰Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them.

⁵¹While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven.

⁵²So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy.

⁵³And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God.

¹“And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

²Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you.

³“You saw for yourself what the LORD did to you at Baal-peor. There the LORD your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor.

⁴But all of you who were faithful to the LORD your God are still alive today — every one of you.

⁵“Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

⁶Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’

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

⁸And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?

⁹“But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.

¹⁰Never forget the day when you stood before the LORD your God at Mount Sinai, where he told me, ‘Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct them. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.’

¹¹“You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while flames from the mountain shot into the sky. The mountain was shrouded in black clouds and deep darkness.

¹²And the LORD spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn’t see his form; there was only a voice.

¹³He proclaimed his covenant — the Ten Commandments — which he commanded you to keep, and which he wrote on two stone tablets.

¹⁴It was at that time that the LORD commanded me to teach you his decrees and regulations so you would obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

¹⁵“But be very careful! You did not see the LORD’s form on the day he spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai.

¹⁶So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form — whether of a man or a woman,

¹⁷an animal on the ground, a bird in the sky,

¹⁸a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a fish in the deepest sea.

¹⁹And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars — all the forces of heaven — don’t be seduced into worshiping them. The LORD your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth.

²⁰Remember that the LORD rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today.

²¹“But the LORD was angry with me because of you. He vowed that I would not cross the Jordan River into the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your special possession.

²²You will cross the Jordan to occupy the land, but I will not. Instead, I will die here on the east side of the river.

²³So be careful not to break the covenant the LORD your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the LORD your God has forbidden this.

²⁴The LORD your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God.

²⁵“In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind. This is evil in the sight of the LORD your God and will arouse his anger.

²⁶“Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed.

²⁷For the LORD will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive.

²⁸There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and stone — gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

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

³⁰“In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the LORD your God and listen to what he tells you.

³¹For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.

³²“Now search all of history, from the time God created people on the earth until now, and search from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything as great as this ever been seen or heard before?

³³Has any nation ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire — as you did — and survived?

³⁴Has any other god dared to take a nation for himself out of another nation by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a powerful arm, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes.

³⁵“He showed you these things so you would know that the LORD is God and there is no other.

³⁶He let you hear his voice from heaven so he could instruct you. He let you see his great fire here on earth so he could speak to you from it.

³⁷Because he loved your ancestors, he chose to bless their descendants, and he personally brought you out of Egypt with a great display of power.

³⁸He drove out nations far greater than you, so he could bring you in and give you their land as your special possession, as it is today.

³⁹“So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The LORD is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other.

⁴⁰If you obey all the decrees and commands I am giving you today, all will be well with you and your children. I am giving you these instructions so you will enjoy a long life in the land the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

⁴¹Then Moses set apart three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River.

⁴²Anyone who killed another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, could flee there to live in safety.

⁴³These were the cities: Bezer on the wilderness plateau for the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad; Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.

⁴⁴This is the body of instruction that Moses presented to the Israelites.

⁴⁵These are the laws, decrees, and regulations that Moses gave to the people of Israel when they left Egypt,

⁴⁶and as they camped in the valley near Beth-peor east of the Jordan River. (This land was formerly occupied by the Amorites under King Sihon, who ruled from Heshbon. But Moses and the Israelites destroyed him and his people when they came up from Egypt.

⁴⁷Israel took possession of his land and that of King Og of Bashan — the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.

⁴⁸So Israel conquered the entire area from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon Gorge all the way to Mount Sirion, also called Mount Hermon.

⁴⁹And they conquered the eastern bank of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea, below the slopes of Pisgah.)

¹This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.

²God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.

³The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line,

⁴and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

⁵Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

⁶And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.

⁷I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

⁸Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world.

⁹God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son.

¹⁰One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you.

¹¹For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord.

¹²When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.

¹³I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until now. I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen among other Gentiles.

¹⁴For I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world, to the educated and uneducated alike.

¹⁵So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — the Jew first and also the Gentile.

¹⁷This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

¹⁸But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

¹⁹They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.

²⁰For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

²¹Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.

²²Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.

²³And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.

²⁵They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

²⁶That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.

²⁷And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

²⁸Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.

²⁹Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.

³⁰They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.

³¹They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.

³²They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

¹Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.

²Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags.

³Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment.

⁴For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

⁵You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.

⁶You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.

⁷Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.

⁸You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.

⁹Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look — the Judge is standing at the door!

¹⁰For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

¹¹We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.

¹²But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.

¹³Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.

¹⁴Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.

¹⁵Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

¹⁶Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

¹⁷Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years!

¹⁸Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

¹⁹My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back,

²⁰you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

¹“Listen to my words, Job; pay attention to what I have to say.

²Now that I have begun to speak, let me continue.

³I speak with all sincerity; I speak the truth.

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

⁵Answer me, if you can; make your case and take your stand.

⁶Look, you and I both belong to God. I, too, was formed from clay.

⁷So you don’t need to be afraid of me. I won’t come down hard on you.

⁸“You have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard your very words.

⁹You said, ‘I am pure; I am without sin; I am innocent; I have no guilt.

¹⁰God is picking a quarrel with me, and he considers me his enemy.

¹¹He puts my feet in the stocks and watches my every move.’

¹²“But you are wrong, and I will show you why. For God is greater than any human being.

¹³So why are you bringing a charge against him? Why say he does not respond to people’s complaints?

¹⁴For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it.

¹⁵He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds.

¹⁶He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings.

¹⁷He makes them turn from doing wrong; he keeps them from pride.

¹⁸He protects them from the grave, from crossing over the river of death.

¹⁹“Or God disciplines people with pain on their sickbeds, with ceaseless aching in their bones.

²⁰They lose their appetite for even the most delicious food.

²¹Their flesh wastes away, and their bones stick out.

²²They are at death’s door; the angels of death wait for them.

²³“But if an angel from heaven appears — a special messenger to intercede for a person and declare that he is upright —

²⁴he will be gracious and say, ‘Rescue him from the grave, for I have found a ransom for his life.’

²⁵Then his body will become as healthy as a child’s, firm and youthful again.

²⁶When he prays to God, he will be accepted. And God will receive him with joy and restore him to good standing.

²⁷He will declare to his friends, ‘I sinned and twisted the truth, but it was not worth it.

²⁸God rescued me from the grave, and now my life is filled with light.’

²⁹“Yes, God does these things again and again for people.

³⁰He rescues them from the grave so they may enjoy the light of life.

³¹Mark this well, Job. Listen to me, for I have more to say.

³²But if you have anything to say, go ahead. Speak, for I am anxious to see you justified.

³³But if not, then listen to me. Keep silent and I will teach you wisdom!”

¹I come to you for protection, O LORD my God. Save me from my persecutors — rescue me!

²If you don’t, they will maul me like a lion, tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

³O LORD my God, if I have done wrong or am guilty of injustice,

⁴if I have betrayed a friend or plundered my enemy without cause,

⁵then let my enemies capture me. Let them trample me into the ground and drag my honor in the dust. Interlude

⁶Arise, O LORD, in anger! Stand up against the fury of my enemies! Wake up, my God, and bring justice!

⁷Gather the nations before you. Rule over them from on high.

⁸The LORD judges the nations. Declare me righteous, O LORD, for I am innocent, O Most High!

⁹End the evil of those who are wicked, and defend the righteous. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God.

¹⁰God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right.

¹¹God is an honest judge. He is angry with the wicked every day.

¹²If a person does not repent, God will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.

¹³He will prepare his deadly weapons and shoot his flaming arrows.

¹⁴The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.

¹⁵They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves.

¹⁶The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads.

¹⁷I will thank the LORD because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

¹My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.

²Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.

³Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.

⁴Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.

⁵Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God.

⁶For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.

⁸He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.

⁹Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.

¹¹Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.

¹²Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.

¹³These men turn from the right way to walk down dark paths.

¹⁴They take pleasure in doing wrong, and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.

¹⁵Their actions are crooked, and their ways are wrong.

¹⁶Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.

¹⁷She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.

¹⁸Entering her house leads to death; it is the road to the grave.

¹⁹The man who visits her is doomed. He will never reach the paths of life.

²⁰So follow the steps of the good, and stay on the paths of the righteous.

²¹For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.

²²But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.

¹The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

²The descendants of Kohath included Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

³The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

⁴Eleazar was the father of Phinehas. Phinehas was the father of Abishua.

