Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’s mother was there, and

²Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well.

³When the wine ran out, Jesus’s mother told him, “They don’t have any wine.”

⁴“What does that have to do with you and me, woman?” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.”

⁵“Do whatever he tells you,” his mother told the servants.

⁶Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained twenty or thirty gallons.

⁷“Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim.

⁸Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.” And they did.

⁹When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from — though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom

¹⁰and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.”

¹¹Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

¹²After this, he went down to Capernaum, together with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they stayed there only a few days.

¹³The Jewish Passover was near, and so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁴In the temple he found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and he also found the money changers sitting there.

¹⁵After making a whip out of cords, he drove everyone out of the temple with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables.

¹⁶He told those who were selling doves, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”

¹⁷And his disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal for your house will consume me.

¹⁸So the Jews replied to him, “What sign will you show us for doing these things?”

¹⁹Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.”

²⁰Therefore the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build, and will you raise it up in three days?”

²¹But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

²²So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made.

²³While he was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing.

²⁴Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all

²⁵and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.

¹“This is the command — the statutes and ordinances — the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess.

²Do this so that you may fear the LORD your God all the days of your life by keeping all his statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life.

³Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴“Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

⁵Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

⁶These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.

⁷Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

⁸Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead.

⁹Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.

¹⁰“When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you — a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build,

¹¹houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant  — and when you eat and are satisfied,

¹²be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

¹³Fear the LORD your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name.

¹⁴Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you,

¹⁵for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise, the LORD your God will become angry with you and obliterate you from the face of the earth.

¹⁶Do not test the LORD your God as you tested him at Massah.

¹⁷Carefully observe the commands of the LORD your God, the decrees and statutes he has commanded you.

¹⁸Do what is right and good in the LORD’s sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and possess the good land the LORD your God swore to give your fathers,

¹⁹by driving out all your enemies before you, as the LORD has said.

²⁰“When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?’

²¹tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.

²²Before our eyes the LORD inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household,

²³but he brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that he swore to our fathers.

²⁴The LORD commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the LORD our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today.

²⁵Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.’

¹So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

²Considerable in every way. First, they were entrusted with the very words of God.

³What then? If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?

⁴Absolutely not! Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar, as it is written: That you may be justified in your words and triumph when you judge.

⁵But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say? I am using a human argument: Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath?

⁶Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?

⁷But if by my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

⁸And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!

⁹What then? Are we any better off? Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin,

¹⁰as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.

¹¹There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.

¹²All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.

¹³Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips.

¹⁴Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

¹⁵Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,

¹⁷and the path of peace they have not known.

¹⁸There is no fear of God before their eyes.

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment.

²⁰For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.

²¹But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets.

²²The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction.

²³For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

²⁴They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

²⁵God presented him as an atoning sacrifice in his blood, received through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.

²⁶God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith.

²⁸For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

³⁰since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

³¹Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

¹Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.

²Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow up into your salvation,

³if you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴As you come to him, a living stone — rejected by people but chosen and honored by God —

⁵you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁶For it stands in Scripture: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.

⁷So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected — this one has become the cornerstone,

⁸and A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.

⁹But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul.

¹²Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.

¹³Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority

¹⁴or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good.

¹⁵For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.

¹⁶Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves.

¹⁷Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

¹⁸Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel.

¹⁹For it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly.

²⁰For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.

²¹For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

²²He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth;

²³when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.

²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

²⁵For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

¹Then Elihu continued, saying:

²Do you think it is just when you say, “I am righteous before God”?

³For you ask, “What does it profit you, and what benefit comes to me, if I do not sin?”

⁴I will answer you and your friends with you.

⁵Look at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you.

⁶If you sin, how does it affect God? If you multiply your transgressions, what does it do to him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give him, or what does he receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness affects a person like yourself, and your righteousness, a son of man.

⁹People cry out because of severe oppression; they shout for help because of the power of the mighty.

¹⁰But no one asks, “Where is God my Maker, who provides us with songs in the night,

¹¹who gives us more understanding than the animals of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?”

¹²There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil people.

¹³Indeed, God does not listen to empty cries, and the Almighty does not take note of it —

¹⁴how much less when you complain that you do not see him, that your case is before him and you are waiting for him.

¹⁵But now, because God’s anger does not punish and he does not pay attention to transgression,

¹⁶Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.

¹For the choir director: according to . A psalm of David. [1] I will thank the LORD with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous works.

²I will rejoice and boast about you; I will sing about your name, Most High.

³When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before you.

