Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;

²and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.

³When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.”

⁴And Jesus *said to her, “What business do you have with Me, woman? My hour has not yet come.”

⁵His mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He tells you, do it.”

⁶Now there were six stone waterpots standing there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing two or three measures each.

⁷Jesus *said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.

⁸And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to theheadwaiter.” And they took it to him.

⁹Now when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the groom,

¹⁰and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the guests are drunk, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

¹¹This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

¹²After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother, and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

¹³The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁴And within the temple grounds He found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

¹⁵And He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;

¹⁶and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away from here; stop making My Father’s house aplace of business!”

¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written: “ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”

¹⁸The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?”

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

²⁰The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and yet You will 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 said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

²³Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name as they observed His signs which He was doing.

²⁴But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, because He knew all people,

²⁵and because He did not need anyone to testify about mankind, for He Himself knew what was in mankind.

¹“Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may do them in the land where you are going over to take possession of it,

²so that you, your son, and your grandson will fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.

³Now Israel, you shall listen and be careful to do them, so that it may go well for you and that you may increase greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴“Hear, Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!

⁵And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

⁶These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.

⁷And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.

⁸You shall also tie them as a sign to your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead.

⁹You shall also write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰“Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land that He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build,

¹¹and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and carved cisterns which you did not carve out, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied,

¹²be careful that you do not forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

¹³You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.

¹⁴You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you,

¹⁵for the LORD your God who is in the midst of you is a jealous God; so follow Him, or else the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.

¹⁶“You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.

¹⁷You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and His provisions and His statutes which He has commanded you.

¹⁸You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, so that it may go well for you and that you may go in and take possession of the good land which the LORD swore to give your fathers,

¹⁹by driving out all your enemies from you, as the LORD has spoken.

²⁰“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the provisions and the statutes and the judgments mean which the LORD our God commanded you?’

²¹then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

²²Moreover, the LORD provided great and terrible signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household;

²³He brought us out of there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.’

²⁴So the LORD commanded us to follow all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God for our own good always and for our survival, as it is today.

²⁵And it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to follow all this commandment before the LORD our God, just as He commanded us.

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

²Great in every respect. First, that they were entrusted with the actual words of God.

³What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?

⁴Far from it! Rather, God must prove to be true, though every person be found a liar, as it is written: “SO THAT YOU ARE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking from a human viewpoint.)

⁶Far from it! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?

⁷But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

⁸And why not say (just as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let’s do evil that good may come of it”? Their condemnation is deserved.

⁹What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;

¹⁰as it is written: “THERE IS NO RIGHTEOUS PERSON, NOT EVEN ONE;

¹¹THERE IS NO ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NO ONE WHO SEEKS OUT GOD;

¹²THEY HAVE ALL TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME CORRUPT; THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

¹³“THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE VENOM OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;

¹⁴“THEIR MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;

¹⁵“THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,

¹⁶DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,

¹⁷AND THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN THE WAY OF PEACE.”

¹⁸“THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;

²⁰because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin.

²¹But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

²²but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction,

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

²⁴being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,

²⁵whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished;

²⁶for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

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

²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

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

³¹Do we then nullify the Law through faith? Far from it! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

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

²and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,

³if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

⁴And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is choice and precious in the sight of God,

⁵you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁶For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I AM LAYING IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE, AND THE ONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.”

⁷This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers, “A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE,”

⁸and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed.

⁹But you are A CHOSEN PEOPLE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD’S own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

¹⁰for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

¹¹Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.

¹²Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God on the day of visitation.

¹³Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority,

¹⁴or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.

¹⁵For such is the will of God, that by doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish people.

¹⁶Act as free people, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond-servants of God.

¹⁷Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

¹⁸Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are harsh.

¹⁹For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person endures grief when suffering unjustly.

²⁰For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

²¹For you have been called for this purpose, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you would follow in His steps,

²²HE who committed no sin, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT found IN HIS MOUTH;

²³and while being abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;

²⁴and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.

