Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John

²(though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them — his disciples did).

³So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.

⁴He had to go through Samaria on the way.

⁵Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

⁶Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.

⁷Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”

⁸He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

⁹The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”

¹⁰Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

¹¹“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?

¹²And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”

¹³Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.

¹⁴But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

¹⁵“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

¹⁶“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.

¹⁷“I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband —

¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”

¹⁹“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet.

²⁰So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

²¹Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.

²²You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.

²³But the time is coming — indeed it’s here now — when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

²⁴For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

²⁵The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming — the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!”

²⁷Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?”

²⁸The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone,

²⁹“Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”

³⁰So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

³¹Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”

³²But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”

³³“Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other.

³⁴Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.

³⁵You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.

³⁶The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!

³⁷You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true.

³⁸I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

³⁹Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!”

⁴⁰When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days,

⁴¹long enough for many more to hear his message and believe.

⁴²Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”

⁴³At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee.

⁴⁴He himself had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown.

⁴⁵Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.

⁴⁶As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick.

⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.

⁴⁸Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?”

⁴⁹The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.”

⁵⁰Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.

⁵¹While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well.

⁵²He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!”

⁵³Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus.

⁵⁴This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea.

¹“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.

²Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.

³Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

⁴For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell.

⁵Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the LORD your God disciplines you for your own good.

⁶“So obey the commands of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and fearing him.

⁷For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills.

⁸It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey.

⁹It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills.

¹⁰When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

¹¹“But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.

¹²For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in,

¹³and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!

¹⁴Do not become proud at that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.

¹⁵Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock!

¹⁶He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good.

¹⁷He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’

¹⁸Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.

¹⁹“But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.

²⁰Just as the LORD has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the LORD your God.

¹Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

²Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

³We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.

⁴And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

⁵And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

⁶When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

⁷Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.

⁸But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

⁹And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.

¹⁰For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

¹¹So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

¹²When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

¹³Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.

¹⁴Still, everyone died — from the time of Adam to the time of Moses — even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.

¹⁵But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁶And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.

¹⁷For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

¹⁹Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

²⁰God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.

²¹So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.

²You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.

³You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy — their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.

⁴Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you.

⁵But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead.

⁶That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead — so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit.

⁷The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.

⁸Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.

⁹Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

¹⁰God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

¹¹Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

¹²Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.

¹³Instead, be very glad — for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

¹⁴If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you.

¹⁵If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs.

¹⁶But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!

¹⁷For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News?

¹⁸And also, “If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?”

¹⁹So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.

¹“My heart pounds as I think of this. It trembles within me.

²Listen carefully to the thunder of God’s voice as it rolls from his mouth.

³It rolls across the heavens, and his lightning flashes in every direction.

⁴Then comes the roaring of the thunder — the tremendous voice of his majesty. He does not restrain it when he speaks.

⁵God’s voice is glorious in the thunder. We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power.

⁶“He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down.

⁷Then everyone stops working so they can watch his power.

⁸The wild animals take cover and stay inside their dens.

⁹The stormy wind comes from its chamber, and the driving winds bring the cold.

¹⁰God’s breath sends the ice, freezing wide expanses of water.

¹¹He loads the clouds with moisture, and they flash with his lightning.

¹²The clouds churn about at his direction. They do whatever he commands throughout the earth.

¹³He makes these things happen either to punish people or to show his unfailing love.

¹⁴“Pay attention to this, Job. Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God!

¹⁵Do you know how God controls the storm and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds?

¹⁶Do you understand how he moves the clouds with wonderful perfection and skill?

¹⁷When you are sweltering in your clothes and the south wind dies down and everything is still,

¹⁸he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror. Can you do that?

¹⁹“So teach the rest of us what to say to God. We are too ignorant to make our own arguments.

²⁰Should God be notified that I want to speak? Can people even speak when they are confused?

²¹We cannot look at the sun, for it shines brightly in the sky when the wind clears away the clouds.

²²So also, golden splendor comes from the mountain of God. He is clothed in dazzling splendor.