⁴For you have upheld my just cause; you are seated on your throne as a righteous judge.

⁵You have rebuked the nations: You have destroyed the wicked; you have erased their name forever and ever.

⁶The enemy has come to eternal ruin. You have uprooted the cities, and the very memory of them has perished.

⁷But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for judgment.

⁸And he judges the world with righteousness; he executes judgment on the nations with fairness.

⁹The LORD is a refuge for the persecuted, a refuge in times of trouble.

¹⁰Those who know your name trust in you because you have not abandoned those who seek you, LORD.

¹¹Sing to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; proclaim his deeds among the nations.

¹²For the one who seeks an accounting for bloodshed remembers them; he does not forget the cry of the oppressed.

¹³Be gracious to me, LORD; consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me. Lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴so that I may declare all your praises. I will rejoice in your salvation within the gates of Daughter Zion.

¹⁵The nations have fallen into the pit they made; their foot is caught in the net they have concealed.

¹⁶The LORD has made himself known; he has executed justice, snaring the wicked by the work of their hands. Higgaion. Selah

¹⁷The wicked will return to Sheol  — all the nations that forget God.

¹⁸For the needy will not always be forgotten; the hope of the oppressed will not perish forever.

¹⁹Rise up, LORD! Do not let mere humans prevail; let the nations be judged in your presence.

²⁰Put terror in them, LORD; let the nations know they are only humans. Selah

¹Listen, sons, to a father’s discipline, and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

²for I am giving you good instruction. Don’t abandon my teaching.

³When I was a son with my father, tender and precious to my mother,

⁴he taught me and said: “Your heart must hold on to my words. Keep my commands and live.

⁵Get wisdom, get understanding; don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth.

⁶Don’t abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you; love her, and she will guard you.

⁷Wisdom is supreme — so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.

⁸Cherish her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.

⁹She will place a garland of favor on your head; she will give you a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son. Accept my words, and you will live many years.

¹¹I am teaching you the way of wisdom; I am guiding you on straight paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hindered; when you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Hold on to instruction; don’t let go. Guard it, for it is your life.

¹⁴Keep off the path of the wicked; don’t proceed on the way of evil ones.

¹⁵Avoid it; don’t travel on it. Turn away from it, and pass it by.

¹⁶For they can’t sleep unless they have done what is evil; they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

¹⁷They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they don’t know what makes them stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words; listen closely to my sayings.

²¹Don’t lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, and health to one’s whole body.

²³Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.

²⁴Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly, and don’t let your lips talk deviously.

²⁵Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.

²⁶Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established.

²⁷Don’t turn to the right or to the left; keep your feet away from evil.

¹Benjamin fathered Bela, his firstborn; Ashbel was born second, Aharah third,

²Nohah fourth, and Rapha fifth.

³Bela’s sons: Addar, Gera, Abihud,

⁴Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,

⁵Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.

⁶These were Ehud’s sons, who were the heads of the families living in Geba and who were deported to Manahath:

⁷Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera. Gera deported them and was the father of Uzza and Ahihud.

⁸Shaharaim had sons in the territory of Moab after he had divorced his wives Hushim and Baara.

⁹His sons by his wife Hodesh: Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam,

¹⁰Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, family heads.

¹¹He also had sons by Hushim: Abitub and Elpaal.

¹²Elpaal’s sons: Eber, Misham, and Shemed who built Ono and Lod and its surrounding villages,

¹³Beriah and Shema, who were the family heads of Aijalon’s residents and who drove out the residents of Gath,

¹⁴Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth.

¹⁵Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,

¹⁶Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were Beriah’s sons.

¹⁷Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber,

¹⁸Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were Elpaal’s sons.

¹⁹Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi,

²⁰Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel,

²¹Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were Shimei’s sons.

²²Ishpan, Eber, Eliel,

²³Abdon, Zichri, Hanan,

²⁴Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah,

²⁵Iphdeiah, and Penuel were Shashak’s sons.

²⁶Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah,

²⁷Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were Jeroham’s sons.

²⁸These were family heads, chiefs according to their family records; they lived in Jerusalem.

²⁹Jeiel fathered Gibeon and lived in Gibeon. His wife’s name was Maacah.

³⁰Abdon was his firstborn son, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab,

³¹Gedor, Ahio, Zecher,

³²and Mikloth who fathered Shimeah. These also lived opposite their relatives in Jerusalem, with their other relatives.

³³Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal.

³⁴Jonathan’s son was Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah.

³⁵Micah’s sons: Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz.

³⁶Ahaz fathered Jehoaddah, Jehoaddah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri, and Zimri fathered Moza.