²⁵For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

¹Then Elihu continued and said,

²“Do you think this is in accordance with justice? Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?

³For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You? What benefit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’

⁴I will answer you, And your friends with you.

⁵Look at the heavens and see; And look at the clouds—they are higher than you.

⁶If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him? And if your wrongdoings are many, what do you do to Him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give to Him, Or what does He receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness is for a man like yourself, And your righteousness is for a son of man.

⁹“Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; They cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.

¹⁰But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night,

¹¹Who teaches us more 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.

¹³God certainly will not listen to an empty cry, Nor will the Almighty regard it.

¹⁴How much less when you say you do not look at Him, The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

¹⁵And now, because He has not avenged His anger, Nor has He acknowledged wrongdoing well,

¹⁶So Job opens his mouth with empty words; He multiplies words without knowledge.”

¹I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.

²I will rejoice and be jubilant in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

³When my enemies turn back, They stumble and perish before You.

⁴For You have maintained my just cause; You have sat on the throne judging righteously.

⁵You have rebuked the nations, You have eliminated the wicked; You have wiped out their name forever and ever.

⁶The enemy has come to an end in everlasting ruins, And You have uprooted the cities; The very memory of them has perished.

⁷But the LORD sits as King forever; He has established His throne for judgment,

⁸And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples fairly.

⁹The LORD will also be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble;

¹⁰And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, LORD, have not abandoned those who seek You.

¹¹Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; Declare His deeds among the peoples.

¹²For He who requires blood remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the needy.

¹³Be gracious to me, LORD; See my oppression from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴So that I may tell of all Your praises, That in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.

¹⁵The nations have sunk down into the pit which they have made; In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.

¹⁶The LORD has made Himself known; He has executed judgment. A wicked one is ensnared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion Selah

¹⁷The wicked will return to Sheol, All the nations who forget God.

¹⁸For the needy will not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.

¹⁹Arise, LORD, do not let mankind prevail; Let the nations be judged before You.

²⁰Put them in fear, LORD; Let the nations know that they are merely human. Selah

¹Listen, my sons, to the instruction of a father, And pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

²For I give you good teaching; Do not abandon my instruction.

³When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

⁴He taught me and said to me, “Let your heart take hold of my words; Keep my commandments and live;

⁵Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

⁶Do not abandon her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your possessions, acquire understanding.

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

⁹She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son, and accept my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I have instructed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; And if you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil people.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹They are not to escape from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, And healing to all their body.

²³Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

²⁴Rid yourself of a deceitful mouth And keep devious speech far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

²⁶Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established.

²⁷Do not turn to the right or to the left; Turn your foot from evil.

¹And Benjamin fathered Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third,

²Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.

³Bela had sons: Addar, Gera, Abihud,

⁴Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,

⁵Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.

⁶These are the sons of Ehud: these are the heads of fathers’ households of the inhabitants of Geba, and they took them into exile to Manahath,

⁷namely, Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera—he exiled them; and he fathered Uzza and Ahihud.

⁸Shaharaim fathered children in the country of Moab after he had sent his wives Hushim and Baara away.

⁹By Hodesh his wife he fathered Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam,

¹⁰Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers’ households.

¹¹By Hushim he fathered Abitub and Elpaal.

¹²The sons of Elpaal were Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with its towns;

¹³and Beriah and Shema, who were heads of fathers’ households of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who put the inhabitants of Gath to flight;

¹⁴and Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth.

¹⁵Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,

¹⁶Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were the sons of Beriah.

¹⁷Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber,

¹⁸Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal.

¹⁹Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi,

²⁰Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel,

²¹Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei.

²²Ishpan, Eber, Eliel,

²³Abdon, Zichri, Hanan,

²⁴Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah,

²⁵Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak.

²⁶Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah,

²⁷Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham.

²⁸These were heads of the fathers’ households according to their generations, chief men who lived in Jerusalem.

