Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (member of the Sanhedrin) among the Jews,

²who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, "Rabbi (Teacher), we know [without any doubt] that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs [these wonders, these attesting miracles] that You do unless God is with him."

³Jesus answered him, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person is born again [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified], he cannot [ever] see and experience the kingdom of God."

⁴Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother's womb a second time and be born, can he?"

⁵Jesus answered, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God.

⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the physical is merely physical], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

⁷Do not be surprised that I have told you, 'You must be born again [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified].'

⁸The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

⁹Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be possible?"

¹⁰Jesus replied, "You are the [great and well-known] teacher of Israel, and yet you do not know nor understand these things [from Scripture]?

¹¹I assure you and most solemnly say to you, we speak only of what we [absolutely] know and testify about what we have [actually] seen [as eyewitnesses]; and [still] you [reject our evidence and] do not accept our testimony.

¹²If I told you earthly things [that is, things that happen right here on earth] and you do not believe, how will you believe and trust Me if I tell you heavenly things?

¹³No one has gone up into heaven, but there is One who came down from heaven, the Son of Man [Himself—whose home is in heaven].

¹⁴Just as Moses lifted up the [bronze] serpent in the desert [on a pole], so must the Son of Man be lifted up [on the cross],

¹⁵so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life [after physical death, and will actually live forever].

¹⁶"For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.

¹⁷For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him.

¹⁸Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him].

¹⁹This is the judgment [that is, the cause for indictment, the test by which people are judged, the basis for the sentence]: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.

²⁰For every wrongdoer hates the Light, and does not come to the Light [but shrinks from it] for fear that his [sinful, worthless] activities will be exposed and condemned.

²¹But whoever practices truth [and does what is right—morally, ethically, spiritually] comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—accomplished in God [divinely prompted, done with God's help, in dependence on Him]."

²²After these things Jesus and His disciples went into the land of Judea, and there He spent time with them and baptized.

²³Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and were being baptized—

²⁴for John had not yet been thrown into prison.

²⁵Therefore there arose a controversy between John's disciples and a Jew in regard to purification (ceremonial washing).

²⁶So they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi (Teacher), the Man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan [at the Jordan River crossing]—and to whom you have testified—look, He is baptizing too, and everyone is going to Him!"

²⁷John replied, "A man can receive nothing [he can claim nothing at all] unless it has been granted to him from heaven [for there is no other source than the sovereign will of God].

²⁸You yourselves are my witnesses that I stated, 'I am not the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed),' but, 'I have [only] been sent ahead of Him [as His appointed forerunner and messenger to announce and proclaim His coming].'

²⁹He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this pleasure and joy of mine is now complete.

³⁰He must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease.

³¹"He who comes from [heaven] above is above all others; he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks [about things] of the earth [his viewpoint and experience are earthly]. He who comes from heaven is above all.

³²What He has [actually] seen and heard, of that He testifies; and yet no one accepts His testimony [as true].

³³Whoever receives His testimony has set his seal [of approval] to this: God is true [and he knows that God cannot lie].

³⁴For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God [proclaiming the Father's own message]; for God gives the [gift of the] Spirit without measure [generously and boundlessly]!

³⁵The Father loves the Son and has given and entrusted all things into His hand.

³⁶He who believes and trusts in the Son and accepts Him [as Savior] has eternal life [that is, already possesses it]; but he who does not believe the Son and chooses to reject Him, [disobeying Him and denying Him as Savior] will not see [eternal] life, but [instead] the wrath of God hangs over him continually."

¹"When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you are entering to possess, and has cleared away many nations before you, the Hittite and the Girgashite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you,

²and when the LORD your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall not make a covenant (treaty) with them nor show mercy and compassion to them.

³You shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son;

⁴for they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled and burn against you and He will quickly destroy you.

⁵But this is how you shall deal with them: you shall tear down their altars and smash to pieces their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah), and burn their carved or sculpted images in the fire.

⁶For you are a holy people [set apart] to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be a people for His own possession [that is, His very special treasure].

⁷"The LORD did not love you and choose you because you were greater in number than any of the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

⁸But because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed (bought) you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

⁹Therefore know [without any doubt] and understand that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who is keeping His covenant and His [steadfast] lovingkindness to a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

¹⁰but repays those who hate Him to their faces, by destroying them; He will not hesitate with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.