³⁷Moza fathered Binea. His son was Raphah, his son Elasah, and his son Azel.

³⁸Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were Azel’s sons.

³⁹His brother Eshek’s sons: Ulam was his firstborn, Jeush second, and Eliphelet third.

⁴⁰Ulam’s sons were valiant warriors and archers. They had many sons and grandsons — 150 of them. All these were among Benjamin’s sons.

¹“Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.

²This is what the Lord GOD says: Because the enemy has said about you, “Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,”’

³therefore, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you from every side, so that you became a possession for the rest of the nations and an object of people’s gossip and slander,

⁴therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and abandoned cities, which have become plunder and a mockery to the rest of the nations all around.

⁵“‘This is what the Lord GOD says: Certainly in my burning zeal I speak against the rest of the nations and all of Edom, who took my land as their own possession with wholehearted rejoicing and utter contempt so that its pastureland became plunder.

⁶Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: This is what the Lord GOD says: Look, I speak in my burning zeal because you have endured the insults of the nations.

⁷Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: I swear that the nations all around you will endure their own insults.

⁸“‘You, mountains of Israel, will produce your branches and bear your fruit for my people Israel, since their arrival is near.

⁹Look! I am on your side; I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown.

¹⁰I will fill you with people, with the whole house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.

¹¹I will fill you with people and animals, and they will increase and be fruitful. I will make you inhabited as you once were and make you better off than you were before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

¹²I will cause people, my people Israel, to walk on you; they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance. You will no longer deprive them of their children.

¹³“‘This is what the Lord GOD says: Because some are saying to you, “You devour people and deprive your nation of children,”

¹⁴therefore, you will no longer devour people and deprive your nation of children. This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.

¹⁵I will no longer allow the insults of the nations to be heard against you, and you will not have to endure the reproach of the peoples anymore; you will no longer cause your nation to stumble. This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.’”

¹⁶The word of the LORD came to me:

¹⁷“Son of man, while the house of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it with their conduct and actions. Their behavior before me was like menstrual impurity.

¹⁸So I poured out my wrath on them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.

¹⁹I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered among the countries. I judged them according to their conduct and actions.

²⁰When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, because it was said about them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave his land in exile.’

²¹Then I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went.

²²“Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went.

²³I will honor the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations — the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the LORD  — this is the declaration of the Lord GOD  — when I demonstrate my holiness through you in their sight.

²⁴“‘For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

²⁵I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.

²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

²⁷I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.

²⁸You will live in the land that I gave your fathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

²⁹I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine on you.

³⁰I will also make the fruit of the trees and the produce of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer experience reproach among the nations on account of famine.

³¹“‘You will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and detestable practices.

³²It is not for your sake that I will act  — this is the declaration of the Lord GOD  — let this be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, house of Israel!

³³“‘This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt.

³⁴The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by.

³⁵They will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and demolished are now fortified and inhabited.”

³⁶Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was demolished and have replanted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken and I will do it.

³⁷“‘This is what the Lord GOD says: I will respond to the house of Israel and do this for them: I will multiply them in number like a flock.

³⁸So the ruined cities will be filled with a flock of people, just as Jerusalem is filled with a flock of sheep for sacrifice during its appointed festivals. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”

¹While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples

²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” “No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³“Into what then were you baptized?” he asked them. “Into John’s baptism,” they replied.

⁴Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”

⁵When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in other tongues and to prophesy.

⁷Now there were about twelve men in all.

⁸Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and conducted discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This went on for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

¹¹God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands,

¹²so that even facecloths or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

¹³Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”

¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.

¹⁵The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul — but who are you?”

¹⁶Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem.

¹⁸And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices,

¹⁹while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰In this way the word of the Lord flourished and prevailed.

²¹After these events, Paul resolved by the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “It is necessary for me to see Rome as well.”

²²After sending to Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³About that time there was a major disturbance about the Way.

²⁴For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen.

²⁵When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said: “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business.

²⁶You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods.

²⁷Not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin — the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.

³⁰Although Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him.

³¹Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to venture into the amphitheater.

³²Some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

³³Some Jews in the crowd gave instructions to Alexander after they pushed him to the front. Motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people.

³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵When the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “People of Ephesus! What person is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven?

³⁶Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash.

³⁷For you have brought these men here who are not temple robbers or blasphemers of our goddess.

³⁸So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

³⁹But if you seek anything further, it must be decided in a legal assembly.

⁴⁰In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disturbance.”

⁴¹After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.