²⁹Now, Jeiel, the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon, and his wife’s name was Maacah;

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

³¹Gedor, Ahio, and Zecher.

³²Mikloth fathered Shimeah. They also lived with their relatives in Jerusalem opposite their other relatives.

³³Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.

³⁴The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah.

³⁵The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz.

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

³⁷Moza fathered Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah, his son, and Azel, his son.

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

³⁹The sons of his brother Eshek were Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third.

⁴⁰The sons of Ulam were valiant mighty men, archers, and they had many sons and grandsons, 150 of them. All these were among the sons of Benjamin.

¹“Now you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.

²This is what the Lord GOD says: “Since the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting heights have become our possession,’

³therefore prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “For good reason they have made you desolate and harassed you from every side, so that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations; and you have been taken up in the talk and the rumor of the people.” ’ ”

⁴Therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the abandoned cities which have become plunder and an object of ridicule to the rest of the nations which are all around—

⁵therefore the Lord GOD says this: “Certainly in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with contempt of soul, in order to make its pastureland plunder.”

⁶Therefore prophesy in regard to the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations.’

⁷Therefore the Lord GOD says this: ‘I have sworn that the nations that are around you will certainly endure their insults themselves.

⁸But as for you, mountains of Israel, you will grow your branches and bear fruit for My people Israel; for they are about to come.

⁹For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown.

¹⁰And I will multiply people on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the ruins will be rebuilt.

¹¹I will multiply on you people and animals, and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will populate you as you were previously, and treat you better than at the beginning. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

¹²Yes, I will have people—My people Israel—walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.’

¹³“The Lord GOD says this: ‘Since they say to you, “You are a devourer of people and have bereaved your nation of children,”

¹⁴for that reason you will no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁵I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you suffer disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you make your nation stumble any longer,” declares the Lord GOD.’ ”

¹⁶Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁷“Son of man, when the house of Israel was living on their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.

¹⁸Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols.

¹⁹I also scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them.

²⁰When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they have left His land.’

²¹But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had 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, house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

²³And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I show Myself holy among you in their sight.

²⁴For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the lands; and I will bring you into your own land.

²⁵Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

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

²⁷And I will put My Spirit within you and bring it about that you walk in My statutes, and are careful and follow My ordinances.

²⁸And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.

²⁹Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you.

³⁰Instead, I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.

³¹Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your wrongdoings and your abominations.

³²I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord GOD; “let that be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated for your ways, house of Israel!”

³³‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your wrongdoings, I will populate the cities, and the places of ruins will be rebuilt.

³⁴The desolated land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by.

³⁵And they will say, ‘This desolated land has become like the Garden of Eden; and the waste, desolated and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’

³⁶Then the nations around you that are left will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolated; I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it.”

³⁷‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “This too I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their people like a flock.

³⁸Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.” ’ ”

¹Now it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples.

²He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.”

³And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.”

⁴Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

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

⁶And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.

⁷There were about twelve men in all.

⁸And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, having discussions and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took the disciples away with him, and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

¹²so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.

¹³But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!”

¹⁴Now there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this.

¹⁵But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?”

¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit, pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

¹⁸Also many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.

¹⁹And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of the books and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰So the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily.

²¹Now after these things were finished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

²²And after he sent into Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³About that time a major disturbance occurred in regard to the Way.

²⁴For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing considerable business to the craftsmen;

²⁵he gathered these men together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business.

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

²⁷Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as worthless, and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

²⁸When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began shouting, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s Macedonian traveling companions.

³⁰And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, the disciples would not let him.

³¹Also some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent word to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture into the theater.

³²So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together.

³³Some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly.

³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵After quieting the crowd, the town clerk *said, “Men of Ephesus, what person is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from the sky?

³⁶So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash.

³⁷For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess.

³⁸So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; have them bring charges against one another.

³⁹But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly.

⁴⁰For indeed, we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real reason for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.”

⁴¹After saying this he dismissed the assembly.