¹¹Therefore, you shall keep (follow, obey) the commandment and the statutes and judgments (precepts) which I am commanding you today.

¹²"Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the [steadfast] lovingkindness which He swore to your fathers.

¹³He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your [olive] oil, the offspring of your cattle and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you.

¹⁴You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren (childless, infertile) among you or among your cattle.

¹⁵The LORD will take away from you all sickness; and He will not subject you to any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will impose them on all [those] who hate you.

¹⁶And you shall consume all the peoples whom the LORD your God will give over to you; your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a [deadly] trap to you.

¹⁷"If you say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I am; how can I dispossess them?'

¹⁸you shall not be afraid of them; you shall remember [with confidence] what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt—

¹⁹the great trials which you saw with your own eyes, and the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

²⁰Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet (His terror) against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish.

²¹You shall not dread them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.

²²The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for [if you did] the wild animals would become too numerous for you.

²³But the LORD your God will hand them over to you, and will confuse them with a great panic until they are destroyed.

²⁴And He will hand over their kings to you, and you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them.

²⁵You shall burn the carved and sculpted images of their gods in the fire. You shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, so that you will not be ensnared by it [in a deadly trap], for it is an abomination (repulsive) to the LORD your God.

²⁶You shall not bring an abomination (idol) into your house, and like it come under the ban (doomed to destruction); you shall utterly detest and you shall utterly hate it, for it is something banned.

¹What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather humanly speaking, has found? [Has he obtained a favored standing?]

²For if Abraham was justified [that is, acquitted from the guilt of his sins] by works [those things he did that were good], he has something to boast about, but not before God.

³For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed in (trusted, relied on) God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (right living, right standing with God)."

⁴Now to a laborer, his wages are not credited as a favor or a gift, but as an obligation [something owed to him].

⁵But to the one who does not work [that is, the one who does not try to earn his salvation by doing good], but believes and completely trusts in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God).

⁶And in this same way David speaks of the blessing on the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷"Blessed and happy and favored are those whose lawless acts have been forgiven, And whose sins have been covered up and completely buried.

⁸"Blessed and happy and favored is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account nor charge against him."

⁹Is this blessing only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say, "Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness."

¹⁰How then was it credited [to him]? Was it after he had been circumcised, or before? Not after, but while [he was] uncircumcised.

¹¹He received the sign of circumcision, a seal or confirmation of the righteousness which he had by faith while [he was still] uncircumcised—this was so that he would be the [spiritual] father of all who believe without being circumcised—so that righteousness would be credited to them,

¹²and [that he would be] the [spiritual] father of those circumcised who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had before he was circumcised.

¹³For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through [observing the requirements of] the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.

¹⁴If those who are [followers] of the Law are [the true] heirs [of Abraham], then faith [leading to salvation] is of no effect and void, and the promise [of God] is nullified.

¹⁵For the Law results in [God's] wrath [against sin], but where there is no law, there is no violation [of it either].

¹⁶Therefore, [inheriting] the promise depends entirely on faith [that is, confident trust in the unseen God], in order that it may be given as an act of grace [His unmerited favor and mercy], so that the promise will be [legally] guaranteed to all the descendants [of Abraham]—not only for those [Jewish believers] who keep the Law, but also for those [Gentile believers] who share the faith of Abraham, who is the [spiritual] father of us all—

¹⁷(as it is written [in Scripture], "I have made you a father of many nations") in the sight of Him in whom he believed, that is, God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

¹⁸In hope against hope Abraham believed that he would become a father of many nations, as he had been promised [by God]: "So [numberless] shall your descendants be."

¹⁹Without becoming weak in faith he considered his own body, now as good as dead [for producing children] since he was about a hundred years old, and [he considered] the deadness of Sarah's womb.

²⁰But he did not doubt or waver in unbelief concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and empowered by faith, giving glory to God,

²¹being fully convinced that God had the power to do what He had promised.

²²Therefore his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God).

²³Now not for his sake alone was it written that it was credited to him,

²⁴but for our sake also—to whom righteousness will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead—

²⁵who was betrayed and crucified because of our sins, and was raised [from the dead] because of our justification [our acquittal—absolving us of all sin before God].

