Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

²This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

³Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

⁴Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

⁵Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

⁷Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

⁸The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

¹⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?

¹¹Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.

¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

¹³No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

¹⁵that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

¹⁶For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

¹⁷For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

¹⁸“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

¹⁹And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

²⁰For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

²¹But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

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

²³Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.

²⁴For John had not yet been thrown into prison.

²⁵Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification.

²⁶And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”

²⁷John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.

²⁸You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’

²⁹He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.

³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.

³¹He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.

³²And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.

³³He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.

³⁴For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

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

³⁶He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

¹“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,

²and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.

³Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.

⁴For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.

⁵But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.

⁶“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

⁷The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;

⁸but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

⁹“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

¹⁰and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.

¹¹Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.

¹²“Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers.

¹³And He 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 oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.

¹⁴You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock.

¹⁵And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

¹⁶Also you shall destroy all the peoples whom the LORD your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

¹⁷“If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’—

¹⁸you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:

¹⁹the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and 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 among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed.

²¹You shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you.

²²And the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

²³But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed.

²⁴And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.

²⁵You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.

²⁶Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.

¹What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?

²For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

³For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

⁴Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

⁵But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,

⁶just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

⁷“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;

⁸Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”

⁹Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.

¹⁰How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.

¹¹And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,

¹²and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

¹³For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

¹⁴For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,

¹⁵because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

¹⁷(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

¹⁸who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”

¹⁹And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

²⁰He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,

²¹and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

²²And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

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

²⁴but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,

²⁵who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

¹Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,

²when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

³Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—

⁴rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

⁵For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands,

⁶as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

⁷Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

⁸Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;

⁹not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

¹⁰For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit.

¹¹Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.

¹²For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”

¹³And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”

¹⁵But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

¹⁶having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

¹⁷For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

¹⁸For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

¹⁹by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,

²⁰who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

²¹There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

¹Elihu also proceeded and said:

²“Bear with me a little, and I will show you That there are yet words to speak on God’s behalf.

³I will fetch my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

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

⁵“Behold, God is mighty, but despises no one; He is mighty in strength of understanding.

⁶He does not preserve the life of the wicked, But gives justice to the oppressed.

⁷He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous; But they are on the throne with kings, For He has seated them forever, And they are exalted.

⁸And if they are bound in fetters, Held in the cords of affliction,

⁹Then He tells them their work and their transgressions— That they have acted defiantly.

¹⁰He also opens their ear to instruction, And commands that they turn from iniquity.

¹¹If they obey and serve Him, They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures.

¹²But if they do not obey, They shall perish by the sword, And they shall die without knowledge.

¹³“But the hypocrites in heart store up wrath; They do not cry for help when He binds them.

¹⁴They die in youth, And their life ends among the perverted persons.

¹⁵He delivers the poor in their affliction, And opens their ears in oppression.

¹⁶“Indeed He would have brought you out of dire distress, Into a broad place where there is no restraint; And what is set on your table would be full of richness.

¹⁷But you are filled with the judgment due the wicked; Judgment and justice take hold of you.

¹⁸Because there is wrath, beware lest He take you away with one blow; For a large ransom would not help you avoid it.

¹⁹Will your riches, Or all the mighty forces, Keep you from distress?

²⁰Do not desire the night, When people are cut off in their place.

²¹Take heed, do not turn to iniquity, For you have chosen this rather than affliction.

²²“Behold, God is exalted by His power; Who teaches like Him?

²³Who has assigned Him His way, Or who has said, ‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴“Remember to magnify His work, Of which men have sung.

²⁵Everyone has seen it; Man looks on it from afar.

²⁶“Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered.

²⁷For He draws up drops of water, Which distill as rain from the mist,

²⁸Which the clouds drop down And pour abundantly on man.

²⁹Indeed, can anyone understand the spreading of clouds, The thunder from His canopy?

³⁰Look, He scatters His light upon it, And covers the depths of the sea.

³¹For by these He judges the peoples; He gives food in abundance.

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

³³His thunder declares it, The cattle also, concerning the rising storm.

¹Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?

²The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

³For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; He blesses the greedy and renounces the LORD.

⁴The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.

⁵His ways are always prospering; Your judgments are far above, out of his sight; As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.

⁶He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved; I shall never be in adversity.”

⁷His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.

⁸He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the secret places he murders the innocent; His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.

⁹He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den; He lies in wait to catch the poor; He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.

¹⁰So he crouches, he lies low, That the helpless may fall by his strength.

¹¹He has said in his heart, “God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see.”

¹²Arise, O LORD! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the humble.

¹³Why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, “You will not require an account.”