⁵Abishua was the father of Bukki. Bukki was the father of Uzzi.

⁶Uzzi was the father of Zerahiah. Zerahiah was the father of Meraioth.

⁷Meraioth was the father of Amariah. Amariah was the father of Ahitub.

⁸Ahitub was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Ahimaaz.

⁹Ahimaaz was the father of Azariah. Azariah was the father of Johanan.

¹⁰Johanan was the father of Azariah, the high priest at the Temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem.

¹¹Azariah was the father of Amariah. Amariah was the father of Ahitub.

¹²Ahitub was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Shallum.

¹³Shallum was the father of Hilkiah. Hilkiah was the father of Azariah.

¹⁴Azariah was the father of Seraiah. Seraiah was the father of Jehozadak,

¹⁵who went into exile when the LORD sent the people of Judah and Jerusalem into captivity under Nebuchadnezzar.

¹⁶The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁷The descendants of Gershon included Libni and Shimei.

¹⁸The descendants of Kohath included Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

¹⁹The descendants of Merari included Mahli and Mushi. The following were the Levite clans, listed according to their ancestral descent:

²⁰The descendants of Gershon included Libni, Jahath, Zimmah,

²¹Joah, Iddo, Zerah, and Jeatherai.

²²The descendants of Kohath included Amminadab, Korah, Assir,

²³Elkanah, Abiasaph, Assir,

²⁴Tahath, Uriel, Uzziah, and Shaul.

²⁵The descendants of Elkanah included Amasai, Ahimoth,

²⁶Elkanah, Zophai, Nahath,

²⁷Eliab, Jeroham, Elkanah, and Samuel.

²⁸The sons of Samuel were Joel (the older) and Abijah (the second).

²⁹The descendants of Merari included Mahli, Libni, Shimei, Uzzah,

³⁰Shimea, Haggiah, and Asaiah.

³¹David assigned the following men to lead the music at the house of the LORD after the Ark was placed there.

³²They ministered with music at the Tabernacle until Solomon built the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. They carried out their work, following all the regulations handed down to them.

³³These are the men who served, along with their sons: Heman the musician was from the clan of Kohath. His genealogy was traced back through Joel, Samuel,

³⁴Elkanah, Jeroham, Eliel, Toah,

³⁵Zuph, Elkanah, Mahath, Amasai,

³⁶Elkanah, Joel, Azariah, Zephaniah,

³⁷Tahath, Assir, Abiasaph, Korah,

³⁸Izhar, Kohath, Levi, and Israel.

³⁹Heman’s first assistant was Asaph from the clan of Gershon. Asaph’s genealogy was traced back through Berekiah, Shimea,

⁴⁰Michael, Baaseiah, Malkijah,

⁴¹Ethni, Zerah, Adaiah,

⁴²Ethan, Zimmah, Shimei,

⁴³Jahath, Gershon, and Levi.

⁴⁴Heman’s second assistant was Ethan from the clan of Merari. Ethan’s genealogy was traced back through Kishi, Abdi, Malluch,

⁴⁵Hashabiah, Amaziah, Hilkiah,

⁴⁶Amzi, Bani, Shemer,

⁴⁷Mahli, Mushi, Merari, and Levi.

⁴⁸Their fellow Levites were appointed to various other tasks in the Tabernacle, the house of God.

⁴⁹Only Aaron and his descendants served as priests. They presented the offerings on the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense, and they performed all the other duties related to the Most Holy Place. They made atonement for Israel by doing everything that Moses, the servant of God, had commanded them.

⁵⁰The descendants of Aaron were Eleazar, Phinehas, Abishua,

⁵¹Bukki, Uzzi, Zerahiah,

⁵²Meraioth, Amariah, Ahitub,

⁵³Zadok, and Ahimaaz.

⁵⁴This is a record of the towns and territory assigned by means of sacred lots to the descendants of Aaron, who were from the clan of Kohath.

⁵⁵This territory included Hebron and its surrounding pasturelands in Judah,

⁵⁶but the fields and outlying areas belonging to the city were given to Caleb son of Jephunneh.

⁵⁷So the descendants of Aaron were given the following towns, each with its pasturelands: Hebron (a city of refuge), Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa,

⁵⁸Holon, Debir,

⁵⁹Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh.