¹In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate, not as inferior, but out of respect for the responsibilities entrusted to husbands and their accountability to God, and so partnering with them] so that even if some do not obey the word [of God], they may be won over [to Christ] without discussion by the godly lives of their wives,

²when they see your modest and respectful behavior [together with your devotion and appreciation—love your husband, encourage him, and enjoy him as a blessing from God].

³Your adornment must not be merely external—with interweaving and elaborate knotting of the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or [being superficially preoccupied with] dressing in expensive clothes;

⁴but let it be [the inner beauty of] the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, [one that is calm and self-controlled, not overanxious, but serene and spiritually mature] which is very precious in the sight of God.

⁵For in this way in former times the holy women, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands and adapting themselves to them;

⁶just as Sarah obeyed Abraham [following him and having regard for him as head of their house], calling him lord. And you have become her daughters if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear [that is, being respectful toward your husband but not giving in to intimidation, nor allowing yourself to be led into sin, nor to be harmed].

⁷In the same way, you husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way [with great gentleness and tact, and with an intelligent regard for the marriage relationship], as with someone physically weaker, since she is a woman. Show her honor and respect as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered or ineffective.

⁸Finally, all of you be like-minded [united in spirit], sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted [courteous and compassionate toward each other as members of one household], and humble in spirit;

⁹and never return evil for evil or insult for insult [avoid scolding, berating, and any kind of abuse], but on the contrary, give a blessing [pray for one another's well-being, contentment, and protection]; for you have been called for this very purpose, that you might inherit a blessing [from God that brings well-being, happiness, and protection].

¹⁰For, "The one who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not], Must keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from speaking guile (treachery, deceit).

¹¹"He must turn away from wickedness and do what is right. He must search for peace [with God, with self, with others] and pursue it eagerly [actively—not merely desiring it].

¹²"For the eyes of the Lord are [looking favorably] upon the righteous (the upright), And His ears are attentive to their prayer (eager to answer), But the face of the Lord is against those who practice evil."

¹³Now who is there to hurt you if you become enthusiastic for what is good?

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness [though it is not certain that you will], you are still blessed [happy, to be admired and favored by God]. Do not be afraid of their intimidating threats, nor be troubled or disturbed [by their opposition].

¹⁵But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.

¹⁶And see to it that your conscience is entirely clear, so that every time you are slandered or falsely accused, those who attack or disparage your good behavior in Christ will be shamed [by their own words].

¹⁷For it is better that you suffer [unjustly] for doing what is right, if that should be God's will, than [to suffer justly] for doing wrong.

¹⁸For indeed Christ died for sins once for all, the Just and Righteous for the unjust and unrighteous [the Innocent for the guilty] so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;

¹⁹in which He also went and preached to the spirits now in prison,

²⁰who once were disobedient, when the great patience of God was waiting in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons [Noah's family], were brought safely through the water.

²¹Corresponding to that [rescue through the flood], baptism [which is an expression of a believer's new life in Christ] now saves you, not by removing dirt from the body, but by an appeal to God for a good (clear) conscience, [demonstrating what you believe to be yours] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God [that is, the place of honor and authority], with [all] angels and authorities and powers made subservient to Him.

¹Elihu continued and said,

²"Bear with me a little longer, and I will show you, That there is yet more to say on God's behalf.

³"I will bring my knowledge from afar, And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

⁴"For truly my words are not false; He who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵"Behold, God is mighty, and yet does not despise anyone [nor regard any as trivial]; He is mighty in the strength and power of understanding.

⁶"He does not prolong the life of the wicked, But gives the afflicted their justice.

⁷"He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous [those in right standing with Him]; But with kings upon the throne He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.

⁸"And if they are bound in bonds [of adversity], And held by cords of affliction,

⁹Then He declares to them [the true character of] their deeds And their transgressions, that they have acted arrogantly [with presumption and notions of self-sufficiency].

¹⁰"He opens their ears to instruction and discipline, And commands that they return from evil.

¹¹"If they hear and serve Him, They will end their days in prosperity And their years in pleasantness and joy.

¹²"But if they do not hear and obey, they will die by the sword [of God's destructive judgments] And they will die [in ignorance] without [true] knowledge.

¹³"But the godless in heart store up anger [at the divine discipline]; They do not cry [to Him] for help when He binds them [with cords of affliction].

¹⁴"They die in youth, And their life ends among the cult prostitutes.