¹⁴But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief, To repay it by Your hand. The helpless commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man; Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

¹⁶The LORD is King forever and ever; The nations have perished out of His land.

¹⁷LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear,

¹⁸To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding,

²That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge.

³For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;

⁴But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell.

⁶Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.

⁷Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house,

⁹Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;

¹¹And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹²And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction!

¹³I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets?

¹⁷Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.

¹⁹As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all his paths.

²²His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin.

²³He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

¹So all Israel was recorded by genealogies, and indeed, they were inscribed in the book of the kings of Israel. But Judah was carried away captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.

²And the first inhabitants who dwelt in their possessions in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and the Nethinim.

³Now in Jerusalem the children of Judah dwelt, and some of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh:

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

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

⁶Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel, and their brethren—six hundred and ninety.

⁷Of 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; Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;

⁹and their brethren, according to their generations—nine hundred and fifty-six. All these men were heads of a father’s house in their fathers’ houses.

¹⁰Of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, and Jachin;

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

¹²Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashur, 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 brethren, heads of their fathers’ houses—one thousand seven hundred and sixty. They were 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;

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

¹⁶Obadiah 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.

¹⁷And the gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brethren. Shallum was the chief.

¹⁸Until then they had been gatekeepers for the camps of the children of Levi at the King’s Gate on the east.

¹⁹Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren, from his father’s house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, gatekeepers of the tabernacle. Their fathers had been keepers of the entrance to the camp of the LORD.

²⁰And Phinehas the son of Eleazar had been the officer over them in time past; the LORD was with him.

²¹Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was keeper of the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

²²All those chosen as gatekeepers were two hundred and twelve. They were recorded by their genealogy, in their villages. David and Samuel the seer had appointed them to their trusted office.

²³So they and their children were in charge of the gates of the house of the LORD, the house of the tabernacle, by assignment.

²⁴The gatekeepers were assigned to the four directions: the east, west, north, and south.

²⁵And their brethren in their villages had to come with them from time to time for seven days.

²⁶For in this trusted office were four chief gatekeepers; they were Levites. And they had charge over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God.

²⁷And they lodged all around the house of God because they had the responsibility, and they were in charge of opening it every morning.

²⁸Now some of them were in charge of the serving vessels, for they brought them in and took them out by count.

²⁹Some of them were appointed over the furnishings and over all the implements of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour and the wine and the oil and the incense and the spices.

³⁰And some of the sons of the priests made the ointment of the spices.

³¹Mattithiah of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the trusted office over the things that were baked in the pans.

³²And some of their brethren of the sons of the Kohathites were in charge of preparing the showbread for every Sabbath.

³³These are the singers, heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites, who lodged in the chambers, and were free from other duties; for they were employed in that work day and night.

³⁴These heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites were heads throughout their generations. They dwelt at Jerusalem.

³⁵Jeiel the father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was Maacah, dwelt at Gibeon.

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

³⁷Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth.

³⁸And Mikloth begot Shimeam. They also dwelt alongside their relatives in Jerusalem, with their brethren.

³⁹Ner begot Kish, Kish begot Saul, and Saul begot Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-Baal.

⁴⁰The son of Jonathan was Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal begot Micah.

⁴¹The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.

⁴²And Ahaz begot Jarah; Jarah begot Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begot Moza;

⁴³Moza begot Binea, Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son.

⁴⁴And Azel had six sons whose names were these: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel.

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

²Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry.

³And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So 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: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

⁶I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ”

⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.

⁸Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.

⁹Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, 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 breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

¹¹Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’

¹²Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

¹³Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.

¹⁴I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’ ”

¹⁵Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁶“As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself 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 for all the house of Israel, his companions.’

¹⁷Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.

¹⁸“And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’—

¹⁹say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’

²⁰And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.

²¹“Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and 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 shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.

²³They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

²⁴“David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them.

²⁵Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.

²⁶Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.

²⁷My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

²⁸The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” ’ ”

¹After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia.

²Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece

³and stayed three months. And when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia—also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

⁵These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas.

⁶But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days.

⁷Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together.

⁹And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.”

¹¹Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed.

¹²And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.

¹³Then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, there intending to take Paul on board; for so he had given orders, intending himself to go on foot.

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

¹⁵We sailed from there, and the next day came opposite Chios. The following day we arrived at Samos and stayed at Trogyllium. The next day we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost.

¹⁷From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.

¹⁸And when they had come to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews;

²⁰how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house,

²¹testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

²²And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.

²⁴But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

²⁵“And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more.

²⁶Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.

²⁷For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

²⁸Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

²⁹For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

³⁰Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

³¹Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

³²“So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

³³I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.

³⁴Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.

³⁵I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

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

³⁷Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him,

³⁸sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.