⁶⁰And from the territory of Benjamin they were given Gibeon, Geba, Alemeth, and Anathoth, each with its pasturelands. So thirteen towns were given to the descendants of Aaron.

⁶¹The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten towns from the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh by means of sacred lots.

⁶²The descendants of Gershon received by sacred lots thirteen towns from the territories of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and from the Bashan area of Manasseh, east of the Jordan.

⁶³The descendants of Merari received by sacred lots twelve towns from the territories of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

⁶⁴So the people of Israel assigned all these towns and pasturelands to the Levites.

⁶⁵The towns in the territories of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, mentioned above, were assigned to them by means of sacred lots.

⁶⁶The descendants of Kohath were given the following towns from the territory of Ephraim, each with its pasturelands:

⁶⁷Shechem (a city of refuge in the hill country of Ephraim), Gezer,

⁶⁸Jokmeam, Beth-horon,

⁶⁹Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon.

⁷⁰The remaining descendants of Kohath were assigned the towns of Aner and Bileam from the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh, each with its pasturelands.

⁷¹The descendants of Gershon received the towns of Golan (in Bashan) and Ashtaroth from the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh, each with its pasturelands.

⁷²From the territory of Issachar, they were given Kedesh, Daberath,

⁷³Ramoth, and Anem, each with its pasturelands.

⁷⁴From the territory of Asher, they received Mashal, Abdon,

⁷⁵Hukok, and Rehob, each with its pasturelands.

⁷⁶From the territory of Naphtali, they were given Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim, each with its pasturelands.

⁷⁷The remaining descendants of Merari received the towns of Jokneam, Kartah, Rimmon, and Tabor from the territory of Zebulun, each with its pasturelands.

⁷⁸From the territory of Reuben, east of the Jordan River opposite Jericho, they received Bezer (a desert town), Jahaz,

⁷⁹Kedemoth, and Mephaath, each with its pasturelands.

⁸⁰And from the territory of Gad, they received Ramoth in Gilead, Mahanaim,

⁸¹Heshbon, and Jazer, each with its pasturelands.

¹Then this message came to me from the LORD:

²“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep?

³You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve.

⁴You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty.

⁵So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal.

⁶They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.

⁷“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

⁸As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve.

⁹Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD.

¹⁰This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey.

¹¹“For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep.

¹²I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.

¹³I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live.

¹⁴Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills.

¹⁵I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD.

¹⁶I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes — feed them justice!

¹⁷“And as for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to his people: I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from the goats.

¹⁸Isn’t it enough for you to keep the best of the pastures for yourselves? Must you also trample down the rest? Isn’t it enough for you to drink clear water for yourselves? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?

¹⁹Why must my flock eat what you have trampled down and drink water you have fouled?

²⁰“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep.

²¹For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands.

²²So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused. I will judge between one animal of the flock and another.

²³And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them.

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

²⁵“I will make a covenant of peace with my people and drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then they will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods without fear.

²⁶I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing.

²⁷The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the LORD.

²⁸They will no longer be prey for other nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will frighten them.

²⁹“And I will make their land famous for its crops, so my people will never again suffer from famines or the insults of foreign nations.

³⁰In this way, they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign LORD.

³¹You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

¹Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

²As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people.

³He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.”

⁴Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.

⁵But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd.

⁶Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too.

⁷And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.”

⁸The people of the city, as well as the city council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports.

⁹So the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond, and then they released them.

¹⁰That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

¹¹And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.

¹²As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.

¹³But when some Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God in Berea, they went there and stirred up trouble.

¹⁴The believers acted at once, sending Paul on to the coast, while Silas and Timothy remained behind.

¹⁵Those escorting Paul went with him all the way to Athens; then they returned to Berea with instructions for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join him.

¹⁶While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city.

¹⁷He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.

¹⁸He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”

¹⁹Then they took him to the high council of the city. “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said.

²⁰“You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.”

²¹(It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)

²²So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way,

²³for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

²⁴“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples,

²⁵and human hands can’t serve his needs — for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.

²⁶From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

²⁷“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him — though he is not far from any one of us.

²⁸For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

²⁹And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

³⁰“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.

³¹For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

³²When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.”

³³That ended Paul’s discussion with them,

³⁴but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.