¹⁵"He rescues the afflicted in their affliction, And opens their ears [so that they pay attention to His voice] in times of oppression.

¹⁶"Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress and confinement, Into a broad place where there is no constraint or distress; And that which was set on your table was full of fatness (rich food).

¹⁷"But you [Job] were full of judgment on the wicked, Judgment and justice take hold of you.

¹⁸"Do not let wrath entice you into scoffing; And do not let the greatness and the extent of the ransom turn you aside.

¹⁹"Will your wealth [be sufficient to] keep you from [the confinement of] distress, Or will all the force of your strength do it?

²⁰"Do not long for the night, When people vanish from their places.

²¹"Take heed and be careful, do not turn to wickedness, For you have chosen this [the vice of complaining against God] rather than [learning from] affliction.

²²"Behold, God is exalted in His power; Who is a ruler or a teacher like Him?

²³"Who has appointed God His way, And who can say [to Him], 'You have done wrong'?

²⁴"Remember that you should magnify God's work, Of which men have sung.

²⁵"All men have seen God's work; Man looks at it from a distance.

²⁶"Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him; The number of His years is unsearchable.

²⁷"For He draws up the drops of water, They distill rain from the mist,

²⁸Which the clouds pour down, They drop abundantly upon mankind."

²⁹"Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds Or the thundering of His pavilion?

³⁰"Behold, He spreads His lightning around Him [against the dark clouds], And He covers the depths of the sea.

³¹"For by these [mighty acts] He judges the peoples; He gives food in abundance.

³²"He covers His hands with the lightning, And commands it to strike the mark.

³³"His thundering voice declares [awesomely] His presence; The cattle also are told of His coming storm.

¹Why do You stand far away, O LORD? Why do You hide [Yourself, veiling Your eyes] in times of trouble?

²In pride and arrogance the wicked hotly pursue and persecute the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

³For the wicked boasts and sings the praises of his heart's desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns [and even despises] the LORD.

⁴The wicked, in the haughtiness of his face, will not seek nor inquire for Him; All his thoughts are, "There is no God [so there is no accountability or punishment]."

⁵His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments [LORD] are on high, out of his sight [so he never thinks about them]; As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.

⁶He says to himself, "I will not be moved; For throughout all generations I will not be in adversity [for nothing bad will happen to me]."

⁷His mouth is full of curses and deceit (fraud) and oppression; Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness [injustice and sin].

⁸He lurks in ambush in the villages; In hiding places he kills the innocent; He lies in wait for the unfortunate [the unhappy, the poor, the helpless].

⁹He lurks in a hiding place like a lion in his lair; He lies in wait to catch the afflicted; He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.

¹⁰He crushes [his prey] and crouches; And the unfortunate fall by his mighty claws.

¹¹He says to himself, "God has [quite] forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see my deed."

¹²Arise, O LORD! O God, lift up Your hand [in judgment]; Do not forget the suffering.

¹³Why has the wicked spurned and shown disrespect to God? He has said to himself, "You will not require me to account."

¹⁴You have seen it, for You have noted mischief and vexation (irritation) to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find no more.

¹⁶The LORD is King forever and ever; The nations will perish from His land.

¹⁷O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble and oppressed; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear to hear,

¹⁸To vindicate and obtain justice for the fatherless and the oppressed, So that man who is of the earth will no longer terrify them.

¹My son, be attentive to my wisdom [godly wisdom learned by costly experience], Incline your ear to my understanding;

²That you may exercise discrimination and discretion (good judgment), And your lips may reserve knowledge and answer wisely [to temptation].

³For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey [like a honeycomb] And her speech is smoother than oil;

⁴But in the end she is bitter like [the extract of] wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),

⁶So that she does not think [seriously] about the path of life; Her ways are aimless and unstable; you cannot know where her path leads.

⁷Now then, my sons, listen to me And do not depart from (forget) the words of my mouth.

⁸Let your way [in life] be far from her, And do not go near the door of her house [avoid even being near the places of temptation],

⁹Or you will give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one,

¹⁰And strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner [who does not know God];

¹¹And you will groan when your life is ending, When your flesh and your body are consumed;

¹²And you say, "How I hated instruction and discipline, And my heart despised correction and reproof!

¹³"I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor have I inclined my ear to those who instructed me.

¹⁴"I was almost in total ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation."