²³We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty; but even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us.

²⁴No wonder people everywhere fear him. All who are wise show him reverence. ”

¹I trust in the LORD for protection. So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!

²The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings. They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right.

³The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?”

⁴But the LORD is in his holy Temple; the LORD still rules from heaven. He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth.

⁵The LORD examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates those who love violence.

⁶He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds.

⁷For the righteous LORD loves justice. The virtuous will see his face.

¹My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger —

²if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said —

³follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased.

⁴Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.

⁵Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.

⁶Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!

⁷Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work,

⁸they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.

⁹But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?

¹⁰A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest —

¹¹then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

¹²What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars,

¹³signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.

¹⁴Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble.

¹⁵But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.

¹⁶There are six things the LORD hates — no, seven things he detests:

¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent,

¹⁸a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong,

¹⁹a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

²⁰My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

²¹Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck.

²²When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you.

²³For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.

²⁴It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.

²⁵Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.

²⁶For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.

²⁷Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire?

²⁸Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?

²⁹So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.

³⁰Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving.

³¹But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house.

³²But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself.

³³He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased.

³⁴For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

³⁵He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.

¹Now the Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them. Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa.

²The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons — Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua.

³The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught up with him and wounded him.

⁴Saul groaned to his armor bearer, “Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to taunt and torture me.” But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

⁵When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died.

⁶So Saul and his three sons died there together, bringing his dynasty to an end.

⁷When all the Israelites in the Jezreel Valley saw that their army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. So the Philistines moved in and occupied their towns.

⁸The next day, when the Philistines went out to strip the dead, they found the bodies of Saul and his sons on Mount Gilboa.

⁹So they stripped off Saul’s armor and cut off his head. Then they proclaimed the good news of Saul’s death before their idols and to the people throughout the land of Philistia.

¹⁰They placed his armor in the temple of their gods, and they fastened his head to the temple of Dagon.

¹¹But when everyone in Jabesh-gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²all their mighty warriors brought the bodies of Saul and his sons back to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones beneath the great tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.

¹³So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD. He failed to obey the LORD’s command, and he even consulted a medium

¹⁴instead of asking the LORD for guidance. So the LORD killed him and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

¹This is another message that came to me from the LORD:

²“Son of man, turn and face Gog of the land of Magog, the prince who rules over the nations of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.

³Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: Gog, I am your enemy!

⁴I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws to lead you out with your whole army — your horses and charioteers in full armor and a great horde armed with shields and swords.

⁵Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya will join you, too, with all their weapons.

⁶Gomer and all its armies will also join you, along with the armies of Beth-togarmah from the distant north, and many others.

⁷“Get ready; be prepared! Keep all the armies around you mobilized, and take command of them.

⁸A long time from now you will be called into action. In the distant future you will swoop down on the land of Israel, which will be enjoying peace after recovering from war and after its people have returned from many lands to the mountains of Israel.

⁹You and all your allies — a vast and awesome army — will roll down on them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud.

¹⁰“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: At that time evil thoughts will come to your mind, and you will devise a wicked scheme.

¹¹You will say, ‘Israel is an unprotected land filled with unwalled villages! I will march against her and destroy these people who live in such confidence!

¹²I will go to those formerly desolate cities that are now filled with people who have returned from exile in many nations. I will capture vast amounts of plunder, for the people are rich with livestock and other possessions now. They think the whole world revolves around them!’

¹³But Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish will ask, ‘Do you really think the armies you have gathered can rob them of silver and gold? Do you think you can drive away their livestock and seize their goods and carry off plunder?’

¹⁴“Therefore, son of man, prophesy against Gog. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: When my people are living in peace in their land, then you will rouse yourself.

¹⁵You will come from your homeland in the distant north with your vast cavalry and your mighty army,

¹⁶and you will attack my people Israel, covering their land like a cloud. At that time in the distant future, I will bring you against my land as everyone watches, and my holiness will be displayed by what happens to you, Gog. Then all the nations will know that I am the LORD.