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship] And fresh running water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs (children) be dispersed, As streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷[Confine yourself to your own wife.] Let your children be yours alone, And not the children of strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your fountain (wife) be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], And rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹Let her be as a loving hind and graceful doe, Let her breasts refresh and satisfy you at all times; Always be exhilarated and delight in her love.

²⁰Why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an immoral woman And embrace the bosom of an outsider (pagan)?

²¹For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the LORD, And He carefully watches all of his paths [all of his comings and goings].

²²The iniquities done by a wicked man will trap him, And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

²³He will die for lack of instruction (discipline), And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray and be lost.

¹So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was carried away into exile to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness [to God].

²Now the first [of the returned exiles] who lived [again] in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim (temple servants).

³Some of the sons (people) of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem:

⁴Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the sons of Perez the son of Judah.

⁵From the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons.

⁶From the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their relatives, 690 [of them].

⁷From the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah;

⁸Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;

⁹and their relatives according to their generations, 956. All these men were heads of fathers' households according to their fathers' houses.

¹⁰Of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin,

¹¹Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God;

¹²and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah; Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;

¹³and their relatives, heads of their fathers' households, 1,760—very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.

¹⁴Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;

¹⁵and Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph;

¹⁶and Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites [near Jerusalem].

¹⁷The gatekeepers were: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their relatives (Shallum the chief

¹⁸who until now was assigned to the king's gate on the east side) they were the gatekeepers for the camp of the Levites.

¹⁹Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his relatives of his father's house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, doorkeepers of the Tent; and their fathers had been in charge of the camp of the LORD, keepers of the entrance.

²⁰Phinehas the son of Eleazar was ruler over them in times past, and the LORD was with him.

²¹Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

²²All those chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds were 212. They were enrolled by their genealogies in their villages [around Jerusalem], these men [whose grandfathers] David and Samuel the seer had appointed to their official duty.

²³So they and their sons were in charge of the gates of the house of the LORD, that is, the house of the tabernacle, as guards.

²⁴The gatekeepers were stationed on the four sides —on the east, west, north, and south.

²⁵Their relatives in their villages were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them;

²⁶for these Levites, the four chief gatekeepers, had an official duty, and were in charge of the chambers and treasuries of the house of God.

²⁷They spent the night around the house of God, for the [night] watch was theirs, and they were in charge of opening the house morning after morning.

²⁸Now some of them were in charge of the serving utensils, being required to count them when they brought them in or took them out.

²⁹Some of them also were appointed over the furniture and over all the [sacred] utensils of the sanctuary, as well as over the fine flour and the wine and the [olive] oil and the frankincense and the spices.

³⁰Other sons of the priests prepared the mixture of spices.

³¹Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was responsible for the things baked in pans.

³²Some of their Kohathite relatives were in charge of the showbread to prepare it every Sabbath.

³³Now these are the singers, heads of the fathers' households of the Levites, living in the temple chambers, free from other service because they were on duty day and night.

³⁴These were heads of fathers' households of the Levites according to their generations, chief men, who lived in Jerusalem.

³⁵Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon, and his wife's name was Maacah,

³⁶and his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,

³⁷Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth.

³⁸Mikloth became the father of Shimeam. They also lived with their relatives in Jerusalem, opposite their other relatives.

³⁹Ner became the father of Kish, and Kish became the father of [King] Saul, and Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal.

⁴⁰The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal (Mephibosheth); Merib-baal became the father of Micah.

⁴¹The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea [and Ahaz].

⁴²Ahaz became the father of Jarah, and Jarah became the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza,

⁴³Moza became the father of Binea and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.

⁴⁴Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

¹The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.

²He caused me to pass all around them, and behold, there were very many [human bones] in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry.

³And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know."

⁴Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.'

⁵Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will make breath enter you so that you may come to life.

⁶I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and I will put breath in you so that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'"

⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

⁸And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on the bones, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

⁹Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."'"

¹⁰So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

¹¹Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost. We are completely cut off.'

¹²Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will open your graves and make you come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you [back home] to the land of Israel.

¹³Then you will know [with confidence] that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and made you come up out of your graves, My people.

¹⁴I will put My Spirit in you and you will come to life, and I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and fulfilled it," says the LORD.'"

¹⁵The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,

¹⁶"And you, son of man, take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.'

¹⁷Then join them together into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand.

¹⁸When your people say to you, 'Will you not tell us what you mean by these?'

¹⁹say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join the stick of Judah with it and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."'

²⁰The sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.

²¹"Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am going to take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;

²²and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king over all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms.

²³They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all their transgressions in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them. So they will be My people, and I will be their God.

²⁴" My servant David will be king over them, and they all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.

²⁵They will live in the land where your fathers lived, [the land] that I gave to My servant Jacob, and they will live there, they and their children and their children's children, forever; and My servant David will be their leader forever.

²⁶I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will put My sanctuary in their midst forever.

²⁷My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

²⁸Then the nations will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD who sets apart and sanctifies Israel [for holy use], when My sanctuary is in their midst forever."'"

¹After the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had encouraged them he told them goodbye, and set off to go to Macedonia.

²After he had gone through those districts and had encouraged the believers, he came to Greece.

³And he stayed three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia (northern Greece).

⁴He was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and by Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

⁵These men went on ahead and were waiting for us (including Luke) at Troas.

⁶We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread (Passover week), and within five days we reached them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

⁷Now on the first day of the week (Sunday), when we were gathered together to break bread (share communion), Paul began talking with them, intending to leave the next day; and he kept on with his message until midnight.

⁸Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were assembled,

⁹and there was a young man named Eutychus ("Lucky") sitting on the window sill. He was sinking into a deep sleep, and as Paul kept on talking longer and longer, he was completely overcome by sleep and fell down from the third story; and he was picked up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down and threw himself on him and embraced him, and said [to those standing around him], "Do not be troubled, because he is alive."

¹¹When Paul had gone back upstairs and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked [informally and confidentially] with them for a long time—until daybreak [in fact]—and then he left.

¹²They took the boy [Eutychus] home alive, and were greatly comforted and encouraged.

¹³But we went on ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for that was what he had arranged, intending himself to go [a shorter route] by land.

¹⁴So when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and sailed on to Mitylene.

¹⁵Sailing from there, we arrived the next day [at a point] opposite Chios; the following day we crossed over to Samos, and the next day we arrived at Miletus [about 30 miles south of Ephesus].

¹⁶Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus so that he would not end up spending time [unnecessarily] in [the province of] Asia (modern Turkey); for he was in a hurry to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷However, from Miletus he sent word to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church [to meet him there].

¹⁸And when they arrived he said to them: "You know well how I [lived when I] was with you, from the first day that I set foot in Asia [until now],

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came on me because of the plots of the Jews [against me];

²⁰[you know] how I did not shrink back in fear from telling you anything that was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public meetings, and from house to house,

²¹solemnly [and wholeheartedly] testifying to both Jews and Greeks, urging them to turn in repentance to God and [to have] faith in our Lord Jesus Christ [for salvation].

²²And now, compelled by the Spirit and obligated by my convictions, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit solemnly [and emphatically] affirms to me in city after city that imprisonment and suffering await me.

²⁴But I do not consider my life as something of value or dear to me, so that I may [with joy] finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify faithfully of the good news of God's [precious, undeserved] grace [which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life].

²⁵"And now, listen carefully: I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will see me again.

²⁶For that reason I testify to you on this [our parting] day that I am innocent of the blood of all people.

²⁷For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose and plan of God.

²⁸Take care and be on guard for yourselves and for the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd (tend, feed, guide) the church of God which He bought with His own blood.

²⁹I know that after I am gone, [false teachers like] ferocious wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

³⁰even from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse and distorted things, to draw away the disciples after themselves [as their followers].

³¹Therefore be continually alert, remembering that for three years, night or day, I did not stop admonishing and advising each one [of you] with tears.

³²And now I commend you to God [placing you in His protective, loving care] and [I commend you] to the word of His grace [the counsel and promises of His unmerited favor]. His grace is able to build you up and to give you the [rightful] inheritance among all those who are sanctified [that is, among those who are set apart for God's purpose—all believers].

³³I had no desire for anyone's silver or gold or [expensive] clothes.

³⁴You know personally that these hands ministered to my own needs [working in manual labor] and to [those of] the people who were with me.

³⁵In everything I showed you [by example] that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed [and brings greater joy] to give than to receive.'"

³⁶When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

³⁷And they began to weep openly and threw their arms around Paul's neck, and repeatedly kissed him,

³⁸grieving and distressed especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see him again. And they accompanied him to the ship.