¹⁷“This is what the Sovereign LORD asks: Are you the one I was talking about long ago, when I announced through Israel’s prophets that in the future I would bring you against my people?

¹⁸But this is what the Sovereign LORD says: When Gog invades the land of Israel, my fury will boil over!

¹⁹In my jealousy and blazing anger, I promise a mighty shaking in the land of Israel on that day.

²⁰All living things — the fish in the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people on earth — will quake in terror at my presence. Mountains will be thrown down; cliffs will crumble; walls will fall to the earth.

²¹I will summon the sword against you on all the hills of Israel, says the Sovereign LORD. Your men will turn their swords against each other.

²²I will punish you and your armies with disease and bloodshed; I will send torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur!

²³In this way, I will show my greatness and holiness, and I will make myself known to all the nations of the world. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

¹After saying farewell to the Ephesian elders, we sailed straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and then went to Patara.

²There we boarded a ship sailing for Phoenicia.

³We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left, and landed at the harbor of Tyre, in Syria, where the ship was to unload its cargo.

⁴We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem.

⁵When we returned to the ship at the end of the week, the entire congregation, including women and children, left the city and came down to the shore with us. There we knelt, prayed,

⁶and said our farewells. Then we went aboard, and they returned home.

⁷The next stop after leaving Tyre was Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed for one day.

⁸The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food.

⁹He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.

¹⁰Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea.

¹¹He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’”

¹²When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

¹³But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After this we packed our things and left for Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some believers from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to the home of Mnason, a man originally from Cyprus and one of the early believers.

¹⁷When we arrived, the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem welcomed us warmly.

¹⁸The next day Paul went with us to meet with James, and all the elders of the Jerusalem church were present.

¹⁹After greeting them, Paul gave a detailed account of the things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰After hearing this, they praised God. And then they said, “You know, dear brother, how many thousands of Jews have also believed, and they all follow the law of Moses very seriously.

²¹But the Jewish believers here in Jerusalem have been told that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. They’ve heard that you teach them not to circumcise their children or follow other Jewish customs.

²²What should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come.

²³“Here’s what we want you to do. We have four men here who have completed their vow.

²⁴Go with them to the Temple and join them in the purification ceremony, paying for them to have their heads ritually shaved. Then everyone will know that the rumors are all false and that you yourself observe the Jewish laws.

²⁵“As for the Gentile believers, they should do what we already told them in a letter: They should abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶So Paul went to the Temple the next day with the other men. They had already started the purification ritual, so he publicly announced the date when their vows would end and sacrifices would be offered for each of them.

²⁷The seven days were almost ended when some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple and roused a mob against him. They grabbed him,

²⁸yelling, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple — and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles. ”

²⁹(For earlier that day they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, and they assumed Paul had taken him into the Temple.)

³⁰The whole city was rocked by these accusations, and a great riot followed. Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him.

³¹As they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

³²He immediately called out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander arrested him and ordered him bound with two chains. He asked the crowd who he was and what he had done.

³⁴Some shouted one thing and some another. Since he couldn’t find out the truth in all the uproar and confusion, he ordered that Paul be taken to the fortress.

³⁵As Paul reached the stairs, the mob grew so violent the soldiers had to lift him to their shoulders to protect him.

³⁶And the crowd followed behind, shouting, “Kill him, kill him!”

³⁷As Paul was about to be taken inside, he said to the commander, “May I have a word with you?” “Do you know Greek?” the commander asked, surprised.

³⁸“Aren’t you the Egyptian who led a rebellion some time ago and took 4,000 members of the Assassins out into the desert?”

³⁹“No,” Paul replied, “I am a Jew and a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is an important city. Please, let me talk to these people.”

⁴⁰The commander agreed, so Paul stood on the stairs and motioned to the people to be quiet. Soon a deep silence enveloped the crowd, and he addressed them in their own language, Aramaic.